Book Review: Lizard Man by Lyle Blackburn

Lizard Man: The True Story of the Bishopville Monster by Lyle Blackburn

The Lizard Man is a very strange case and Lyle does a fantastic job of covering it. Following up his previous book, The Beast of Boggy Creek, Lyle attempts to separate the fact from fiction in the various reports of The Lizard Man in Bishopville, South Carolina. He conducts interviews with those that are still alive, and visits the locations that the sighting occured. It's quite a fascinating tale, really. He debunks some of the accepted facts, and overturns some previously believed debuked facts and explanations. In the end, what you have is still a mystery, but something clearly happened to the people of Bishopville, and Lyle does an exceptional job of fleshing that out honestly and clearly. Well written and entertaining, and with plenty of pictures and illustrations. A definite must have for any serious cryptic fan.

Lyle's Website

You can hear my interview with Lyle about the book here.

Book Review: Beyond Area 51 by Mack Maloney

Beyond Area 51 by Mack Maloney

Love this book. I was skeptical coming in with the title and cover, figuring it was going to be an unfounded, the government has aliens and is hiding them, working with them, etc. Instead I found a grounded, fact based, analysis of different hidden bases around the globe. Some speculation here and there, but the author also goes into showing you how some of these myths spread.

Chapter 5, which deals with the nonsense around the Dulce base in New Mexico starts by created a narrative based on all the stuff you can find online about what is going on there. Judging by the amazon reviews, a few people stopped there not realizing the narrative was not serious. I admit, it threw me for a moment, but he then goes on to tell you exactly how all this came about and possibly why. He looks around the world at all the very strange locales that you can find military bases in. At no point does Mack seriously suggest that aliens are among us, or that these bases are hiding such things. He goes by the facts, through and through. He shows the process of myth making and disinformation. It's a fascinating read.

It's also a quick, enjoyable read. Another one that I found hard to put down. There were a bunch of things in this book I was not familiar with, and that is always a nice surprise. At almost 300 pages, it goes by way too fast. If you are looking for conspiracies and aliens, this is not for you. It does however. deal with some very unusual UFO reports, and some of it is very, very strange. If you want someone who follows and reports the facts, pick this one up! 

Mack's Website: http://mackmaloney.wordpress.com/

Book Review: Strange Intruders by David Watherly

Strange Intruders is David Weatherly's follow up to The Black Eyed Children. In speaking with David, it seems like was supposed to be the first book, but the material for cases of Black Eyed Children being so overwhelming, he decided to dedicate a book to that first. This book, does cover that a little bit more, as their is a chapter on it. David presents some new cases and a few that stand out as different in this book. But that is just one of the many unusual beings and encounters covered by this book. 

Starting with the Djinn, then moving into Shadow People, Pukwudgies, Grinning Men, the Slenderman, and much more. You can read about the strange monkey men of India, the mad gassers that unleashed their strange attacks in the early part of the 20th century, and even a bit about the infamous Spring Heeled Jack. There are strange Reptoid encounters, and much more. 

Not an excessively long book, just around 170 pages, it is packed full of stories and encounters, including one of his own with a Grinning Man. David sites John Keel as an inspiration, and that is apparent in his writing and work. Well written, and very hard to put down. Highly recommended.

You can order the book through Leprechaun Press.

Listen to my interview with David about this book here.

