Strange Days in LA: From Magnolia to Inherent Vice

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Eyes Wide Furry: Foreshadowing the Future

Posted on 9:02 PM by Gawar

Does opening oneself to synchromysticism result in predicting future "coincidences" and "syncs"?

Early on December 7th, I posted "Déjà Vu, Sync Quick News, and Hanging Man," here at this Twilight Language blog.

In that examination of syncs tied to Heath Ledger, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Robin Williams, I detailed my discovery last week of a weird clip from Tosh.0's episode on furry characters. Two furry costumed "celebrities" were identified as "Robin Williams" and "Philip Seymour Hoffman." Bizarrely, the "Hoffman" character was shown hanging himself. (Autoeroticism aside, the gesture was suicidal, as well.)

In my posting yesterday (December 6, 2014), I said that Tosh.0's scenario took place at a party, "which is sort of a furrie déjà vu version of Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut."

I found an old blog article that agreed with me today. Writing September 5, 2013, at the Furry News Network, Markos Sinister observed in "Kusa the Arctic Fox gets Web Redemption on Comedy Central’s Tosh.0":

The clip ends with Daniel taking Cody to a “Furry Party” spoofing Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, where he and Cody encounter celebrities having sex in mascot costumes.

"Robin Williams" identifies this pink furry as "Philip Seymour Hoffman."

I have no idea why I thought it was important to post this at that time. I was going to be on Coast to Coast AM at 1:00 Eastern Standard Time, talking about different news. I did want to get this "furry" item out of my head - I'd been "writing" it in my mind since mid-week - and wished to move on.

I finally got it posted at 12:33 A.M. EST. Here's the time stamp.

At a Facebook group, KitchenSync/SyncBookPress/The Conscious Collective, I shared the link later on the 7th. One member, Jason Barrera, wrote, perhaps somewhat truthfully but definitely humorously, a comment, "Look what you did, Loren."

Barrera added a link to news from the Chicago area, "Chemical leak at Hyatt Regency during furry festival deemed intentional."

I was startled by what I read. I was in the midst of an overlapping sync.

Furry conference goers mill about outside the Hyatt.

"Nineteen people were hospitalized early Sunday after an intentional chlorine leak at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare during the 2014 Midwest FurFest," noted the Chicago Sun-Times.

The Chicago Tribune recorded the time: "The incident happened around 12:40 a.m. at the Hyatt, at 9300 West Bryn Mawr Avenue in Rosemont, according to a statement from the Rosemont Public Safety Department. First responders were called to investigate a noxious odor that was spreading across the ninth floor of the hotel, where a high level of chlorine gas was discovered in the air."

Okay, this incident began at 12:40 a.m., which would have been Central Standard Time in Chicago. Almost exactly the "same time," 12:33 a.m., but Eastern Standard Time, and thus technically an hour earlier, I posted my "furry" notes. (You will see that I misspelled it "furrie," because I had never written about the subject before!)

The intentional gassing at the furry convention is a sync that is beyond amazing, personally.

It happened in Rosemont, Illinois, a tiny city of 4000 people. Rosemont derives from the mount (hill, incline, mountain) of roses (traditionally red flowers). I've visited Rosemont, because that's where my brother Jerry use to live.

Being neither paranoid nor psychic, I do remain, very curious about this process. Do predictable moments occur on a level not yet understood? There are no coincidences, right? What is this then, when this happens?

***

UPDATE

On the Facebook group Synchronicity, member Ronald Christopher Walker left this comment regarding the above posting:

Chlorine, atomic number 17. Very esoterically appropriate & the "least random number." John Lennon is murdered two 17 year cycles ago, tomorrow, the 8th. 17 years & 17 days after the assassination of JFK. Ah, 34 years ago, & Robin Williams was Popeye, who is "34 years old." Nicole Kidman stars in Fur after Eyes Wide Shut, as photographer of the damned Diane Arbus, making love to freakishly hairy Robert Downey Jr., & Kubrick's Grady twin girls are not only straight from the Arbus photo, but Arbus kills herself in a bathtub on Kubrick's 43rd birthday, July 26, 1971. The naked old lady lifting herself out the bathtub in Room 237 has the haunting eyes of Diane.

December 8th is the anniversary of the death of my father, at 64 in 1985, in Illinois. John Lennon's music would play all day on the radio, throughout 12.8, as a reminder of his death, for years. December 8th, of course, is the anniversary of the death Lennon, at 40, in 1980. By "coincidence," Paul McCarthy's vocals were recorded for "When I'm Sixty-Four" on December 8, 1966. The recording was one of the first sessions for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It is a song McCarthy wrote when he was 16.

