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

ULTIMATE ENCOUNTER by Bill Barry

The true story of a UFO kidnapping ... the ULTIMATE ENCOUNTER! Author Bill Barry delivers a credulous account of Travis Walton's 1975 UFO abduction, released the same year as Walton's own The Walton Experience. Barry primes his book with heady quotes from giants like Twain and Shakespeare, Francis Bacon and John Milton, and brackets Walton's supposed saucer snatching with the groundbreaking Voyager probes launched in 1977, cutting edge developments pushing the boundaries of the unknown.

The man himself, Travis Walton

Unfortunately, the saga itself is looking thin as tissue paper 40+ years on, and Barry's attempts at downplaying any critical appraisal read as very clumsy. Say what you will about arch-skeptic Philip J. Klass, for example, but Barry's retort that Klass is the "real UFO buff" because he has the temerity to write skeptically on Walton's story instead of just accepting the tale comes across as weak, as does sniping about Klass's financial motivations for writing on UFOs in some feeble tit-for-tat against accusations of Walton and crew boss Mike Rogers' possible hoaxing for National Enquirer prize money. 

The Walton story has come back into the limelight recently due to a startling admission of hoaxing by Mike Rogers, which Rogers has since retracted! The critically minded UFO website Three-Dollar Kit features an in-depth reexamination of the Walton case which lays out some very convincing motivations for an abduction hoax committed by Walton and Rogers, with the other crew members as unwitting accomplices. It's worth noting that several "pro-UFO" researchers such as Karl Pflock, Raymond Fowler, and the group NICAP were doubtful of the case from the start and this isn't a simplistic split between so-called skeptics and believers. But as Barry presents things anyone doubting the ultimate encounter is either blinkered, mendacious, or just small minded - after all, isn't the universe enormous and unknowable? This is a time capsule presentation of the UFO mystery akin to In Search Of ... where answers are just around the corner and doubters need to get out of the way! Barry brings in cattle mutilations and fellow abductee Charles Moody for some more period flavor. It's an impressive edifice of mystery, provided you don't look too close ...

This book was owned by Marv or Mary Taylor.

Pocket Books, 1978

ALIEN MEETINGS by Brad Steiger

 

Our old friend Steiger presents us with a cornucopia of bizarre beings, just a few years before Roswell and The Grays mounted their hostile takeover of Ufology resulting in the barren scene we have nowadays. There's an excellent spread of European and global encounters, many taken from The Flying Saucer Review, an especially rich source for humanoids from abroad. As befits an author with such a wide and varied career in paranormal publishing Steiger offers multiple frameworks for his Alien Meetings, adding yet more depth which would be washed away by the overwhelming abduction narrative of the '80s.

Available to read and download at archive dot org.

Ace Books, 1978

ON THE TRACK OF BIGFOOT by Marian T. Place

Pocket Books, 1979 (original pub. 1974)

SONS OF GOD RETURN by Kelly L. Segraves

Starts off staid with a general overview of Ufology, then ramps up and hits us with the hard stuff: God and Satan, the Nephilim piloting UFOs, vegetarian Tyrannosaurs and other classic Creationist bits, and an increasingly paranoid tone warning us of Christ's impending RETURN.

Available to read and download at archive dot org.

Pyramid Books, 1975