JOHN KEEL NOT AN AUTHORITY ON ANYTHING

Bormujos John concludes his article “Special Report: West Virginia’s Enigmatic ‘Bird'” (later published in Flying Saucer Review) with additional sightings, arguments against identifying Mothman as a bird, and a report on the collapse of the Silver Bridge. As you’ll see, he decided to cut a caustic paragraph on the dangers of UFOs and the futility of theorizing about them. He also neglected to indicate the 14th footnote, which obviously refers to the paragraph on animal mutilations on p. 14.

There’s more to come from the “Casebook,” including additional notes to this article.

The next part of John’s “Special Report” in his “Mothman Casebook” concerns UFO activity in Point Pleasant, including his own numerous sightings, as well as local problems with phones, radios, and fires.  I’ve posted the relevant footnotes at the end of the post.

A couple of notes: NANA is the North American Newspaper Alliance, and FSR is the Flying Saucer Review, where this article appeared.

The “Mothman Casebook” continues with the next section of “Special Report: West Virginia’s Enigmatic ‘Bird’,” detailing the experiences of Marcella Bennett. Again, I placed the relevant footnotes afterward. The #5 in the first paragraph is not a footnote; it refers to John’s list of Mothman sightings (here).

The next section of this article from John’s “Mothman Casebook” is concerned with the harassment of Connie Carpenter. I added the relevant footnotes at the end.

The next item in the Casebook is “Special Report: West Virginia’s Enigmatic ‘Bird,'” later published in Flying Saucer Review in the July/August 1968 issue. This is the first section, along with the relevant footnotes. The 5th footnote isn’t indicated in the text, but it seems to refer to the end of page 5.

And here’s the second part of “Red-Eyed Monster Haunts Ohio Valley,” in the “Mothman Casebook.” Actually, now that I think about it, it may be a separate document, just bound after the first. At any rate, here it is. It was later used in Strange Creatures from Time and Space.

The folder labeled “Mothman Casebook” isn’t really a casebook. It contains four articles John wrote about Mothman: “Red-Eyed Monster Haunts Ohio Valley,” “Special Report: West Virginia’s Enigmatic ‘Bird’,” “UFOs and the Bridge Disaster,” and “It’s a bird… it’s a plane…No, No, it’s ‘Mothman’ (gulp).” The second appeared in somewhat different form in Flying Saucer News, and the fourth, as “Mothman Monster,” in Saga. I haven’t been able to trace the first and the third. There is, of course, repetition in these articles, and all the material was reworked for The Mothman Prophecies. But here are John’s early attempts at telling the story, as they left his typewriter, with all their corrections, deletions, and extra notes.

So, we’ll start with “Red-Eyed Monster Haunts Ohio Valley.” It’s headed “UFO #4,” but I don’t know which magazine or newsletter that means. Here’s the first part.

These last entries conclude John’s unfinished UFO dictionary. He takes us through a few definitions concerning the electromagnetic spectrum, and then ends on a rather glum note with the Protocols of Zion, a hoax that unfortunately continues to influence readers, including UFO buffs.

John left no indication of what he meant to do with this material; I assume he hoped to sell it as either a magazine feature or a book. I find it most useful for the definitions of his own terms, and for the less familiar ideas from past ufology. At any rate, here it all is, for you to consult as you like.

This next batch elucidates a few acronyms. Perhaps the least familiar term the “Varn-Lian Limit.” Robert Renaud was a contactee who claimed encounters with people from the planet Korendor; his experiences were described in John W. Dean’s book Flying Saucers Close Up.

In this next set, John explains the crucial difference between a UFO buff, a Ufologist, and a Ufo-phile. Don’t confuse them! And above all, don’t call John a UFO buff!