My father seemed to wait until Pearl Harbor Day came around again to die, in Decatur, Illinois. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, in the Pacific theater.

Lennon was killed by Mark David Chapman, outside the Dakota, infamous as the site of where Rosemary's Baby was filmed.

The replica of the Dakota.

+++++

Consider supporting the work of this blog with a modest or generous donation.

Every amount assists.

Posted in Coincidence, Facebook, Furry, KitchenSync/SyncBookPress/The Conscious Collective, Midwest Furfest, Synchromysticism, Synchronicity, Syncs, Tosh.0 | No comments

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Déjà Vu, Sync Quick News, and Hanging Man

Posted on 9:33 PM by Gawar

For fans of Alan Abbadessa-Green's rather addictive frequent (usually on Thursdays) short video Sync Quick News, from Sync Book Press, the one on December 4, 2014, was, well, provocative. The Sync Quick News' "Cops Cameras and Cards" clicked on all pistols.

Mixing nicely with the content, I was struck by Green's use of a word - déjà vu - early in his news that I also found had popped up in the news I was following on the 3rd of December. It was that kind of week.

Déjà vu, from the French, literally "already seen," is the phenomenon of having the strong sensation that an event, feeling, or perception currently taking place has been experienced in the past, whether it has actually happened or not.

As it turns out, I was looking into a report of five people being shot outside a restaurant in Newport News Tuesday night, at about 8:20 pm, December 2nd. The telling name of the location: Déjà Vu Restaurant and Lounge, Newport News, near Norfolk, Virginia. The Déjà Vu site is attached to Wynnwood Plaza Hotel. The victims were ages 28, 32, 42, 45, and 59, and were together. One was a Navy sailor, and now the Déjà Vu is off-limits to Navy personnel.

Had I just heard some news from Newport? Or Newport News (oh ya, on November 28th)? Or Newtown? Or Newton? Was this the same story or another? And that restaurant name? Whoa. Oh, and yes, I was recently in Newport, Connecticut.

"It is in the humble opinion of this narrator that this is not just 'something that happened.' This cannot be 'one of those things'....This, please, cannot be that. And for what I would like to say, I can't. This was not just a matter of chance.…These strange things happen all the time." ~ Magnolia, 1999.

Alan Green's video news also, in and of itself, gave me a déjà vu feeling because it spent time talking about this Twilight Language's and the Mask of God's recent discussions of the Hanging Man Tarot Card.

My images were of the Hanging Man card and Heath Ledger's last character as a hanging man.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus: Heath Ledger's final role.

This all linked to more syncs coming my way.

Heath Ledger and Andrew Keegan starred in 10 Things I Hate About You (1999).

This is the week when celebrities and syncs became news.

According to Vice, actor Andrew Keegan started a new age temple and spiritual movement in Venice, California, called "Full Circle." (Venice Beach? Venice Beach? See here and here.)

"Synchronicity. Time. That's what it's all about," Keegan told Vice. "Whatever, the past, some other time. It's a circle; in the center is now. That's what it's about."

Andrew Keegan's last film role is an uncredited policeman in The Dark Knight Rises (2012), which, of course, starred Heath Ledger as the Joker.

What occurred also earlier in the week is that I randomly stumbled across a repeat broadcast of a Tosh.0 episode about "furries" (people who dress up as furred animals for fun, frolic, and sometimes sexual encounters). It gave me a deep déjà vu feeling watching Tosh's creepy scenario. But not because I had seen this Tosh.0 episode before, for I had not.

Originally broadcast on September 3, 2013, this specific one was noted as being from Season 5, Episode 5. You can see the video entitled "Furries-Kid," here.

In one of his "web redemptions," Tosh decides to stage a "celebrity" furries party. The associated identities assigned to various characters in the sketch are, well, coincidentally bizarre and déjà vu.

Tosh, on the left above, with skin-colored tights on, and elaborate fake body fur, says he is "Robin Williams."

At the "party," which is sort of a furrie déjà vu version of Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, the "Williams" character goes around identifying the costumed "celebrities."

Coming to the pictured pink furrie above, who is engaging in motions suggestive of masturbation and hanging himself, "Williams" identifies this is furrie as "Philip Seymour Hoffman." What?

This was prophetic, in a way, as far as these two characters exchanging behaviors.

