Völklingen Coral Lorenzen’s last letter in the “Official Correspondence 1966” file concerns a visit to New York by Olavo Fontes, the Brazilian doctor who had investigated the Villas Boas case. Ms. Lorenzen recommends some APRO members he might want to meet, and fills in John on a recent increase in membership, due at least in part to recent books by Jacques Vallee and John G. Fuller. UFOs were a hot topic in 1966!
John writes to Long John Nebel, who hosted an all-night radio talk show that often centered on UFOs. He offers to plug his new book, The Fickle Finger of Fate, or to appear as a ufologist. Nebel’s format included a panel who often interviewed guests while he took a break. Apparently, John hadn’t appeared on the show since he’d plugged Jadoo in the ’50s. There’s no response in the file, so I don’t know if he ever discussed his superhero spoof, but he did appear on the panel later.
John replies to June Larson’s letters with a complaint about NICAP’s photo analyst, whom he thinks is too quick to dismiss photos. John doesn’t name him, but he was Ralph Rankow. Rankow’s article on the Rex Heflin photos, “Photo Story of Dome-Topped Disc,” appeared in the August 1966 issue of Fate. John also mentions upcoming articles in the December issues of both Playboy and True; neither was published.
We continue with John’s “Official Correspondence” file from 1966. Up next are two letters from June Larson, a friend of Ivan Sanderson and a member of NICAP, who provided UFO clippings to a few researchers. Here, she asks John if his upcoming UFO book is the one he had been working on with Sanderson. That proposed project, Abominable Space Things, was abandoned; I posted the notes and correspondence about it here. She also suggests that John use the book to dismiss “cultists” like Major Wayne Aho and Dr. Frank Stranges, whose titles she suspects are dubious. In the second letter, she explains that she’s reluctant to pass on “the pictures from Norris” until they’ve been analyzed. I think she’s referring to photos taken by James Johnson Kibel in Melbourne on April 2, 1966, then in the possession of Australian researcher Peter Norris.
John writes a long letter, mostly directed to Coral, with a lot of career advice. He advises her not to attack Frank Edwards and his recent UFO book, as she had promised to do. He suggests she write for more lucrative magazines, like the Saturday Evening Post, and reports that he recommended her to Gold Medal books. Her 1962 book The Great Flying Saucer Hoax was not reprinted by Gold Medal, but by Signet, as Flying Saucers: The Startling Evidence of the Invasion from Outer Space. He also has much to say about his own financial woes and his deteriorating relationship with Playboy.
John’s correspondence with Coral Lorenzen continues, with a letter from August 3, 1966. Ms. Lorenzen passes on a letter from Livio Caputo, a writer for the Italian magazine Epoca; needs the photos she lent John, since APRO members James Harder and Allen Utke use them in their lectures; and discusses John Fuller’s Life article about the Betty and Barney Hill case. She also attacks Frank Edwards as a “four-flusher” (there’s a word you don’t hear often) and praises J. Allen Hynek. I checked: Hynek appeared on the Merv Griffin Show on July 13, 1966.
Coral Lorenzen writes John with sad news: her mother has just died. Nevertheless, she and Jim are “back in harness and working,” preparing for the publicity they expect to get from John’s article in Playboy. John replies with a newsy letter, filling her in on his frustrations with Playboy, the continuing flap in Long Island, and the latest gossip about John Fuller, Frank Edwards, Mort Young, and Jacques Vallee.
June Larson sends John some clippings, and establishes his interests and his bill. She also mentions her discussions with Ivan Sanderson about UFOs over water supplies, and her plan to map the reports. The sideways note on the first letter reads “but Ivan gave me the confidence pursue it a bit.” The one on the second letter reads “Either I am a worse typist than I thought, or my typewriter is illiterate! Please forgive hasty note!”
And do have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Comfortable Solstice, or whatever holiday you prefer. If nothing else, you can celebrate the fact that Dec. 25 is also the birthday of Isaac Newton and Robert Ripley!
Researcher June Larson and John have another exchange about her UFO clipping service, and he sends her a check. Ms. Larson also mentions current reports from Australia, and John requests information on the Gemini flight, water and reservoir sightings, and car-chasing incidents. He is, as he says, “interested in everything.”
John’s correspondence with the Lorenzens has become quite friendly at this point. Jim’s full name, by the way, was Leslie James Lorenzen, and he sometimes used the initials. This is a lively letter: John gives a short assessment of his life, catches them up on his troubles with Playboy, reports on a visit to Long Island and a “water incident” there, reviews Frank Edwards’ book Flying Saucers–Serious Business and Frank Stranges’ film Phenomena 7.7, and passes on news about his fellow ufologists J. Allen Hynek, Albert Chop, John Fuller, and Mort Young. As usual, there’s a lot going on.
