Monday, October 20, 2008

Saucer Spies Lecture

I gave a well-received lecture on Friday night at the annual Mass UFO Show in Boston on my book, On the Trail of the Saucer Spies. The lecture focused on the history, legends and exploits of the Men in Black; as well as the FBI's files on the so-called Contactees, such as George Van Tassel, George Adamski and others.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

FBI Files in UFO

As readers of my On the Trail of the Saucer Spies book will know, I spend a great deal of time discussing how the FBI secretly watched many well-known figures within Ufology, such as Leonard Stringfield, George Adamski and George Van Tassel.

For those who may be interested, the new issue of UFO Magazine includes an article written by Larry W. Bryant titled The McDonald Legacy, FBI-Style that is a study of the FBI's file on acclaimed UFO researcher, Professor James Edward McDonald.

A Saucer-Spies Lecture

On the night of Friday October 17, I’ll be speaking at the Mass UFO Show in Boston, and will be speaking on the subject of my book, On the Trail of the Saucer Spies.

For those who may wish to attend, here’s the press release:

PRESS RELEASE

UFO CONFERENCE IN MASSACHUSETTS ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17th, 2008 @ 7PM

Fascinating Presentations of Some Spectacular UFO cases

Boston, Mass. – August 11, 2008 – The Mass UFO Show is pleased to announce an exciting program for its third annual rendition of New England’s only UFO conference, to be held at 7:00 PM on Friday, October 17th, 2008 at the Hibernian Hall in Watertown, Massachusetts.

Building upon last year’s event (that featured a riveting theme of maritime UFOs or “USOs”), this year’s theme focuses on the alleged UFOs and the Struggle for Government Openness, Men In Black, The Roswell UFO Incident, alien abduction and a radio broadcast that spooked The United States in 1938.

Three speakers will take the stage at the third annual Mass UFO Show at the Hibernian Hall in Watertown, Massachusetts at 7:00 PM on Friday, October 17th, 2008.

The keynote speaker is Budd Hopkins, whose lecture will be entitled “The UFO Abduction Scenario: What We Know Today”.

Budd Hopkins is a world-renowned artist, author, and pioneer UFO abduction researcher. Having investigated well over 700 cases, he now heads the Intruders Foundation, a nonprofit, scientific research and support organization. Budd first became interested in the UFO phenomenon when he and two others had a daylight UFO sighting near Truro, Massachusetts, in 1964. In 1975 he carried out his first major investigation which involved a UFO landing and occupant incident in North Hudson Park, NJ. Shortly thereafter, he began to concentrate on the investigation of the UFO abduction phenomenon, which led to the eventual publication of his findings. Taken together, his four books, Missing Time (1981), Intruders (1987), and Witnessed (1996) are widely regarded by researchers and skeptics alike as comprising the most influential series of books yet published on the abduction phenomenon. Intruders was later adapted to television. Hopkins’ latest book is Sight Unseen: Science, UFO Invisibility, and Transgenic Beings. These works, along with Hopkins’ lectures, and his other presentations have been responsible for bringing a number of other noted researchers - namely David Jacobs, John Carpenter, Yvonne Smith, and John Mack - into this extraordinary area of specialization. His documented discoveries have become the basis of most later abduction investigations and research.

Budd Hopkins has long been considered ufology’s most visible figure. He pioneered and continues to lead the investigation into the most controversial aspect of the UFO phenomenon-the systematic abduction of human beings by UFO occupants. As the world’s premier expert on this issue, he has worked with more than one thousand people who have reported abduction experiences over the past twenty years. These individuals come from all walks of life and include physicians, psychiatrists, attorneys, police officers, military personnel, political figures, personalities from the entertainment world, and even a NASA scientist.

A prolific writer and internationally respected painter, Hopkins has delivered hundreds of UFO lectures around this country and around the world. His groundbreaking first book, Missing Time, was the first work to compare a number of UFO abduction cases in order to isolate the patterns they revealed. His second book, Intruders-The Incredible Visitation at Copley Woods, was a New York Times bestseller and the basis for the popular 1992 CBS miniseries, Intruders, which has since been broadcast internationally. His most widely acclaimed book is Witnessed-The True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge UFO Abductions that deals with a high-ranking United Nations official being abducted by aliens.

