Righteous Indignation: Contactees

A few weeks ago, I was interviewed by the guys at the Righteous Indignation podcast on the subject of my Contactees book. The interview was a lively one - that covered a variety of controversies relative to the Contactees - and can be downloaded at this link.

Tonight - The Jeff Rense Show

I'll be speaking about my Contactees book on tonight's episode of the Jeff Rense Show. Here's the Rense.com link for details.

Contactees on Speaking of Strange

I'll be on Joshua P. Warren's Speaking of Strange radio-show tonight, where I'll be talking about my Contactees book. For more information, see: www.joshuapwarren.com

Contactees at The UFO Iconoclasts

There's a new review of my Contactees book over at Rich Reynolds' UFO Iconoclasts blog. The review, written by Adrian Wells, states in part:

"A book that I couldn’t set aside. Nick Redfern provides relevant information and pertinent minutiae about those now considered to be part of the UFO fringe. I found details that many of us (UFO aficionados) have never read, or heard, before, and all in a serious, sometimes breezy style that makes Mr. Redfern a delicious writer to read."

And here's the link to the complete review.

Contactees on X-Zone Tonight

Although it's a last-minute thing, I'll be on Rob McConnell's X-Zone show tonight, speaking about my Contactees book. Here's the link for the details.

Contactees, Cryptoterrestrials & Mac

Of the many people I spoke with during the course of researching and writing my Contactees book, certainly one of the stand-out individuals was my good friend Mac Tonnies, who tragically, and suddenly, died last month at the age of only thirty-four.

Needless to say, Mac's death was a terrible shock at a personal level, and a deep tragedy for the Fortean world, too. The reason being that although Mac was certainly well known in the field for his acclaimed book, After the Martian Apocalypse (on the "Face on Mars" controversy) and his equally-acclaimed blog, Posthuman Blues, it was his forthcoming book, The Crytptoterrestrials that was (in my view) destined to elevate him to whole new levels within the world of Fortean publishing.

Basically, right up until his death Mac was pursuing the theory that our so-called alien visitors are not so alien after all. Rather, he suspected, some might be the last - and waning - vestiges of an ancient terrestrial race of beings that pass themselves off as extraterrestrials to move among us, and without betraying their real identity.

They are the cryptoterrestrials, as Mac dubbed them.

Fortunately, despite Mac's sad passing his book will still see the light of day, thanks to Anomalist Books, who will be publishing it next year.

However, on this same matter: after I told Mac about my Contactees book, we discussed one evening the possibility that some of the so-called (and very human-looking) Space-Brothers that are so prevalent within Contactee lore might actually be cryptoterrestrials, rather than literal extraterrestrials.

As a result of this discussion, Mac agreed to be interviewed for the book on this particular theory, and provided some fascinating and thought-provoking data.

In Mac's own words, as they appear in my book:

“Historically, the Contactees have come to be viewed as something of an embarrassment; a frivolous distraction from serious UFO research. I see them as a valuable window on a pivotal era, at least as influential on popular culture as the Beats. To view them in a ufological vacuum is to deliberately overlook the deep archetypal forces simmering just beneath the surface.

“Commentators regularly assume that all the Contactees were lying or else delusional. But if we’re experiencing a staged reality, some of the beings encountered by the Contactees might have been real; and the common messages of universal brotherhood could have been a sincere attempt to curb our destructive tendencies. The extraterrestrial guise would have served as a prudent disguise, neatly misdirecting our attention and leading us to ask the wrong questions; which we’re still asking with no substantial results.”

I never even imagined that at the time we did the interview, Mac had only a couple more months to live. But I hope that this interview with Mac will help his legacy and work to live on.

As I note in the dedication to Mac in my book: "...in memory of Mac Tonnies, a friend whose flame was extinguished all too soon."

The picture above shows - left to right - Canadian film-maker and good friend, Paul Kimball, Mac, and me hanging out in Halifax, Nova Scotia in late 2006.

