JOHN KEEL NOT AN AUTHORITY ON ANYTHING

http://iowacomicbookclub.com/wp-atom.php Here, to follow up on John’s 1970 speech to the Humanist Society, is one for a MENSA convention in NYC in 1972. He touches on some of the same subjects, but is more concerned with the connections between paranormal and religious experiences. A few corrections about Charles Fort: he was not a “little man,” but six feet tall and stocky; he died in 1932, not 1931; the quotation “If there is a universal mind, must it be sane?” (with which John closes The Mothman Prophecies) was written by Damon Knight, in his biography of Fort; it was Aaron Sussman who proposed the title God Is an Idiot, which Fort rejected, preferring Tiffany Thayer’s suggestion Lo!

I’ll post the speech in three installments.

John writes to Lynn Catoe, shortly after they began conferring about her proposed UFO bibliography. Among the interesting bits in this letter are Gordon Evans’s withdrawal from ufology, reports of a John Keel impersonator, a black Cadillac cruising Ivan and Alma Sanderson’s farm, warnings of “odd incidents” Ms. Catoe might experience, and the news that John is now “trying to lead away from the extra-terrestrial thesis and point in new directions.” The “episode with the man in the pickup truck” happened to Ms. Catoe while she was driving to visit the Sandersons in October. A man stopped her and insisted on crawling under her car; when she reached the farm she discovered three lumps of putty on the bottom of her gas tank. John tells the story in more detail in Chapter 17 of The Mothman Prophecies.

ADDENDUM: In the comments, Clarence Carlson expressed curiosity about Gordon Evans. Here’s a link to a transcript of Jim Moseley’s UFO convention in June 1967, which includes a talk by Evans. There’s also a talk by John, and contributions by Gray Barker, Long John Nebel, Ivan Sanderson, and other people who show up in these letters.

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.

The next item in John’s “Special File” is a letter to Mary Hyre, written January 8, 1968, and following up on a telephone conversation from the night before. The Faye and Connie mentioned here are Mary Hyre’s sister, Faye Carpenter, and her daughter Connie, one of the first Mothman witnesses. “Jack Brown,” supposedly a Man In Black, and most certainly a disturbing character, has been making further trouble in Point Pleasant. Lester Holly was a UFO buff in the area.

Next in the file is a letter to Park and Mabel McDaniel, the parents of Linda Scarberry, one of the original Mothman witnesses. John warns them that he’s been receiving reports of a Keel double. He also mentions a visit to Lester Holly, a UFO buff in Ravenswood.

John also includes a clipping from the N.Y. Daily News, about the abduction of a young girl, which he marks as a “Probable MIB Case.” I apologize for the vintage photocopy, which has faded badly.

After the bridge collapse, a few days after Christmas, John reports on another Man In Black in West Virginia, “Jack Brown,” who may be familiar to readers of The Mothman Prophecies. One detail that didn’t make into the book: the unusual Mr. Brown seems more interested in John Keel and Mary Hyre than in UFOs. (John, by the way, did not have a romantic relationship with Mary Hyre). I don’t know why he had to cover for his activities over the holidays. He had a complicated life!

John’s file continues with a letter to Mary Hyre, the reporter for the Athens (Ohio) Messenger, who kept him informed on the strange doings in Point Pleasant, WV. The letter is a response to one of hers, dated November 1.

I find it disturbing, mostly because he’s accepted so many of his contactees’ stories (particularly Jaye Paro’s). So please remember: this is early in his career, and he reconsidered later. He also had a premonition that a disaster was coming to Point Pleasant; the Silver Bridge would collapse a few weeks later. I assume he marked that passage afterwards.

ADDENDUM: I should have added a key to some of these people. Here it is! Mabel is Mabel McDaniel, mother of Linda Scarberry, one of the original Mothman witnesses. Mrs. Thomas is Virginia Thomas, who had a Mothman sighting the day before John’s letter (11/2/67). Mrs. Bowen is mentioned in one of Mary Hyre’s letters, as a possible contactee; I don’t know her first name. Mrs. Lilly is probably either Jackie Lilly or Doris Lilly, both of whom reported odd experiences. Gray B. is Gray Barker (see the last installment for his odd “Grunt” letter), and Dan D. is Dan Drasin, a filmmaker who made a few trips to Point Pleasant with John. Mary Hyre mentioned Ralph Manchin in her letter; neither she nor John knew who he was.

Before we continue with John’s notes, here are a few pointers for readers:

1. These are John’s raw notes of his investigations, recorded as they happened in 1967. He used much of the material for The Mothman Prophecies, but not all of it. They don’t represent his final thoughts on anything; he had just started researching UFOs, after leaving a career as a TV writer, and was trying to figure things out.

2. Just as John was not an authority on anything, I’m not an authority on John. And my posting of his notes doesn’t mean that I agree with his conclusions, or can defend them. I try to clarify obscure and topical references if I can. Other than that, you’re on your own!

3. However, I do suggest you not read this for evidence of aliens. It’s probably most interesting as a record of one man grappling with a strange subject, and of a strange time and place.

And so, we move on to October 23, 1967. It was, as John says, “a busy day on the phone.” Jaye Paro reports an encounter with the Men In Black; Helen Oglemyer lets John speak with one of them, an entity named Argo; Jaye calls back and John talks with Agar; and Jaye calls at 1 am to report that Apol/Appell has taken LSD and is “acting strangely.” (He has, of course, acted strangely before.) It’s not clear from John’s notes if he talked directly with Argo and Agar, or if Helen and Jaye acted as interpreters.

At the end, John mentions an odd letter from Gray Barker; I posted it earlier here, since John had kept it in another file.

The Barbara mentioned here is Barbara Hudson, who was dating James Moseley.

The next day, John has a phone conversation with Helen Oglemyer, and indirectly with Cloé, who claims to be Agar’s sister. She apparently also disapproves of John’s bawdy Batman spoof, The Fickle Finger of Fate. Jaye Paro (Tim’na) reports “that the MIB were turning people into evil, mindless zombies,” and adds several of her own MIB interactions. Agar predicts (wrongly) that there will be many Mothman sightings in Long Island.

The saga continues… Jaye Paro visits Mt. Misery, and finds some of her fellow contactees. The aliens predict Mothman will visit Long Island, Dave returns, and Joe Henslik is still missing.