Hopkins’ goal has always been to bring an objective, dispassionate scientific intelligence to bear on the UFO abduction phenomenon. To this end, he founded the Intruders Foundation (IF) in 1989. IF is a nonprofit organization devoted to research and public education concerning this extraordinary enigma. They publish a respected journal, as well as offer a nationwide referral service for those wishing to explore their own suspected abduction experiences.
Despite its extremely controversial nature, Hopkins’ research has received serious commentary in such mainstream publications as Time, Paris Match, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, Omni, People, and Cosmopolitan. He has been a guest on hundreds of television and radio programs including Nightline, Good Morning America, The Today Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Tonight Show, Charlie Rose, Larry King Live, The Charles Grodin Show, Sally Jesse Raphael, The Geraldo Rivera Show, 20/20, 48 Hours, Unsolved Mysteries, Encounters, A Current Affair, Nightwatch, The Late Show, The Art Bell Show, Tom Snyder, The Laura Lee Show, Hieronimus & Company, Weekend Edition (National Public Radio), Voice of America, Armed Forces Radio, numerous BBC affiliates, and many other shows and forums.

Leslie Kean is an investigative reporter who has been published widely in national and international mainstream media, such as the Boston Globe, the Baltimore Sun, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, The Newark Star Ledger, The Nation magazine, the Montreal Gazette, the International Herald Tribune, the Globe and Mail, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Bangkok Post, and the Irish Independent, among many others. Since 2000, beginning with her story on the COMETA Report which was published in the Boston Globe, her ongoing reporting has focused on providing serious, well-documented coverage of the UFO issue. In 2007, she broke the story of Governor Fife Symington’s UFO sighting in Arizona and wrote about the O’Hare Airport UFO encounter for the Sacramento Bee, the Providence Journal and Scripps Howard wire service.

Kean is a co-founder of the Washington-based, advocacy group the Coalition For Freedom of Information (CFI, www.freedomofinfo.org), and is the plaintiff in a landmark Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed against NASA in 2002 attempting to acquire documents on the Kecksburg UFO crash case. Settled last fall, NASA has been required to provide hundreds of previously withheld documents to Kean. John Podesta, former Chief of Staff for President Clinton, who has supported this effort since 2002, described her victory as “a triumph for open government and the spirit of inquiry.”

With filmmaker James Fox, Kean co-organized and produced a landmark international press conference in Washington, DC in November, 2007. Moderated by former Arizona Governor Fife Symington, the event featured high level military, aviation and government officials from seven countries and was covered widely by media around the world. At the press conference, Kean and CFi launched a new international initiative - backed by Generals and other high level officials from many countries - urging the US Government to open a new, official investigation into UFOs, as other countries have already done. Kean has worked as a producer with Fox on his new film, and is working with another independent film company on a second UFO documentary.
Leslie’s lecture will be entitled UFOs and the Struggle for Government Openness.

Another prolific author, UFO expert and government agitator is Nick Redfern. Nick was born in Great Britain and now resides in the United States. He has appeared on more than 60 TV shows to promote his numerous books (including the Sci-Fi Channel). He has written several books about paranormal and UFO mysteries and the attempt to discredit them. He has appeared on MSNBC with Keith Olbermann. He has lectured at a variety of conferences, including the Laughlin UFO Congress (in 1998 and 2001); the Mutual UFO Network Conference in 2004; the Aztec UFO Conference in 2003; the Texas Bigfoot Research Conference in 2004; at numerous events for the British-based UFO Magazine between 1997 and 2000 (now closed); and at the UFO Crash Retrieval Conference in Las Vegas (in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006).

His many book titles include On The Trail Of Saucer Spies: UFOs and Government Surveillance, Strange Secrets: Real Government Files on the Unknown, Body Snatchers in the Desert: The Horrible Truth at the Heart of the Roswell Story and Cosmic Crashes.

