UFO hucksters: Nick Redfern, Tim Beckley, Bill Birnes, Sean Casteel, Commander X & more!

Look these guys up on Amazon and you will see that they each have numerous books that they have "written" and that they sell on amazon, in Barnes & Nobles, at UFO conferences, and as Nick Redfern says ad nausea et cetra. But look at the actual content of these books and how they are published. The content is readily available on the internet. So these guys do what looks like a copy and paste job, scan wikipedia for sources and package it together in a nice neat little book. Before they have finished promoting their next book they've already started another one.

Is anybody falling for this schlock? It's the kind of books that used to be published and then sold in the back of comic books in the 1970s. The really sad thing is I hear people say, "Oh yeah, Tim Beckley, he's a great researcher". Really? Somebody who calls himself "Mr. UFO". Really? That carnival sideshow name tells you all you need to know about Tim Beckley.These people are scam artists, they are chumming the waters with as much junk as they can because they know with the largest net they can catch the most fish. They don't even care who their audience is, just that you buy their books.

Go read some of the 1 and 2 star reviews on amazon for Nick Redferns books. One of the commenters actually says that you can find more info on abovetopsecret than you will ever find in a Nick Redfern book. Nick Redfern is an armchair researcher who scans declassified documents for little pieces of information and then presents them as EARTH-SHATTERING REVELATIONS!!! He always reminds listeners that all his books come from FOIA requests. It's a gimmick to sell books, and Redfern is good at it.

Also take a look at the material that these people have collaborated on with each other, some book about a trip in a flying saucer to Hell. Really? REALLY??? They all have the same publisher, New Page who also publishes the questionable work of Marie Jones and Larry Flaxman, two "writers" who publish a gazillion books but who actually present very little new information, only rehash and repackage previously known material. Is there some "How to sell UFO books to suckers" seminar that I missed? They all have the same publishers, they all appear at the same conferences, same podcasts, same Coast to Coast. They all jump on the huckster network to sell crap to people who don't know any better. With 300 million people in this country they know they will get plenty of bites.

Sean Casteel is the guy who writes every single article for UFO Magazine. That should tell you something right there, because Bill Birnes is another one of these "write as many books as you can/truth be damned!!!" types. Yeah, that Bill Birnes who some how got a gig on TV even though he's got the most disagreeable mug in the history of the History Channel. Yeah that Bill Birnes. Whose palms did you have to grease to get that set up, Bill? The same Bill Birnes who takes peoples money and subscriptions for a magazine that hasn't been published in over a year and a half. So, Sean Casteel is in cahoots with Bill Birnes.

And just who exactly is this Commander X yahoo? "Ohhhh! You are afraid that you will be hunted down by the CIA for revealing that UFOs are really flown by Satan!" Please! Same types of books, same schlock. I'm going to bet that Commander X is one of these people that I've previously mentioned. Probably Birnes himself. Birnes had some dude on his show a while back who would only go by a code name, "Viper" who sounded like an asthmatic from Brooklyn. Yeah, you were a secret Air Force tech who worked at Area 51, Viper? You barely sound like you can make it up the stairs. From Bill Moore and Shandera's scam with "Falcon and Condor", that junk that got them a TV show to the latest CIA whitleblower at the Disclosure Hearing who says the Army was going to invade Area 51! It's UFO community shctick to say you have secret sources, that you can't reveal. It's a part of the con. Project Camelot, Birnes, Friedman, Moore, Shandera, and just about every single UFO researcher out there does it. If you hear "secret source" run for the hills. These people are cons. All complete frauds, all liars.

Redfern, Birnes, Beckley, Casteel, Commander X, etc Look at their "work", they all do the same thing. Here is a conspiracy for you, these people all sound like they are in on this scam together. Seriously people don't buy these books. They are complete frauds, liars, snake oil salesmen, hucksters, pie in the sky dreamers, and out right conartists. WAKE UP PEOPLE! The real disinfo is coming from within the UFO community itself!

Other than the fact that Nick is a more serious researcher than you give him credit for--and an entertaining writer to boot--yeah, he's apparently not above sensationalism to sell some books. ATS seems to be on a comeback and getting slightly more interesting--and discerning--again. Good post, nothing wrong--as far as I can see--with your thoughts and trying to up the bar, OP.

reply to post by FlyingTeacup


I'm just curious, can't say I'm a serious fan of anyone you mentioned but would you class Tim Goode in that category as well? Why do you think Donald Keyhoe wrote his books, to make money or set down the truth?

reply to post by Zcustosmorum



That's different than just doing copy and paste publishing books that have crappy editing, crappy binding and crappy content. People like Richard Dolan sell books, but there is actually something in those books.

Originally posted by Zcustosmorum
Why do you think Donald Keyhoe wrote his books, to make money or set down the truth?

