THE TERROR by Michael D. Albers

Author Michael Albers goes into the nitty gritty of the late '70s cattle mutilation waves in this very rare title gifted with a beautiful cover from cheapie publisher Manor Books. Many of the names that would later turn up in 1984's doorstopper Mute Evidence are here, from the Stigmata newsletter to Officer Keith Wolverton to Dr. Leo Sprinkle. Gabe Valdez and the strange happenings around Dulce are also covered, as is the fraudulent testimony of convict A. Kenneth Bankston as to a secret blood cult killing cattle.

Unfortunately, after a good amount of granular setup, Albers stumbles later on, finishing with a generic summary of the '70s UFO scene and pretty much dropping any idea of interpreting the mutilation mystery. Too bad! The Terror is still worth reading as a time capsule and early, earnest attempt at wrangling a subject that's become a cornerstone of modern UFOlogy.

This was Albers' only book. The Terror is available to read and download at archive dot org.

Manor Books, 1979

GENESIS by W.A. Harbinson

Very little fruit is forbidden

Sometimes we wobble, sometimes we're strong

But you know evil is an exact science

Being carefully, correctly wrong

Author W.A. Harbinson delivers us this "true story" treatment of the flying saucer phenomena, starting with the mystery airships of the 1890s, on through foo fighters and saucer crashes, cattle mutilations and saucer cults, culminating with wunderwaffe and secret Antarctic bases revealing the terrible secret of GENESIS!

It's all very clever and meticulous but eventually collapses under its own weight, as every bit of UFO trivia must be incorporated into the increasingly top heavy narrative. What's left is less of a story and more a bullet list, and once we grasp the structure the whole enterprise is rendered plodding and turgid. Major spoilers follow, so be warned!

Our antagonist, it turns out, is a mad scientist from the 19th century, the inventor of those mysterious airships. As the years rolled on, he perfected his flying machines, ultimately making the sociopathic choice to work for Hitler's reich to reach even greater heights. His flying saucer wunderwaffe predate the now common modern formulation of Die Glocke, but as we know Nazi UFOs were nothing new in the subculture. 

From money making schemes by
run-of-the-mill neo-nazis ... 

... to poorly thought out products by model makers!

Following the fall of Berlin, our mad scientist flees to New Swabia and sets himself up with some robotized Nazi slaves and a fleet of flying saucers. Complicating things, the US government is also engineering their own crude saucers, which is a nice touch that adds some depth - no wonder UFO reports are so varied and strange, if multiple culprits are to blame. By the by, our villain has also unlocked anti-aging treatments, and a good thing too because he's coming up on 120 now! The early atmosphere of paranoia that Harbinson stokes degrades into nihilistic boredom - what horrific evil will our villain unveil next? Ho hum.

We are no monsters, we're moral people
And yet we have the strength to do this
This is the splendor of our achievement
Call in the air strike with a poison kiss

Harbinson includes an author's note and source appendix after the story, drawing heavily on the unreliable Renato Vesco, Italian ex-NASA contractor who assembled a UFOlogical history in his Intercept UFO which parallels many of the tacks taken in Genesis. Harbinson admits that much of Vesco's narrative is unsupported but no matter, it makes a good tale. He recommends a swath of UFO titles as well as WWII texts and some psi titles. Ol' Brad Steiger sneaks in with his edition of Project Blue Book - one of his stronger titles due to simply being the released Blue Book papers. His inclusion shows how the high and low mix in UFOlogy, purported hard facts mixing with innuendo and fantasy.

Over the years Harbinson has expanded his Genesis into a series, titled Projekt Saucer. For an ambitious misfire, Genesis earns one wunderwaffe out of four:

Dell Publishing, 1982 (original pub. 1980)

MAPS OF THE UNKNOWN: Dugway Proving Ground

Before Roswell entered the popular imagination (and after an infamous VX gas leak that killed nearly 4,000 sheep) this was a likely location for Hangar 18 or similar skulduggery. From The Ogden Enigma by Gene Snyder. Courtesy Playboy Press, 1980.

THE MUTILATORS by Mervin Casey

A major theme of the 70s cattle mutilation phenomenon was the frisson of fear/excitement that human beings were next on the operating table. Even the back copy for Kagan and Summers' Mute Evidence positively slavers for human blood, despite the authors' exhaustive investigation uncovering nothing of the sort.

First time novelist Casey acquits himself well threading this tension with his fast paced thriller. His cast of down'n'dirty 1970s Regular Folk are adrift in a sea of possibilities as to the identities and purpose of the Mutilators, leading down rabbit holes to flying saucers, blood cultists and most sinister of all, the United States government. A warning for minor spoilers: the Mutilators use an unmarked helicopter with some kind of gripping device to snatch up their bovine victims, retreating to some unknown sanctuary to do their dirtiest work before returning the desecrated carcasses in situ. It all leads up to a crackerjack finale with some searing imagery. Only the final "Note from the Author" disappoints, with its clunky, obviously bogus news item that only reiterates what we've already told ourselves: 

We're next. 

3/4

Major Books, 1975

COSMIC DEBRIS: Leo Sprinkle's Saucer Dreams

Authors Kagan and Summers run headlong into the shaky foundations holding up hypnotic regression as used by Ufology. From Mute Evidence by Daniel Kagan and Ian Summers, Bantam Books, 1984.

FLYING SAUCERS ARE HOSTILE by Brad Steiger and Joan Whritenour

"This book just might save your life!" Don't leave home without it! Available to read and download at archive dot org.

Award Books, 1967