There aren’t many truly qualified UFO investigators these days. It takes a lot of experience, a willingness to learn from your mistakes, and a dogged determination to get at the truth. Kevin Randle is one of a rare breed. He’s been doing it for nearly half a century. He started investigating UFOs in high school and kept on doing it on the side through his years of military service (which in one case led some townspeople to think the Air Force was investigating the case when it was just Kevin on his own). How UFO investigation should be done, and how Kevin has done it all those years, is revealed in his 21st UFO book: Reflections of a UFO Investigator, just published by Anomalist Books. Other than his investigation of the Roswell case, for which Kevin is perhaps best known, others detailed in this memoir include the Carroll Wayne Watts case, the Rhodes photographs, and the Santa Rosa crash. We’re pretty much certain that you’ll be surprised by Randle’s brutally honest look back at his career in UFO research.

The good folks at Magonia don’t usually view books that treat UFOs as genuine physical phenomena with much kindness, but Peter Rogerson has some remarkably nice things to say about Grassroots UFOs: Case Reports from the Center for UFO Studies by Michael Swords (based on interviews conducted by John TImmerman). “This is raw, unmediated ufology,” writes Rogerson, “and what strikes me is how unlike the sanitized product this often is…What Timmerman has assembled is not some set of scientific or quasiscientific documents, and it would be a fools errand for someone to try and treat them as such, but a great, and very important, collection of late 20th century North American folklore…Much of what is reported here would in past times be interpreted in terms of religious experience, folk spiritualism, fairy lore or witchcraft. Only a minority really have a technological feel to them; many more are haunting stories which tell of the mysterious otherness of wild nature.” But Jerome Clark, in his review of the book in Fate magazine, would argue with Rogerson’s insistence that these reports are just folklore: “Let us make clear that these sorts of narratives are not ‘folklore.’ mere rumors, legends, fables…These are individuals’ direct experiences of what appear to be otherworldly forces. Usually assuming they happened more or less as told, they are beyond ordinary understanding.” Clark concludes his review with these words: “Grassroots UFOs is one of a kind, unlike any other UFO book you’re going to find out there. It’s definitely worth your time and attention. However you interpret its contents, it makes for thrilling reading and generates renewed wonder at exactly what’s out there and, yet more unsettlingly, what it’s doing to us.”

It’s not often that a reviewer makes that kind of statement—”the book is well worth picking up, and might even change your life”—but Micah Hanks does so in the first paragraph of his review, no less, on The Gralian Report. After doing a Google search on Robert Cracknell, the author of The Lonely Sense: The Autobiography of a Psychic Detective, he concludes: “Cracknell’s record is rather inconspicuous, but highly reputable… and if the sorts of things he mentions in his autobiography are indeed true…we damn well may have to accept he’s the best [psychic detective] anywhere.” But don’t think for a minute that Hanks is a pushover: “Even the occasional skeptic (something I consider myself to be in most cases) may find themselves unable to wrestle themselves from Cracknell’s wide-open delivery, and may begin questioning whether such extraordinary feats of psychic prowess might indeed be real after all.” Hanks then says: “But perhaps the most rewarding aspect about The Lonely Sense is the fact that Cracknell manages to keep a bright, positive outlook throughout the ups and downs, and in the end, his message is clear: anyone can do this, not just those who claim to have psychic powers…The Lonely Sense is a fine read almost any way you look at it.” After reading Hank’s review of the book, Jari Mikkola, editor of the Journal of Anomalous Sciences, read the book himself and found it to be “one of the most inspiring and candid autobiographies I’d ever read. With each page I felt as you would only do with someone you knew intimately while relaxing after a nice meal in their home. The book revealed to me a man that although he had the ability to exercise a faculty we all possess, and well I might add, he never let it go to his head.” Jari subsequently featured Cracknell in a cover story for The Journal of Anomalous Sciences. Nick Refern, who reviewed the book on Reviews of the Mysterious Kind, also had good things to say about The Lonely Sense: “It’s a brutally honest, open and highly entertaining study of the author’s life, that takes the reader from its very beginnings, his time spent in the British Royal Air Force, and to a profound experience that occurred during that same time spent with the military that sent him on the road to becoming a definitive psychic detective…Not surprisingly, Cracknell reveals that coming to grips with his surfacing powers of the psychic kind was not easy…[The book is] required reading for anyone who wants a deep, revealing insight not just into the world of psychic phenomena, but into the swirling, turbulent and emotion-filled heart of the psychic individual…”