Book Review: Mountain of the Dead: The Dyatlov Pass Incident by Keith McCloskey

Mountain of the Dead: The Dyatlov Pass Incident by Keith McCloskey

The Dyatlov Pass Incident is a true mystery. Something happen in 1959 to a group of skiers in the Ural Mountains that defies any kind of easy explanation. All 9 were found dead, after fleeing their tent that night, slashing their way out, with no supplies and unprepared for the excessive cold outside. They were experienced at this type of camping, and why they would do this is beyond puzzling. They all died of hypothermia, some with even more puzzling injuries. So what happened to them? Keith McCloskey does a fantastic job in laying out their final days. He paints a picture of the Soviet Union at that time, and their trip up the mountain. You get a feel for who these people were and the environment they were living in. He then gets down to describing how they were found, and the condition and location of the bodies. It’s a hard to put down book. Keith attempts to give ample voice to the various theories and take things apart to examine the facts thoroughly. At no point does he claim to have a complete solution, nor does he ignore evidence. He presents what we know, how we know it, and possibilities. He does have his own thoughts on the matter, of course, which he expresses, but not in a way that feels like he is stating the definitive last word by any means. If you are new to this mystery or not, this is the book you want to read. Unnerving, fascinating, and just an overall good read. Highly recommended.

Keith's website: www.keithmccloskey.com.

Website for the book: www.dyatlov-pass-incident.com

You can hear my interview with Keith here.

Book Review: Calculating Soul Connections by Tom Blaschko

Calculating Soul Connections: A Deeper Understanding of Human Relationships by Tom Blaschko is an interesting attempt to make sense out of spiritual energy (which he simply calls a soul) by giving it a framework to be understood in a more scientific manner. Does it work? Well, I think he has something here, yes. From my experience with spiritual energy, I can start by saying that it indeed exists. There are lots of traditions and theories that attempt to explain what it is, and how it works. Tom looks to create a system, with mathematical formulas included (although they can be skipped without losing anything in the book), to better understand how and why it works. He injects a bit of psychology, and offers up some of the work of Rupert Sheldrake for some examples. It's a little slow going at first, but a pleasant and quick read once you get into it. This is not a pile of wishy washy New Age material. Despite dealing with Chakras, energy, and souls, Tom relays it all in practical terms. Anyone who has had experience with this type of energy will see that this does make sense when he breaks it down. It also may help some in understanding how we relate energetically to others. It's a good attempt to create a more grounded system of understanding for what is not so easy to grasp in such a way. It may not be perfect, but it is a good start, I think.

Check out my interview with Tom Here.

Book Review: The Chaos Conundrum by Aaron John Gulyas

The Chaos Conundrum by Aaron John Gulyas

This is an interesting, if a touch too short, book. Aaron approaches the topic of the paranormal from a unique and personal level. He takes a very grounded approach in analyzing the paranormal, UFO’s, and the culture around it. He pulls back the curtain on some of the more absurd elements of the fringe. His view of ghosts is refreshing, his telling of his own experiences amusing, and his dissecting of the UFO Phenomenon’s stranger personalities is enlightening. He explores perspective, and the effect of language and translation on our view of things. He tackles the strange world of Exopolitics, and even gives Roswell a knock around. Although short, there is a lot packed into the 130 or so pages here. This is an easy, enjoyable read, and so very different from the majority of what is out there dealing with the paranormal and connected subjects. Sometimes subtle, but always relevant. Highly recommended. 

DVD Review: The Life After Death Project

The Life After Death Project by Paul Davids

This is a fascinating, and ultimately, compelling piece of work. I've seen mixed reviews of it, and with most things like this, I went in skeptical. By about halfway through, however, I was starting to soften up on the whole thing, and by the end, I think what Paul Davids has here, is rather significant. At the heart of this, is the life and death of Forrest J Ackerman, a huge name in Sci-Fi circles. Ackerman was an Atheist, but said if there was something more beyond death, he would try and communicate back. Forest is not the first to make such claims, Harry Houdini being the most famous, but in that case, the relevant attempt at contact seemed to be primarily a séances at the anniversary of his death. This happened far more spontaneously.

One of the things that has been coming up more and more in this type of research is the role of synchronicity. For those that are not familiar, a synchronicity is a meaningful coincidence. A lot, but by no means all, of the evidence here are synchronicities. To some, that is reason to dismiss this. I think, though, that maybe this is just how it works. Not in some grandiose fashion, with a spectral form screaming out your name, but in the subtle workings of reality. Coincidences happen. But the sheer number of coincidences that would need to be accommodated here to dismiss it is absurd. And these synchronicities revolve around many people, not just Paul Davids.

