"Earthquest News" and "Supernaturalist" (Andrew Collins, UK) online - Earth Mysteries, Psychic Questing, UFOs, the Paranormal and new age thought

Andrew Collins has kindly given me permission to upload his "Earthquest News" newsletter and the related "Supernaturalist" publication.   

Andrew Collins is described on his website as "a science and history writer, and the author of over a dozen books that challenge the way we perceive the past. They include The Black Alchemist, The Seventh Sword, From the Ashes of Angels, Gods of Eden, Gateway to Atlantis, Tutankhuman: The Exodus Conspiracy (co-authored with Chris Ogilvie Herald), The Cygnus Mystery, Göbekli Tepe: Genesis of the Gods, The Cygnus Key: The Denisovan Legacy, Göbekli Tepe and the Birth of Egypt and Denisovan Origins: Hybrid Humans, Göbekli Tepe and the Genesis of the Giants of Ancient America, co-authored with Greg L. Little".

One issue of "Earthquest News" stated that Earthquest was an "Essex based organisation set on promoting and studying the subject known commonly as the earth mysteries, the paranormal, and new age thought". 

That issue stated that "among the topics covered are paranormal manifestations, unusual phenomena, ancient and mystical sites and buildings, mythology, folklore, esoteric history and philosophies, understanding the mind, and developing and utilising psychic abilities". 

Issues also included material on UFOs, psychic questing, consciousness, synchronicity and Alien Big Cats. 

Scanning has, as is often the case, been done by the AFU in Sweden.

Copyright is retained by Andrew Collins and the contributing authors for EarthQuest News.

Click on the image below for the folder containing scans of "Earthquest News".

"Earthquest News" is at:

http://files.afu.se/Downloads/Magazines/United%20Kingdom/Earthquest%20News%20(Andrew%20Collins)/

"Supernaturalist" is at:

http://files.afu.se/Downloads/Magazines/United%20Kingdom/Supernaturalist%20(Andrew%20Collins)/

20 issues of "Alternate Horizons Newsletter" (Allen Greenfield, UFOs, USA) now online

Allen Greenfield's "Alternate Horizons Newsletter" was dedicated to the "AR Theory" (i.e. the "alternate reality theory", which suggested that there is "some sort of 'door' between realities" and that UFOs are merely a part of this phenomenon.  

The "Alternate Horizons Newsletter" suggested that hints of "the mechanics of such warps" might be provided by flying saucers ("mobile transfer warps?") and the alleged phenomenon of teleportation.  One issues asked "Are there places on the surface of our world where realities came into such close proximity to our own that aspects of them can be seen quite frequently".

Such theories have obvious parallels with more recent discussions of UFO "window areas", "portals", Skinwalker Ranch, and the parody of such theories in "The Long Earth" series of science fiction books by Terry Pratchett and Stephon Baxter.

Allen Greenfield kindly gave me permission to upload his newsletters several years ago. I have previously posted about some of his other newsletters that have already been uploaded. The AFU in Sweden has now scanned 20 issues of "Alternate Horizons Newsletter", which I think is nearly a complete set. (I hope to fill in the remaining gaps within the next few days - and get some of Allen Greenfield's other newsletters online).

Click on the image below for a link to the folder on the AFU's website containing issues of the "Alternate Horizons Newsletter".

Allen Greenfield UFO newsletters - Previous uploads : American UFO Committee Review, Owlexandrian Initiate, Ufology Notebook , UFO Sighter, Paraufologist, The Look-See

Someone contacted the AFU in Sweden recently and raised the possibility of scanning some of the UFO newsletters published by Allen Greenfield. I thought it may be helpful to post a reminder of the material that I uploaded a few years ago after Allen Greenfield kindly gave me permission to upload scans of his publications.

Those were:

American UFO Committee Review

Owlexandrian Initiate

Ufology Notebook

UFO Sighter

Paraufologist, The

Look-See

Each of these has "Allen Greenfield" after their name in the list of publications from the USA on the AFU's website.

Potential further uploads of newsletters that involved Allen Greenfield include the following, which I think are all covered by the permission he gave a few years ago, so I'll try to get these scanned unless anyone has done this already:


(a) Aerial Phenomena Perspectives
(b) Allen Greenfield's Saucer Commentary
(c) Alternate Horizons Newsletter
(d) Flying Saucer Observations
(e) Saucer Album (I'll check with Rick Hilberg as well)
(f) Saucer commentary
(g) Small steps, Giant Leaps

Rare "Le Grand Contact" magazine (France, 1980s) now online

"Le Grand Contact" was a French UFO magazine, directed by Jean-Pierre Prevost in the early 1980s.

