• Tidbits of Trash
• Letters to Ye Olde Editor

For complicated reasons, we got into trouble with Jerry Clark over our June 5th issue of "Smear" before he or any of our other non-subscribers received it in the mail! Impossible, you say? In the UFO field, all things are possible!

We refer here to our remarks about Clark on Page 4 of that issue. Although it is apparently not accurate to say that Clark was "fired" from the Vice Presidency of CUFOS, it is true that the position of Vice President ceased to exist for Clark as well as for two other members of the CUFOS Board of Directors who had held that title. George Hansen's version of how this came about is given in a letter to "Smear" which is printed further along in this issue. Clark takes exception to Hansen's version in a paper called "A Statement by Jerome Clark", which Clark has kindly sent along to us.

Clark has also sent us a "Not for Publication" letter in which he states, in effect, that he intends to continue his longtime practice of not attacking your "Smear" editor in public or in private. This statement is not true, however. In a Feb. 23rd, 1993 round-robin letter addressed to "Dear Friends and Colleagues" (which he neglected to send us), Clark attacks us bitterly. A quote from that round-robin is at the top of this page and was also printed on Page One of our April 1st, 1993 issue.

In a second recent letter to us dated June 17th, 1995, Clark surprisingly admits that his "non-attack" policy toward us did not begin until Feb. 24th, 1993, i.e., one day after his Feb. 23rd diatribe. Okay; we'll try to accept that.

Getting back to our June 5th, 1995 issue of "Smear", we made one statement about Clark that was inaccurate. We stated that his work rarely appears in recent issues of the CUFOS zine, "International UFO Reporter". We should have said that his editorials rarely appear, even though he is the editor.

One reason for this situation is that Clark is busy working on Volume Three of a four volume UFO Encyclopedia. We received several pleasant to favorable mentions in Volumes One and Two, but somehow we feel -psychically- that this is not likely to be the case with Volumes Three and Four. But life goes on, and (honestly!) we bear little or no ill will toward Clark. But if he would only "lighten up"!

But Dr. Bruce does not agree. Says he, "My present opinion is that the event depicted in the video ( = a landed UFO), with added descriptions by Diane Labenek and Dr. Quarington ( = witnesses), actually happened as described. Furthermore, the depicted object looks very much like a `classic flying saucer'!

All well and good. But the unfortunate thing is that the writings accompanying the video, some of which we have seen, can only be described as crazy. Yet Maccabee spends page after page analyzing the video and the witnesses' testimony, and only a few lines on the burning question of: Who the hell is this guy "Guardian" who apparently wrote the material? What is his connection with the case, what are his motives, etc., etc? Till we know those answers, the kindest thing anyone can say is that the case is "tainted".

Below is just about all that Maccabee gives by way of explanation. He says: "The `paperwork' that came with the video could be the product of a paranoid delusional person who, for some reason, was present at the `landing' and has used the `hard evidence' to support his viewpoint about the meaning/intention/purpose of flying saucers... .The `documents' which Guardian supplied made it appear to me to be another of the `Nazi UFO' types of paranoid UFO literature that has circulated in the past..."

Awhile back, Bob Oechsler kindly gave us a copy of one page of the Guardian ravings. Written in February of 1992, it reads as follows:

"All information on ALIEN contact is being systematically released by the BROTHERHOOD. A group responsible for the founding of the New World, NORTH AMERICA. It is also known as the HOLY GRAIL. The GRAIL exists. From the ancient Middle East, to Europe, to Canada. This group protects the Blood of God. It has members in every level of modern Society. It's beliefs center around the secret knowledge of the creation of man, and the ongoing relations between the forces of heaven. The release of ALIEN information is in an effort to stop RED CHINA. China is preparing an all out nuclear, biochemical attack on the Soviet Union, Europe & North America. The attack will have millions dead in minutes, billions in months. If successful all major Judeo-Christian systems of belief would be wiped out within a year by COMMUNISM. Classified information in photo, videotape, autopsy reports, films is going to be leaked to the press over the next three years. Most of this information is on the CARP Ontario landings, Monuments-bases on the darkside of the moon, the phobos mars installations & the final origin of the ALIENS."

• Here we have a daytime shot of an intergalactic spaceship, thought to be from a planet orbiting the dwarf star Sombraro, approximately 6.9 light years from Earth. (This is only our interpretation, and we could be wrong!) Photo is courtesy of the Midway Sightings UFO Museum,near Roswell, New Mexico. ...

• No one has sent us any books to review since our last issue. (Maybe they realize that the chances of a favorable review in "Smear" are less than the chance of winning the lottery.) However, we are told that James ("The Amusing") Randi has oozed out with a new book called, "An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Paranormal and Supernatural". A rather negative title, actually; and what we hear about the book so far is not at all good. The publisher is St. Martin's Press...

