Happy Belated New Year! And here, to start 2024, is John’s afterword to his 1994 pamphlet “The Flying Saucer Subculture.”
I’ve been doing this blog since 2009, posting every week unless I’m too busy (like recently, unfortunately). I know many of John’s fans are most interested in his work on UFOs. I have to point out, though, that John didn’t consider himself a ufologist, The main reason was economic: UFO books didn’t make much money. He also used to complain about the polemics in the field, the recycling of old stories and rumors, and the fact that publishers wanted simplistic books that either believed everything or debunked everything.
In his later years, he tried to distance himself from the field. He wrote novels and plays (none of which made it to production or publication). He wrote humor pieces for National Lampoon and High Times. He discussed writing a book about the Wright Brothers and a children’s book about the Loch Ness Monster.
He started the New York Fortean Society in the ’90s, a revival, in a way, of the old Fortean Society directed by Tiffany Thayer. He published a few booklets, including “The Flying Saucer Subculture,” which reprinted an article he’d written in 1973. So, as we head into another year of Keeliana, I’ll post this, as a reminder that John’s attitude to ufology was conflicted at best!
John was never one to hold anything back. And thanks for the reminder that, even though many of us discovered John through his writings on “high weirdness” he was, at heart, a regular-guy kind of writer who didn’t suffer fools. Thanks!
Comment by Clarence Carlson — February 1, 2024 @ 4:06 pm
Above all, John was a commercial writer who wanted to make money. If high weirdness didn’t sell, he’d rather write about something else that did. He was, as you can imagine, frustrated that paranormal fiction like Men In Black and The X-Files sold better than real investigations.
Comment by Doug — February 4, 2024 @ 8:44 am
Surprised John did not mention Bud Hopkins who pretty much made alient abductions a household term. Wonder if they knew each other?
Comment by John — February 5, 2024 @ 5:54 pm
Yes, that is surprising. I don’t know if they know each other, but John certainly knew his work. Maybe they didn’t get along. I’m also surprised he didn’t mention John Fuller.
Comment by Doug — February 6, 2024 @ 11:54 am