Jean-Pierre Prevost has passed away, but another French researcher Patrice Seray knew him and is sure that Jean-Pierre Prevost would fully agree to its dissemination to all.

I am grateful to Patrice Seray for providing that information and also scans of this publication, which I have now uploaded to the AFU's website.

Click on the image below for a link to the relevant folder on the AFU's website.

Updated collection of "Flying snake: A Journal of Cryptozoology, Folklore and Forteana" online

In 2018, I uploaded searchable PDFs of issues 1 to 13 of "Flying Snake : A Journal of Cryptozoology, Folklore and Forteana" with the permission of its editor - Richard Muirhead. Richard has now kindly agreed to my uploading issues 14 to 20 (and helpfully provided PDFs of these issues).

My personal focus remains on UFOs, but I'm happy to help those in the cryptozoology/fortean communities by getting more scans online (if relevant permissions can be obtained).

If any cryptozoology/fortean can get (or give) relevant permissions, just let me know. I can probably get scans done. Heck, I'm happy to send out further permission requests as well if those in the cryptozoology/fortean have recommendations for any newsletters or magazines in their fields that I haven't dealt with yet.  Also, of course, if anyone in those fields has done any scanning then I'd like to hear about that as well (either here or by email at isaackoi@gmail.com), since I don't want to spend my own time reinventing the wheel or cause anyone else to waste their time.

More cryptozoological newsletters and magazines will hopefully be online this week (although I'll be spending most of my spare time on UFO material). The cryptozoological newsletters covered so far are:

(1) the ISC's "Cryptozoology" journal and the ISC Newsletters - following indications by the former president of ISC and another former director that they had no objection to the upload,
(2) over 150 issues of Rip Hepple's Loch Ness "Nessletters" (with his permission),
(3) Mark A Hall's "Wonders" (with the blessing of Loren Coleman, who had been given the "sign off" by the late Mark A Hall),
(4) the first 45 issues of the UK's "Animals and Men" (with permission from Jon Downes of the Centre for Fortean Zoology )
(5) Ron Schaffner's "Creature Chronicles" (with the agreement of Blake Mathys, a researcher given permission by Ron Schaffner to make "Creature Chronicles" available online).
(6) Various "bigfoot" newsletters,
(7) Richard Muirhead's "Flying Snake" (with his permission),
(8) Many more general Fortean magazines/newsletters containing further cryptozoological material (after getting permissions from relevant editors/publishers)

Click on the image below for the "Flying Snake" folder I created on the AFU's website.

2 more from France : "Ovni Marne" and "Mysterieux Objets Celestes" (GMLDLN)

Alain Blanchard has kindly given his permission for me to upload "Ovni Marne" and "Mysterieux Objets Celestes" (Groupement Marnais Lumerieres Dans La Nuit - GMLDLN). 

Many thanks to French researcher Patrice Seray for liaising with Alain Blanchard and also for providing scans of most issues of this publication.  

Patrice and I will seek to fill in the gaps, but some of these issues are rather rare.  (I will try asking SCEAU).

French "La Revue des Soucoupes Volantes" magazine (1970s) now online

"La Revue des Soucoupes Volantes" was published in France by Michel Moutet between 1977 and 1979. but this magazine was interesting because it was not affiliated to any particular group or opinion. It was published with professional means and sold on newsstands.

Michel Moutet has passed away. Yves Bosson was in contact with Michel Moutet and has since been in contact with Michel Moutet's children, especially his eldest daughter, Estelle Moutet.  His children have agreed to the uploading of this publication, provided certain conditions were met (which the AFU and I have now done - including the scanning of the original cover page in colour and the addition of a new cover page at the start of the relevant PDFs in terms that they have requested).

I am grateful to Michel Moutet's children for giving this permission, to Yves Bosson for communicating with Michel Moutet's children and to Swiss researcher Bruno Mancusi for communicating with Yves Bosson (and, of course, to the AFU for scanning this publication).

 

UFO newsletters from Uzbekistan (and more from the USSR and Belarus) added

I have now created a folder for UFO newsletters and magazines from Uzbekistan. I have uploaded 2 sets of newsletters from there "UFO Chto Gde Kogda" and "UFO Mif ili Realnost". 

I have also uploaded some more newsletters from Belarus ("UFO za i protiv") and from the USSR ("Neopoznannoye v Karelii").

My thanks once again to to Ukrainian researcher Igor Kalytyuk and Russian researcher George Fedorovskiy for their advice and help liaising with UFO groups in Eastern Europe (and to Igor Kalytyuk for also supplying relevant scans).

I still have a lot more people to contact in, and a lot more to upload from, Eastern Europe but I'll probably focus on France for most of my (limited...) spare time tomorrow.  I already have a bit of a backlog of French material to deal with and some interesting related possibilities have also arisen with GEIPAN. :) 

Click on the image below for a link to the relevant folders on the website of the AFU.

