Now Available!!!
This amusing, revealing, and entertaining romp through the confused and controversial history
of the UFO craze is a must for believers and skeptics alike. Shockingly Close to the Truth is
the first and only comprehensive tell-all history of ufology from two men who have been at the
center of this cultlike movement for close to half a century. James W. Moseley conveys the fun
he has had over the years pursuing tall tales and purported evidence of visitors from outer
space. As the creator of the newsletter Saucer Smear - the source on the follies, foibles,
fads, and feuds of ufology - Moseley has the inside scoop on the amazing world of serious UFO
sleuths and wigged-out "saucer fiends." His coauthor, Karl T. Pflock, has been tracking reports
of unidentified flying objects for close to half a century and has written the most thorough
investigation of the Roswell incident ever done.
For Moseley it all began as a lark in 1953 when he drove across country and interviewed almost 100 UFO experts and eyewitnesses, including former president Harry S Truman. After all these years, his account of this journey is here published for the first time, a gold mine for anyone interested in modern social and "ufological" history. He also talks candidly about his encounters with and assessments of leading UFO personalities, including Budd Hopkins, George Adamski, J. Allen Hynek, and many others. In addition, he reveals the whole truth behind the infamous Straith letter hoax, the real origins of the Men in Black, and the true story of George Adamski's alleged 1952 encounter with "a man from Venus." Along the way he recounts his incredible adventures as a grave robber of pre-Columbian artifacts in Peru (Move over Indiana Jones!), to which there is also a bizarre UFO connection. Complementing the exuberant narrative are many original photos of famous persons and events from Moseley's private collection, plus fascimile reproductions of the Straith letter and the complete October 1957 special Adamski expose issue of Smear's predecessor, Saucer News.
A feast for UFO buffs, this book will also interest students of popular culture, social trends, and the psychology of belief.
Robert Anton Wilson, futurist and bestselling author of The Illuminatus Trilogy:
"I found Shockingly Close to the Truth! shockingly close to sanity and common sense. The authors expose clownery, absurdity, and logical lapses on all sides of the UFO mystery, but quite frankly admit that much of the phenomenon continues to perplex and bedevil them. My God, this is shockingly close to honesty!"
George Earley, pioneer ufologist, Fate & UFO book reviewer:
"It's a hoot!"
George Eberhart, Center for UFO Studies, in Booklist:
"Moseley, a keen observer of the UFO scene for nearly 50 years .... chronicles his adventures with serious researchers as well as the many 'saucer fiends'...that inhabit the wackier regions of 'ufology'.... Is it all true? Perhaps it's shockingly close to the truth."
Joel Achenbach, Washington Post, author of Captured by Aliens and Why Things Are:
"A refreshing, slightly unhinged, vivid memoir of a life chasing the unknowable."
Publishers Weekly:
"Fifty years of UFO sightings and alien obsession is amusingly documented."
James W. Moseley (Key West, FL) is the Permanent Chairman (since 1971) of the National UFO Conference, the creator and editor (since 1954) of the newsletter Saucer Smear, and the author of UFO Crash Secrets at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Karl T. Pflock (Placitas, NM), a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and intelligence officer for the CIA, is the author of the highly acclaimed Roswell: Inconvenient Facts and the Will to Believe.
HARDCOVER/MARCH
Shipping: February 15
360 pp
ISBN 1-57392-991-3 HO $25
6" x 9"