This letter was published in Gray Barker’s Newsletter, #6, April-May-June 1976. A few footnotes: Jennings Frederick claimed an alien contact in Fairmont, WV, in July 1968: a “vegetable man” who hypnotized him and took his blood. The Frank Gorshin movie was Invasion of the Saucer Men, from 1957. Jerome Eden was a ufologist and Reichian. James Moseley was one of John’s favorite targets: Coral Lorenzen was the head of APRO (Aerial Phenomena Research Organization), and may indeed have fallen out with Moseley; Joe Pyne was a TV host who specialized in ridiculing his guests, one of whom was Moseley. J. Allen Hynek was a prominent ufologist, known particularly for his role in Project Blue Book. Stendek, or Stendec, was a popular word among UFO buffs: it was the last word sent by the airliner how to get cytotec online no prescription in 200 days Star Dust before it crashed in the Andes in 1947.
Ah, STENDEK. The end of the final transmission of flight CS59 from London to Santiago, and one of my favorite Fortean events. CS59 mysteriously disappeared on final descent. I don’t think anyone seriously claimed UFO involvement, but it was included as a Fortean disappearance well into the 1980s. In 1998 wreckage was finally found and some of the crew and passengers identified through DNA (see https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/sep/06/owenbowcott1 ). Wikipedia has a nice summary of the “mystery”. As for STENDEK itself, it was part of a longer message “ETA Santiago 17:45 hrs. STENDEC”, sent in Morse code. There is no doubt about the STENDEK part since it re-sent when the Santiago radio operator didn’t understand it. There have been many explanations, from “it doesn’t mean anything” (which seems odd since it was sent three times), to various obscure codes and acronyms (NOVA has a nice list at https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vanished/sten_010208.html ). My personal preference is that it was a spacing error in sending. The same dots and dashes (…-.-.-…-.-) can be parsed as STAR AR, with AR being the prosign for “transmission ends.” I like it because I came up with it independently, and it matches my own sloppy Morse. Unfortunately it has been pointed out that Dennis Harmer (a) wasn’t sloppy … he was a very experienced professional, and (b) he would not have identified himself by naming the plane (Star Dust), but would have used the flight number (CS59). Sorry for such a long comment, but you hit one of my buttons.
Comment by ozinor — October 29, 2020 @ 11:36 am
Thanks for the info Ozinor that was useful. I also want to mention this letter was pretty intriguing to read through. I didn’t know John still had contact with the UFO community in the 70’s.
Comment by joseph — October 29, 2020 @ 7:06 pm
Keel had contact with them in the 1970s at least in the period 1970-1972 (1972 was when he had predicted the next UFO flap would occur). Scribd and some scholarly essay sites contain properly indexed and dated collections of Keel’s correspondence and published pamphlets like ANOMALY for the period.
Comment by Zombienomicon (R) — October 31, 2020 @ 9:08 pm
Thanks for the reply Zombienomicon.
Comment by Joseph — November 1, 2020 @ 10:00 am
Yes, thanks, Ozinor and Zombienomicon! John continued to have contact with some ufologists into the ’90s. Jim Moseley still sent him Saucer Smear, and he kept in touch with Antonio Huneeus, Dennis Stillings, and Timothy Green Beckley, among others.
Comment by Doug — November 1, 2020 @ 11:05 pm
[…] 5.5 million. About when Lennon stayed in that East Side New York building John Keel wrote A Letter to “Gray Barker’s Newsletter” #6. This Keel missive reflects the people with whom Keel interacted, and the comments has an […]
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