• Then there is "Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind; Alien Abductions, UFOs, and the Conference at M.I.T." This famous conference was held in June of 1992, sponsored by a physicist named David Pritchard and by John Mack, the Harvard psychiatrist who, in the meanwhile, has written a pro-abduction book of his own. We have heard that everyone attending the M.I.T. Conference was honor-bound not to reveal what went on there, but apparently that idea did not work out!

  The author of "Close Encounters" is C.D.B. Bryan, the publisher is Alfred A. Knopf, and the price is $25. The New York Times reviewer calls this a "strange and disturbing book", apparently because Bryan, though a skeptic, entertains the possibility that alien abductions are a phenomenon intended to make us aware of other realities. (Yes, he has stolen the "Smear" " 3 1/2-D Theory", we fear!) This is one tome that maybe we should actually go out and buy!

• Just before press time, we did receive one review book in the mail. It is a re-issue of John A. Keel's classic from the 197Os, "Disneyland of the Gods", published by IllumiNet Press, P.O. Box 2808, Lilburn, Ga. 30226. IllumiNet is rapidly becoming a major force in the UFO publishing field, and since we never read this classic when it first came out, now might be a good time to do so! We'll let you know what we think of it...

• We know of at least three flying saucer conventions to be held this coming October. The first is the annual one by John White's "Omega Communications", held this year on Oct. 7th-8th at the Holiday Inn in North Haven, Connecticut. Then comes our own glorious 32nd running of the National UFO Conference (NUFOC), with famed ufologist & occultist Allen Greenfield as local sponsor. This will take place on Oct. 14th and 15th at the Castlegate Hotel and Convention Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Finally, there is the Third Annual Gulf Breeze UFO Conference on Oct. 2Oth-22nd, at the Clarion Suites Resort in Pensacola Beach, Florida - just a stone's throw from famed Gulf Breeze!

  Your "Smear" editor will be attending the NUFOC conclave as well as the Gulf Breeze one, but alas, we can't get to all of these annual conventions unless the Space People volunteer to start paying our travel expenses!

• Roswell Authority KEVIN RANDLE writes:

  "Pat Packard, 44, died on June 2nd, 1995 after a brief illness. He was one of the good guys. Pat's enthusiasm for the UFO field was well known and he had a great many friends in the community. He was MUFON's Assistant State Director for Ohio...

  "I was fortunate to count Pat as one of my friends. I spoke to him only a few weeks ago. He called as I was on my way out the door, but I'm glad that I took time to talk to him. He was trying to collect information about some aspect of the UFO field and wanted to know if I had anything that would help him.

  "There are too few people like Pat in the field today. The loss of his wit and wisdom is tremendous, for he was one of the few unpretentious people in the community. The best we can do now is learn from his example. That is his legacy and is one for which he should be proud.

  "Goodbye, Pat. We'll all miss you."

  We never knew or even heard of Pat Packard, but he sounds like a nice guy. -Editor.

• CHARLES BROERMAN writes as follows:

  "It was great to see another `Saucer Smear' after the month's hiatus. Excellent as usual. Also as usual the field of ufology is a complete mystery to me - the ufologists themselves even more than the phenomenon. So Donald Schmitt is a mailman. Am I missing something? It's strange he felt the need to hide it, and strange that it's such a big deal now that the Truth has been revealed!...

  The "big deal" is the question of why he felt the need to hide it. - Editor.

• RICHARD FREEMAN, esteemed editor of "Batteries Not Included", writes:

  "Jeez - postal workers investigating UFOs! I suspect this is the first step toward getting us to believe that missing packages and letters are not buried in basements and sewers in Chicago, but are actually enroute to Xeta Riticuli. I only hope this letter reaches you!

  "Anyway, if there are aliens, can we believe that postal workers will bring them back alive?..."

• Parapsychologist GEORGE HANSEN writes as follows:

  "On Monday, May 29th, 1995, I received a frantic phone call from Mark Rodeghier, Scientific Director of the Hynek Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS). I had never met the man nor even spoken to him on the phone. He wanted to assure me that Jerry Clark was still on the Board of Directors of that organization. Clark had been a Vice President, but at the last Board meeting, it was decided to relieve him of that position. Rodeghier told me that it was simply a minor matter and that the other two Vice President positions had been eliminated also.

  "I pointed out that the two others were then elected to officer positions but Clark was not, and that this was a public loss of status for Jerry. Rodeghier reiterated the official story that the change was minor, I responded that I had never before been `honored' to receive a phone call from him, let alone on such a `minor' matter, and that I was understandably skeptical. I mentioned that even weeks after the Board meeting, Jerry had not been informed of his demotion and that when he heard about it from an outsider, embarrassingly, Clark completely denied it.

