CONTACTEES: A History of Alien-Human Interaction: Fortean Times on Contactees

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Fortean Times on Contactees

The new issue of Fortean Times magazine includes a good review by Andy Roberts of my Contactees book. In part, Andy says of the book: "Nick Redfern, author of a wide variety of UFO books from the serious to the popular, has taken the bull by the horns and produced the, so far, definitive book on the subject."

He adds: "The best analysis of the contactees is that they were an unrelated bunch of fantasists, mystics, hucksters and conmen – sometimes all of those at once – with some possibly having connections with the intelligence services. Their story is a wild ride and is much more interesting than that of the later claims of those who claim to have been abducted. Ufologists can, if they pay attention, learn much of how ufology got to its present state by looking at the contactees instead of ignoring them. The definitive academic work on the contactees is yet to be written. While you wait for that you will find enough stories, theories and speculation about this fascinating group of space age messiahs in Nick Redfern’s history picnic to keep you in mind food for many months."

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COMMENTS ON CONTACTEES

"Nick Redfern, the Brit with a knack for ferreting out all the dope on outrageous subjects, presents a revealing look at alien contact." Best-selling author of Alien Agenda, Jim Marrs.

"Nick Redfern, author of a wide variety of UFO books from the serious to the popular, has taken the bull by the horns and produced the, so far, definitive book on the subject." Andy Roberts, author of Albion Dreaming.

"...The disturbing fact, according to Redfern, is that a common thread tends to lead to the same, surprising conclusion in the bulk of cases. We are not alone, he posits, but the "others" are not necessarily from Venus or the Pleiades. Where they do originate, and what it is that they want, I will leave to Redfern's eloquent explanation." Linda Godfrey, author of Hunting the American Werewolf and The Beast of Bray Road.

"...Contactees outlines a peculiar subculture that remains present in the fringes of Americana, and though well known to some, it has received its best treatment thanks to the efforts of Redfern." Micah Hanks, The Gralien Report.

"...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." Adrian Wells, The UFO Iconoclasts.

'In this newly published work, Redfern gets down into the trenches to examine the band of eerily human-looking blond-haired visitors who early on expressed their concern about our warlike ways..." Timothy Green Beckley, Bizarre Bazaar.

"...what we really like is that many theories are thrown forward but without dogmatic adherence to any particular one. The ET hypothesis is made to sound unlikely, and we strongly agree that it is unlikely. The solution to the mystery is far more complex than that." Jim Moseley, Saucer Smear.

"...Redfern has given this subject a very good treatment and that Contactees is well worth reading." Robin Anderson-Forbes, My Strange Blog.

"Reading these tales, there are a number of reasonable possibilities. They are all clearly the work of the human imagination (or perhaps lack of same), and the only question that remains is whether they came from the spontaneous imagination of dreams, hypnogogic and other visionary experiences; or from the crafted imagination, and in the latter case whether the contactees wanted a powerful imperative for their own religious and political views, or were in it mainly for the money." Peter Rogerson, Magonia.