[Little did I know how "prophetic." See "Eyes Wide Furry."]

Back to what took place after Tosh's fiction was produced, in an act of parasuicide, the real Philip Seymour Hoffman, 46, died February 2, 2014 (Groundhog Day), with a syringe in his arm. Hoffman's death was caused by "acute mixed drug intoxication, including heroin, cocaine, benzodiazepines and amphetamine," according to the New York City's Medical Examiner's office.

This all seemed a bit of déjà vu, for Hoffman's friend, Heath Ledger's autopsy result of February 6, 2008, from the same medical examiner's office said Ledger had died "as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine." Heath Ledger was 28, when he died January 22, 2008.

By the way, the film Groundhog Day (1993) is the ultimate cinematic treatment of déjà vu, when the same day repeats over and over again.

A few months after Hoffman's death, on August 11, 2014, the real Robin McLaurin Williams, 63, died in his Paradise Cay, California, home. The Marin County Sheriff's Office deputy coroner stated Williams had hanged himself with a belt and died from asphyxiation.

Williams hanged himself (in the real world). Not Heath Ledger nor Philip Seymour Hoffman (who both, through film and in Tosh's fiction, did hang). The fiction foreshadowed the reality, however, among friends, in a strange twist of programming.

(L-R) Clifton Collins Jr, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bennett Miller, Heath Ledger, and Abbie Cornish.

Heath Ledger (far right) next to Philip Seymour Hoffman, at the 2006 Oscars with George Clooney, Joaquin Phoenix and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Above and below: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robin Williams in Patch Adams (1998).

On December 1st, just by "coincidence," I found myself watching Magnolia again. And there was Philip Seymour Hoffman again.

Phil Parma [Philip Seymour Hoffman]: "Why are frogs falling from the sky?" ~ Magnolia, 1999.

Why, indeed?

***

Friday, December 5, 2014

Orion: From Spacecraft to the Son of Poseidon

Posted on 6:57 PM by Gawar

Orion? Sirius? Poseidon? Helios? Scorpio? Apollo? Why is the simple name of a spacecraft more than meets the eye?

Like in the Philae name game, the twilight language of the Orion spacecraft is linked to a deeper meaning than is obvious from your cable news highlights.

The Delta rocket that launched Orion appeared to be a fiery trident to correspondent RPJ.

The Orion spacecraft was launched on the morning of December 5, 2014, from Cape Canaveral in Florida and finished its first test flight by falling safely into the Pacific Ocean, supported by a trio of parachutes. It was picked up by Navy personnel in a Zodiac (of course).

The details are easy to find in the mainstream media. The Orion blasted off at 7:05 a.m. EST, circled the globe twice, reached 3,600 miles above Earth, then landed in the sea off Baja California. The flight lasted about 4.5 hours, and served as a test of a spacecraft, similar to a large-sized Apollo capsule, which will take humans to asteroids and Mars.

But what is the name game behind the moniker Orion?

Orion (Ancient Greek: Ὠρίων or Ὠαρίων, Latin: Orion) was a giant hunter in Greek mythology whom Zeus placed among the stars as the constellation of Orion.

In the works of Homer and Hesiod we have linkages of some interest in this quest.

Orion is mentioned in the oldest surviving works of Greek literature, which probably date back to the 7th or 8th century BC, but which are the products of an oral tradition with origins several centuries earlier. In Homer's Iliad Orion is described as a constellation, and the star Sirius is mentioned as his dog. In the Odyssey, Odysseus sees him hunting in the underworld with a bronze club, a great slayer of animals; he is also mentioned as a constellation, as the lover of the Goddess Dawn, as slain by Artemis, and as the most handsome of the earthborn. In the Works and Days of Hesiod, Orion is also a constellation, one whose rising and setting with the sun is used to reckon the year.