Imagine being a doctor and having one of your patients tell you that your dead grandfather wants to tell you something. That’s what happened to Dr. Ian Rubenstein. And that was the beginning of a very strange, four-year journey for this courageous British doctor, whose skepticism was challenged at every turn. But he doggedly followed the bizarre associations, the uncanny moments of convergence, and the weird coincidences that came to pass during his apprenticeship into mediumship and applied them in his practice——much to the benefits of his patients, it turns out. What results is a warm, well-told, true story of synchronicity in medicine. “Fascinating,” says Stanley Krippner. “Remarkable,” says Guy Lyon Playfair. Read Consulting Spirit: A Doctor’s Experience with Practical Mediumship, and we’re sure you’ll agree.

Being a good writer is one thing. Being a good interviewee is another. Not all of us are blessed with both skills. But Brad Steiger and Nick Redfern certainly are, and the proof is available for all to hear and read.

First we’d like to congratulate Brad Steiger for his out-of-the-ballpark interview with George Noory on Coast to Coast AM. While Brad has been on this immensely popular radio show many times, this interview on the subject of his book Strange Guests is at the top of their list of what they call “Classic Shows.”

Listen to Brad’s “Poltergeists!“ interview here.

Congratulations are also in order to Nick Redfern, whose interview with Chris Knowles about Nick’s book Final Events turns out to be the “most-read post in the history” of The Secret Sun, a very popular blog!

Read the riveting interview with Nick here.

What is it about? How did he do it? What’s the significance of it? Those questions are answered briefly in three recent reviews of Mark L. Cowden’s new book Spirit Voices: The First Live Conversation Between Worlds. First, from Reviews of the Mysterious Kind, we have Nick Redfern who writes: Spirit Voices is “an utterly absorbing study of how Mark—an audio-visual technician from Oklahoma—found himself in Ireland, in 2010, investigating apparent contact from beyond the grave. And when I say contact, I mean precisely that: the capture and recording of apparent conversations with discarnate entities from beyond…What particularly stands out for me is that Spirit Voices is as much about the potential for something, some essence, maybe—call it what you will—surviving bodily death, as it is about Mark’s very own, and deeply personal, quest to come to terms with the incredible data and experiences that crossed his path during the course of his adventurous trek in search of the truth…” Then we have Tom Ruffles of the Society for Psychical Research describing a bit of the author’s unique methodology: Cowden “is an expert at using audio-visual equipment, and inventive in developing technology to improve Instrumental Transcommunication (ITC). He came up with the idea of the ITC Orchestra, adding a violin and cello to his set-up to act as ‘natural amplifiers’ which extended the range of his audio equipment into the infrasound and ultrasound ranges, beyond that which humans can hear. His approach, in contrast to the one adopted by many groups, is to blend the technology with a spiritual approach…He appears to have achieved promising results with his set-up, and hopefully he will publish more on his work… In the meantime this is a very readable account of one person’s journey in the field of paranormal investigation.” And lastly Micah A. Hanks of The Gralien Report indicates just how important this book may turn out to be: “I would venture to say that while the readers interested in paranormal phenomena and psychic research will find this book interesting and enjoyable, it may very well also be one of the more important books available regarding Electronic Voice Phenomenon and the study of ghosts and the spirit realm. Indeed, if the data represents what Cowden and his associates have claimed it does, then Spirit Voices details what must be considered one of the most remarkable circumstances ever to unfold in the midst of a paranormal investigation, ever.”

