| EDITOR AND STILL SUPREME COMMANDER: James W. Moseley
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR:
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NON-SCHEDULED NEWSLETTER Volume 48, No. 9 November 1st, 2001 |
MAILING ADDRESS: P. 0. Box 1709 Key West, FL 33041 |
CONVENTION UPDATE
At 8:30 on the morning of Sept. llth, your fearless editor took off on American Airlines on a flight from Key West to Miami, on the first leg of our journey to Austin. As most of you know, at about 8:45 the first of two planes (also American Airlines!) hit the World Trade Center in New York. When we arrived at the Miami airport at about 9:30, this and various updates were on the CNN News; but one by one the airport televisions were turned off by order of the airport authorities, because of "fear of panic in an airport during a national emergency".
All flights were cancelled, and everyone had to scramble for their baggage at the same time. The airlines made no attempt to find accomodations for anyone except international passengers! We found a motel in Miami where we stayed at great expense for two nights, hoping that the airports would reopen. When it became clear that there was no choice but to cancel the Austin Con., we rented a car, to get back to Key West.
Miles Lewis, local chairman for the Austin NUFOC, was upset because we decided to cancel the convention
rather than postpone it into January of 2002. That would have meant there would be no 2001 NUFOC
at all, after 37 consecutive years! So we decided to combine with Pat Marcattilio's "Great
UFO/ET Congress of 2001", which was held on the weekend of October 6th-7th in Bordontown, New
Jersey. We have done this combined effort with Marcattilio in two previous years, but never at
the last minute like this.
Your editor flew to New Jersey in early October, to speak there on the 6th, and several other well-known UFO personalities were also on Pat's speakers list - including Major George Filer (Ret.), Antonio Huneeus, Susan Swiatek, Ron Story, and George Hansen. (The latter two have just brought out new books, incidentally.) The crowd at the convention could be described as small but enthusiastic.
Regarding next year's NUFOC, there are several possible sites currently under Consideration, and we hope to have reached a decision by the time the next issue of "Smear" comes out - circa December 1st.
Regarding the terrorist bombings, all kinds of silliness has emerged, including newly-discovered predictions by Nostradamus which seem to explain things to the satisfaction of some people. To us the most interesting little-publicized angle is the possibility that wealthy friends of Bin Laden went "short" on airline stocks just before Sept. llth, in anticipation of their sudden decline in value. This would be trading on the basis of inside information, which is probably illegal on all stock exchanges in the world! Egads, these people will stoop to anything!
STONED AGAIN!
Former Army Sergeant Clifford Stone has become one of the most vocal and sensational supporters
of former M.D. Steven Greer, according to recent material on the Net. When we met Stone a few
years ago, he was working as a security guard in a shopping mall in Roswell, N.M. We had a
pleasant, lengthy interview with him, and he told us of several military ufological angles he
was researching regarding UFO secrecy. However, he definitely did not mention any personal
experiences with aliens, or anything of the sort!
Apparently the wild-eyed atmosphere of Roswell has finally gotten to the good man, because now he has remembered several personal experiences from years earlier, when he was on active duty around the age of 19. About 1969 (he's not sure of the year), Stone was allegedly on duty in Indian Town Gap, Pennsylvania, when he was called upon to take radiation level readings from what appeared to be a heel-shaped crashed spacecraft. There were four dead aliens inside it, according to Stone's story.
On a different occasion, Stone and another soldier helped a live alien to escape from the military, as they felt sorry for the creature. Stone does not give any details at all about this incident, nor about why he was not courtmartialed if the story is true!
We are told that the first-mentioned incident involved details very much indeed like those given by Roswell witness Frank Kaufmann. This, by Saucer Logic, is confirmation, as it shows that almost identical spacecraft have crashed in at least two widely separated parts of the country! Wheee!
THE PASSING PARADE
A BITTER BLAST FROM THE PAST!
In our last issue, in discussing the anti-Randi website, we stated, "He can't vouch for the authenticity of all the information thereon", other than the fact that the text of the famed "Blackmail Tape" is indeed given accurately.
