BELOW, MORGAN'S RIDGE MINE (PHOTO BY KURT MCCOY)
On October 14th 2008 I interviewed Kurt McCoy, the author of WHITE THINGS: WEST VIRGINIA'S WEIRD WHITE MONSTERS. It was a pleasure to interview him as he was new to the game with regards to interviews, but I feel fortunate to have picked up a copy of his interesting book and hopefully, after reading this interview, you too will spend your hard-earned cash on WHITE THINGS.
The Interview:
1) Hi Kurt, thanks very much for agreeing to be interviewed, please tell the readers a little about what prompted you to write a book on West Virginia's 'white things' ?
Heya, Neil! Thanks for giving me the opportunity to be heard far from these shadow-haunted hollers. The book grew out of research I was doing for a volume specifically on the Grafton Monster sightings back in 1964 and the ensuing "monster hunt." Newspaper stories were easy to find, but I've had much less success in finding actual witnesses who were willing to discuss their experiences. I kept running across other stories of other monsters, and since I already had several stories I'd collected back in my student days, I thought I might as well put all those together and see if a book on the wider phenomenon might encourage more witnesses to speak up. That and I wanted to put together a sort of "test volume" in order to find out how difficult and expensive publishing would be. Turns out, it's much more work than I anticipated and considerably less cost than I'd feared!
2) Of all the stories you unearthed, what creature in the book fascinates you the most ?
The Morgan's Ridge Monster has a three to four generations deep history in Mason County. There are cycles of sightings and stories, and hoaxes based on those stories, going back many years. It's a fascinating social phenomenon, if nothing else. The Grafton Monster is a dramatic and exotic beastie that deserves not to be forgotten. But above all, you've gotta love Sheepsquatch! I think that eventually ol' Sheepsquatch will be right up there with Mothman as part of our regional folklore.
3) What are your opinions on such monsters - do you believe they actually haunt the woods of West Virginia or are something far more complex ?
Truthfully, I think most of these stories are the product of social phenomenon, yarnin', hoaxes, exaggerations and the like. But it is undeniable that there really are some people out there who are seeing Something. While I'd like to believe that at least some of those Somethings are real, biological entities, there has to be something more complicated, something stranger at work. There are too many different "types" of beings that have been seen and the circumstances under which they are observed range from mundane to the extremely bizarre. Ultimately, all I can say is that we have a genuine mystery of some sort roaming our hills and forests.
4) My book 'zooform' is the first ever book to collate these kind of ethereal creatures. What are your opinions on such apparitions which remain out of the framework of the paranormal and cryptozoology ?
It's a fantastic book, by the way, and I have personally adopted the term "zooform" as the best label to put on these weird creatures. As with John Keel's "Ultraterrestrials" there is a sense that a lot of these different beings are very similar, under the skin, as it were. I think anyone who seriously researches these sorts of sightings will quickly find themselves deep into a paranormal phenomenon rather than a biological one. We have widely disparate entities being seen which behave in almost the exact same manner. We have exactly similar entities being seen across an impossibly wide geographical range. They are literally everywhere we are. Some of that can be explained sociologically, but a lot of it cannot. We are sharing our world with...Something, something that we do not understand or even have a solid name for."Zooform" is about the best term we've got, to date.
5) Do you believe the colour of the creatures you've covered is relevant to their mythical status ?
Oh certainly! We generally get either black or white in our beastly apparitions, and both have deep social and symbolic significance. Either can represent supernatural or otherworldly origins. It so happens that here in West Virginia, we seem to have a significantly higher number of the white variety, compared to our neighboring states. The conventions of storytelling can account for some of that, of course. But we are still left with a glaringly obvious regional anomaly, any which way you look at it.
6) Why do certain regions of the USA, i.e. West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, seem to harbour a wealth of weird things, and also appear to be plagued by such monstrosities ?
