• The Roswell Circus Continues
• Tidbits of Trash
• The Book Bag
• Missives From the Masses

In his July 1995 issue of Skeptics UFO Newsletter (SUN), Phil Klass tells us about Roswell witness Jim Ragsdale, who seems to have shifted the location of the "crash site" from 35 miles north of Roswell to roughly 50 miles west. Klass believes that this change of locations is tied in with the fact that the newly-named location can be made into a tourist site, whereas the old one cannot.

Incredibly, from another source we hear that Ragsdale now claims to have found 15 helmets made of gold belonging to the aliens, and to have buried them in the desert! (Unfortunately, the precise location is not revealed!) It is also unfortunate that Ragsdale, who had been ill for some time, died earlier this year. Thus he is not likely to change his story again or add any more details!

On July 4th weekend there was a UFO convention in Roswell, to celebrate the 47th anniversary of the event. It is amazing that 47 years went by before the Roswell Chamber of Commerce saw fit to sponsor such an event, which was held in conjunction with two of the three UFO museums which now exist in and near the little town. Your editor visited Roswell this past May but no one told us about the upcoming convention, which was called "The First Roswell UFO Encounter". According to a press report, it featured "costume contests, float races, laser-light shows, open forums with leading UFO researchers, and live entertainment."

We do have a report on the "open forum with leading UPO researchers". Stanton Friedman, Kevin Randle, Don Schmitt (no longer working with Randle), and cattle mutilation expert Linda Howe were the four speakers at a high school auditorium on the Friday evening of the convention, Each spoke briefly, with a long question & answer session to follow. Other "experts", such as Michael Swords and MUFON czar Walt Andrus were in town for the event, but were not on the program.

It is interesting to note that there is no mention of the town of Roswell or Roswell Army Air Field in Frank Scully's 1950 classic book, "Behind the Flying Saucers", which talks about several other alleged UFO crash sites in the southwest. Our first trip to the southwest as a UFO investigator was only three years later (1953), when independent Scully-type rumors were still circulating, and none of these mentioned Roswell, either. Apparently the legend didn't really get started till the 1978-1980 period, when Bill Moore, Stanton Friedman and others were gathering information for the Moore-Berlitz book, "The Roswell Incident". We shouldn't say it, but the parallels between the Roswell legend and the growth of Christian doctrine in the years after Christ's death cannot be overlooked!

Then there is the absurd Roswell video, discussed in detail in our April 15th issue of "Smear". We have seen bad copies of still pictures from this video, but not the video itself. The rumor persists that then-President Harry S. Truman is seen in it somewhere, either in the autopsy room, or wandering through the debris field, or stepping out of a limousine on the desert. How utterly childish this is, considering the not unreasonable fear of contamination from genuine aliens. The panic caused by Orson Welles' famous 1938 broadcast about a fictional Martian invasion was still fairly fresh in the public mind in 1947, and one remembers that in the movie "War of the Worlds", on the same theme, it was earthly germs that saved the world from the interplanetary invaders.

It is a little-known fact that there apparently is a federal law in the United States known as the Extraterrestrial Exposure Law (Title 14, Section 1211 of the Code of Federal Regulations, adopted July 16th, 1969, before the Apollo moon shots.) Anyone found guilty of "extraterrestrial contact", which is only vaguely defined, is subject to a jail term of up to one year and a fine of up to five thousand dollars. The purpose of this law is obviously fear of extraterrestrial contamination. If enforced, the law would prevent publication of UFO contact or abduction reports except under cover of anonymity. This law may have been rescinded in the early l980s. (For further details, send for the June 1995 issue of "Delve", 17 Shetland Street, Willowdale, Ont. Canada M2M 1X5.)