"Creature Chronicles" - "a pioneering newsletter on Bigfoot and other critters" (Ron Schaffner, USA, 1980s-1990s)

"Creature Chronicles" was a newsletter published by Ron Schaffner in 1980s to early 1990s. Matt Bille has referred to this newsletter on his website as "a pioneering newsletter on Bigfoot and other critters". and commented that it is "a lot of fun to read these accounts from the days before the Internet had sasquatch reports, speculation, and just plain trash seemingly flooding the world".

Ron Schaffner gave Blake Mathys permission to make "Creature Chronicles" available online over a decade ago, and Blake made scans of 11 issues available on his website. I asked Blake whether I could add a copy of "Creature Chronicles" available in the online Fortean archive that I have been helping to develop. Blake has kindly agreed.

The AFU has scanned 4 missing issues, so I think the collection online is now complete.

This newsletter joins other Cryptozoological journals/newsletters that I have obtained permission to upload so far, including:

(1) the ISC's "Cryptozoology" journal and the ISC Newsletters - following indications by the former president of ISC and another former director that they had no objection to the upload,

(2) over 150 issues of Rip Hepple's Loch Ness "Nessletters" (with his permission),

(3) Mark A Hall's "Wonders" (with the blessing of Loren Coleman, who had been given the "sign off" by the late Mark A Hall),

(4) the first 45 issues of the UK's "Animals and Men" (with permission from Jon Downes of the Centre for Fortean Zoology )

(5) Various "bigfoot" newsletters,

(6) Many more general Fortean magazines/newsletters containing further cryptozoological material (after getting permissions from relevant editors/publishers)

Click on the image below for a link to the relevant folder.

Another 8 Russian UFO newsletters (including 43 issues of "Tonnel", 12 issues of Stalker UFO", Terminator, Echo, and Potustoronnego of the Ufologists Club Penza)

Following the uploading last week of Russia's main UFO magazine ("Anomalija", with thanks to its editor for giving me permission for that upload), and the uploading earlier today of another 3 sets of Russian newsletters ("Chetvertoye Izmereniye", plus "Aura Z" and "Vestnik UFO"), I'm pleased to have been able to also upload today the following further 8  Russian UFO newsletters :

1. Echo Potustoronnego (Ufologists Club Penza)
2. Koltso Velikogo Svecheniya
3. Kosmicheskiy Vek
4. Novuy Vodoley
5. Stalker UFO (UFONIKS)
6. Terminator
7. Tonnel (AIAUFO)
8. Tonnel XXI (AIAUFO) 

I am grateful, once again, to Ukrainian researcher Igor Kalytyuk and Russian researcher George Fedorovskiy for their advice and help liaising with UFO groups in Russia (and to Igor Kalytyuk for also supplying relevant scans).

Click on the image below of a link to the folder for Russian UFO magazines that I created on the website of the AFU.

3 more sets of Russian UFO newsletters added (143 issues of "Chetvertoye Izmereniye", plus "Aura Z" and "Vestnik UFO")

With thanks to Ukrainian researcher Igor Kalytyuk and Russian researcher George Fedorovskiy for their advice and help liaising with UFO groups in Russia (and to Igor Kalytyuk for also supplying relevant scans), I am pleased to upload 143 issues of "Chetvertoye Izmereniye" of the Yaroslavl UFO Study Group, plus copies of "Aura Z" and also "Vestnik UFO" of the Moscow Independent Ufology Society.

These Russian newsletters will be followed by more from Russia and the USSR (and various Eastern European countries) in the very near future.

As more and more foreign UFO groups/researchers are joining my informal network, the pace of the scanning project is rapidly accelerating. Other possibilities for advancing UFO research are also being explored. My door is always open to further potential collaborations (time permitting...).

Work on sharing automated translations is also progressing, but this involves addressing some programming/AI issues.

Click on the image below for a link to the Russian folder I have created on the AFU's website.

"Paranthropology" - the "journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal" : Anthropology, Sociology, Consciousness Studies etc

"Paranthropology" describes itself as the "journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal". The members of Paranthropology's Board of Reviewers include numerous academics from fields that include anthropology, sociology, consciousness studies and psychology.  

I don't think I have seen any other publication in relation to the paranormal which has had as many academics apparently involved in its production.

The editor of that magazine, Dr Jack Hunter, has kindly given me permission to make copies of this publication freely available in the online archive that I have been helping develop.