The most sigficant reason for the apparent clustering, I think, is the presence or absence of researchers who document the sightings. Maryland has a very high number of weird creature sightings for it's size and population, but it also has a number of very vocal, prolific and diligent researchers. West Virginia turns out to have had many more sightings than I would have expected, given what I'd read in the literature. Once you start digging into the old papers and talking to long time local residents, monsters literally start popping out of the wood work. These things are not really "rare." Almost every town or community has had their own encounters at some point in their history.West Virginia has always had a reputation for being a place that is not quite like the surrounding regions. The conspicuous absence of large Indian populations here in the Colonial era and the often dire stories that surrounding tribes told about this region leads one to suspect that there is something particularly anomalous about our strange little mountain state. It is easy to believe that something is lurking in the deep woods, in the dark hollows, or under the hills.As for Ohio, well, Ohio is just weird like that. Place is crawling with monsters and spectres and whatnot! They really out to do something about that. Yessir!
7) Have you ever experienced a 'white thing' ?
Other than the odd experience I wrote about in the afterword, not really. My only crypto-relevent sighting was of a huge dark shape outside my window when I was a child. Since that was on the other side of the curtains, all I can say about it was that it was very large and dark and reeked of menace. 'Course, all too many of our neighbors could have been described the same way, so...
8) What has the response been like to the book ?
Surprisingly positive! Since I'm so close to it, I see every gaffe and wrinkle and flaw. Most of the people I've talked to about it seem to have enjoyed it, which was the main goal. Heck, even my Dad had nice things to say about it!
9) Was it easy to find a publisher regarding the book ?
Easy as looking in the mirror! Heh. This was my test project for entering self-publishing. Given the state of the art in print on demand and desktop publishing, self-publishing is much more practical than ever before. For books like mine with an unusual topic and a narrow regional focus, self-publishing seemed about the only way to go. 'Sides, it's nice to be in control of one's own work from start to finish, though it would be nice to have the validation that being picked up by a big publishing house would provide.
10) What books influenced you whilst writing WHITE THINGS ?
The biggest influences have been Dr. Ruth Ann Musick's The Tell-Tale Lilac Bush and John Keel's Mothman Prophecies. Dr. Musick really discovered and documented the archetypal White Thing cases. John Keel opened my eyes to the delightful depth of weirdness that my own home state contained. Just about as important as either, though, was John Moore's WVGhosts.com site. John was doing online what I'd been doing as an undergrad, collecting and preserving stories. His work is what convinced me that this phenomenon was more widely spread than just a local monster legend.
11) Have you ever gone looking for a 'white thing' ?
Certainly! Part of the fun of monster-hunting or story collecting is going out in the field and seeing these places and talking to the witnesses first hand! I've crouched in reputedly monster-haunted woods in the dark, stayed overnight in haunted hotels--walking the floors through the wee hours, boated above the sunken lair of river monsters and stared into subterranean tunnels whispered to be home to horrors unimaginable. Didn't go into the tunnels, mind you, I'm a rabid claustrophobe, so I don't do tunnels or caves. Nope! Never.
12) I once wrote an article on Sheep-squatch and other WV odd-bodies. Do you plan on an update or have you covered all that's to cover ?
Well, one always hopes to have written a definitive account, but there's guaranteed to be something that escaped notice the first time 'round. I know that there are more stories about the Kanawha County Creature, but I didn't have the transportation or social networking necessary to ferret them out. There are still stories buried in local newspapers that I didn't find, witnesses that I don't know about, etc. I suspect that I've barely scratched the surface of the whole story. Then there are significant other works such as your own article that I didn't have access to while I wrote this book. I've toyed with the idea of doing a second edition, but I think I'd rather do a follow up volume down the road. I still want to do books specifically on the Grafton Monster and the Morgan's Ridge Monster--as new information comes to light. And then there's Sheepsquatch. Sheepsquatch has got to have his own book, someday. It's a vitally necessary type thing.
13) Do you believe the 'white things' are all connected or separate mysteries ?
A little of both, really. Each individual story, each encounter is a unique event with elements exclusive to that particular experience. But it's impossible not to think that there is something fundamental underlying the whole range of events. Whether that something will turn out to be purely sociological or a metaphysical mystery, I dunno. Not knowing is half the fun!
14) Have there been any fresh sightings of a 'white thing' ?
Oh yes! The more I circulate the book the more I get people coming up to me with their own tales. There was a gray hairy thing sighted near Rosemont, WV that greatly resembles the Baker's Ridge Monster and the Beans Mill Monster. A friend told me of a cousin who saw somthing "not an animal and not a person" on the Goshen Road at night. More stories of Sheepsquatch emerge as people find out that others have likewise witnessed the bizarre beastie. One cannot overestimate the importance of the "But I'm Not Crazy!" factor.