So while the Roswell researchers play with their myths and legends, apparently the real Feds live in fear that such a thing as the alleged Roswell crash may really happen someday, and they will then have to deal with it. Meanwhile, we breathlessly await the final report of the General Accounting Office (GAO) in response to the request by Rep. Steven Schiff of New Mexico. Our information to date indicates that the GAO is going to walk a tightrope, so to speak, and issue a report which appears to address Schiff's complaints, at the same time that it avoids criticizing the Air Force, and avoids giving any fuel to interplanetary theories. In other words, the report will be worthless!

Gosh, we'd really like to believe in the Roswell Incident, and in particular we just wish we had gotten to know good old Jim Ragsdale before he died, so that maybe he'd tell us the exact location of those 15 golden helmets. Gosh!...

P.S: Another very interesting though negative commentary on the Roswell case can be found in a 2-page thing called "The Cowflop Quarterly - Reporting on Ufological Frauds and Fantasies", Vol. 1, No. 1, which was mailed out together with Barry Greenwood's March 1995 issue cf his excellent zine "Just Cause". The editor of "The Cowflop Quarterly" is Robert Todd, who has clashed recently with several pro-ET Roswell investigators His address i5: 2528 Belmont Ave., Ardmore, Pa. 19003-2617....

P.P.S. and Just at press time we learned that the infamous Roswell video is now available to American fans in a half-hour version, via The U.F.0. Audio-Video Clearing House, P.O. Box 342, Yucaipa, Ca. 92399-0342. The videos will be shipped to the customers directly from England, and will reach you about September 15th (hopefully!) Dave Aaron, director of U.F.0. Audio-Video Clearing House, has enough disclaimers on his 2-page flier to choak a horse, such as:

"...(4) This `Alien Autopsy' footage shows the cutting open of the head to expose some kind of `brain' . Scotland Yard in England was informed of this footage and says it's a `fantasy' and refused to investigate the footage or even look at It!..."

• Recent issues of "Smear" have been enhanced by the efforts of a talented poet and artist named Gail Aggen, who is enthusiastic about all aspects of the UFO enigma. Below is a black & white rendition of a color photograph of one of her many UFO paintings, this one called "Swamp Gas, Ball Lighning or the Planet Venus", to which we would add "Or All of the Above". The painting is an artist's conception based on the famed 1989 abduction of Linda Napolitano (aka Linda Cortile) from her New York City apartment. Linda is the female figure at the center of the painting, hovering in midair in the fetal position.
  
  Copyright 1994 by Gail Aggen

  We would also like to give profuse thanks to Matt Graeber, who has contributed several of his cartoons to this issue and other recent issues of "Smear". Matt also writes serious articles on the UFO subject, which are too long for our format...
  

  

  And, philosopher/author Robert Anton Wilson runs a zine called "Trajectories", from which we borrow somewhat freely for "Smear". Take a look- see at "Trajectories" by writing to The Permanent Press, P.0. Box 700305, San Jose, Ca. 95170...

• BEHOLD, a brand new flying saucer zine has landed in our midst, published by an up-and-coming but somewhat skeptical fellow in Pensacola (next to Gulf Breeze, Fl.) named Tim Brigham. The name of the zine is "The Devil's Advocate" - an excellent title, which apparently was suggested by your humble "Smear" editor. And speaking of whom, the very first issue is dedicated largely to an in- depth interview with none other than James Moseley, on a wide range of ufological topics. Address: P.O. Box 10853, Pensacola, Fl. 32524....

• "Smear" has obtained a copy of the confidential agenda for the MUFON Board of Directors meeting, held as part of this year's MUFON Convention in Seattle, Washington. There are now 22 Directors, including John Mack. As a loyal (?) MUFONite, your editor won't reveal the figures regarding grants from the Bigelow Foundation, but we can't resist quoting Walt Andrus' slap at MUFON Journal editor Dennis Stacy: -

  "Few people realize the amount of work that the Associate Editor, Walt Andrus, must perform in producing the final copy for the printers that would normally be expected of the Editor."

  If "few people" realize this (assuming that it's true), now a few more people do!...

