BLACK WORK by Macdowell Frederics

Ted Griffin is a mercenary pilot in dire need of a job ... the mysterious "Fourth of July" organization are in dire need of a hotshot pilot ... and America is in dire need of a wake up call in BLACK WORK!

Frederics' first person writing as Griffin is engaging, but unfortunately the most interesting part of the story is the roman à clef over who we come to realize are thinly veiled versions of Ronald and Nancy Reagan, throwing their all into a white supremacist terror plot to assassinate the first black vice president! There's some more details which point to a mixing of some other classic Hollywood stars, especially in the Nancy character of "Lynette Hall," who's a patriotic country music star on top of being a nympho. True to Ronnie's life, his "Craig Norse" character is just a cat's paw himself, an intermediary between the Fourth of July org and whoever's pulling the strings at the top. There's also a little John Wayne in Norse, but mostly it's Reagan the simpering chickenhawk has-been who fills in the character.

Hero merc Ted Griffin's unraveling of the plot takes too long, and the whole reason the bad guys supposedly need his unique pilot expertise seems overblown. There's only so many times Griffin can stalk around the underground lair looking for clues or get chewed out as expendable by the baddies before it becomes repetitive. Developments around the CIA are intriguing but similarly padded out. The novel comes in at under 250 pages, but could have been even slimmer. Frederics ends on a realistic, downer note that does feel earned, but there's just too much dross getting there.

This contemporary review by the NYT says that Frederics was a pseudonym for some "serious writer." Maybe they didn't want their name on a book where (spoilers here) Ronald Reagan gets blown away after shouting the n-word ... Black Work earns 2/4 stars for some interesting plays amid pedestrian plotting. Great title, too.

This title is available to read and download at archive dot org.

Signet Books, 1977 (original pub. 1976)

 

SPECIAL EVENT: Jeffrey Epstein, Parapsychology and the Telepathy Tapes

Friend of the blog Emily Louise has been kind enough to host me, Jerry Coe, on a special livestream exploring connections between the departed financier Jeffrey Epstein, the parapsychological field, and the scam podcast The Telepathy Tapes, for February 28th, 1PM PST. Fortean researcher Tanner F. Boyle will also be there!

Here is the link for the upcoming stream: Jeffrey Epstein, Parapsychology, and the Telepathy Tapes

It WILL be archived on Emily's channel, so no worries should you not be able to see it live. While you're waiting, why not check out her blockbuster documentary on the classic mockumentary (and tie-in Paperback of the Gods!): Alternative 3: How a Hoax Documentary Created a Conspiracy Cult? She interviews author Leslie Watkins and tracks the influence of this April Fools jape into a new generation of "secret space program" fabulists - 20 and back, baby!

UFO BOOK SCAN: The Lost Tribes From Outer Space

A rather useless review of Holocaust denier Marc Dem's The Lost Tribes From Outer Space, block quoting some text while offering little in the way of analysis - you'd be hard pressed to guess that Dem's book is antisemitic drivel positing that Jewish people are an alien bioweapon against "regular" humans, aside from one small mention of "Operation Dead Planet." 

Reviewer Gary Lane notes that Biblical enthusiasts may balk at some of Dem's ideas, while Ancient Astronaut fans will find plenty to enjoy. Chalk it up as another example of far right conspiracism finding a comfortable home in Ufology ...

Once again, Dem's book is available to read and download at archive dot org, and this review is also available there.

From the Saga UFO Report, Vol. 4 - No. 5, September 1977. 

COSMIC DEBRIS: Return of the Nazi UFOs

A jam packed ad from Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel, making use of Official UFO magazine's large format to list off several of his eye catching titles and flash art. Note the drift from UFO subject matter to straightforward Nazi conspiracism, part of Zundel's funnel scheme to promote his Hitlerism. Zundel outlined this strategy in an interview with Frank Miele for an article about Holocaust denial and freedom of speech in Skeptic magazine:

In a later phone conversation, Zundel told me that the UFO book was in fact a ploy. "I realized that North Americans were not interested in being educated. They want to be entertained. The book was for fun. With a picture of the Fuhrer on the cover and flying saucers coming out of Antarctica it was a chance to get on radio and TV talk shows. For about 15 minutes of an hour program I'd talk about that esoteric stuff. Then I would start talking about all those Jewish scientists in concentration camps, working on these secret weapons. And that was my chance to talk about what I wanted to talk about."

