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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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EDITORIAL–The Need for Standardized Data in Paranormal Research
Over the past couple of decades, I’ve noticed a commonality among paranormal researchers. (For today’s purposes, I’ll use the term ‘paranormal’ to mean anything outside of the ordinary, even though the different communities might be at odds with one another. This includes, but is not limited to, the study of ghosts, cryptids of all sorts, UFOs, Ancient Alien theory, abductions, and out-of-place artifacts.) The commonality is a simple one–the odd university department or study notwithstanding, there is no set of agreed-upon data that sets the bar for what is or isn’t acceptable evidence. In other words, one investigator may count an abnormal cry or shriek in the darkened woods as…
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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…
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Government Secrecy (In Space!)–Richard Dolan Lecture Series #1
Richard Dolan is, without a doubt, one of the most precise and reliable UFO researchers in the field. His books on the US government’s history with UFOs, his advocacy for disclosure, and his television, conference, and radio appearances are routinely filled with thoughtful, well-sourced insights into the UFO phenomenon, as well as its outlying/connected subjects, such as the idea that the US government has been running a secret space program since the very beginnings of NASA. The Secret Space Program and Breakaway Civilization is the first volume in the “Richard Dolan Lecture Series”(there are currently two), published by his own imprint, and is a lightly rewritten transcript of a talk…