• Inner Earth devotee Harley Byrd is holding a convention on Sept. 23-24 at a hotel somewhere in or near Los Angeles, one presumes. He won't give out the location for fear that MUFONites and/or other ufological enemies will show up! Meanwhile, Byrd's arch-enemy Erik Beckjord has re-opened his former Bigfoot Museum, also in the Los Angeles area. He does give out the location, but we won't! (Ain't ufoology grand???)....

• The most interesting of the lot is "West Virginia: Close Encounters in the Mountain State", by Bob Teets (P.O. Box 52, Terra Alta, W.Va. 26764). This is a large 200-page soft-cover book containing over 150 UFO cases based on eyewitness accounts from West Virginians in all walks of life and from every area of the state. It is very professionally written, in the style of the sociologist/historian, not the fanatic; and it is profusely scattered with interesting illustrations.

  Teets also publishes "West Virginia UFO Newsletter", now in its 4th issue. How could we dislike this newsletter when one of the current writers describes your humble "Smear" editor as one of ufology's "greatest figures", together with George Adamski, Howard Menger, and Donald Keyhoe (who must be writhing in his grave over that one!) This bi-monthly newsletter is available from the same address given above....

• Old Howard Menger is still alive and kicking, and together with his long-time wife Connie has written a new book, called "Threads of Light to You". Their daughter, Heidi Evans, adds the sub-title: "Opening Your Eyes to Endless Knowledge, Forever Learning, but Never Knowing All". This is "sweetness & light" New Age stuff - not our cup of tea, of course - but there are those on this planet who will enjoy it, and perhaps some on other planets as well. Also available is an audio tape of Heidi singing and playing (on the piano) a song coincidentally called "Threads of Light to You". Howard Menger can be reached at: 845 28th Ave., Vero Beach, Fl. 32960....

• Next we would mention "Roswell UFO Crash Update: Exposing the Military Cover-Up of the Century", by that well-known former military officer Captain Kevin Randle (Ret.) The front cover contains a wonderful psychedelic painting of the good former Captain himself, and the back cover tells us that this tome contains "the latest evidence", including "death threats to witnesses, removal of alien bodies", etc., etc. What is between the covers, you might wonder? Buy the book and find out, by writing to our olde pal Tim Beckley, c/o Global Communications, P.O. Box 753, New Brunswick, N.J. 08903....

• Finally, ace French ufologist Jean Sider has kindly sent us the latest in his series of UFO books, called "Contacts Supra-Terrestres", subtitled "L`Illusion Cosmique (The Cosmic Illusion), Volume Two". Now, we do know how to read French (painfully), but if we rarely read UFO books in English, it isn't likely we'll take the time and trouble to read one in French, is it? The publisher is Axis Mundi; S.A.R.L., Orion; 20218 Pietralba, France. Bon appetit! (Hope we spelled that right!), and adieu til our next glorious issue of "Smear"!

• BETTY HILL of abduction fame writes as follows:

  "In your last issue of `Saucer Smear' you referred to the hypnosis Barney and I had. The kind we had is basically unknown in this country, but it is quite common in Europe. It is used in surgery, Ceasarian births, to control bleeding, to open up medical amnesia, as well as other medical procedures. Twice in the last six months, the TV program `48 hours' has shown a patient undergoing major abdominal surgery while in a trance only.

  "About 1945 the U.S. Army made a film of Dr. Simon's use of his hypnosis in the treatment of servicemen returning from World War Two. About 1990 a shortened version of this film was released and has been shown on PBS. Title: `Let There Be Light'....

  "In our book, `The Interrupted Journey', Dr. Simon wrote a segment explaining the stages of hypnosis, testing to determine the stage, use and understanding of each stage in our attempt to preserve hypnosis from misuse, and we failed. Our hypnosis has no similarities to the kinds being used in this country.

  "Incidentally, we did NOT have missing time. We clearly remembered the UFO men standing in the road, blocking our way. We clearly saw the equipment they used to stall our car motor. We could not remember what happened on board the craft, but we clearly remembered their pacing our car for awhile after we left them. The day we arrived home, we reported this incident to the police and to Pease Air Force Base..."