The first issue (published in 2010) stated that this journal is intended to provide "a platform for the dissemination of new research and ideas pertaining to anthropological approaches to the study of paranormal beliefs, associated practices and phenomena". It stated that, while the main emphasis of the journal is on anthropological approaches, "it will also branch out into other disciplines - psychology, parapsychology, sociology, folklore, history - as a means to explore the way in which these theoretical methodologies interact and shed light on the paranormal".

Since my primary interest is in material relating to UFOs, I note that this publication has included UFO articles by some familiar names (including Thomas Bullard, Jean-Michel Abrassart and Jason Colavito) in addition to some material by various academics. 

More details about "Paranthropology", including the latest issues, can be found on its website.

Click on the image below for a link to the relevant folder I've created for these issues in the AFU's online archive.

 

More German and Czech UFO newsletters added to archive ("JUFOF" and "Bulleten EEAPPR" respectively)

With many thanks to German UFO researcher Danny Ammon for help liaising with various German UFO groups, I obtained permission some time ago to upload all the issues of GEP's magazine JUFOF that were older than 5 years.  I uploaded the first 200 issues of JUFOS at that time. Danny has now told me that I can also upload issues from 2013 to 2015 (maintaining the initially negotiated permission of uploading issues more than 5 years old).  The uploading of issues beyond a certain age allows UFO/Fortean groups to maintain exclusive access for its members to the latest information, while sharing a lot of older material freely on an online archive. I'm currently hoping to persuade a large Fortean group in the UK (ASSAP) to at least adopt a similar model if it is not willing to upload all its journals for free access. Heck, I may even have another try at persuading MUFON to release some material.

Also, Ukrainian UFO researcher Igor Kalytyuk has told me that I am now free to upload the Czech UFO newsletter "Bulleten EEAPPR", the newsletter of the Eastern European UFO Association.

I have added this material to the folders I created on the AFU's website for magazines from German and the Czech Republic respectively.

If I can find the time, I'll also upload more material from Russia later today.  I'm also hoping to obtain further permissions today to upload more material from the USA and Canada. 

Click on the link below for a list of the folders currently covered in the online archive of newsletters. (I'm working with the same informal network of 100+ UFO researchers/groups on a similar list of folders in relation to an online archive of official UFO documents from around the world).

"SBI Reports" (USA) - Attempts to improve ufology, seeking UN action, FOIA requests/proceedings

Issues of "The SBI Report" magazine (of the "Scientific Bureau of Investigation") in the 1970s-1980s  aimed to "convey a serious minded attitude".  Many of the topics covered in issues of "The SBI Report" in that period are similar (possibly depressingly similar...) to current discussions about UFOs and ufology, including asking why UFO researchers/groups were not cooperating more, how much other nations (such as "Red China") might know about UFOs, how to improve international coordination of UFO research by governments (including via the United Nations) and attempts to improve the quality of UFO investigations.  

James (Jim) R Leming has kindly given me permission to upload "The SBI Report" , which was edited by him and Peter Mazzola . Other people involved in this publication included some UFO researchers that remain well-known - including Peter Robbins, Antonio Huneeus and Colman VonKeviczky.

FOIA requests, and related petitions and legal proceedings, were a recurring theme in this publication, including items by Larry Fawcett and Barry Greenwood (the co-authors of the book "Clear Intent"), William H Spaulding of Ground Saucer Watch ("GSW") and making others involved in initial FOIA efforts relating to UFOs.

The AFU in Sweden helpfully scanned 41 issues of "The SBI Report". Barry Greenwood in the USA scanned the remaining 6 issues, completing the set.

Click on the image below for a link to folder containing the searchable scans of "The SBI Report".

Ultra-rare USA, 1960s "CAPRI News" UFO newsletter now online ("Committee on Aerial Phenomenon Research Investigations")

Barry Greenwood has kindly scanned several issues of the "CAPRI News" newsletter published by the "Committee on Aerial Phenomenon Research Investigations" in the 1960s.  

The President of the "Committee on Aerial Phenomenon Research Investigations" was E J Minasian.  

This newsletter appears to be extremely rare and even the collections of Barry Greenwood, the AFU and others are incomplete.  As always, I will try to fill in the gaps. 

Volume 1 No 6 contained (at pages 5-6) a "CAPRI Exclusive", being a copy of the purported letter from Robert F Kennedy to Gray Barker dated 9 May 1968 in which Bobby Kennedy purportedly stated that he was "a card carrying member of the Amalgamated Flying Saucers Association" and that he was in favour of "more research regarding this matter".  Antonio Huneeus wrote an article entitled "Bobby Kennedy and UFOs" in 2010 which discussed whether this purported letter was a hoax by, or on, Gray Barker. (Anyone familiar with Gray Barker reading the relevant purported letter would have the same question...). I'd be interested in the background to this purported letter is more information is available. As some of you know, I have a fondness for Gray Barker and the UFO antics of him and some of his friends.