The Edge Radio; Saturday Night

I’ll be on The Edge radio this coming Saturday night with host Daniel Ott, where I’ll be speaking about my Contactees book. Here’s the link for all the details.

Contactees: Radio & Lectures

You can hear me talking about my new Contactees book on the following dates:

1. Speaking of Strange Radio: November 28;

2. The Jeff Rense Show Radio: November 30;

3. Florida UFO Radio: December 1;

4. Riell Truth Radio: December 3;

5. AZ UFO Show Radio: December 5;

6. Dallas-Fort Worth Mufon lecture: December 6;

7. The Bruce Collins Show Radio: December 8;

8. The Veritas Show Radio: December 10;

9. Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Conservatism Radio: December 13;

10. Z-Talk Radio: December 14;

11. Exploring Unexplained Phenomena Radio: January 9.

Contactees Press Kit

For the press-kit on my Contactees book, click right here.

Contactees - Press Release

Here's the press-release for my new book Contactees: A History of Alien-Human Interaction, which is now available at all good book-selling outlets:

For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Simon Warwick-Smith
warwick@vom.com
(707) 939-9212
www.warwickassociates.net

Alone in the Universe… Or, are we?
Redfern Documents a History of Alien Encounters

“Redfern has a solid reputation as a leading researcher and author of all things paranormal. He can present the facts, write the books, and speak across the globe with the best of them. One thing he does better than all the rest is get out there in the field, get his hands dirty, and actually look for the very things he writes about.”

—MARIE D. JONES, author of PSIence: How New Discoveries in Quantum Physics and New Science May Explain the Existence of Paranormal Phenomena

San Francisco, CA (November 19, 2009) –– We are not alone on our planet, according to noted paranormal author/expert and self-described “monster hunter,” Nick Redfern.

His new book, Contactees: A History of Alien-Human Interaction, is a collection of hair-raising eyewitness accounts by people chosen by ETs to spread their message. For instance, Truman Bethurum was divorced by his wife because she believed he had close encounters of a very personal kind with a beautiful ET “space captain.”

Was Bethurum nuts, or just prescient? Was this experience an omen? Do aliens really move among us? Contactees presents new and incontrovertible evidence that they do.

Earthlings told their tales of alien encounters to Redfern, and he dug up and researched many more. A page-turner, Contactees: A History of Alien-Human Interaction relates the controversial and sometimes bizarre stories in the author’s typical riveting, entertaining and thought-provoking style.

Redfern is a popular author, media guest and journalist who specializes in unsolved mysteries, UFOs and ETs, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, government conspiracies, and the paranormal.

His previous bestsellers include Memoirs of a Monster Hunter; Strange Secrets; A Covert Agenda; and There’s Something in the Woods. Among his many notorious exploits, Redfern has investigated reports of aliens in Mexico, lake monsters in Scotland, vampires in Puerto Rico, werewolves in England, and crashed UFOs in the United States.

An advocate of official disclosure, he has worked to uncover previously classified British government and military files on UFOs dating from WWII.

Title: Contactees: A History of Alien-human Interaction

Author: Nick Redfern

Publisher: New Page Books, a division of Career Press

EAN: 978-1-60163-096-4

Format: paperback, 256 pages, 6 x 9 inches

List Price: $15.99

Distributors: New Leaf, Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Bookazine, Brodart, Nutri-Books, Partners

Information:

http://www.newpagebooks.com/;

http://www.warwickassociates.net/ (for electronic press-kit)

Magonia on Contactees

Magonia comments on my forthcoming Contactees book. In part, they say:

"The contactees of the 1940s and 50s have been largely written out of UFO history by the 'serious ufologists' who found their antics an embarrassment, as they attempted to interest 'real' scientists into the subject. One-man UFO industry Nick Redfern's forthcoming book looks as though it may be an attempts to redress this neglect."

Here's the link to the complete piece.