The legend of Orion was first told in full in a lost work by Hesiod, probably the Astronomia; simple references to Hesiod will refer to this, unless otherwise stated. This version is known through the work of a Hellenistic author on the constellations; he gives a fairly long summary of Hesiod's discourse on Orion. According to this version, Orion was likely the son of the sea-god Poseidon and Euryale, daughter of Minos, King of Crete. Orion could walk on the waves because of his father; he walked to the island of Chios where he got drunk and attacked Merope, daughter of Oenopion, the ruler there. In vengeance, Oenopion blinded Orion and drove him away. Orion stumbled to Lemnos where Hephaestus — the lame smith-god — had his forge. Hephaestus told his servant, Cedalion, to guide Orion to the uttermost East where Helios, the Sun, healed him; Orion carried Cedalion around on his shoulders. Orion returned to Chios to punish Oenopion, but the king hid away underground and escaped Orion's wrath. Orion's next journey took him to Crete where he hunted with the goddess Artemis and her mother Leto, and in the course of the hunt, threatened to kill every beast on Earth. Mother Earth objected and sent a giant scorpion to kill Orion. The creature succeeded, and after his death, the goddesses asked Zeus to place Orion among the constellations. Zeus consented and, as a memorial to the hero's death, added the Scorpion [as Scorpio] to the heavens as well. Source.

Sirius, the star of Isis, takes us full circle to other connections. Isis was the primary goddess of the isles of Philae. NASA is not unaware of the names they are bestowing on their craft.

The youthful Walter O'Brien (played by Daniel Zolghadri) on CBS's hit series Scorpion is wearing a sweater that mirrors, in a fashion, the Apollo 11 USA sweater being worn by Danny in The Shining. (For more, see here.)

Cory Panshin reminds us: "So Orion was 'the lover of the Goddess Dawn' -- which would be Aurora, of course."

In the official feed to the news media, at splashdown, NASA launch commentator Mike Curie is heard to say, in his (seemingly scripted) enthusiasm that this moment was "the dawn of Orion in a new era of American space exploration!"

So many syncs, of late, seem to be foreshadowing events, as well as reflecting them.

+++++

Consider supporting the work of this blog with a modest or generous donation.

Every amount assists.

Posted in Apollo, Delta, Fire, Navy, Orion, Poseidon, Trident, Zodiac | No comments

Tom Benson, 3rd UFO Researcher To Die In A Week

Posted on 12:45 PM by Gawar

Tom Benson, UFO researcher, UFO contactee, former Mutual UFO Network New Jersey State Director, and a former investigator for the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies, has died at the age of 77.

Tom apparently passed away on Tuesday, December 2, 2014, from pneumonia following complications from colon surgery in September.

(Benson is pictured above, on the left, with ufologists Jim Moseley, Antonio Huneeus and David Houchin.)

Benson, during the 1980s, was the editor of the zine, The Sixth Quark Journal. Above is Number 2 for 1981, which Benson self-published from his hometown of Trenton, New Jersey.

Benson worked for the State of New Jersey as a personnel management analyst, as well as a sideline selling vintage UFO books.

Tom Benson was deeply involved with field investigations in New Jersey, and then presenting his research results at conferences, when our paths overlapped.

One presentation of Benson's has been used in various field manuals throughout ufology. It issued from his personal investigations of an alleged UFO landing case from September 1986. The insightful paper he gave at the MUFON Symposium at American University in 1987, was entitled, "Misinterpretation of Slime Molds as UFO Physical Trace Evidence."

Most people, in recent years, only heard about Benson through James Moseley's Saucer Smear Newsletter. On November 16, 2012, Moseley, 81, died in Key West, Florida (see obituary, here). Since Tom Benson was a close friend, he inherited Moseley's archives.

Tom Benson is the third UFO-related researcher/writer to have died recently.

Now Tom Benson joins the list of those who have written about ufology in the past, who have died this fall.

Wes Nations, 47, died on November 25, 2014. Read his obituary, here.

Rocky Wood, 55, died on December 1, 2014. Read his obituary, here.

Reading of these men's deaths have revealed surprise as to where their lives took them.

Patrick Huyghe, author of Swamp Gas Times, and publisher of Anomalist Books, writes: "I remember Wes Nations and Crash Collusion; I used to exchange zines with him. I never knew about his Vagabond identity though. He was a cool guy. Sad to lose him at just a young age."

Jerome Clark, author of The UFO Book, emails: "I used to know Rocky Wood many years ago but had since lost touch with him. He was a nice guy. I'm sorry that he suffered and died too soon."

Others have mentioned that they "did not know that Rocky Wood was an expert on Stephen King."

Condolences to their friends, family, and loved ones.