  "Rodeghier then admitted that he was greatly concerned that the situation might escalate and that a few years ago he had spent enormous time soothing Jerry during his dispute with Willy Smith..."

  As already stated, Clark takes exception to the above interpretation. - Ed.

• Subliminal Vision expert ERIK BECKJORD writes as follows, concerning his troubles with Hollow Earth advocate Harley Byrd:

  "...A lot of this garbage would never have happened if you hadn't given Byrd the idea that he was a real human being, with a brain, sanity, and purpose, instead of the smelly piece of mental garbage he really is. Perhaps you have now seen the light. Some of the people he has attacked are your friends..."

• Long-time "Smear" non-subscriber MICHAEL DENNETT writes:

  "On page seven of your Vol. 42, No. 5 there appears what claims to be a message from Erik Beckjord. I believe this communication must be a forgery. My reason is that the contents of the message are widely different from a telephone conversation I had with the real Erik Beckjord shortly after the incident in question, In that phone talk I asked Erik about his threatened lawsuit. At that time he told me he was not only serious about the suit but also confident in his success in court.

  "I asked how he could afford an attorney. He replied that there were many recent law school graduates hungry to ply their trade in Florida. He told me he was looking for one that would take his case pro bono, although I don't think he used those exact words. He assured me that he would not settle for a mere grand but anticipated a much larger settlement.

  "I suppose it is possible that Erik was fibbing to me in our phone conversation in the hope that I would thus participate in the `jerking of your chain'. But I think it more plausible that the `missive~ on page seven is a fake from an enemy of Erik's. You might want to pass this on to Erik as I am sure he would like to know if someone is sending letters to `Smear' and using his name."

  Researcher TOM CAREY writes as follows:

  "At the risk of joining battle in a `pissing contest', I feel compelled to respond to Robert Todd's curious and unwarranted outburst which was directed at Kevin Randle in your latest -missive or missile, take your pick.

  "Robert Todd, a `true unbeliever' and debunker in the Klassical sense, claims to be an objective researcher - at least that is the line that he seems to fool people with. In this role, especially with respect to Roswell, Philip Klass loves to refer to him, Dennis Stacy and Barry Greenwood love to publish the latest mutterings by him, and the Air Force loves to praise him. Why else would they do this and continually refer to him as a `respected UFO researcher'? How will the reading public ever know that this is false representation at its worst if dissenting views never reach the light of day? Why are some voices permitted to be heard, while others are suppressed? What's wrong with letting the reading public make up their own minds?

  "Although it does not explain Roswell, Todd's Project Mogul research was a nice piece of research as far as it went. Since then, however, he seems to have `lost it', and has become a crude practitioner of what he accused Kevin Randle of being (something to the effect that Randle is a biased, untruthful writer of fiction-passed-off-as-fact) in his latest ad hominem attack on Randle, which appeared in the most recent issue of `Smear'. (I guess that's why it was printed.)

  "While I know these charges against Randle to be without merit, the same cannot be said of Todd. Last year, the `MUPON UFO Journal' and `Just Cause' published essentially the same piece by Todd that alleges that Dr. Lincoln LaPaz of `green fireball' fame played no role whatsoever in the Roswell events. ... To arrive at his conclusion, Todd was forced to ignore witness testimony he didn't like, twist witness testimony that didn't fit his premise, and stand logic and reason on its head. I had to read it several times (upside down) just to make sure that I read it right. Intellectually dishonest and truly embarrassing!..."

  To which ROBERT TODD replies, in part:

  "...The primary reason I am writing concerns a June 6th letter you may have received from Kevin `Wrong Way' Ramble's sycophant, Tom Carey. I read Carey's flatulent letters to Dennis Stacy and Barry Greenwood, and wrote responses to both. Because his letters were never published, neither were my responses. His letters demonstrated that he's a propagandist, and that he either cannot read, or cannot think, or both. As he did in his letter to you, he accused me of twisting witness statements and `standing logic and reason on its (sic) head'. This from a man who worships at the feet of another man who reads documents upside down and sideways to achieve the desired results.. I've had my fill of religious zealots like Carey...

  "I'm flattered that Carey compared me to Phil Klass. That is, I'd be flattered if I gave a damn what Carey thinks. I had no extensive dealings with Klass until Roswell mushroomed into the biggest money-maker in ufological history. I was a bit reticent about having any contact with him, given the portrait that `ufologists' painted of him. To hear them tell it, Phil Kiass is the antichrist, a seven-headed monster who wouldn't know the truth if it walked up to him and broke his jaw. The sad fact is that Phil Klass has uncovered more truth than any fifty `ufologists' I can name. I'd take one Phil Klass over a thousand Kevin Rambles and a thousand Tom Careys any day of the week...