  Betty Hill has a new book coming out very shortly. - Editor.

• JOHN FORD, Chairman of the Long Island UFO-Network (LIUFON) writes:

  "This past year, the unusual and controversial Mr. William Knell, a self-proclaimed expert on the UFO phenomenon in the New York area, embarked again on his vendetta to slander and libel my good name and the good name of LIUFON. Over the past six years myself, members of my family, friends, colleagues and members of LIUFON have suffered from Mr. Knell's vendetta in silence and in an effort to ignore what is obvious to the UFO Research community are the ravings of a discredited researcher who lacks any credibility.

  "This, however, is no longer the case. This year Mr. Knell has slandered and libeled my good name for the last time, with his recent vicious and defaming articles and publications. Mr. Knell has been served with legal papers for slander, libel and character defamation in the area of $60 million dollars in damages to which he has failed to respond. As of this writing he stands in default on the actions and soon will face the execution of a multi million dollar judgment...."

  We have had no use whatever for Knell ever since he mailed us a series of death threats, a couple of years or so ago. - Editor.

• DR. JOHN MILLER writes:

  "...In regard to my research on `missing fetus' cases, Dr. Richard Neal and I have still not found any cases that could be documented with objective medical proof, despite the fact that these `missing fetus' experiences function as a powerful and disturbing subjective reality for those that report these experiences...

  "We are still looking for a documentable case of this problem. In the cases that we have seen, either documentation was lacking or when medical records were obtained, some non-mysterious cause for apparent pregnancy loss was found..."

• Famed free-lance writer PATRICK HUYGHE writes:

  "Yeah, yeah, so Donald Schmitt is a mailman. No big deal, right? But wait a minute: Barry Greenwood also works for the Post Office. So does Pat Marcatillo. So does Tom Benson. So does Lucius Farish. Or so I'm told by someone who says he doesn't work for the Post Office. I wonder how many more UFO researchers there are out there who have kept their employment at the Post Office a secret from us? Maybe there's something to this after all. Perhaps we've been FOlAing the wrong agency all this time. Could the United States Post Office be the guardian of the UFO secret? Aha!...

  Tom Benson, though a bureaucrat, does not work for the Post Office.- Editor

• And, the above-mentioned TOM BENSON writes:

  "In your recent `Saucer Smear', you mention that Jerome Clark is working on Volume 3 of a 4 volume UFO Encyclopedia. I hope that the accuracy of the next volumes will be better than the last Volume 2. For example, on page 49 of that Volume, Clark states, regarding Orfeo Angelucci, one of the famous contactees of the 1950s, that `he is reported to have died in Los Angeles sometime in the 1980s.' Actually, Orfeo `Orville' Angelucci, 81, died on July 24, 1993 in Los Angeles."

• Lovable old PHIL KLASS writes as follows:

  "...If you dare say anything nasty against dear, gentle, sweet, kind Jerry Clark, I will personally arrange for you to be abducted by a UFO or by the Mafia. Be forewarned."

• MICHAEL DENNETT writes as follows, regarding the recent MUFON convention:

  "...Perhaps the biggest attraction outside the lecture room was Phil Klass. He told me that he signed about a dozen autographs and mugged for numerous photos, many with Believers next to him. Even George Earley was seen sitting next to Phil like they were old buddies...

  "While skepticism was almost absent from the presentations, I did detect considerable sentiment among the attenders that all was not taken at face value."

• ROBERT ANTON WILSON writes:

  "...I wish you would read a book occasionally. All futurists have made errors, but the ones with the best track records include Bucky Fuller, Barbara Hubbard and, well, me. The `9Os have moved very much in the direction all three of us forecast, but I can't explain that in a letter, or even an article; so if you won't read books, I might as well drop the subject.

  "What else do you fear, besides books and machines?..."

  Almost everything! - Editor.