+++

The formal obituary follows:

Thomas Anthony Benson Jr Obituary
Date of Birth:
Monday, September 13th, 1937
Date of Death:
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2014
Funeral Home:
Brenna-Cellini Funeral Homes
2365 Whitehorse Mercerville Road
Hamilton, New Jersey, UNITED STATES
08619
Obituary:
Thomas Anthony Benson, 77, of Ewing Township, New Jersey, passed away surrounded by his loving family on December 2, 2014 at the University Medical Center of Princeton. Born in Manhattan, New York, he had resided in Ewing for most of his life. A U.S. Army veteran, he was educated at Trenton Boys Catholic, Mercer County Community College, and Rutgers University. He received his Masters in City and Regional Planning, graduating cum laude from Rutgers University. Thomas retired after 35 years of service as a personnel management analyst with the State of New Jersey, Department of Personnel. A good father, he was instrumental in sparking his daughter Marisa’s interests in diplomacy, and the arts and his son Alan’s interests in soccer, as well as in rocks and minerals.
Throughout his adult life, Tom had an abiding interest in Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO’s). He taught a course at the local high school on ufology. He served as State Section Director and Investigator for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). In the late seventies, he founded a UFO study group for the scientific study of UFO’s. Tom traveled extensively to present talks, participate, and sell books at many UFO conferences, including MIT and the American University. In the eighties, Tom published his UFO magazine the Sixth Quark Journal. Once at the National UFO Conference (NUFOC) he was awarded the honor of Ufologist of the Year. He was a member of the New York Fortean Society.
He loved folk music, especially the tunes of Pete Seeger. A social activist, Tom marched with Martin Luther King for freedom. He was an avid collector of Christmas and Halloween decorations, and was known by family, friends, and neighbors for his magical displays. As a book dealer, he enjoyed selling books online through ABE Books. Tom was a master gardener and helped begin the Ornamental Horticulture Program at Mercer County Community College.
Tom was a courageous, competent and compassionate person with high moral values, and will be deeply missed by all who knew him.
Son of the late Thomas A. and Ann (Shestko) Benson; he is survived by his wife, Melanie; his daughter, Marisa; son, Alan; sister, Susan; two sisters-in-law, Eileen and husband Jack Simzak, and Susan Miller; niece, Nancy Miller, and nephews, Andrew and Stephen Miller.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Friday, December 12, 2014 at 10:30 am at Incarnation Church, 1545 Pennington Rd., Ewing, NJ. Cremation will be private. Calling hours will be held Thursday from 5 to 8 pm at the Parkside Brenna-Cellini Funeral Home, 1584 Parkside Ave., Ewing, NJ 08638. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Mercer Street Friends, 151 Mercer St., Trenton, NJ 08611 or Isles, Inc., 10 Wood St., Trenton, NJ 08618. Please visit Tom’s tribute page at www.brennacellinifuneralhomes.com
Brought to you by: Brenna-Cellini Funeral Homes

===

(Thanks to George P. Hansen and Patrick Huyghe for the initial news, plus T. Peter Park for the link to the formal obit.)

+++

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

Tom Benson

Rocky Wood

Wes Nations

+++++

Consider supporting the work of this blog with a modest or generous donation.

Every amount assists.

Posted in Antonio Huneeus, David Houchin, Death in Threes, Jim Moseley, New Jersey, Obituary, Tom Benson, UFO, Ufology | No comments

Thursday, December 4, 2014

From UFOs to Johnny Vagabond, Wes Nations Takes His Final Trek

Posted on 10:20 AM by Gawar

Wes Nations was a young man when he passed away on November 25, 2014, at the age of 47. He left behind a legacy of 1990s' alternative Austin-scene involvement that was close to legendary. But what came next will be circulating among the winds for decades to come. He exited the self-publishing field to undertake a long-held vision he'd fostered. He rid himself of most of his worldly possessions (the main exception being his beloved MacBook) and took off to travel for a year. His globe-trotting turned into six years on the road, a highly praised blog, and a persona known around the world as "Johnny Vagabond."

James Wesley ("Wes") Nations was born on July 1, 1967, in Aransas Pass, Texas. Famed for water sports, fishing, kayaking, and birding, Aransas Pass is the home to the largest hummingbird garden in Texas. Before Nations, the most recalled person from Aransas Pass was Emory Bellard (1927-2011), former University of Texas offensive coordinator and head coach at Texas A&M, inventor of the Wishbone formation. The citizens of Aransas Pass now have the genius of Wes Nations to add to their history, and they should be proud of him.

Nations began to make a name for himself in the age of news magazines ("alt-news-zines") in the 1990s. Wes Nations was the editor and publisher of Crash Collusion Magazine.