Zundel will dangle a reference to UFO's or the wisdom of the ancient Atlanteans. If it has no effect, he just moves on. If it elicits skepticism, he blows it off with a jovial "for whatever it's worth." Given our early conversation on the UFO book, I'm still not sure whether Zundel really believes any of this esoteric stuff or whether he's just learned how effective pushing hot buttons is in grabbing the media spotlight and perhaps bringing in donations. "It's a lot like operating a church" he explained. "We survive on donations."

It's worth noting that Miele himself is a former contributor to the scientific racist magazine Mankind Quarterly, and that being "skeptical" of UFOs does not necessarily correlate with rigor in regards to other pseudoscientific subjects.

From Official UFO magazine, Volume 1 - Number 6, February 1976. 

COSMIC DEBRIS: The Hitler Cult Revealed!

Another ad in Fate from Holocaust denier/neonazi Ernst Zundel, here smuggling esoteric nazism to readers with the eye catching line THE HITLER CULT REVEALED! Zundel plays things cool with his ad copy, talking of Hitler's "manic" will to power and promising an expose on the "tangled roots" of nazism, but he tips his hand when he promises that "the clouds of evil [will] scatter under the lightning of Cosmic Justice and the son of Cosmic Truth" - that son is Hitler, baby! Zundel's subject Savitri Devi was one of the prime wellsprings of post-war esoteric nazism. In her book advertised here, The Lightning and the Sun, she claims Hitler to be an incarnation of Vishnu (!) and blends Hitlerism with Hindu cosmology. Just as with the UFO subject, Zundel saw this kooky approach as a perfect moneymaking opportunity to fund his Holocaust denial:

She was the first person to tell Zündel of her claim that the Nazi genocide of the Jews was untrue; he proposed a series of taped interviews (conducted in November 1978) and published a new illustrated edition of The Lightning and the Sun in 1979.

If you see modern online nazis making irreverent memes about the Kali Yuga, they got it from Savitri Devi. She also wrote an "autobiography" of two of her cats, just like that ol' fraud Lobsang Rampa. Hers was titled Long-Whiskers and the Two-Legged Goddess, or The True Story of a "Most Objectionable Nazi" and... half-a-dozen Cats. Minor points to Rampa for not heiling Hitler in his goofy cat story ...

No contest

Typical of Zundel's overheated spiel, Savitri Devi wasn't Hitler's personal guru as might be taken from the ad, but she did work for the Axis in WWII and was in contact postwar with the nazi underground and notable scumbags like Otto Skorzeny. She passed away not too long after this ad, in 1982 at the age of 77. Rest in piss, you nazi bitch!

From Fate, Volume 33 - Number 02, February 1980.

COSMIC DEBRIS: Chili, Dandruff, and Flying Saucers

Here's another couple of ads from the May, 1959 issue of Fate magazine, starting off with former editor Ray Palmer's offer for some delicious homemade chili and his new Flying Saucers magazine - he'd left Fate in 1953 and would found other publications like this and Mystic (which was eventually renamed Search). Palmer also pops up with an ad for some hair dye/dandruff reducer by one Guy L. Turner called, believe it or not, Turn-er's!

Ray Palmer and his luscious locks

I'm not sure what exactly Palmer's relationship was with Turner's outfit, but he claims to be a client, at least!

Elsewhere in the issue is an ad for Palmer's other magazine Mystic/Search. And right below that is a very interesting looking book, Flying Saucer Pilgrimage!

It's a road trip overview of the '50s contactees scene, covering all the big names. This tome is available to read and download at archive dot org along with issues of Mystic/Search and Flying Saucers. Below Pilgrimage is an ad for a real mystical blockbuster, Other Tongues, Other Flesh, by contactee gadfly and raconteur George Hunt Williamson. Williamson was introduced to the murky world of the '50s contactees by the fascist/antisemite William Dudley Pelley but would soon forge his own peculiar path as a chronicler of deep time and the secret plans of our space brothers. His book is free to read at sacred texts dot com.

That's three huge flying saucer sources in one little ad bar, with rat holes aplenty to get lost down! As linked before, this May, 1959 issue of Fate is available to read and download at archive dot org.