Nick’s lecture at the Mass UFO Show will be entitled “Men In Black”. Redfern will reveal his first-hand encounters with the “Saucer Spies” and also look at how Men-In-Black have fit into popular western culture via two major motion pictures in 1997 and 2002. There will also be a brief discussion about an imposter who posed as a UFO investigator and was encountered by the Massachusetts Mutual UFO Network several years ago.

Back again as a co-host of the Mass UFO Show will be Matt Moniz. Matt has over 20 years experience investigating UFO phenomena and has had many other paranormal adventures. He has a “Forrest Gump”-type litany of involvement with historical UFO case investigations. As a chemist, he analyzed soil samples from the famed “Bentwaters Incident” and was acknowledged accordingly in the book “Left at East Gate” by Larry Warren and Peter Robbins. He will be bringing soil samples from that area where an alleged UFO landing took place 27 years ago. Matt was also featured in the popular books “Witnessed” by Budd Hopkins, and “Glimpses of Other Realities” by Linda Moulton Howe. Matt will be reporting live from the Mass UFO Show for the hit fortean radio show Spooky Southcoast that is hosted by Tim Weisberg and Matt Costa.

Matt will engage Nick Redfern in a brief but lively debate about what really happened at Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. Nick has a radically different view of the event that is in opposition to the traditional UFO legend.

Finally, in addition to the typical ambient ufo-related music and motion picture themes that waft in the background of the Mass UFO Show, a recording of Orson Welles’ controversial radio program The War of the Worlds will be played at 6:00 PM (when doors open to the hall). This is a 70th anniversary tribute to the radio broadcast that was transmitted by Mercury Theatre on the Air on October 30th, 1938. Based upon the popular novel of 1898 by H.G. Wells, this drama frightened the entire Northeastern Coast of the United States. Later, two major motion pictures were also adapted from this event, in 1953 and again in 2005.

Special guests will include esteemed cryptozoologist and popular author Loren Coleman. Coleman, the world’s greatest living cryptozoologist, who will be speaking about Mothman the following night at the Mass Monster Mash, will be available to sign copies of his books, including his culture-changing masterpiece Mysterious America, considered by many to be the seminal book of cryptozoology. It was Coleman who dubbed the anomalous area in Southeastern Massachusetts as the Bridgewater Triangle. He also created Cryptomundo, the premiere cryptozoology web site on the World Wide Web.

Also appearing as a special guest will be Tim Binnall. Tim is the producer of the Binnall of America Audio Series and webmaster of the very popular internet portal Binnall of America that deals with “esoteric” phenomena. Tim is a webmaster for Coast to Coast with George Noory and he will be back to meet-and-greet the speakers and attendees while again serving as the Mass UFO Show Ambassador. He was a vital participant in last year’s conference (and recognized as such with an award) and his company was enjoyed by many.

Finally, if you have had what you believe to be a UFO encounter, you’ll be able to report it to Massachusetts Mutual UFO Network personnel. They will be on hand to answer any questions or provide information about their organization.

This event was created and produced by philanthropist and paranormal gadfly John Horrigan. Horrigan has a vast history of paranormal exploration and is considered by many to be an innovative popular historian, accomplished sports show announcer and lecturer.

The venue is the historic Watertown Hibernian Hall, located at 151 Watertown Street in Watertown, Mass. Seating is limited, but there is ample free parking. It is accessible by public transportation.

Doors open at 6:00 PM (for the 1938 War of the Worlds re-broadcast) and presentations begin at 7:00 PM.

Other events and activities will include trivia, souvenirs, concessions, exhibits and a Q&A session. There will be an admission fee of $25. Tickets are limited and will not be sold at the door. They can be obtained through Paypal here or by mailing a check or money order for $26.00/ticket to Mass UFO Show, P.O. Box 145, Watertown, MA 02471 and the envelope must be postmarked before October 1st, 2008.

For more information:
LOG ON TO WWW.UFOSHOW.ORG
OR EMAIL AT
massufoshow@hotmail.com or call 339-368-1971