JOHN KEEL NOT AN AUTHORITY ON ANYTHING

Bormujos I’ll turn now to John’s correspondence with Charles Bowen (1918-1987), who edited the British magazine Flying Saucer Review from 1964 to 1987. The letters are from 1966 and 1967, mostly Bowen’s, although John kept carbons of some of his. I’m afraid they’re less sensational than the Long Island material, but do offer glimpses into the vagaries of ufology and publication in the ’60s. For younger readers: the letters are blue because they’re aerograms, a lightweight air mail format now mostly discontinued (apparently Australia still issues them).

In this first note, Bowen discusses an article by Gordon Creighton about Antônio Vilas Boas, a Brazilian contactee who claimed to have had sex with an alien in 1957. He also mentions the “surprising” Solway Firth Spaceman photo, taken by a fireman named Jim Templeton in 1964, which seems to show an alien astronaut (interpreted by others as a blurry shot of Templeton’s wife).

At the end of the file is a photocopy of Appell’s reply to John’s fifth questionnaire. The original was probably in red pencil, Appell’s favorite medium, and the photocopy has not aged well, but most of the answers are still legible.

John bound photocopies of two letters and a questionnaire from Appell at the end of his “Special File.” I posted the original of the first one, from November 24, here. The second one responds to John’s letter of October 2, which John included in his file here. John had, quite naturally, objected to the suggestion that he and Jaye get married and have children, and Appell explains it was all an experiment.

John concludes his “Special File” with a “Special Report” about appearances of a Keel double. Since it’s signed, dated, and has a return address, I suppose it was meant for publication, or at least distribution among his fellow ufologists. Bound into the file after this are photocopies of two of Appell’s letters from November ’67, and a questionnaire Appell supposedly answered (“QA-5”).

Tim’na (Jaye Paro) calls John, and gives him “some surprising details” about his recent visit to Washington. This, of course, is the sort of thing that made it harder for John to dismiss her stories. She also mentions an upcoming meeting in Amityville, as Helen and Louise had the day before. John also gets a call from a boy named John Amato, who claims to be an alien, and is investigating another story about a high school teacher who announced to his class that he was from Venus. Alas, I don’t know who Sam is.

Tim’na (Jaye Paro) reports to John that Princess Moon Owl has returned, and has then vanished cinematically into a cemetery. She also claims Mt. Misery has been “inundated with dogs.” Louise and Helen also call. Both mention an upcoming meeting in Amityville. I guess that means that they’re either in contact with each other, or that someone else is in contact with both of them. Unfortunately, I don’t know what Sam’s file is.

John spends a few days in Washington with Lynn Catoe. He appears on some radio shows; the tape of one is erased by accident. A fuse blows as he discusses UFOs with Ms. Catoe. I haven’t seen the “Casey Truck” incident in these notes, but it appears in Chapter 17 of The Mothman Prophecies: Ms. Catoe drives to Ivan Sanderson’s farm, is stopped several times by a man in a truck, and later finds a lump of putty under her car. John describes her in detail, and specifies “Our relationship is not platonic.” Who did he think needed to know? Posterity, perhaps? Well, if so, here we are.

John resumes his daily entries, with more reports from Jaye Paro and Helen Oglemyer. Both report being taken to a big house, which Jaye later identifies as a church; both say they came down with the mumps, or something like it. In addition, Jaye makes some notes she can’t understand the next day.

I don’t know who Bill Donovan was, but a search reveals he was a member of NICAP. There’s more on the “Gordon Evans affair” here.

The next item in John’s “Special File” is a four-page report on phone hoaxes. I already posted it here, since he also put it in another file. He continues with an account of a hoax to test Jim Moseley, and then more notes on his phone troubles. Complicated! I don’t know where he put that letter from Mrs. Jamroz.

On the last day of 1967, John notes some of the prophecies he received from his network of contactees. He put his name and return address on it, so I assume it was meant for publication. Fortunately, these dire prophecies were not fulfilled.