EDIT: anon commented below that Palmer was using Williams brand chili seasoning, as named in this ad from the May 1959 issue of his Flying Saucers magazine:

Williams has since been gobbled up by a faceless investment firm, but we still have the vintage designs to reflect on:

Playing cards!

And 5 pounds of seasoning! Wondering how much Palmer made off of
parcelling one of these babies out into foil packets?

The full May 1959 issue of Flying Saucers is available to read and download at the ever dependable archive dot org. Thanks, anon!

COSMIC DEBRIS: Secret Nazi Polar Expeditions

Another flashy ad from hate monger Ernst Zundel, promising an expedition through the South Polar entrance to the Hollow Earth in search of secret Nazi UFO bases. Of course, the grandiose proposal was really a fund raising scheme for Zundel's continued Holocaust denial:

This is the most daring scientific operation ever launched by any UFO organization and publisher. The estimated cost for the Antarctic Expedition is well in excess of $2,000,000.00--from which at least $500,000.00 is required for allocation toward the charter deposit fee and modifications on the special aircraft. A fantastic sum? Certainly, and it is just as certain to be worth every dollar in terms of the knowledge to be gained.

SAMISDAT's Antarctic Expedition in Search of Hitler's Flying Saucer Bases and the South Polar Opening into Inner Earth will be the unique event of a lifetime. As only a very limited number of people can be accommodated, our selection standards are of necessity rigorous. The approximate cost per person on this expedition may be as high as $9,999.00. However, the cost could be reduced considerably, provided we are able to raise money from our SAMISDAT SERIES of lectures, tapes, conventions, UFO models and book sales in this interim period. You can help to realize this dream of a lifetime in several ways: (1) You can become one of our book distrlbutors by buying SAMISDAT books and other items at wholesale dealers' prices and then retailing them to friends, colleagues, UFO conventioneers, and visitors to county fairs, psychic fairs and flea markets. By purchasing SAMISDAT titles in bulk, you could easily realize almost a 100% profit on each item sold. This money you could then apply toward your share in the Expeditlon or use as you see fit. (2) You can organize a UFO club and hold your own UFO conventions on a profit-sharing basis with SAMISDAT. (3) You can help us find sponsors for the Expedition. (4) If you are rich and conscientious, you can underwrite the whole or part of the Expedition and realize our goal of a lifetime much, much faster.  But empty promises and other hot-air products from windbags and do-nothings, however well off, will not serve to waft the Expedition to Antarctica and back. The only thing capable of doing that is cold, hard cash up front. If you've got what it takes and want to put your money to work right away, then please contact us! (5) You can set up your own fund-raising campaign for the Expedition. For details and assistance in regard to these and other ideas, do not hesitate to contact us.

From Fate, Volume 32 - Number 1, January 1979.

COSMIC DEBRIS: UFOs - Nazi Secret Weapon?

Eye catching ad elides any authorship for a reason: this was one of Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel's esoteric ploys for readership!

"I realized that North Americans were not interested in being educated. They want to be entertained. The book was for fun. With a picture of the Führer on the cover and flying saucers coming out of Antarctica it was a chance to get on radio and TV talk shows. For about 15 minutes of an hour program I'd talk about that esoteric stuff. Then I would start talking about all those Jewish scientists in concentration camps, working on these secret weapons. And that was my chance to talk about what I wanted to talk about."

Other titles from Zundel's one-man neo-Nazi publishing house Samisdat Publishers included:

The Hitler We Loved and Why
The Hoax of the Twentieth Century
A Straight Look at the Third Reich and The Six Million Swindle
Auschwitz, Dachau, Buchenwald: The Greatest Fraud in History
Secret Nazi Polar Expeditions
Hitler at the South Pole

From Fate, Volume 37 - Number 4, April 1984.

THE LOST TRIBES FROM OUTER SPACE by Marc Dem

The Jews are a genetic experiment by the alien overlord YHWH which upon perfection will result in OPERATION DEAD PLANET and the destruction of Earth. Jesus Christ was a renegade alien who attempted to save the gentile Earthlings from this dastardly plot. Antisemitic drivel by an author who cofounded a far right magazine later shut down for Holocaust denial.

On a lighter note, this Corgi Books edition showcases the dynamic art that British paperbacks were often graced with, in stark comparison to their wordier American counterparts.

Available to read and download at archive dot org.

Corgi Books, 1977