I'm not making a comment on Keyhoe here one way or another here but he did start out as a science fiction and fantasy writer for the pulps.

reply to post by FlyingTeacup


Dolan? Sincere but prejudiced to the point of delusion possibly. Goode? Probably much the same. They both, to me, seem to disregard much of the extant info in service to their own preconceptions. Keyhoe?Either disinfo or fanatical belief in the ETH. Just my opinion for what its worth...or not.

reply to post by The GUT


It's quite possible that Keyhoe was a CIA operative.

Originally posted by DelMarvel

Originally posted by Zcustosmorum
Why do you think Donald Keyhoe wrote his books, to make money or set down the truth?

I'm not making a comment on Keyhoe here one way or another here but he did start out as a science fiction and fantasy writer for the pulps.

Cool, just curious, saying someone is a liar is quite a statement mate, glad you didn't say it outright

Originally posted by Zcustosmorum

Originally posted by DelMarvel

Originally posted by Zcustosmorum
Why do you think Donald Keyhoe wrote his books, to make money or set down the truth?

I'm not making a comment on Keyhoe here one way or another here but he did start out as a science fiction and fantasy writer for the pulps.

Cool, just curious, saying someone is a liar is quite a statement mate, glad you didn't say it outright

I'm not saying Keyhoe was a liar; I'm saying he started out as a fiction writer, same as Whitely Strieber for example.

I hadn't really thought of it in these terms for a while but the reality might be more complex than just "lying" or "telling the truth"---like the Shaver mysteries, for example.

I always watched UFO Hunters back in the day.

reply to post by FlyingTeacup

Sadly, publishing is a commercial venture and a publisher may demand an author accept some unpleasant compromises like a lurid title or some cheesy senational alien cover art. The real hacks latch on to whatever sensational topic is hot at the moment and slap together a book to capitalize on it.

Your list of hacks included some self-publishing authors. Most authors submit proposals before writing books, and write only the ones that are accepted by the publisher. So most writers are able to publish only a tiny subset of what they really wanted to write.

Originally posted by DelMarvel

Originally posted by Zcustosmorum

Originally posted by DelMarvel

Originally posted by Zcustosmorum
Why do you think Donald Keyhoe wrote his books, to make money or set down the truth?

I'm not making a comment on Keyhoe here one way or another here but he did start out as a science fiction and fantasy writer for the pulps.

Cool, just curious, saying someone is a liar is quite a statement mate, glad you didn't say it outright

I'm not saying Keyhoe was a liar; I'm saying he started out as a fiction writer, same as Whitely Strieber for example.

I hadn't really thought of it in these terms for a while but the reality might be more complex than just "lying" or "telling the truth"---like the Shaver mysteries, for example.

Well, NICAP for example was a pretty serious organization in the day, I don't think Keyhoe started it as part of a disinfo campaign.

And most certainly, it's a very complex subject on the whole

Originally posted by Zcustosmorum
Well, NICAP for example was a pretty serious organization in the day, I don't think Keyhoe started it as part of a disinfo campaign.

Whether NICAP started out that way...they sure seemed to end up that way. Arguably after ejecting Keyhoe if I remember correctly. Kind of old hat, but I'll dig up some links if need be.

reply to post by Zcustosmorum
For your consideration:

NICAP was founded by space expert T. Townsend Brown in October 1956. Brown was a well-respected scientist on “free energy” who believed that the UFO phenomenon might teach him certain things. The intent of NICAP was to bring a serious note into the UFO phenomenon, which was more like a gossip column than an instrument of scientific research. And NICAP had to be run as any company would be.


The official papers of NICAP listed two CIA employees. But in the 1950s, the public profile of the CIA was totally different from what it be in following decades: it was a respected organisation, and so were its members.

Nicholas de Rochefort, member of the CIA Psychological Warfare Department, was made vice-president of NICAP in late 1956; Bernard J.O. Carvalho became president of the member committee.

Carvalho was often used as the go-between for private companies owned or run by the CIA, such as Fairway Corporation, an airline company used by the heads of the CIA.
In 1957, it was nevertheless remarkable that Roscoe Hillenkoetter, the first Director of Central Intelligence (1947-1950) was selected as a member of the board of the UFO organisation. Hillenkoeter stated that “no matter what” the truth about UFOs had to be uncovered.

Roscoe Hillenkoetter

In 1957, Colonel Joseph Bryan III became member of the board. Between 1947 and 1953, Bryan had been the founder and head of the Psychological Warfare Staff at the CIA. He was the man who could make everyone doubt and lead them – and us – to the edge of despair by playing endless mindgames...

www.philipcoppens.com...

Sorry, I have to stick up for Nick Redfern. He spent years collating the information for his first book and unearthed a shed load of information from the records office that had previously been passed over and ignored. I know this because I know Nick and met him around the period he was still working on his début tome.

As for your pondering on the media, here's the truth. You don't buy advertising space, sponsor a programme, you rarely receive much airtime, headline reviews etc etc, whatever branch of the media you work in. Read any Bram Stoker books apart from Dracula? I'd hazard a guess I'm one of a select few on here who have, despite him being a world wide best selling author for over a century. P K Dick was , in my opinion, a genius, he also wrote a few stinkers and pot boilers that were quite obviously fulfilling contractual obligations. The list of bands and artists who have released 3 or more albums with no filler on them, is a pretty damned small one. People pay silly money for sketches Picasso knocked out in minutes to pay a restaurant bill, that devalue everything else he did?