The newsletter contained a statement that the content could be reproduced, so I have made the scans available online.

Click on the image below for a link to the folder containing the existing scans.

"The Bent Spoon" (a "skeptical magazine for the true believer") now added - UFOs, Cryptozoology, Ghosts, ESP etc (2011-2015)

"The Bent Spoon" was an online magazine between 2011 and 2015, founded by Nicholas Callis and Bobby Nelson.

"The Bent Spoon" was created in an attempt to address the divide between "the believers" and those "more skeptical in nature".  The introduction to "The Bent Spoon" commented that "the true believers rarely, if ever, embrace a skeptical attitude or ask tough questions of their community; instead preferring to surround themselves with like- minded individuals that reinforce their own belief systems", and the skeptics "likewise, promote science and critical thinking largely to those already open to it, or who are active participants in the skeptical community". "The Bent Spoon" was intended to be "a skeptical magazine for the true believer" with articles "critical of both believers and skeptics alike".

That polarisation between "believers" and "skeptics" within the UFO/Fortean communities (and the tendency towards researchers merely participating in echo chambers) is something that many other researchers (including myself...) have commented on over the years.

I think it would be fair to consider that "The Bent Spoon" tended more towards the skeptical end of the spectrum, but it was a noteworthy in that it least attempted to try to bridge the divide between "skeptics" and "believers" (to adopt the terminally used in that publication).   

A blog in relation to "The Bent Spoon" currently remains online and the various issues are scattered through the posts on that blog.   However, the Facebook page for "The Bent Spoon" seems to have closed over the last few years and I do not know if "The Bent Spoon" blog will remain online indefinitely. I therefore thought it making copies of this publication freely available in the AFU's online archive in a format that makes it easier to download a full set of searchable PDFs.  

I am grateful to Bobby Nelson for kindly agreed to this.

Click on either of the images below for a link to the folder containing a set of "The Bent Spoon" magazine.

Clifford Stone's "Special Reports" on UFO FOIA documents - Project Moondust, Operation Blue Fly, Roswell, UFO recovery operations and Radar Visual Cases

Back in 2014, before I started uploading material to the AFU's website, Clifford Stone kindly gave me permission to upload searchable PDF versions of a number of "Special Reports" that he circulated relating to his requests for UFO documents under the Freedom Of Information Act (e.g. in relation to Project Moondust) in 1990s.

In 2014, I added the material to one of the free file storage websites that I used at that time to show that protests by some well-known UFO groups that they could not share material because they could not afford to pay to host UFO material were, well, rather feeble given the availability of free storage.  

Anyway, I've now added those Special Reports to the collection on the AFU's website that I've been helping to coordinate in recent years.  

The relevant "Special Reports" include:

Clifford Stone Special Report 1 - UFO Recovery Operations

Clifford Stone Special Report 2 - UFO Military Confrontations

Clifford Stone Special Report 3 - Operation Blue Fly

Clifford Stone Special Report 3a update supplement (January 1995)

Clifford Stone Special Report 4 - Military Radar Visual Cases

Clifford Stone Special Report 5 - UFO Technology

Clifford Stone Special Report 6 - Air Force investigation of UFOs

Clifford Stone response to Air Force Report on Roswell

Incidentally, Clifford Stone also gave me permission in 2014 for me to upload a DVD that he was distributing with further UFO documents.  Sadly, at that time none of the people to whom Clifford Stone  mentioned he had supplied a copy of that DVD was able/willing to transfer a copy of its contents to me (and Clifford Stone's posts on Facebook etc have been increasingly sporadic since 2014). I may try again to get a copy of that DVD soon.Click on the image below for a link to the folder containing these Special Reports.

"Sokaren" (Swedish) newsletter ["Seeker"] - 3.5GB (350+ issues) added to the archive : 1964-2008

The equivalent of 11 large boxes of the Swedish magazine "Sokaren" ["Seeker"], over 350 issues amounting to about 3.5GB, are now online. 

From its beginning in 1964 until almost its final issue in 2008, "Sokaren" was published by Svens Magnusson. Another Swedish researcher, Hakan Blomqvist of the AFU, has said that he remains "impressed by this unique cultural magazine which is an outstanding source of articles" about various topics, including the New Age, ufology, parapsychology and religion. "Sokaren" is "invaluable as a source of the neo-spiritual movements and views of life of the late 20th century".

Hakan has said that Svens Magnusson "always published both sides posts in a debate". Sven Magnusson's "balanced but critical sharpness irritated many and he received numerous criticisms from both believers and skeptics".

