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The Contactees–A Strange Chapter of the UFO Age
For better or for worse, the American UFO Contactee phenomenon that began in the 1950s has colored many people’s perceptions of UFOs for the past seven decades. The movement itself has been ridiculed for the contact with Space Brothers, and the contactees have become infamous when discussed among modern researchers. However, it’s important to remember that the average person, when pressed, will remember just three contact-related events (if they remember anything at all). These are the Betty and Barney Hill abduction, Whitley Streiber’s Communion, and the Contactee movement, regardless of whether they know any specific names. (The 1953 film The Day the Earth Stood Still lends itself to the Contactee…
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Understanding the Community: MJ Banias’ The UFO People
At first glance, you could be forgiven for assuming that MJ Banias’ book The UFO People: A Curious Culture is a light, breezy look at the UFO community and how it’s changed over the years. After all, there are chapters entitled “Haunted Manitoba” and “The Ghost of Richard Doty.” The cover sports a photo of J. Allen Hynek standing in front of a hotel sign with the message “Welcome UFO People.” However, as Willie Dixon memorably sang, “You can’t judge a book by looking at its cover.” While Banias does look at some historical aspects of the UFO community, this book isn’t made for the light reader. Rather, this is…