New Book: "Two Golden Age of Flying Saucer Classics" contactees Dana Howard, Gloria Lee

Cover art by Carol Ann Rodriguez

Over at UFO Mystic, I have a post about Tim Beckley's new release on two contactees: Dana Howard and Gloria Lee. I wrote the introduction for Gloria Lee's book.  One woman's story was positive, one ended tragically. Were the entities, or "aliens" truly ETs or something else altogether?

The cover art by Carol Ann Rodriguez is beautiful!

Esoteric Claims to Fame, Or: My Cousin Was a MIB

Originally posted at Trickster's Realm for Binnall of America.

An item on Lon Sticker’s Phantoms and Monsters about Elvis and his life long interest in UFOs inspired me to write about the time I met Elvis in Los Angles when I was working at the Free Clinic.  (see my post on UFO Mystic.) That was one of my brushes with fame, and esoteric in a round about way, since Elvis had a strong curiosity about UFOs and believed in extraterrestrial life.

Another esoteric brush with fame is, I think, waaaaaaaay cool. It concerns Boris Badenov. Yes, that Boris Badenov! Legend has it that the character actor Akim Tarmioff was the inspiration for the spy character Boris Badenov of the  Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons.  Here is what a Wikipedia entry has to say about Akim’s inspiration:

Badenov's name is a play on that of the 16th-century Russian Tsar Boris Godunov ("bad enough" vs. "good enough"). His accent and explosive temper are an homage to Hollywood actor Akim Tamiroff, especially Tamiroff's role in The Great McGinty, a 1940 movie directed by Preston Sturges.

Akim (Mikhailovich) Tamiroff, the Russian born character actor who appeared in dozens of films and television shows was often typecast as a Mexican or Greek, among other ethnic characters. He played spies, cops, thieves; all manner of roles.  Among the films Akim appeared in:For Whom the Bell Tolls, 1943, Lord Jim, 1965, Oceans 11, 1960, Topaki, 1964, and dozens more.

Akim was married to my grandfather’s niece, actress Tamara Shayne. My mother lived with them when she was in her late teens (that would be in late 1940s, early 1950s) when she first arrived in Los Angeles from Oregon.  I met them once when I was little; I remember Tamara as being stand offish , but Akim was pretty nice, very funny and playful.

Truly, how cool is it that one of the iconic cartoon characters, Boris Badenov, was based on a family member? (Another fun esoteric synchronistic fact: my mother’s name is a variation of Natasha.) 


Is it fair to say Boris was a MIB? No, it just sounded good for the title. Boris was short, fat, and hardly MIB like in behavior or appearance. He was an Eastern European/Russian spy, bumbling, the bad guy, created during the Cold War, when the spy business was everywhere. It still is; and actually, we’ve come back around to Russian spies recently, with movies like SALT and the plethora of Russian spies on television shows.

I have other claims to esoteric fame, which I'll write about in future columns.

Greg Bishop Reports From Roswell

Great recaps from Greg Bishop, who is at the Roswell Festival right now, on UFO Mystic. Okay, that's it, I'm going next year, damnit! I appreciate Bishop's updates; enjoyable to read about what's going on as it happens, as well as the photos Greg is including.Visit UFO Mystic for the latest.

UFO Mystic: Contactee Spying, Retro UFO

Lots of good stuff at UFO Mystic on the Contactees. Just take a look and scroll around. Also some info on the Retro UFO conference.

http://www.ufomystic.com/

Greg Bishop on Female Contactees

Greg Bishop on UFO Mystic, has nice words about my article on Dana Howard, much appreciated. He expands on the topic of female Contactees, and has a photo of Dana Howard at Giant Rock, great find!

Nick Redfern on The Allende Letters and the VARO Edition . . .

I like what Nick Redfern writes in his review of the book The Allende Letters and the VARO Edition of The Case for the UFOs over on UFO Mystic:

If, like me and Greg, you are a fan of old-time Ufology and that long-gone era when (A) UFOs really were shaped like Flying Saucers; (B) long-haired space-beings with entertainingly-stupid names and from far-off galaxies demanded we disarm our nukes, stole our soil and stopped the engines on our cars; (C) there existed a UFO research group - NICAP - that actually achieved things, beyond the bickering and name-calling that typifies much of today’s scene; and (D) Ufology was actually fun, rather than just deathly serious, pompously self-important, and amusingly ego-driven, then this is a book you are definitely going to want: a very-welcome reprint of a decidedly strange book that has become legendary in ufological circles: The Allende Letters and the VARO Edition of The Case for the UFOs.

I started this blog because I share this philosophy. It’s not a waste of time or a case of beating a dead horse, as some criticize (this looking back on UFO history/flying saucer era) it’s for the above reasons, as Redfern stated. And more; maybe we can discover new things by looking back now and then. We can apply to what we learn from old cases and stories as we explore new cases and stories. Take a look at Nick’s post for more. The book is yet another one on my ever growing list of UFO and Fortean books.

1955 UFO Case: from UFO Mystic

Nick Redfern has an interesting piece on UFO Mystic: Saucer Sisters of the Golden Age, about the 1955 UFO encounter of Mildred and Marie Maier. Definitely worth reading.