According to Hakan Blomqvist, Svens Magnusson was "keenly interested in the UFO issue" and followed the subject both with subscriptions to foreign UFO magazines with "an extensive correspondence" with ufo researchers and UFO witnesses around the world. Hakan has referred to preserved correspondence including "letters from Daniel Fry, Ray and Rex Stanford, Allen Hynek, Jerome Clark, John Keel to name a few". Sven often wrote about UFOs in Sökaren.

More information on "Sokaren" and Svens Magnusson has been given in various items written by Hakan Blomqvist, including at:

https://ufoarchives.blogspot.com/2017/05/sven-magnusson-unique-voice-in-swedish.html

https://sites.google.com/site/ufologist52/Home/artiklar/artiklar-2006-2009/sven-magnusson-1930-2008

https://www.facebook.com/hakan.blomqvist.92/posts/4112665232086073

Svens Magnusson left his UFO material to the AFU in Sweden. Sokaren has been scanned by the AFU in Sweden and I have been asked by Hakan Blomqvist of the AFU to make it available online.

Click on the image below for the relevant folder on the AFU's website.

600+ issues of "Cosmic Awareness" newsletter added - New Age, UFOs, aliens, the occult, satanism, channelling, Edgar Cayce, remote viewing

The "Cosmic Awareness Communications" or "Revelations Awareness" newsletter contained a wide range of New Age topics, with material on from channelling, the occult, satanism, channelling, Edgar Cayce, remote viewing and many other topics - including UFOs and aliens.

Most of the material was purportedly written by "Interpreters" that "interpret the energies as they see them in trance levels", with "Cosmic Awareness" being "the Force the expressed Itself through Jesus of Nazareth, the Buddha, Krishna, Mohammed, Edgar Cayce and other great avatars who served as 'Channels' for the 'Heavenly Father'".

This publication expressly permitted (and encouraged) reproduction.

Searchable copies of 600+ issues have now been uploaded to the AFU's website.

Click on the image below for a link to the relevant folder.

AI translating of foreign UFO books etc : Uli Thieme's book "Roswell - Ein UFO Mythos sturzt ab" ["Roswell : A UFO Myth Crashes"]

Most UFO books published in the last 70 or so years have now been scanned, as have most UFO magazines/journals/newsletters - at least in relation to material in English.  Huge quantities of English-language official documents from various countries and newspaper cuttings about UFOs have also been digitised.

Many of the main foreign-language UFO magazines have also now been scanned. However, this material is less readily assimilated by many UFO researchers (including myself) that are limited to fluency solely in English.

As some of you know, during the last few years I have been experimenting with using artificial intelligence software for various purposes in relation to UFO material (e.g. creating a UFO investigator chatbot, automating the creating of transcripts of 50,000 UFO podcasts and analysing a UFO database).  The pace of this work is somewhat slowed by the fact that I'm a just a lawyer with an interest in some technical/logic issues rather than an IT professional...

I'm currently exploring the use of artificial intelligence tools to - among other things - create automated translations of scanned foreign-language UFO books and magazines.  (Not all of us have the resources of a Robert Bigelow, able to hire people to translate foreign material for us or to write summaries of European/Russian cases and studies).

Anyway, a German skeptic kindly agreed to make his book on Roswell available online.

Danny Ammon,  a knowledgeable German UFO researcher, has described Uli Thieme's "Roswell - Ein UFO Mythos sturzt ab" ["Roswell : A UFO Myth Crashes"] as "the best source on all things Roswell in German".  

First published in 1997, more recently Uli Thieme gave permission for a second edition of his book to appear on the German "UFO Info" website.  I have now kindly been given permission by Uli Thieme to make the book available on the AFU's website as well (with many thanks to Danny Ammon for his passing on the relevant permission).

Since my German is, well, rather limited I thought I'd include this book in my current experiments with automated translations and make it available online with the German original.  

I'd welcome any comments on the (imperfect...) translation and, in particular, any pointers to any existing tools for large-scale automated translations of foreign material that could be used to translate a further sample of, say, 10,000 or 100,000 pages of foreign UFO documents/magazines.

(Personally, as with the couple of million pages of automated transcriptions of UFO podcasts and UFO documentaries that I've previously shared, I think that the results of the automated translation are useful mainly as an additional aid to locating relevant material).

Click on the image below for a link to the German original and the automated English translation of Uli Thieme's book "Roswell - Ein UFO Mythos sturzt ab" ["Roswell : A UFO Myth Crashes"]

A big one : Russia's main UFO/fortean magazine ("Anomalija") is now added

Stanislav Ermakov has very kindly agreed to let me make scans of Russia's main UFO/Fortean magazine ("Anomalija" - sometimes referred to in the West under its translated title of "Anomaly" or "Anomalies") freely available online.