SMiles Lewis, Austin anomalist, conference organizer and archivist, personally alerted me to Wes Nations' death and his far-reaching linkages. Lewis observed:

Wes was my entre to the world of alt-news-zines in the 1990s. He was friends of many of the 1990s Zine Scene publishers (and early website operators) from the Excluded Middle magazine (Greg Bishop, Robert Larson, Peter Stenshoel), Steamshovel Press (Kenn Thomas), Adam Gorightly, E.L.F. Infested Spaces (published by me), The Konformist (Robert Sterling), The Devil's Advocate (Tim Brigham), and many more.

Meditative pose at Bell Rock, Sedona. 1997 Texufornia Kookout, with Peter Stenshoel, Paul Rydeen, Adam Gorightly, Mick Taylor, Dave Reimer and Wes Nations. Back row, Greg Bishop. Facebook.

As Nations planned his escape from Texas civilization to travel the world, he had to figure out what to do with his large library. Lewis writes: "When Wes moved away from Austin he gave away his vast collection of books and most of them went to Paul Rydeen and I. It was Wes's collection and mine that made up the foundation of my non-profit Anomaly Archives collections."

Kevin Revolinski said in his Wes Nations' remembrance,

He dreamed, planned, and saved, and finally, in 2009, already in his 40s, he set off on a one-year journey that became indefinite. Johnny Vagabond was born. He worked hard on his writing and photography, and due in no small part to his keen sense of storytelling, he was soon a typical inclusion on any list of travel bloggers to follow.

Wes Nations' trips turned into a well-loved blog by many. "He was Johnny Vagabond in the travel writing world," Kevin Revolinski wrote.

After Wes Nation died, Glenn Dixon recalled that "Wes was fairly well-known in travel blogger circles. One time Dixie and I were having lunch in our favorite restaurant, TierrADentro, and were approached by a cute young couple. They said hi, and then asked me, 'Are you Johnny Vagabond?' I got a big laugh out of this. Johnny Vagabond was Wes’ alter ego and the name of his blog. I’m pretty sure I told them that, no, I’m much younger and more handsome than him, but that I could connect them."

In Leigh Shulman ode to Wes Nation, she shared an overview sense of Wes' blog: "Raw is the word I hear most often applied to his writing. Things like how he almost killed a man who offered him an eight year old girl for sex. Or stories about the ethereal nature of travel."

At Joshua Tree.

Traveling the world, Wes soon found it was about the people, more than the places.

Wes at Tikal, a couple years ago.

When the journey on which Wes Nations found himself reached its final destination, via liver disease, he was "back in his hometown, his parents Tommy and Barbara at his side. He had traveled full circle," as Keith Revonlinski nicely put it.

One of Wes Nations' favorite photographs of himself, which he used as his profile pix on blogs, Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere.

The man moved from writing about UFOs and conspiracies, to sex slaves and the mistreatment of the disenfranchised. We appreciate seeing the world through his eyes, even for such a small amount of time.

Most of his peers, in the end, agreed, despite Nations' blog's tagline that "He's traveling cheap, taking pics, and telling lies," he saw truths and reported realities through his writings and images. He will be missed.

+++

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

+++++

Consider supporting the work of this blog with a modest or generous donation.

Every amount assists.

Posted in alt-news-zines, Aransas, Austin, Johnny Vagabond, Kooks, Obituary, SMiles Lewis, Texas, Travel Blogs, Wes Nations | No comments

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

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

Posted on 7:43 PM by Gawar

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.

+++

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

+++++

Consider supporting the work of this blog with a modest or generous donation.

Every amount assists.

Posted in ALS, Kaikoura UFOs, Obituary, Rocky Wood, Stephen King, The Shining, UFO, Ufology | No comments

Monday, December 1, 2014

Aurora Again: Mysterious Booms

Posted on 6:39 PM by Gawar

Over the weekend in the United Kingdom, the widespread reports of strange aerial bangings and what was speculated to be sounds produced by supersonic or hypersonic aircraft has called forth an often mentioned name.
According to the Daily Mail, conspiracy theorists are attributing,

The booms to a spy plane rumored to be under development by the US military, under the codename Aurora....People described it as loud enough to shake their homes and rattle windows. This has led conspiracy theorists to claim the power source could be behind a hypersonic US spy plane, dubbed Aurora. Aurora is rumored to be an ultra top secret aircraft that has been in development since 1989.

Enthusiasts claim that such a supersonic or hypersonic plans could be what caused the strange noises at the weekend. In particular, an expert said the sound is similar to that created by pulse detonation engines. An artist's illustration of what the Aurora plane could look like is pictured.