"The Phenomenon." Directed by James Fox. Released October 6, 2020. In my last post, I began talking about my reactions to James Fox's new UFO documentary "The Phenomenon." I talked about what I thought the film had succeeded in establishing: first, that some very smart and very serious … [Read more...]
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MJ Banias, “The UFO People” – The Case of Roy
M. J. Banias, The UFO People: A Curious Culture. N.p.: August Night Books, 2019. This is a book that's brilliant in spots, fascinating in long stretches, intelligent and thoughtful throughout. It contemplates the paradoxical reality of a subculture committed to what to our cultural mainstream … [Read more...]
Teaching UFOlogy – UNC 1996, OLLI 2019
Among the unanswerable questions that come up as I ponder my life: At age 12-going-on-13, scared out of my senses but also thrilled and energized by Gray Barker's They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers, could I have imagined that at age 71 I'd be planning to use that same book as a text for a … [Read more...]
A 1966 UFO Abduction – Memory, Performance, Dream
"In 1966 I was 8 years old. At sleep away summer camp (Surprise Lake near Cold Springs NY on the old Cornwallis estate). I had a strange night." What follows is the story of a UFO abduction, set in a time in which abductions were a rare novelty. It was reported on September 15, 2012, to … [Read more...]
“Ghost Rockets” – The UFO That Landed in Lake Nammajaure
A narrow trail through a stunted, dank green woodland. A city street where two middle-aged men walk through pouring rain under a skeletal black umbrella that's too decrepit to shelter one of them, much less both. An outdoor table on a starless night, where two old men sit speculating on what … [Read more...]