This permission was obtained during an interesting discussion accompanied by considerable quantities of Stanislav Ermakov's very tasty (and rather strong...) home-made apple brandy.

Stanislav Ermakov also kindly provided me with scans of a full set of "Anomalija".

"Anomalija" was originally published with the support of ITAR-TASS (the Russian state news agency) from 1990 to 1998. It was continued by Stanislav Ermakov and the Association of Ecology of the Unknown. A supplement to the main magazine, "Anomaly+", was also subsequently introduced.

In 2016, publication of "Anomalija" ended.

One of Russia's best informed researchers of the history of UFOs/parapsychology, George Fedorovskiy, kindly facilitated my discussions with Stanislav Ermakov. George has commented to me that "Anomalija" was, for a long time, Russia's "main popular scientific journal regularly published completely devoted to the study of anomalous phenomena". George added that the main focus was on UFOs, but that parapsychological topics were also included in each issue. He mentioned that the magazine "covered the life of a large post-Soviet community of researchers of unusual phenomena, talked about past conferences, the results of expeditions and research conducted".

Given how little of the history of Soviet/Russian UFO sightings and studies has been published in the West, I was rather pleased to get permission to share this publication online.    

["Anomalija" was not freely available online at the time of my discussions with Stanislav Ermakov, but it has subsequently been also been added to the website of the association "Ecology of the Unknown" - presumably further to his agreement to make it freely available online].

Click on the image below for the copies of "Anomalija" now on the AFU's website.




In 2020, in honour of the 30th anniversary of the project, the book "Аномальное мироздание" was published. The title of the book can be roughly translated as "Anomalous Universe". It contains a collection of selected articles published in the period from 2007-2015. If anyone wishes to buy a copy of that new book signed by Stanislav Ermakov (or not) they can contact Stanislav Ermakov or George Fedorovskiy via email. (George's email address is: para-invest@ya.ru)

English-language NPN Poland newsletter and over 200 further issues of Czech UFO newsletters added to archive

I've now created a folder for UFO/fortean newsletters from Poland. The first entry in this new folder is the English-language UFO newsletter of NPN Poland, with my thanks again to Ukrainian researcher Igor Kalytyuk for providing a copy and letting me know I can upload this.  (I'm starting with an English language item, due to my own bias...).

Igor Kalytyuk has also provided me with over 200 issues of the Czech newsletters "KPUFO Informacni" and "KPUFO Informacni sdeleni ", which I have converted to PDFs for ease of access/searching. Some background on KPUFO can be found on its website at http://kpufo.eu/.

Click on the image below for a link to the list of folders for the various countries now covered by the online archive. 

The current content of the online archive is still fairly heavily biased in favour of material from English speaking countries, such as the USA, UK, Australia and Canada. This at least partly because I am only fluent in English. However, I've been actively trying to broaden the scope and depth of coverage of UFO/fortean material in other languages. I am increasing those efforts at the moment as I have had considerable success recently with automated translations of UFO material into English. 

If any further foreign-language UFO researchers want to help increase the foreign-language UFO content in the archive that I've been helping coordinate, my (virtual) door is always open. 

(I also have a few further ideas for further international UFO projects beyond the scope of this scanning project, but they would require more international coordination within ufology than I fear currently exists...).

2 sets of Slovakian UFO newsletters ("Azimut Zahad" and the "Informacni bulletin" of KPUFO SK) now added to archive

"Azimut Zahad" and the "Informacni bulletin" of KPUFO SK (both Slovakian UFO newsletters) have now been added to the AFU's online archive. 

Thanks again to Ukrainian researcher Igor Kalytyuk for providing copies of these newsletters and letting me know that I was free to add these to the AFU's archive.

Click on the image below for the new "Slovakia" folder I've created today.

Bulletin of the Ufologic Belarusian Committee ("Anatomiya Fenomenov") online

Viktor Gaiduchik has kindly given for the uploading of the UFO bulletin "Anatomiya Fenomenov" [which translates as "Anatomy of the phenomena"]. This was a bulletin of the Ufologic Belarusian Committee, UFOcom. 

Many thanks to Ukrainian researcher Igor Kalytyuk for passing that permission on to me and providing copies of the newsletter.

Click on the image below for the copies of this newsletter.

UFO Club Zlin newsletters (Czech), i.e. Pegas and ParaGalaXicon, now added to the archive

Igor Kalytyuk, a prominent Ukrainian researcher, has helpfully provided me with copies of the newsletters of the Czech group UFO Club Zlin and told me that I am free to upload them.

So, copies of Pegas and ParaGalaXicon are now in the AFU's online archive.