• JEFFREY KING writes us one of the most delightful letters we have ever received:

  "Thank you for the back issues of `Saucer Smear'... I look forward to being a non-subscriber to your newsletter.

  "As a praoticing attorney, I am used to double-dealing, unsupported assertions made to advance a position, and outright lying to accomplish a chosen end. After reading the issues of `Saucer Smear' you sent me, I can now say I have found a profession the members of which are worse than attorneys in all of these areas - ufology. It's about time somebody started making lawyers appear noble and dignified by comparison!"

• DIANA DeSIMONE of Massachusetts MUFON writes conoerning Ed and Donna Bassett, who are doing an expose on abductionist John Mack of Harvard:

  "You are kind to inquire, and I'm grateful to have the opportunity to present a different kind of statement than the one I sent to the MUFON Journal. Since few people know me and fewer still have any background on the Bassetts' short year here, I didn't think anyone would notice or care about that stupid reference to me in the April issue of the Journal...

  "What the Bassetts will use, misuse, misunderstand or deliberately warp is a genuine concern to me if a book is underway. I cannot rely on their journalistic ethics which are non-existent, nor their consideration of me as a friend, since it is clear I am not.

  "If their intention was only to do an expose of a UFO cult, it should have been clear to them that I had worked hard for Mass. MUFON with exactly the opposite purpose. I was motivated only by my personal interest, took the subject and the group as far as it seemed useful, and resigned when I thought I could do no more. My resignation effective this spring was announced last January and planned since last year.

  "The reason the Journal article was harmful is that it recalled the Bassetts' betrayal as well as leaving my name exposed. It is consistent with MUFON's lack of support for state directors (who work at their own expense to keep MUFON solvent) that Walt Andrus didn't stop it from going to print, and Dennis Stacy's bogus apology ended with a threat!..."

• HERB TAYLOR writes as follows:

  "Enclosed is a `love offering', purely voluntary of course (well, almost). `Smear' is a great little newsletter, & I look forward to receiving it. The latest issue once again illustrates why ufology is in one hell of a mess. The letter from Tom Carey and the response from Robert Todd both show the bitterness and animosity that Roswell has spawned. I continue to marvel at the blinders worn by the Roswell advocates... And the latest fiasco by Bruce Maccabee - what a damn shame! Another `expert' down the tubes. It's plain sickening!"

• PAT DAVEY of Raton, New Mexico, writes:

  "Many thanks for Vol. 42, No. 5 of `Smear' - the best yet. My very favorite thing is Gail Aggen's poem `Alien Tattoo'. This broke me up! I shared it with several others, but their sense of humor wasn't as warped as mine, and they acted as if I'd presented them with vile porno! Well,,, there's no sane explanation, I guess, for the taste of some earthlings...

• Researcher LEE WALSH writes:

  "...When are they going to give up trying to push the Carp/Guardian crapola down our throats? Maybe we'll get really lucky and that, along with the `wonderful and new' Roswell video will go away at the same time.

  You should have put the `Guardian ravings' under the `Tidbits of Trash''.

• VAGINAYA ROMANTIKOVA of Blue Ball, Pa. (near Intercourse), writes:

  "Dearest Moseley:
  "Am most amused by controversy about alien balls, or lack thereof, into which my male chauvinist reactionary-communist cousin Penisko has thrust himself. I am noting that you, honored Moseley, question possibility genitalia - soft tissue - may have been gobbled up by unashamed predatory beasts. I am noting also whole debate is about absence of balls. Why no mentioning of penises? As woman, suspect this due to male resistance to thinking of penis as soft tissue. Does this make me UFO expert too?"

• Finally, our well-known critic MONTY CANTSIN writes as follows:

  "...I can't figure out Kevin Randle. He's starting to strike me as a government agent who takes the pro-alien position in order not to be believed...Randle's obscurification, even as he claims to be trying to throw light on a hidden subject, certainly sounds like typical shadow government tactics. Or is it just another example of your own editorial mutilation?"