Little did we know at that time that our ex-wife Sandra Moseley (nee Sandra Swendsin, aka Amanda Stevenson) had sent the anonymous anti-Randi website master two wild expose-type messages about your humble "Smear" editor. Sandra, whom we divorced way back in 1965, accuses us of having had Sex with both James Randi and the late Gray Barker - but, fortunately, not at the same time!
These messages were received at that website on July 21st, but for some reason they were not posted till Sept. 3rd. Strangely, on July 24th, we received a phone call from famed spoon bender Uri Geller, now living in England. We had not heard from him at all in several years. He deliberately never mentioned Sandra's ravings, but the timing and content of his call tells us that he was well aware of them. He asked us for negative information about Randi that we had already given him years earlier. Thus no trickery on his part was necessary! In view of said trickery, we now feel that both Geller and Randi are rather sleazy individuals, and that they richly deserve each other!
The last "Smear" was mailed out on August 24th. On about Sept. 8th, the anti-Randi website disappeared semi-mysteriously, and has not been seen since! There are several possible reasons for this, not worth going into here.
Several days ago, after returning to Key West from our recent travels to Arizona and New Jersey, we received a phone call from Scott Cart, editor of "The Flying Saucer Gazette" (soon to re-begin publication after a gap,) informing us of email he had just received from Sandra. In it she accused us of any number of truly dreadful things, including several murders! (We kid you not.) Worst of all, she calls your editor "a lifelong FANATICAL Republican". Nothing could be further from the Truth!
Obviously we are dealing here with a seriously deranged person, who had best be ignored. 1965 was a long time ago, and a more normal person would have long since gotten over any unpleasant memories. Or, focused more fairly on the pleasant memories, if any.
TIDBITS OF TRASH (formerly NEWS BRIEFIES)
Naturally the Verdants feel threatened by our "Star Wars" weapon systems, which they believe are designed to shoot down their spacecraft. They also don't eat meat, and are against the 20% of earthlings who comprise what they call "geoplutocrats". That's us rich folks!
Krapf has written two contactee-type books, called "The Contact Has Begun" and "The Challenge of Contact". If someone will send us (free) copies of these tomes, we will try hard to give them objective reviews in "Smear". We will, however, have to try very hard in order to achieve that goal!...
The MUFON hierarchy likes Larry Bryant when he is making endless, largely futile requests to governmental agencies, demanding more public information about UFOs. (That's why they made Larry MUFON's Director of Governmental Affairs. ) But when the same Larry Bryant turns on the MUFON hierarchy, as he often does, they tend to get huffy about it!...
We should mention that the Sept. llth tragedy and the general economic slowdown have had a seriously adverse effect on MUFON's finances, according to Schuessler. We would hate to see this organization actually shut down, but it's a possibility!...
"I hate to say this, but I agree with Karl here. I think they have gone home." -Kevin Randle, 14 June, 2001 (on the UFO Skeptics internet list)
I'm not sure what evidence - or lack thereof - causes Kevin to share my view, but I do appreciate his support. As for me, the dramatic drop off in the frequency of credible, substantive sightings since the early/mid-1970s is only one and not the most important reason for my thinking They have split. Much more important is the change in the nature of what's being reported.
In the 1940s and '50s, most reports were of elliptical, semi-elliptical (e.g., Arnold's skipping saucers), spherical, circular, and cigar-shaped somethings - all shapes consistent with things of essentially the same discoidal form presenting different aspects to the viewer. (Though there were accounts of cigar-shaped things - mother ships? - that unequivocally were just that.) As reported, these saucers were nuts-and-bolts gizmos, often seen flying in formation, usually in twos and threes, sometimes in large numbers. A high proportion of sightings, perhaps even a majority, were made in broad daylight - silvery disks/ellipsoids whizzing through, hovering, and rendezvousing in the blue. Even many, perhaps most night sightings were not just of lights in the sky, but rather of objects of definite shape and substance (e.g., the dramatically agile formation of red-glowing disks sighted by airline pilots Mash and Fortenberry on July 14, 1952).
The saucers seemed to be on a mission - surveying our planet. They were checking out our cities, military installations, nuclear weapons labs, dams, and power plants, testing the capabilities of our aircraft and radar, etc. They weren't just giving us a once over. They were studying us closely, but doing so cautiously, at arm's length. Just the sort of thing we'd do if we stumbled upon an extraterrestrial civilization.