I hope to have time to upload quite a lot more from the Czech Republic, Russia and Eastern Europe during the next few days. I'm currently just waiting for confirmation of permissions in relation to a few of the larger items.

Click on the image below for the new Czech directory that I have created this week.

"Gnome News" (Ann Atkin's newsletter about the Gnome Reserve, Gnome folklore, jokes/puns etc) now online

Ann Atkins and her family operated "the world famous Gnome Reserve and Wild Flower Garden" in Devon, England from 1979 until 2020. The gnomes were then relocated from the Reserve to the Merry Harriers Garden Centre, Bideford, North Devon. 

During the 1970s-1980s, Ann published the "Gnome News" newsletter. It contained news about the Gnome Reserve, folklore about Gnomes/fairies and quite a few jokes, puns and cartoons about Gnomes. 

A prominent member of the Fortean community asked if "Gnome News" could be scanned. The AFU in Sweden helpfully scanned 7 issues.  

Ann Atkin has kindly given me permission to upload "Gnome News", which are now at the link below.

"Manimals" (Jim McClarin's newsletter on "reported unclassified human--like creatures") now online - USA, 1970s

I connected with Jim McClarin on Facebook today and, as some of you might guess, immediately asked him for permission to make his "Manimals" newsletter freely available online. Jim took that slightly abrupt question in good cheer and he promptly gave his permission.  

The first issue explained that the "Manimals Newsletter" ("MN") was "intended to distribute available information concerning the investigation of reported unclassified human-like creatures such as the Yeti of the Himalayas, the Kakundakari of the Congo basin, the Almas of the U.S.S.R., and the Sasquatch or Bigfoot of North America, etc".

With thanks to Jim for his permission (and thanks, once again, to the AFU in Sweden for the scans), Jim McClarin's "Manimals" newsletter is now online.

"Wonders" (Mark A Hall's newsletter of cryptozoology, bigfoot etc) now online - USA, 1990s-2000s

Earlier this year I contacted various leading cryptozoologists to enquire whether there were any cryptozoological newsletters that they considered would be worth preserving and sharing online as searchable PDFs, if relevant permissions could be obtained.  While my own interests focus primarily on "UFOs", I'm happy to help coordinate a bit of scanning/uploading among the wider Fortean community.

Some of those cryptozoologists did not reply at all. Tut, tut. [Only kidding. They had no obligation whatsoever to give up their time by responding. Also, I'm not as well known among serious cryptozoologists as I am among serious UFO researchers...]. 

Of the cryptozoology researchers that did respond, most mentioned the International Society of Cryptozoology's journal "Cryptozoology" and the related "ISC Newsletter" - both of which I addressed earlier this year (subject to a very small number of gaps, which I still hope to fill if there is any interest among the cryptozoology community).

Also mentioned by a significant number of those that responded was Mark A Hall's "Wonders" newsletter.

When I raised the matter of permission to make "Wonders" freely available online, one of those cryptozoologists that had kindly responded, Loren Coleman, mentioned that he already had the "sign off" from the late Mark A Hall. Loren also indicated that he supported my efforts to get more cryptozoological newsletters online.

So, with thanks to Loren Coleman (and, of course, to the AFU - which once again has scanned an entire set of this publication) "Wonders" is now online at the link below. 

An archive of Mark A Hall's former website can be found at:

https://web.archive.org/web/20100311081913/http://home.att.net:80/~mark.hall.wonders/

"Earth" (Paul Bennett's publication of "Paganism, Fortean & Earth Mysteries") now online - UK, 1980s-1990s

Paul Bennett has kindly given me permission to upload scans of his "Earth" newsletter.  This was described in some issues as a publication of "Paganism, Fortean & Earth Mysteries". It was published by Paul in the UK in the 1980s and 1990s.

Paul had previously given permission (along with Martin Dagless) for me to upload their UFO newsletter, WYUFORG News.

Once again, the scans have been done by the AFU in Sweden.

Now online - EVP Newsletter (Electronic Voice Phenomena) - Alan Cleaver (UK, 1970s-1980s)

Alan Cleaver has kindly given me permission to upload scans of his "EVP Newsletter", which was devoted to "Electronic Voice Phenomena".

Alan Cleaver published EVP Newsletter when he was a teenager. Alan no longer has an interest in EVP but mentioned to me that "there's probably some important historical information in there - not least a letter from EVP pioneer Friedrich Jurgenson; quite a scoop for a wannabe journalist".

Alan Cleaver went on to become one of the founders of ASSAP. 

The AFU in Sweden has helpfully scanned most issues of this newsletter. A few gaps remain (particularly issues 1-4). As always, I'd welcome hearing from anyone that can help fill in the gaps.

The searchable scans are at the link below.