JOHN KEEL NOT AN AUTHORITY ON ANYTHING

http://smragan.com/2015/10/11/my-breadboard-brings-all-the-boys-to-the-yard/badass_breadboard_10/ At the end of August (we’re still in 1967), Jaye Paro tells John to look for a book in the Lucis Trust library. He does so, and finds passages underlined in red pencil. Apol’s letters were written in red pencil. Did Jaye mark up the book? Did someone else, and then tell her to tell John? I suspect the former, but I guess we can’t know.

The Lucis Trust was founded in 1922 by Alice Bailey and her husband Foster Bailey, to publish her books, which are apparently influenced by H. P. Blavatsky (I’ve read some Blavatsky, but no Bailey).

And we have more stories from Jaye: this time, an attempt to gas her, and a frozen phone.

John’s daily record continues with more drama from Jaye Paro: a new alien, Rodan, threatens to murder four people she knows if she doesn’t stop her contact with “those people.” Apol/Appell had previously given Paro the name “Tim’na” in a letter to John. Of course, if she actually wrote the letter, she would know about her new name. More puzzling, perhaps, is the report from John’s girlfriend Gerda, about a small disc outside her window.

John’s notes continue with some odd reports from his girlfriend Gerda, followed by a call from Joe Henslik. Gerda was a dancer, and, as far as I know, not particularly interested in UFOs. Henslik was a contactee; elsewhere in his notes, John dismissed his story as a hoax.

There’s also a letter from Apol/Appel/Appell, as well as a second questionnaire. I posted the questionnaire over here; John kept a separate file on Apol.

In the middle of August, 1967, John’s primary contactee Jaye Paro is out of town, so “things have been generally quiet.” Then she returns, and has more “funny things” to report. There are also reports of phone hoaxes from ufologists Joan Whritenouer and June Larson, and the puzzle of Gray Barker’s envelopes turning up in Philadelphia. Ivan Sanderson says that the vitamin supplements Apol recommended have made him feel better. He was not, by the way, a transvestite, but did often wear a robe.

In the midst of all the confusion that surrounded John in 1967, he wrote a letter to fellow researcher Jerome Clark, summarizing his understanding of the UFO phenomenon at the time. Much of it (in retrospect, too much of it, I’m afraid) was based on the information he was getting from Jaye Paro. A couple of notes: Charles, I presume, is Charles Bowen, editor of the British Flying Saucer Review; Lucius F. is Lucius Farish, tireless collector of UFO data.

Early in the morning, June 5, 1967, John types out a heartfelt letter to the aliens that he’s come to believe are contacting Jaye Paro. He has, at least for this morning, decided that Jaye is not hoaxing, and places himself in their hands.

John’s record continues… Jaye Paro reports on her last broadcast from the Burning Embers restaurant. Frank Davis, an Air Force lieutenant who had once questioned her, and who occasionally showed up at her shows, is taken off by two men in a “large, expensive car.” Jaye says that she had received a letter in red pencil; John notes that she never saw Apol’s red penciled letters, although all of Apol’s correspondence came through her. Jaye also found a Gideon Bible with her initials in it, just as John had found his name in one. She also asks about Mt. Echo, WV; the town does exist, although I don’t know what was going on there then.

After the questionnaire, John’s record resumes with more wild stories from Jaye Paro. He remarks, “at this point almost anything seems possible.” I wouldn’t go that far, but I continue to be baffled at what Paro was doing, and how she was coming up with her stories. John also gives a list of supposed UFO bases in Long Island; in later years, he said he discovered many of the suspected sites were military, and realized that he probably shouldn’t have been snooping around them.

Below is the rest of the questionnaire that John sent to Apol (through Jaye Paro, as usual). He noted the answers on the carbon; the originals were in faint red pencil. I suppose there are many ways to read this. Probably the least productive is as the genuine response of an alien (even if Apol was real, he was not very informative); the most productive may be as a record of John’s questions about the continuing UFO puzzle, vintage 1967. What would John Keel ask an alien? Many topics are mentioned: the origin of the aliens, their physical bodies, their religion, their government, their plans, their use of stolen and mutilated animals, and more.

As it turns out, Apol was not replaced by Rubin, but remained in contact with Jaye Paro. (Nor was Rubin completely out of the picture; he does show up later.) In August, John started sending Apol/Paro questionnaires, which were duly returned, with answers scrawled in red pencil. John kept his correspondence with Apol in a separate file; I posted about it here. The first of these questionnaires now follows in the Long Island file; John noted Apol’s answers on a carbon, since the originals are very faint.

1967 ufology is now often obscure, so here are some notes: John defined the 3rd Eye that Apol mentions as a group of “hostile or malevolent ultraterrestrials”; “Project B” was one of his pamphlets, reprinting an article from Flying Saucer Review. The list of possible contactees includes confessed contactees (Adamski, Schmidt, Childers, Menger, Renaud, Derenberger, Kiehl, Kittredge) as well as writers (Trevor James Constable, McGraw, Fuller, Michel, Davis) and a number of generals (Eisenhower, Marshall, MacArthur, Vandenburg). Otis T. Carr promoted free energy devices and tried to build a saucer, but didn’t claim contact. “Long John” Nebel had a radio talk show that often featured contactees, but never claimed contact either. Donald Estrella was a friend of John’s; he’s mentioned in The Mothman Prophecies.

Lee Childers lived in Detroit, and called himself Prince Neosom. Joao Freitas de Guimaraes had a UFO experience in Brazil in 1958; it was similar to Menger’s stories. Aimé Michel wrote a book called Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery. Isabel Davis was a member of Civilian Saucer Intelligence. Gloria Lee was another contactee, who died after a long fast in 1962.

The questionnaire is eight pages; the first four pages follow…