Chapter 19—Hoaxes and the Paranormal

1 Those who wish to pursue the literature of ufology might start with John Keel’s The Mothman Prophecies (1975), Jacques Vallee’s Passport to Magonia (1969), Martin Kottmeyer’s articles, and the British periodical Magonia. James Moseley’s newsletter Saucer Smear is the best social chronicle of the events of U.S. ufology. The writings of Philip J. Klass can provide a much-needed critical perspective, though he often pushes the skeptical view too far.

Figures for the U.S. and Canada; see The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1998, Mahwah, NJ: World Almanac Books, 1997, p. 250.

Since the beginning of her notoriety, she has adopted the stage name Linda Cortile, and her proponents use it when referring to her.

The ironic implications of “Brooklyn Bridge” being in the title seem to have escaped Hopkins.

5 Stefula, Butler & Hansen, 1993.

The Great High-Rise Abduction by Patrick Huyghe, Omni, 16(7), April 1994, pp. 60-67, 96, 99. 7 Ibid., p. 144.

Night eyes by Garfield Reeves-Stevens, New York: Doubleday, 1989.

Ibid., p. 186.

10 Clark made this statement in a paper he circulated dated October 24, 1992 entitled “The Politics of Torquemada; or, Earth Calling Hansen’s Planet.” See p. 1.

11 The cover of that entertaining issue carried a picture of the Brooklyn

Bridge, the irony of which was also missed by the Hynek Center. Humorously, the

caption mistakenly stated that the Brooklyn Bridge runs to New Jersey.

12 See p. 11 of House of Cards: The Butler/Hansen/Stefula Critique of the Cortile Case by Budd Hopkins, International UFO Reporter, March/April 1993, pp. 8-14, 21.

The Sixth Witness in the Linda Cortile Abduction Case by Budd Hopkins, MUFON 1996 International UFO Symposium Proceedings Ufology: A Scientific Enigma, Greensboro, North Carolina, July 5, 6, & 7, 1996, pp. 111-118.

Andrus’ major statement is Rejoinder to the Critique of Budd Hopkins by Walter H. Andrus, Jr., MUFON UFO Journal, No. 300, April 1993, pp. 8-9; Jacobs, Mack, and Hopkins published comments in the March-April 1993 issue of International UFO Reporter. See Stefula, Butler, and Hansen (1993) for discussion of Clark’s comments.

15 John Mack was the only newcomer, with his interest in ufology beginning in 1989. His long career in psychiatry didn’t keep him from being duped.

That guide was published by Prometheus Books, the primary purveyor of books debunking the paranormal.

17 Fine, 1983, p. 28.

Fine, 1983, p. 99.

Turner suggested that full liminality is not seen in modern Western culture, and he proposed the liminoid as an attenuated version of the liminal. Turner’s concept of the liminoid was vague and undeveloped compared with the liminal, but it can sometimes be useful to consider his distinction. FRPGs are more liminoid than liminal.

20 Fine, 1983, p. 55.

The Aquarian Guide to the New Age by Eileen Campbell and J. H. Bren-

nan, Northamptonshire: The Aquarian Press, 1990, pp. 124-126.

I wish to thank Dennis Stillings for pointing this out.

Part 5—Overview

1 Spencer-Brown, 1969/1979, p. xxix. The quote appears in a section entitled “A Note on the Mathematical Approach” which may not be in all editions of the

book.

Spencer-Brown participated in psychical research in the 1950s. He raised questions about probability theory and the adequacy of random number tables.

He contributed to the Proceedings of the First International Conference of Parapsychological Studies, Utrecht, The Netherlands, July 30 to August 5, 1953, New York: Parapsychology Foundation, 1955, with a paper “Psychical Research as a Test of Probability Theory.” Only the abstract was published. The original paper discussed the idea of “retroactive PK” and was one of the first (and maybe the first) to do so. The Journal of the Society for Psychical Research for 1953 and 1954 carried discussion of his ideas and comments from him. In 1957 he published Probability and Scientific Inference (London: Longmans, Green and Co.) which continued the debate. That book was reviewed by Christopher Scott in the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, Vol. 39, 1958, pp. 217-234. Scott commented on the wild vacillations in his criticisms (perhaps a consequence of Spencer-Brown’s crossing the enchanted boundary). Nevertheless, Spencer-Brown raised fundamental issues that deserved discussion.