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Wednesday, February 07, 2007

They're Out There...

Among the things I collect are old UFO books. Some of the books published in the 1950s and early 1960s are real treasures. I'm not necessarily a believer in UFOs- though I'm not necessarily a skeptic either. Above all, I love the cover art and the dust jacket blurbs. Here's one of my favorites-


If you can't see it, the subtitle is "The true story of what happened to certain researchers and investigators who found out where the saucers come from".

The jacket blurb starts-

"One by one, the leading figures among flying saucer researchers, who have challenged the government denial that saucers come from outer space, have been silenced. Outwardly, nothing seems to have happened to these men. They are still alive, still living where they used to. But they no longer publish saucer research material and they will not talk about saucers or why they no longer will speak of them. Three men in dark suits have visited these saucer researchers. Nobody knows what they said, but it was enough to reduce their hearers to silence."

I have to admit, I have not yet read the book, but when I found it at a book fair some ten years ago, at the height of the X-Files craze, I had to buy it. Later it apparently helped provide inspiration for one of my favorite movies- Men in Black.

Interestingly, there are 37 copies of this listed on a popular database and, as usual, most of the booksellers listing it make no comment on the content at all- not a single word. The few booksellers who do say anything mostly simply quote all or part of the subtitle. Nobody, not one, out of the 37, has bothered to do a single second's research and provide any interesting information about this book- and there's plenty of interesting info out there. Has anybody ever heard of Google? Here's some interesting information about Gray Barker and his cohorts.

More to come...

8 comments:

jgodsey said...

so what's your oldest UFO book? were there many books on flying saucers before UFO was coined in 53?

Phoebe Fay said...

There you go again, expecting people to know something about what they're doing!

Next thing, you're going to start suggesting that people be competent in all sorts of endeavors, and that way, my friend, lies eternal disappointment.

Joey Polanski said...

I find it pretty hard t blieve that we been visitd by space aliens ...

... but evry now n again I see James Carville on CNN an I start t wondr.

Forrest Proper said...

Joyce- I don't have anything older than the 50s- it's really the dust jackets I buy, and as you say, the "saucer" thing really started in the early 50s.

Phoebe- I know, I know. You'd have though the last several Presidential elections would have taught me better...

Joey- and what about Anne Coulter? Dick Cheney? (although actually he may just be proof that there is a Hell). I could make a list...

Mike said...

You know, I believe in aliens and I believe in alien research (honestly, that is the real reason I live in Utah).

The only thing I don't like about when they visit me is that damned anal probe.

I don't know why they do that.

My word verification word is ekabab.

How appropriate. That is exactly the same sound I make when the aliens do the anal probe....only it is more like EKABAB!!!!!!!!!!!

Forrest Proper said...

Mike- my fear is that the aliens are getting a distorted view of our society when they keep landing in places like Utah, and monitoring cable tv. I can only imagine what the "ALPHA CENTAURI LONELY TRAVELLER'S GUIDE TO VISITING PLANET EARTH" has to say about us...

anaglyph said...

Isn't the artwork just beautiful?

Forrest Proper said...

anaglyph- there's more to come; some of these covers rival sci-fi jackets of the same era; of course, there could be a reason for that...