Nick Redfern:DARKNESS IN THE DESERT...: Saucers in 47: "A Very Highly Classified Experiment"

DARKNESS IN THE DESERT...: Saucers in 47: "A Very Highly Classified Experiment" [thanks to Lesley at The Debris Field for link.]

In early July 1947, Brigadier General George F. Schulgen, Chief of the Requirements Intelligence Branch of Army Air Corps Intelligence, met with Special Agent S.W. Reynolds of the FBI with a view to determining if the Army Air Force could solicit the assistance of the Bureau on a regular basis in its investigation of the flying saucer mystery.


General Schulgen advised Reynolds that, “every effort must be undertaken in order to run down and ascertain whether or not the flying discs are a fact and, if so, to learn all about them.”


The foremost thought on General Schulgen’s mind was that the saucers were man-made in origin. He confided in Special Agent Reynolds that, “the first reported sightings might have been by individuals of Communist sympathies with the view to causing hysteria and fear of a secret weapon.” It was for this reason that the Army Air Force sought the FBI’s assistance.

Roswell

The Daily Grail has an item about Nick Redfern's article in the third volume of Darklore: "Body Snatchers: Before and Beyond" and an interview. Redfern is the author of the book Body Snatchers in the Desert, which puts forth a theory equally strange as any ideas about ET, though, if true, certainly more insidious.

A Bit of Vintage Saucer News From Around the Web

A few items of vintage UFO stuff in recent news:



The Flatwoods Monster extravaganza, by Mike Sizemore, brings us news of upcoming events inspired by the Flatwoods encounter:

In centrally located Braxton County, will be exporting the tale of the Flatwoods Monster, an alien creature said to have crash-landed near the tiny town 56 years ago. Hundreds are expected to gather at the Alban Art & Conference Center in St. Albans to rekindle interest in the curious event and raise its profile in the annals of West Virginia history.

As folklore tells it, early in the evening of Sept. 12, 1952, several residents of Flatwoods claimed to have witnessed a UFO. Schoolchildren Edward and Fred May, along with their friend Tommy Hyer, spotted a calamitous crash on a nearby farm and rushed to investigate. They and several others joining them reported finding a strobing ball of fire accompanied by a noxious mist. Under an oak tree not far away the group encountered a creature emitting a “shrill hissing noise.” The terrified group fled in due haste.

UFOs Made Headlines in 1884 Mind you, this is from the Weekly World News website . . .

From the Bones Blog, a blog about the “ social impact of one of the best science fiction franchise of all time. The impact of how science is used to solve our most difficult social concerns will also be discussed.” there’s “The Anthropology of Star Trek”


Phillip Mantle, in WING COMMANDER ALAN TURNER MBE. RAF SOPLEY UFO-1971, on American Chronicle, writes about Royal Air Force personnel sighting of a UFO in 1971.

Kottmeyer: An Alien Who's Who

I received a book from The Anomalist: Martin S. Kottmeyer's An Alien Who's Who. (thank you Anomalist!) The book has an intro written by Greg Bishop. It seems like fun, as well as an interesting resource. I haven't read the whole thing yet, but it's not that kind of book; it's a collection of names of aliens given to contactees. Kottmeyer's thoughts on these things is as interesting as the names, of course. (Not that I agree with Kottmeyer but I do usually appreciate his point of view, which is often fresh, challenging and needed in this field.)

UFO Online: WW II Foo Fighters

On Dan Dare’s UFO Online blog, he has an article up about the Foo Fighters of WW II. (the article was written by Fran Black.):

In the 1938 comic strip Smokey Stover, a firefighter was known for his line, “Where there’s foo, there’s fire.” From Smokey, aircraft pilots borrowed the term “foo fire” to describe the various unexplainable phenomenon seen in the skies over Europe and the Pacific theatre during World War II. While Allied pilots initially thought the flying objects were German secret or psychological weapons, after the war it was discovered that sightings were also reported by the enemy, who had assumed the crafts were US-made. To this day, the sightings remain a mystery.

You can read the rest here.