REASONABLE DOUBT, UNREASONABLE BELIEF

Philip Mantle and Irena McCammon Scott. Beyond Reasonable Doubt: The Pascagoula Alien Abduction, Flying Disk Press, 2023.

Another year, another book from the Flying Disk Press about the Pascagoula alien abduction of 11 October 1973, experienced by Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of this event, this book repeats the accounts of the two prime witnesses and the sightings across the river on the same night by a Mr and Mrs Blair. 

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SEPARATING BELIEF AND REALITY

Ralph Blumenthal. The Believer: Alien Encounters, Hard Science and the Passion of John Mack. (University of New Mexico Press. 2021.

My first thoughts on beginning this account of the life and works of psychologist, ufologist and abductionologist John Mack, was 'when did it all start to go wrong?' I would say round about Chapter 15, but I will go into that later. 

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INTIMATE RELATIONS

David J. Halperin. Intimate Alien; The Hidden Story of UFOs. Stanford University Press, 2020.

David Halperin is a true ufologist. Unlike many academics who have dipped a toe into the cold water of ufology, he has done his time deep down in the ‘gutter roots’ of the subject, as Peter Rogerson once so eloquently described it. His first chapter, ‘Confessions of a Teenage Ufologist’ tracks a ufological career progression that will be familiar to many of his, and Magonia’s, readers. 

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GREY MATTER

Timothy Green Beckley and Sean Casteel (editors) Alien Lives Matter: It’s OK to be Grey. Inner Light/Global Communications, 2021.

This time Tim and Sean collect reports and stories that take a two-pronged attack on the biggest issues in ufology. The major part of the book is dedicated to hostilities between humanity and aliens and underlines the point that throughout history being Grey has not been OK. 

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THE MAGONIAN POSITION

Nigel Watson. Captured by Aliens? A History and Analysis of American Abduction Claims. McFarland, 2020.

Nigel Watson has been a friend of, and contributor to Magonia for many years, ever since its original manifestation of the Merseyside UFO Bulletin, so if anyone thinks that this review may be less than totally objective, they may well be right.

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A MIRE OF MISERY

Jim Bouck and Robert Long. Foreword by Kathleen Marden. Alien Abduction: The Control Factor. Schiffer Publishing. 2020.

This attempts to be a guide to the abduction phenomena and how to stop the aliens from messing up your life. It opens with this catchy little slogan ‘Don’t be a victim or a pawn; learn the alien ropes and then resist.’ But what the hell are the alien ropes? They are nothing more than the frightening visions of Budd Hopkins and David Jacobs and the rest of the US abduction propaganda merchants.
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THERE'S AN AWFUL LOT OF COBBLERS IN BRAZIL

Thiago Luiz Ticchetti, UFO Contacts in Brazil, Flying Disk Press, 2019.

It seems that Brazil is the place to be if you want to contact aliens from outer space. As Thiago Ticchetti the co-editor of Revista UFO magazine and resident of the Brazilian Committee of Ufologists shows, Brazil is a veritable theme park of UFO contacts that have a long history of being seriously weird, outlandish and amazing.
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INSIDE THE BIG TENT

Timothy Green Beckley and Sean Casteel. Alien Strongholds On Earth; Secret UFO Bases Exist All Around Us. Inner Light/Global Communications, 2019.

Alien strongholds, or what John Keel would have called window areas, are believed to exist throughout the world. These areas are where aliens have their secret underground bases that maintain their fleets of flying saucer and where they can conduct their nefarious activities, often in league with mysterious human military units.

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PASSING THROUGH PASCAGOULA

Panagiotakis. The Road to Pascagoula: A Research Trip - 1981. Flying Disk Press, 2018.

With the publication of Pascagoula - The Closest Encounter by Calvin Parker, and a reprint of Charles Hickson’s UFO Contact at Pascagoula, both published by Philip Mantle’s Flying Disk Press, there has been a revival of interest in this abduction incident. Now we get this reprint and translation from the Greek, of Stefanos’ 1981 trip to Pascagoula. 

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UNSEEN, UNKNOWN, UNKNOWABLE

Susan Lepselter. The Resonance of Unseen Things; Politics, Power, Captivity and UFOs in the American Uncanny. University of Michigan Press, 2016.

Back in the day, when UFO UpDates ruled the UFO world, with rapier-sharp cut and thrust between the giants of ufology, one criticism which was levelled at Magonia – mainly by Jerome Clark – was that we indulged in ‘literary criticism’ rather than serious, scientific, UFO research.
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BREAKING OUT OF THE FRAME

Jack Brewer. The Greys Have Been Framed: Exploitation in the UFO Community. CreateSpace (The Author), 2016.

It’s been a long time coming, but at last we have the definitive deconstruction of the UFO abduction industry. Brewer begins with a brief outline on the dangers involved in attempted hypnotic recall of memories. 

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CARRY ON ABDUCTING

Kathleen Marden and Denise Stonor. The Alien Abduction Files: The Most Startling Cases of Human-Alien Contact Ever Reported. New Page. 2013.

I had assumed that the alien abduction myth had gone down the toilet with the late unlamented twentieth century, but here it is again. This book details the abduction experiences of Denise Stonor and her family, and of a family known as the Hendersons.

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PRIESTS OF HIGH STRANGENESS - PART 2

Carol Rainey has now put online the second excerpt from the rough cut of her documentary 'Priests of High Strangeness'. She writes:

The ongoing series of excerpts focuses on the controversial research techniques used by some well-known alien abduction investigators. Their subjects certainly are having inexplicable and baffling experiences and the researchers do offer the therapeutic, healing benefits that come from any empathetic listener.
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ABDUCTION RESEARCHER RELATIONSHIPS - CAROL RAINEY

The Nature of Some Abduction Researcher Relationships

by Carol Rainey


Over the past several weeks, something significant may just have happened to the way alien abduction research will proceed (or not) in the future. Within the Internet community of people fascinated by such matters, we’ve all been struck by the strident tones and the smack-down volleys of exchanges on list serves, blogs, and emails.

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BUDD HOPKINS - AN ARTIST'S LIFE

Budd Hopkins. Art, Life and UFOs: A Memoir. Anomalist Books, 2009.

Time and again there arise charismatic figures who claim a special gnosis into the human condition, to possess the master key which tells us why it is no go, the cause of the world's heartache and suffering. One such is Budd Hopkins, but in one crucial respect Budd Hopkins and his side kick David Jacobs differ from almost all the rest.
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