"TRUE UFO accounts from the vaults of Fate magazine"

Dear readers,

Another new UFO book came my way the other day, courtesy of my local library."True UFO Accounts from the Vaults of Fate Magazine." Published in 2011. Compiled by David Godwin, it is published by Llewellyn Publications, Woodbury, Minnesota. ISBN 978-0-7387-2575-8. David Godwin is a journalist and the current managing director of FATE magazine.

Introduction:

"In the summer of 1948, the first issue of FATE magazine was published. On the cover was a painting of Arnold's plane and a huge flying saucer. Inside was Arnold's own account of the incident." (p.1.)

Prehistory:

Pages 7 to 74 reproduce articles by J D Haines about the alleged UFO crash of 1865; J A Danelek's "The Airships of 1897;" Kevin D Randle's "Aurora, Texas, and the Great Airship of 1897;" Kenneth Arnold's "Phantom Lights in Nevada;" Ray Palmer's "Spaceships,Flying Saucers and Clean Noses'" and William Bathlot's "Phantom Lights in Oklahoma."

Roswell:

Chapter two is devoted solely to the topic of Roswell. Here you will find "The Real Roswell Story" by Stanton T Friedman; "Roswell's Last Gasp" by John A Keel; and James McWilliams' "UFO Chronicles."

Chapter three:

This opens with Gray Barker's account of the 1952 Flatwoods 'Monster' case in "The Monster and the Saucer." Coral Lorenzen in "UFO lands in New Mexico" covers the 1964 Socorro event; while John C Ross provides details of the 1959 Boianai, Papua CE3 case. George Adamski authors a piece in "I photographed spaceships."

The chapter continues with a piece by French researcher Aime Michel , "Meeting with the Martians" which covers the 10 Sep 1954 Mazaud affair. Scott Nicholson's "ET's Phone Here" concerns the saga of Lori Cordini, a contactee/abductee whose journey started in 1947. Jason Offutt in "Is this a piece of an Extraterrestrial craft?" examines the 1985 finding of a metallic object and efforts to determine just what it was. Another contactee, Rita Milios presents her personal experiences in "Accepting my ET Heritage."

Speculation:

"Since at least the early 1950's, conventional wisdom has decided that UFOs are either (1) delusions and fakes or (2) space vehicles from another world. But this is a false dichotomy; there could be any number of other explanations." (p.173.)

Brad Steiger opens up the chapter by posing the question "Are UFOs Alive?" based on the experiences of Fay Clark. Virgina M Tilly's "Do UFOs share a Metaphysical Aspect?" explores areas such as the ability of UFOs to materialize and dematerialize. Scott Corrales explores reports of "The Watchers" in "Angels or Aliens?" The Mysterious Biblical Struggles of Angels and Men."

English researcher Nigel Watson's "Broomsticks, Sharmans and UFOs" looks at the association of the UFO phenomenon with witchcraft and shamanism. The chapter is rounded off with "UFOs:3-D or 4-D?" by Karl T Pflock and James Moseley.

You make the call:

"Here are a few articles from recent years that reflect contemporary 21st-century thinking on the subject in some cases or offer new insights into old happenings." (p.227.)

"Shadowcraft and the UFO phenomenon" by Curt Sutherly discusses stealth technology and advanced terrestrial aircraft. Preston Dennett's "Is there an Underwater UFO Base off the Southern California coast?" is self-explanatory.

"The Invasion was Televised" by Kenn Thomas provides details on the incident of one Fred Lee Crisman who features as far back as 1947.

The closing essay is by long time researcher Brad Steiger. "60 Years of UFO Research" gives us an overview of our thinking on the origins of the UFO phenomenon. "After 60 years of serious investigation, we UFO researchers can't even agree among ourselves if the enigma originates from outer space or within ourselves - or if it is some metaphysical combination of the two." (p.262.)

Comments:

This is the second compilation by various authors, on the UFO phenomenon that I have read in recent times (click here for my post on the new book "UFOs and Aliens.")

This current compilation of essays covered the period 1948 to 2009 and provided me with some old ground and some new material. In part, it shows me how our old thinking, eg about contactees of the 1950's, has moved on. In other parts, it provides pause for much thought.

I most enjoyed reading Brad Steiger's travels through the various levels of his personal thinking in "60 Years of UFO Research." He writes "When I wrote Strangers from the Skies," I was as 'nuts and bolts' an advocate of physical craft and crews visiting our planet from an extraterrestrial source as any of the other researchers and writers of that era of UFO investigations." (p.263.)

"By the early 1970's, I had reached the conclusion that UFOs, ghosts, poltergeists, revelatory experiences and even seemingly misplaced archaeological anomalies were all facets of some larger intelligent, teaching mechanism." (p.265.)

"I have now authored or co-authored 22 books on a wide range of UFO phenomena Today I answer interviewers' questions regarding my conclusion about the UFO enigma by stating that I believe in the reality of the phenomenon, but I have 17 theories as to what the UFOs might be..." (p.271.)