Food has to be eaten, bills have to be paid, to become a "professional" in this field means there are inevitable compromises and it's hardly likely to ever make you even remotely wealthy. I studied politics and history and a huge number of text books are little more than retreads of old information, most of which you can now find online, so what? Are you saying that, all disciplines should just quit publishing new books because you can almost certainly find the same information online?

As for Amazon reviews..... well, the fact you give them an ounce of credence suggest more about your critical faculties than anything else you say. You do realise a huge number of reviews are simply trolls who , for their own reasons, seem to derive a kick from just a being "a bit of a spanner" for the sake of it?

Did you know that, under the Broadcasting act here in Britain, it is an offence to portray anything to do with the paranormal in a "wholly serious light"? Nicky Campbell was hauled over the carpet for his programmes featuring Timothy Good back in the early 90s.. His offence was that he allowed "too much credence" to Good's work, even though, much of what Good was saying was factually correct. In other words, one of the world's only broadcasters not set up to sell products first and make programmes second, is not allowed to "get serious" about the subject.

So to ATS..... the UFO forum, at times, could be renamed "Here we go round the mulberry bush!". There's a welter of utter drivel about the same old "incidents" and a shed load of people, often feted on here and quoted as gospel all over the net, on both sides of the debate who are about 20% as savvy as they think they are. However, that's not really the point, it's about mostly about opinions and like the old saying , opinions are like rectums, everyone has one. The egalitarian nature of the net, is both its' strength and its' weakness. There are numerous "incidents" dredged up that, anyone with a decent background knows has been "put to bed", often decades ago. By the same token, there are also numerous incidents that are the very opposite and the sceptics are being as "scientifically stupid" and simply believing what they want to believe, not what the facts actually are, as much as the most avid "believer" is about those incidents with known prosaic explanations.

It's worth asking yourself the following question. What the chuff would a rocket engineer know about propulsion systems that could make stellar travel a reality? See, the answer is simple, not a great deal really because, logic dictates that, if they had the slightest clue, they wouldn't be wasting huge amounts of time and money building rockets would they? That begs the question, as to why you'd give a rocket engineer/scientist, any more credence than anyone else when discussing stellar propulsion drives, when all they can tell you is what they can't do?

The "paranormal" is called the "paranormal" because it, by its' very definition means that, it doesn't conform to known "laws". Sometimes it's worth stepping out of the straight jacket of the, now failed concept of the "clockwork universe" and looking at it from another perspective. Try the Universe as a "performance" and then it becomes pure logic based on 1000s of years of human experience that. You can play the same notes, read the same lines an infinite number of times, they will never sound quite the same twice. Once you realise that, then it becomes patently apparent that everyone has a right to an opinion and their take on a subject, after all, there isn't an ounce of objective scientific proof to back existence as being, anything more than solipsist in nature. Ergo, all books, webcasts etc etc, in reality sic, give you little more than a insight into a person's psyche or, are merely an argument you are conducting within your own mind.

Originally posted by FlyingTeacup
Look these guys up on Amazon and you will see that they each have numerous books that they have "written" and that they sell on amazon, in Barnes & Nobles, at UFO conferences, and as Nick Redfern says ad nausea et cetra. But look at the actual content of these books and how they are published. The content is readily available on the internet. So these guys do what looks like a copy and paste job, scan wikipedia for sources and package it together in a nice neat little book. Before they have finished promoting their next book they've already started another one.

Can you provide evidence of this copying and pasting? If not all you are doing is libeling these people. I've enjoyed Nick's books before as well as his articles in Fortean Times and elsewhere. I've not heard of the others so don't know if what you're saying is correct in regard to them. You certainly seem to have a bee in your bonnet about it though.

reply to post by The GUT


We all have our own ideas about what went on in history, and for the most part that's all we can truly have

Originally posted by Zcustosmorum
reply to post by The GUT

 

We all have our own ideas about what went on in history, and for the most part that's all we can truly have

So true, Z. I concur the known facts can be construed in different ways. No disrespect intended.

You know what's funny?

If some researcher was around who did years worth of research, collected tons of evidence, interviewed thousands of witnesses, but kept everything to themself and suddenly died, all you'd hear is folks screaming

"Why didn't they write a book!!!!"

reply to post by TXRabbit

Writing a good UFO book is actualy hard work. Having the data, exeprtise and sources will only get you so far; you have to present the information in a ay that will interest the reader and present so that they can digest the material. Being a good researcher or investigator does not necessiarily translate into being a good writer.

Secondly, the topic leads, by its nature, to an unsatisfying conclusion. If it is a solved case, then it's not really a UFO! An author pretending to give a definitive expanation has to be making some speculative leaps.

But then, if not for mystery part of the equation, I doubt many of us would even be here.