PDF Archive: Info-Paranet "Newsletters" (1989-1993)

The Info-Paranet "Newsletters" contained digests of some of the posts on the early "Paranet" bulletin-board system (founded by Jim Speiser in 1986) between August 1989 and March 1993.

After being founded by Jim Speiser, Paranet was for most of its history run by Michael Corbin (an investigative journalist, researcher, and radio talk show host). He passed away in 2008. The Paranet website is now defunct.

Although The Info-Paranet "Newsletters" are already online as html pages, on various websites (including the Internet Archive), for ease of searching I have compiled a searchable PDF archive of issues 1 to 631 (with the odd issue missing):
app.box.com...



This archive provides 6,964 pages of posts by various researchers and members of the public between 1989 and 1993.

James Black has posted the following about Paranet abd these "newsletters":

mywebspace.wisc.edu...

From its founding in 1986 until the ascendancy of the internet in the early 1990s, ParaNet operated as a network of electronic bulletin-board systems piggybacked on FidoNet. Like many such systems, the ParaNet BBS network had several separate "echoes" or message streams; the largest of these was devoted to UFOs and paranormal issues, while a separate (and smaller) echo was devoted specifically to the controversy over alleged UFO abductions. There was also an invitation-only "research" echo designed to allow some of the more level-headed members of the community to share ideas and pursue investigations away from the observation (and interference) of the general public.

At the beginning of August 1989, ParaNet began bundling the daily traffic from the main echo and distributing it to subscribers via email as an electronic message digest known as the "Info-ParaNet Newsletters". A similar digest for the echo on UFO abductions began in February 1991. Both of these continued to be issued regularly until March 1993, when they were made obsolete by the establishment of two corresponding Usenet newsgroups—alt.paranet.ufo and alt.paranet.abduct—both of which are still functioning to this day.

These old ParaNet message digests are a gold mine of information about the state of popular debate on UFOs and the paranormal in the period from 1989 to 1993. Fortunately, they have been archived almost in their entirety. At one time they were housed and maintained (by me) at the University of Iowa on a file server run by the Iowa Student Computer Association, from which they were widely copied by other BBS systems. The files can still be found scattered around the internet in various locations, including the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine:

Using the PDF archive, it is quick and easy to search these posts for keywords and see the context in which they appear, e.g. part of the results below from a search on Richard Doty's name, using the free bit of software (PDF-Xchange Viewer) that I outlined in an earlier thread here on ATS: "FAST searching of major free online collections of UFO journals (or just browse/download them)"



This can be a quick way to find analysis, and references to materials have been largely forgotten, from the late 1980s and early 1990s.



Just following up on the item by Bill Moore and Doty mentioned in the last extract above, I haven't found a copy yet. An item by Phil Klass in his newsletter a in September 1994 implies that the relevant publication was still awaited then:

www.csicop.org...

The check is in the mail. If you’re one of those who sent William L. Moore your check for $15 more than two years ago to order a copy of his report “The Scientist, the Government and UFOs; Personal Recollections of the Paul Bennewitz Affair,” in response to Moore’s advertisement in the MUFON UFO Journal, JUST BE PATIENT. (Nearly three years ago SUN sent him $27 for a copy of the report plus an extended subscription to his quarterly publication “FOCUS” which soon stopped coming.) Moore recently informed SUN that he is reviving "FOCUS” and the first installment of the Bennewitz report will appear in the new issue which, Moore says, has "already gone to press.”

reply to post by IsaacKoi

Ahhhh...the good old days! Thanks for providing the link, I'll be bookmarking it!

Wow, thanks yet again Isaac.

Got a new drive recently that I can dedicate to the various databases, so I guess it's time to strap in and take full advantage of all these offerings.

As far as “The Scientist, the Government and UFOs; Personal Recollections of the Paul Bennewitz Affair,” I'm guessing someone decided there weren't enough Dutch boys fingers for all the holes. Just a guess ha.

Btw: Really looking forward to the topical threads you have in the works as well. This forum could really use some fresh impetus right about now.

The GUT
As far as “The Scientist, the Government and UFOs; Personal Recollections of the Paul Bennewitz Affair,” I'm guessing someone decided there weren't enough Dutch boys fingers for all the holes. Just a guess ha.

Mmm. I'll check around. I've seen references to a publication by Moore and Shandera called "The MJ-12 documents : An analytical report" - but this book on Bennewitz looks like it was a separate book (or at least a separate planned book).

On a related note, have you looked into a book written by Paul Bennewitz himself? Christa Tilton's book "The Bennewitz UFO Papers" includes material that refers to a book by Paul Bennewitz called "The Cyanon Gauntlet". Tilton's book also raises a few other potential avenues worth checking (including letters written to her by Richard Doty, which I'd like to read myself).

Those interested in the archive mentioned in the OP may also be interested in a related item : a 56 page PDF of the text of James J. Speiser's "Inside Ufology" newsletters (1987-1989) is now (with Jim's permission) at the link below, since the "UFO Era" website that used to host this material now appears to be defunct :

app.box.com...