Publications Departmentby James W. Moseley & Karl T. Pflock
Prometheus Books, 2002
ISBN 1-57392-991-3
Reviewed by Daniel B. Fox <foxd @ indiana.edu>
Beliefs about UFOs have changed over the years. Greys, Nords, Roswell, Alien Abductions, etc., they all make up the history of the subculture of UFO believers.
James Moseley and Karl Pflock are the editor and contributing editor of a UFO gossip sheet called SAUCER SMEAR. As such, they are in a unique position to give us a look behind the scenes of what has happened and is happening in ufology in this strongly autobiographical book.
Moseley and Pflock take us on an interesting tour of the social history of ufology from the inside. We learn of the people, events, hoaxes, and scandals that have shaped the beliefs about UFOs over the past fifty years, and along the way we also learn quite a bit about the authors, especially Moseley.
Moseley tells us of how he first became interested in UFOs and began collecting information for a book on the subject. As he travels across country, interviewing believers, researchers, and contactees, he becomes fascinated with the people involved in the subculture. A careful observer of people, Moseley tells us his impressions of them. The descriptions are fair, but pull no punches, even when they apply to the authors themselves.
Along the way, we get the inside story on Moseley's involvement in several famous UFO hoaxes including a hilarious description of the faking of a UFO film for his lectures. We find out the real story of the Men In Black™ and how the story grew over time. We also see how no UFO case is ever closed as solved and there will always be "shocking new revelations!"
We also learn about grave-robbing in Peru, along with the other moneymaking endeavors that Moseley engaged in, most of which barely broke even.
All in all, this is a very entertaining book and gives a lot of insight into, and background information about, the UFO stories we've seen over the years. And it is shockingly close to the truth.
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