Rocky Wood, 55, Expert on Kaikoura UFOs & Stephen King, Dies

Former UFO author, Horror Writers Association president and Stephen King scholar Rocky Wood, 55, died December 1, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia, of complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Rocky Wood was born October 19, 1959 in Wellington, New Zealand.

Wood was a freelance writer for over 35 years. His writing career began at university, where he wrote a national newspaper column in New Zealand on extra-terrestrial life and UFO-related phenomena and published other articles about the phenomenon worldwide, in the course of which research he met such figures as Erich von Däniken and J. Allen Hynek.

Some of Wood's ufology articles include, 

1978. The UFO Phenomenon in New Zealand – A Brief Review "Erich von Daniken and UFOs in New Zealand" April.

1978. "Was a UFO Responsible for the Disappearance of an Australian Aircraft?" Wairarapa Times-Age 16 November.
1978. "Did a UFO Kidnap Australian Pilot and Plane?" The UFO Examiner December.
1979. "Sky Watch" New Zealand Truth 16 January.

1979. "Did UFO Abduct Aircraft?" Fate Magazine, March.
1979. "Final Conclusions on the Kaikoura UFO Mystery" Earth Colonisation Report  April (with Dr Jan Feike de Bock).
1979. "The Greatest UFO Film Ever Made" Fate Magazine, June.
1979. "Degenerate Humanoids and UFOs" AUFOS Newsletter, July/August.
1979. "The Kaikoura UFO Controversy" (special issue of the Earth Colonisation Report) September (with Dr Jan Feike de Bock and Dr Bruce Maccabee).
1979. "UFO Centre Will Study All Cases" New Zealand Truth 4 September.
1979. "UFO’s – Phenomenon That Won’t Go Away" Kapiti Observer/News Shopper 8 October.
1979. "UFO Blitzes Police Car and KOs Driver!" New Zealand Truth 23 October.
1979. "Leaked Files Show UFO Sighting" New Zealand Truth 13 November.

1980. "New Zealand UFO Studies Centre: Kaikoura UFO Controversy," ed. by Rocky Wood. Wellington, New Zealand: New Zealand UFO Studies Centre, 4th special issue.

1980. "Future Looks Bright for UFO Searches" New Zealand Truth 15 January.
1980. "When a UFO Can Become an IFO" New Zealand Truth 22 January.
1980. "Strange Signs in the Sky: What are They?" New Zealand Truth 19 February.
1980. "Mystery in Night-Lights" New Zealand Truth 26 February.
1980. "Lights With a Roar – The Rarest of All!" New Zealand Truth 25 March.
1980. "Mystery of the Mutilated Animals" New Zealand Truth 22 April.
1980. "What UFO Did to Police Car" New Zealand Truth 6 May.
1980. "Amazing Space: God and the Maori War" New Zealand Truth 8 July.
1980. "Kaikoura UFOs: At Last the Full Story" New Zealand Truth 2 September.
1981. "Lights At Sea Puzzle Parkers" New Zealand Truth 24 March.
1981. "Aussie Triangle Theory Suspect" New Zealand Truth 31 March.
1981. "Huge Tank Drained in UFO Visit" New Zealand Truth 14 April.
1981. "Space Probe Spots Odd Bodies" New Zealand Truth 2 June.
1981. "Debate A Major Advance in UFO Research" New Zealand Truth 9 June.
1982. "Ancient Astronauts Aren’t Shot Down" New Zealand Truth 13 April.

Wood also wrote articles on the security industry published in the US, Canada, the UK, New Zealand and South Africa.

Wood was one of the globe's foremost experts on Stephen King, writing many articles and books on the author, including The Complete Guide to the Works of Stephen King (2003), Stephen King: Uncollected, Unpublished (2006), The Stephen King Collector’s Guide (2006), Stephen King: The Non-Fiction (2009), and Stoker Award winner Stephen King: A Literary Companion (2011). 

Wood assisted King with research on Doctor Sleep, sequel to The Shining, with King calling Wood “my go-to guy for all things Shining….The Rock knows my work better than I do myself.”

In 2002, Wood traveled to Orono, Maine, and spent three weeks researching the Stephen King Archives at the Special Collections Unit of the Raymond H. Fogler Library at the University of Maine. Wood has undertaken five research trips to Maine in the course of his research on King's work.

Wood was a Trustee in the Horror Writers Association from 2008-10, and was elected as president for the 2010-12 term. He was re-elected for the 2012-14 term. He also wrote non-fiction graphic novels, including Stoker Award winner Witch Hunts: A Graphic History of the Burning Times (2011).

Wood was diagnosed with ALS in October 2010. He is survived by two daughters and a granddaughter.

See the January 2015 issue of Locus for the announcement of Wood's death.

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The following are the links to my three remembrances for the three ufology researchers/writers who died in one week (November 25 – December 2, 2014):

Tom Benson

Rocky Wood

Wes Nations

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