JOHN KEEL NOT AN AUTHORITY ON ANYTHING

Bormujos We have another odd item from John’s early career. In his article “Bosoms, Blood, & Baloney” for Writer’s Digest, he said he heard a story from a ship’s doctor about a man who fought a tiger by thrusting his arm down its throat. John turned it into a story of his own, with the usual lashings of local color. Editors refused it, however, insisting the protagonist had to use a knife to make it believable. John obliged, and the story was published in the July, 1957 issue of Escape to Adventure, under his favorite pseudonym, Randolph Halsey-Quince. The curious thing about all this is that the magazine actually published it the way John wrote it originally, without the added bit about a knife. Did another editor like the first version better? Did John remember it wrong? Maybe we can just assume that communication often became scrambled between Alex Jackinson (John’s agent), the editors of the adventure magazines, and John, roaming through India.

Here’s John’s original typescript, and the beginning of the article as printed. The illegible phrase on the third page should read: “There are many rivers and swamp areas in Sunderban […]”

Here’s the rest of John’s report and his supplementary material.

The incident has been discussed by other researchers; here’s an article by Marcus Howth, with some pictures of the witnesses.

A strange object and a strange creature were reported on Presque Isle, in Erie, Pa., on July 31, 1966. John investigated, and wrote up his usual detailed report. Here’s the first part of it; more will follow.

Here are four clippings about John’s early years with the American Forces Network in Frankfurt. Be careful shaving next to gas heaters!

POSTSCRIPT: In the comments, Nathan asked if John’s Halloween broadcasts have survived. I did a little searching, and found that excerpts from both were aired on a series of programs marking the 25th anniversary of the AFN. You can hear some of the Frankenstein’s Castle broadcast here, starting at 15:25, and some of the show from the Great Pyramid here, starting at 46:54.

J. N. Williamson was a prolific horror writer, publishing over 30 novels and many more short stories (you can read a biography and appreciation of him here). He sent John this charming fan letter on February 3, 1989, shortly after the publication of John’s Disneyland of the Gods, and included a photo and a review. If you have trouble with his handwriting, the inscription on the back of the photo reads: “For JAK — With affection and considerable respect. J. N. Williamson (fellow Aries native) (as is Kisner)” I’m unfamiliar with John White, and I don’t know “Follow the Bouncing Ball.” Maybe some of the Keel fans out there can fill me in.

John Keel died fifteen years ago, on July 3, 2009. Rest in Peace, John! The rest of us will keep reading your books and articles.

Here’s John, looking uncharacteristically cheerful, in 1974.

We have an exchange of letters between John and one Harold L. James, Chief Geologist at the Department of the Interior. It seems that Richard Toronto had requested some “magnetic fault maps” from the Department of the Interior, and received a cranky reply from one John Henderson. I assume the book Henderson is rude about is UFOs: Operation Trojan Horse. John replies to Harold L. James, doing his best to separate himself from the “paranoid bunch” of UFO buffs.

I also assume the Richard Toronto here is the former editor of Shavertron, and the author of several fine books on that fascinating character, Richard Shaver. Read his books!

Bob Warth, then director of the Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained, wrote John a letter, including some clippings on bears and on the unusual behavior of an Orbiting Space Observatory. I’m not sure why John was interested in bears at the time; he might have been working on something about out-of-place animals.

In 1991, Bob Rickard invited John to write a regular column for Fortean Times. The magazine had just joined with a new publisher, and was looking for more material. Unfortunately, John didn’t take him up on it. Here’s Bob Rickard’s letter, as well as the “general notice” he mentioned, showing the venerable Fortean journal mutating into a more professional periodical.

The prolific Fortean writer Brad Steiger wrote John back on July 25, 1974, with news about his upcoming book Mysteries of Time and Space. He also makes a few observations about shattering windshields (a puzzling phenomenon at the time), Atlantis, and Men In Black. And he appeared none too happy with the FortFests held by the International Fortean Organization!