  Famed UFO abductee BETTY HILL writes as follows:

  "Recent court hearings in New Hampshire (where I live) may become as important and well known as the famous `Monkey Trial' regarding evolution in Tennessee in the l9ZOs. The question was: Are repressed memories valid? Two women said they had recovered repressed memories of having been raped years ago. One said she had been thrown to the classroom floor and raped by her teacher. The second woman said her father had raped her two nights before her wedding. Should these men face trial on these charges?

  "The court held hearings over a period of several weeks. Top experts came to New Hampshire nationwide. In May, the court ruled these two women could not testify against the accused because their accusations were based on recovered memories. ...

  "This court ruling may be helpful to the general public in separating the facts from the fantasies in UFO abductions."

  We agree with Betty Hill's remarks here, but we recall that in her own UFO abduction case, she and her late husband Barney were only aware of "missing time" until they were repeatedly hypnotized separately over a period of time. In this way they gradually remembered their experiences aboard the craft. - Editor.

  French ufologist JEAN SIDER writes:

  "Thank you for your very droll Vol. 4, No. 5.

  "No balls at all? Normal, if we consider the numerous testimonies from witnesses of CE4. Please note that during the sad Inquisition, many witnesses when interrogated claimed that the demon with which they had intercourse had not the least sex, but when these demons transformed their form into a very beautiful man, THEY HAD ONE!

  "Please note also that in the famous or infamous Ray Santilli Roswell film, one can see a so-called `Alien' autopsied by two `medics'. This entity is very strange: without sex. Normal? Yes. But another thing is stranger: There are SIX fingers on each hand, and SIX toes on each foot!

  These and other clues show that the so-called film of Ray Santilli is probably a put-up job!..."

  TIM LAUZON writes:

  "...According to Santilli, he hasn't offered the Roswell film(s) for sale, although he's had offers to buy. Of course the aliens have no balls he says - they're female. Santilli also says that he is trying to publicize the film(s) through the media without the `help' of ufologists, and he characterizes the UFO `experts' as a self-promoting, argumentative and contentious lot. He must read `Saucer Smear'.

  Yes, we have read that Santilli says the creatures are "all femail (sic)".

  But would a highly advanced race be reckless enough to let their women run a spaceship unsupervised? We male sexists need an answer to this burning question! - Editor.

  MONTY CANTSIN writes as follows:

  "...An example cf the absurdity of skeptics is your mockery of the idea that aliens have no external genetalia, and yet they presumably reproduce. Don't you know that only mammals have external genitalia, and that aliens, being hairless, are obviously not mammals? Your ignorance of science is so typical of skeptical `rationalists'. And the mysterious disappearance of the nurse who showed Glenn Dennis drawings of aliens would certainly point to the existence of aliens and to a government cover-up."

  And, British UFO author JENNY RANDLES writes:

  "No doubt you have been following the Roswell video saga as it unfolds almost daily.... For the record I should say that I have deep reservations about the way BUFORA seems to be associated with the matter - notably the apparent endorsement of it, to sell tickets for the August conference. BUFORA argues that they are not endorsing the film, but the article in `The Independent' written by Philip Mantle (of BUFORA) uses terms difficult to call anything else, in my view..."

  Our olde pal DENNIS STILLINGS of the Archaeus Project writes:

  "This is to let you know that one of the few connections I still have with the sick world of ufology is through `Smear' You continue to treat the subject of UFOs with all the seriousness it deserves - and then some. The highlights for me in the last issue were George Hansen's comments and the rather toney - certainly for `Smear' - poem by the very talented Ms. Aggen. Someone, however, should look up the spelling of `tattoo'?

  Finally, we must somehow deal with this rather strange letter from Intercourse, Pa., written by one PENISKO ROMANTIKOV. It reads:

  "Dear Comrade Moseley:
  "I am coming to America just seven years from glorious Soviet Union, and am reading much books and magazines on spaceships and abduction of American chicks. I like the idea that aliens use so many electronic devices on millions of American women, because I am knowing that chioks like probing by little men with big tools. In your glorious `Smear' paper I can see that you too like such things, and I am hoping you will tell more about New York City woman,who floats out windows and rides saucer into river. (Talk about lady drivers!)

  "You are great ufologist: First to say alien comrades have no balls, so they must use tools! Come to think of it, Captain Randle says they have no tongues either. Now I am UFO expert too!"