This summer, we traveled further north than our usual stay in the Scottish Borders to tour the fabled North Coast 500, the scenic, twisting ring road in the Highlands. Along the way, we drove up the A9 and took the opportunity to make a brief stop in Calvine—a remote hamlet and the alleged location of
Is the Calvine UFO Photo a Double Exposure? Read More »
Science Fiction & Alien Contact
In 1980, British novelist Lionel Davidson, best known for his crime thrillers, published an uncharacteristic children’s novel: Under Plum Lake. On the surface, it is a whimsical story about a 12-year-old boy who, exploring a sea cave, stumbles upon a hollow earth utopia beneath the ocean. But read closely, Under Plum Lake is something else entirely: a visionary parable about the trauma of anomalous experience, the ontological shock of encountering an alien reality, and the loneliness of returning from it with no one to believe you.
The Mysteries of Under Plum Lake Read More »
Science Fiction & Alien Contact, Essay
MAGA and the accidental prophecy of OIaf Stapledon’s Last and First Men is an examination of how critics were wrong to dismiss the near future predictions in the early chapters of Stapledon’s masterpiece.
MAGA and the Accidental Prophecy of Olaf Stapledon’s Last and First Men Read More »
Science Fiction & Alien Contact, Essay
A closer look at the Carl Higdon alien encounter of 1974 and its connection to science fiction imagery and pulp short stories that preceded it.
Science Fiction and The Carl Higdon Alien Encounter Story Read More »
Science Fiction & Alien Contact
The Telepathy Tapes, Oahspe and the Shalam Orphans
The Telepathy Tapes, Oahspe, and the Shalam Orphans Read More »
Science Fiction & Alien Contact
An 1851 newspaper story describes an ascent in a balloon propelled by mysterious “new motive power,” flying “globes of golden light”, a capture within a luminous “molten silver” cloud, communication with radiant, intelligent beings, and a narrator missing time and waking some hours later.
Was it the first alien abduction?
The First Alien Abduction? Read More »
Science Fiction & Alien Contact
A brief look at how a newspaper story from 1890 might just be the inspiration for the 1986 children’s science fiction story Flight of the Navigator.
Around the World in 28 Hours Read More »
Science Fiction & Alien Contact
The 22 June 1976 Canary Islands event is one of the wildest UFO stories, but its fantastic details only exist in how the story is retold.
Giant Aliens Inside a Huge Crystalline Orb? Read More »
Science Fiction & Alien Contact
The next part in this series examining the science fiction origins of UFO and alien abduction accounts considers another story that supports a counterargument to the claim made by some of the most well-known names in ufology: that specific details of many UFO reports and alien abduction accounts are not found in science fiction. I argue that they are, and in fact, there is a wealth of sources for these details in lesser-known literature. This, I argue, makes teasing-out a possible objective reality to the UFO phenomenon, rather than it being more simply a product of cultural diffusion, all the more difficult.
The Land of the Central Sun Read More »
Science Fiction & Alien Contact
Part of a series of posts demonstrating the science fiction origins of many of the specific concepts and details found in UFO and alien abduction reports.
The Individualists Read More »
Science Fiction & Alien Contact