David Huggins, who is the subject of Farah Yurdozu’s book Love In An Alien Purgatory: The Life And Fantastic Art of David Huggins, has been interviewed by Corey Armpriester for The Artblog. The interview deals not just with his abduction experiences but with his paintings as art. Perhaps most interesting, however, are the interviewer’s introductory remarks about Huggins: “I’m writing this piece not to give the impression that I know David is telling the truth, because I don’t know; I’m on the fence about all of this. I celebrate the world of ideas no matter how far out some of them may seem. Even if this is a made-up story from the mind of a delusional man, the power of the idea remains the same. Ideas are essential to the curious mind, and we as artists need not fear the ideas of other artists no matter how alien they sound. If David is indeed ‘crazy’ he’s in good company. Unusual ideas are almost always perceived as odd or askew until the common mind can make use of it. And as we all know artists are anything but common …” Read the full Artblog interview here.

The Fall 2011 issue of the Journal of Scientific Exploration has brought us a wonderful review of Esprit: Men and Women of Parapsychology, Personal Reflections: Volume 1, edited by Rosemarie Pilkington. In it, Sally Rhine Feather, Executive Director of the Rhine Research Center, writes: “Esprit is a rich biographical resource for historians of the field, but it really is much more. It is the human story behind the scientific reports. It provides an insightful glimpse into what motivated a diverse group of gifted men and women to devote a large part of their lives to the exploration of an elusive and controversial dimension of human consciousness, and with little concern for monetary or societal reward…Esprit offers valuable guidance to the novice, some new “discoveries” of unfinished work and speculations for the more experienced parapsychologist, and possible fodder for the skeptic who just wonders about the makeup of a parapsychologist. But regardless of one’s belief about psi, this collection of essays provides priceless vignettes of a band of dedicated and selfless pioneers.”

Now that our website redesign is complete—thank you Crystal, Jack, and Ansen at Seale Studios!—we have some catching up to do. First up is The Cryptoterrestrials by Mac Tonnies. The book was just reviewed by Living Traditions Magazine out of Australia: “The Cryptoterrestrials is written in a succinct and engaging style condensing an immense amount of research… It is also beautifully illustrated and nicely presented…[The] UFO phenomenon smacks of deception and manipulation but not of a paranoid conspiracy theory type but of something of a totally different order. The question that needs to be asked is whether these beings could actually be another race sharing the planet with us and for some reason need us to perceive them as extra-terrestrial. Tonnies thesis is impressive and challenging…” And Stephen Wagner, the Paranormal Phenomena guide at About.com, selected The Cryptoterrestrials as one of the “Top Paranormal Books of 2010.” Another Anomalist Book that made that list is Jason Offutt’s Darkness Walks: The Shadow People Among Us.

We’ve just published ebook versions of The Lonely Sense: The Autobiography of a Psychic Detective by Robert Cracknell and Spirit Voices: The First Live Conversation Between Worlds by Mark L. Cowden.  The two books are available for the Kindle, the Nook, and the iPad and iPhone.

Here are the direct links for those ebooks on the various platforms:

THE LONELY SENSE

For the Amazon Kindle in the US

From the Apple iBookstore in the US

For the Barnes & Noble Nook in the US

For the Amazon Kindle in the UK

From the Apple iBookstore in the UK

SPIRIT VOICES

For the Amazon Kindle in the US

For the Barnes & Noble Nook in the US

From the Apple iBookstore in the US

For the Amazon Kindle in the UK

From the Apple iBookstore in the UK

You can see all our available ebooks in the US on the three platforms by following these links.  (Our ebooks in Apple’s iBookstore  can also be found by entering “Anomalist Books” in the search bar of the iBooks app.)

All Anomalist Books in the US Amazon’s Kindle store

All Anomalist Books in the US Barnes & Noble’s Nook store

All Anomalist Books in the US  Apple’s iBookstore

Coming next month: True Giants by Mark Hall and Loren Coleman and Investigating the Impossible by Ulrich Magin.