Then they began to look even closer. Beginning in the early 1950s, reports of low-flying/hovering, even landed saucers began to crop up with some regularity. The "weird machines" (who am I quoting, saucer fiends?) buzzed cars on lonely roads, and sometimes it seemed they accidentally/deliberately discombobulated the vehicles' electrical systems, killing engines and headlights and silencing Elvis on the radio!
Then came the "little men" reports. Many apparently credible and honest people claimed to have seen parties of little humanoids busily gathering soil and plant samples, inspecting and even snatching farm animals and pets. Sometimes they also seemed to be carrying out repairs on their saucers. (Hey! Even Super Technology isn't perfect!)
0ops! Out of Space till next ish...
Story is a very nice guy, and we know that he worked long and hard on this book - as he apparently missed several deadlines from his publisher, New American Library. However, a superficial look shows that the essence of the book - the editing - has not been done nearly as well as it should have. This is very disappointing. Story would blame the problem on the fact that his publisher cut hundreds of pages from his manuscript, but that's not the whole story. (What is the Story, Ron?)
It would indeed be tedious to make a detailed comparison of this encyclopedia's entries vs. those in the earlier book, but we did a little of it. Gray Barker and Leonard Stringfield have been dropped, apparently because they are dead, but J. Allen Hynek is dead too, and he's still in there! Important (to us) figures such as August C. Roberts (now deceased), Tom Benson, and Wendelle Stevens didn't make it into either edition.
Your humble "Smear" editor has a lot more space in the new edition than the old one. Actually, our "position statement" is much longer than needed! And Story never checked with us about his biographical comments, which include the statement: "In 1984 he (Moseley) and his wife Anna opened their present (emphasis added) primitive art gallery in Key West, Florida."
This biographical statement is grossly inaccurate! We were never married to Anna (Montgomery), who moved back north alone in 1986. By 1990 the primitive art gallery gave way to Rose Lane Gardens (a guest house for tourists), and in 1996 the property was sold. Why didn't Story ever run this biographical statement past us, in all the times we talked on the phone? This, quite frankly, bodes ill for the accuracy of the rest of the material in the book!
Story gives five full pages to the Nazca Lines of Peru. We love the Nazca Lines. We are quite familiar with them, and we wrote one of the three commentaries on the Lines in these five pages. But it is just too much space for a topic that is only marginally connected with the UFO mystery!
This volume, unlike the 1980 one, has a table of contents. Both have a bibliography but no index.
The book can be ordered for $9.99 postpaid directly from Story at: 3540 32nd Ave. N., #ll4; St. Petersburg, Fl. 33713, U.S.A., Earth!
Sorry, Ron, but you're no Jerry Clark!
"Tell Lydia that I seem to be a giant because I am surrounded by mental midgets."Serious eye surgery has added to my legendary poverty. But I may have the popcorn concession when the alleged (Mothman) movie opens on Feb. 22, 2002.
"I hear you are going to TAHITI on your income tax refund.
"The Clarksburg photo really did you justiceø You looked like a drunken bum - as usual.
"I still have stiches in my eyeball. Great fun.
"Stay sick -
John A. Keel"
"I have a question that has never been satisfactorily answered by anyone: Just how in the hell did Jesse Marcel Sr.'s full military record (less the medical record) get out into mainstream Ufology? I have had dealings with the Records Center in Sto Louis for nearly ten years. I have tried to get my own records and have failed, other than the small segments that are considered 'public'. This was about 16 pages that included the schools I attended, both military and civilian; assignments; special qualifications; and awards and decorations; but not the whole file."Further, the Privacy Act of 1974 has made it even more difficult to obtain these records. When there is a response from St. Louis, it carries a cover sheet that refers to the Privacy Act, and tells us that only the person named has a right to the files, and if the former service member is deceased, then the next of kin must sign a statement allowing the record to be released. Since Jesse Marcel Sr. is deceased, and Jesse Marcel Jr. would have been the next of kin and he signed no such document, the question becomes - just how did Marcel Sr.'s service record arrive in the UFO community? And, no, a FOIA request will not trump the Privacy Act."