Beyond that, you have mediums, who communicate very accurate information about Forest without knowing anything at all. You have a fascinating scientific experiment involving light photons and chemical analysis on a mysterious block of ink, which is really where the whole story starts.

Then there is a second DVD, which talks to various people about life after death, not directly related to Forest for the most part, although there are some updates. All in all, if you are looking for some mind blowing, in your face proof of life after death, you will not find that here. If, however, you look at this with an open mind, and with no preconceptions, there does seem to be something significant here.  Maybe we have been looking at the Life after Death issue in the wrong way. Maybe it’s the subtle flux’s that we should be paying attention to. In the end, I suppose, it’s personal. The people who these events happened to, know they happened. They present their stories and evidence clearly and concisely. A hardcore materialist will just chock it all up to coincidence or deception, but that is not an honest view of this. An honest view says something odd is happening to these people, and it may very well be explained by Forest J Ackerman communicating with them in his own way.

Book Review: The Ghost Rockets by Micah Hanks

The Ghost Rockets: Mystery Missiles and Phantom Projectiles in our Skies by Micah Hanks

Micah has done a wonderful job of focusing on an aspect of phenomenon that no one has properly dealt with in the past. Parts have been mentioned by such notable authors as John Keel, but Keel only dealt with small aspects of the whole phenomenon. Likely, there are many causes to the cases and events that Micah outlines in this book, and he presents many possibilities. 

The book starts off with what Keel focused on, the Ghost Rockets over Sweden at the end of WWII, and what they may or may not have been. These missiles were seen often, and no adequate explanation yet exists. After exploring other cases around the world, Micah moves on to the Cold War era, and some cases which may have been real missiles or rockets but covered up for political reasons. Also included are cases of anomalous rockets being seen. 

After this we move on to the more modern era, and especially the missiles seen in connection with TWA Flight 800. He also explores other similar cases from the same area before and after the main event. Near the end of the book, he deals with ways that these events are recorded officially, and speculates about what some of the explanations may be. At the end of the book, he compiles a chronological list of sightings from post WWII to present. 

Overall a very well written book, exploring an aspect of anomalous phenomenon that is interesting and under investigated, both in the UFO community and outside of it.

Interview with Seriah Azkath on The Gralien Report - December 17, 2013

As host of Where Did the Road Go?, some of you may have heard me talk a bit about my own work and experiences. For the first time, I did an interview touching on a just a very little bit of it. My thanks to Micah Hanks for having me on his rather cool show, The Gralien Report. You can find it here; http://gralienreport.com/radio-interviews/gralien-report-podcast-december-17-2013/.

I'm on in the second hour, and I discuss Kundalini, Aleister Crowley, Magick, and some other stuff in between. I am working on a book, that will hopefully be done mid-2014. Meanwhile, we did make a movie roughly based off some stuff that happened to me over the years, but very fictionalized. If you want to watch that, here you go...

Gateways to Magonia (Full Movie) from Aethyric Productions on Vimeo.

Book Review: The Exodus Reality by Scott Alan Roberts and John Richard Ward

The Exodus Reality: Unearthing the Real History of Moses, Identifying the Pharaohs, and Examining the Exodus from Egypt

This is a fascinating piece of work. The authors, who hold different views on the subject of Moses and the Exodus, have interwoven their theories in this book. They both have compelling ideas, and both make good cases. At the core of this, is their attempt to discover if there is an actual historical component to the Exodus story in the Old Testament. There is no direct evidence of its reality, so Scotty and John look for secondary evidence. Did someone exist in Egypt who may have fit the profile of Moses. Who were the people he supposingly led to freedom? They attempt to decipher the faith from the facts, to see what the real story beneath may have been. John reveals a story of cataclysm and a fight for survival, while Scotty takes, what seems like a more, literal, path. They do not spend much time tackling the miracles involved, and write it off as a matter of faith. Their main focus is to see if there is any historical personage that could have been Moses. They have found two. We may never know if they are right, but it is a compelling read.