"Great to talk with you a couple of nights ago!"By the way, the index in my new book only covers the main body of the text. Your name appears on the following pages: ll; 143; 447 notes 36, 37; 458 note 39; 460 note 1; 512.
"Also, on my Website, in order to establish my credentials as a bona fide ufologist, I say: 'For a decade the author has been a contributor and loyal non-subscriber to "Saucer Smear", the most glorious zine in ufodumb. Its editor, James Moseley, the clown prince of ufoology, is an exemplary trickster figure - a believer, a grand hoaxer, and a debunker, all in one.'
"Looking forward to seeing you again in October..."
George's book, "The Trickster and the Paranormal", can be obtained with some difficulty by phoning either 888-795-4274 or 215-923-4686. Good luck! - Editor
"...I hear that George Hansen is at it again because Budd (Hopkins) reopened my case. But ya know? As long as there are fools like him around, my case will live as long, or longer than Roswell, thanks to Hansen...Do you know what would make me the happiest girl in the world? Locking George Hansen in a porta-potty and pushing it down a loooongggg snowy hill."
"...You asked what I felt about the Sept. llth events. Actually, I felt about the same emotions that most Americans felt. However, I haven't been able to summon great patriotic zeal of a flag waving kind for unlimited military reprisals or even for flag waving. Although I don't believe our country deserved a disaster of that magnitude, our country has not lived up to either the founding fathers' ideal nor to our own P.R., nor to what is called the American Dream. I'll wave a flag when we don't have the highest percentage of our citizens behind bars; when civil rights are respected; and when even the poorest American has a roof over his head and food to eat. In our zeal to capture terrorists, I am sure that these goals are even further off than they were before Sept. llth..."We agree completely with the above! - Editor.
"...I recently read a great new book, 'Strange Creations: Aberrant Ideas of Human Origins, from Ancient Astronauts to Aquatic Apes', by Donna Kossy (Feral House, Portland, Oregon). I know the author. She's not an academic but an eccentric book collector and a specialist in arcane pseudo-science ....The book is a survey of crackpot theories of human origins, from Erich von Daniken and Theosophy and the 'Urantia Book' to modern evangelical scientific creationism and Black Muslim Na- tionalism. She shows how much of this stuff derives ultimately from mainstream science of the 18th and 19th centuries. No one has really done this in a book before, and she has especially juicy sections on George Hunt Williamson, von Daniken, Zechariah Sitchin, and the Heaven's Gate cult...
"I look forward not only to your (and Karl's) forthcoming 'Shockingly Close to the Truth' but to the planned 'Confessions of a Grave-Robbing Ufologist', which you refer to in the last 'Smear' but one. Can Wendelle Stevens's 'Confessions of a Cradle-Robbing Ufologist' be far behind? .... "
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CATALOGUE 2001-9: SEPTEMBER TOTAL ILLITERACY PREDICTED FOR THE YEAR 2050: One of our customers kindly sent us an article describing highlights of a recent conference of "futurists." What is the future for books? Extinction, it seems. The reason is rather surprising it's because nobody will be able to read or write by 2050. If you thought the internet represented yet another step backward for the human species, wait until the computer revolution reaches full maturity. According to the futurist whose view this is, some 80% of human society can't use the computers we have now, because they are illiterate. The computer makers see this as a bonanza, and will solve the problem by making tomorrow's computers ' completely voice-driven, thereby eliminating the need for reading and writing forever. Of course, if human beings are offered a lazier way of doing something, they'll immediately slouch their way in great herds right toward it. By the time we reach 2050 only "a few stuffy academics interested in sociology" will trouble themselves to achieve literacy.
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| QUACK SHOTS: A Chinese family who booked a holiday cottage through a firm in Earby, Lancashire, asked for one with a pond, then shot at the ducks on it and cooked them. Lancaster Evening Telegraph, 18 April 2001. | NO FOOL: A man who had served time for murder was acquitted of robbing a Florida supermarket. He told the jury he would not have been so stupid as to leave witnesses alive. D. Express, 25 April 2001 |
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 Please note that letters for Smear editor James Moseley should be snail-mailed to PO Box 1709, Key West, FL 33041, insofar as Cdr. Moseley is proudly computer-illiterate and determined to stay that way. |
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