15) Anything else you'd like to mention to promote your book ?
Sure! To date I've only printed a small batch of the book to test the publishing process and feel out what the demand might be like. As soon as I'm properly licensed and Ogua Books has it's full legal existence, I will be selling the book to bookstores and libraries, and hopefully soon on Amazon.com as well. Meanwhile, the next couple of books are already in progress! "The Truth is Out There!" And I want to make sure that anyone who is interested will get to read about it!Thanks!
KEVIN D. RANDLE, CRASH: WHEN UFOS FALL FROM THE SKY, NEW PAGE BOOKS, NJ, 2010 "-- Reviewed by John Harney "
The more interesting UFO crash stories in this book will be familiar to most UFO enthusiasts. It is not the stories themselves, but Randle's treatment of them, which is of interest to the keen ufologist. Indeed, one would need to be keen to read through this book and and compare Randle's findings with those of other writers and investigators. Most of the crash stories described are obviously misinterpretations of natural phenomena, such as bolides, or fairly obvious hoaxes. Many of them were first published by ufologists not noted for their reliability or honesty.
One of the cases that is particularly interesting, especially in view of the fact that the sceptics have remarkably little to say about it, is the Shag Harbour incident of 4 October 1967. That evening, a number of witnesses reported seeing a large object with four flashing lights on it descending towards the harbour. It seemed to land on the water and then apparently sank. It was eventually announced that underwater searches had failed to find anything. This incident was brought to the attention of the Condon Committee, and Randle mildly criticises them for failing to go there and conduct a thorough investigation. He fails to point out, though, that the Committee's resources were limited and they would obviously find it easier to investigate reports in the USA than in other countries.
The incident did not apparently arouse much interest among ufologists, and it was not until 1993 that Chris Styles decided to investigate it, and was joined in this work in 1995 by Don Ledger. Interest in this case has no doubt been maintained to some extent by the reluctance of the authorities to release documents concerning official investigations of the incident. Like so many other cases, the long delay before ufologists began serious investigations must inevitably have caused the loss or distortion of some of the evidence and testimony.
There is a lengthy section on the Kecksburg "crash" of 9 December 1965, with an interesting account of the confusion caused by some people thinking that an object had crashed into nearby woodland. Randle is confused by the conflicting testimony and concludes: "It seems reasonable to accept the military and official answer that the sighting was the result of a bolide, but, to do that, too much eyewitness testimony has to be discarded."
In his discussion of the Roswell incident of July 1947, Randle rejects the Project Mogul explanation and writes: "Something strange fell and it has yet to be identified. There is a very good chance that it was extraterrestrial."
Incidentally, it appears that Randle's former colleague, Don Schmitt, whom he repudiated publicly some years ago for making false claims about his occupation and academic qualifications, and his alleged incompetence as a UFO investigator, has now been quietly rehabilitated. Not only is he mentioned in the text, but there are even two pictures of him, including one of him giving a lecture about Roswell.
Randle's desire to believe that at least a few of the incidents he describes are really ET craft is obvious. I also suspect that he allows only a few to be possibly genuine because he realises that it would be impossible to conceal proof of their reality if there were too many. In this way he can preserve the fantasy of the great secret which will one day be disclosed. It's a bit sad, isn't it?
Zeta Outlandish ET! Roswell UFO crash survivor US Course Video recording Open "Would initially MJ12 members release a video of an alien discernibly in their custody? The conjecture is that this is the present colleague from the Roswell crash. A granular video, show age, and a Zeta head not unrelated the face on the ZetaTalk assistant, among a unimportant in this area level ransack, a pond rush of a chin, high cheekbones and thin collar. Nancy has done bonus than one diagram of ourselves, from her shield, show the very thin character and the face whichever front and in parade. The fact that this video matches in a variety of ways her shield and explanation is not an misfortune or protracted prefigure, as this is a real video. The US government, initially MJ12 members included, are being encouraged by other countries to get among the program and hire in disclosure. If at all possible than release their UFO files they are jumping forwards, show proof of the alien image among alien bodies. This is a test run to see how the societal reacts. " - Zetatalk www.zetatalk5.com Disc RATING: 4 / 5
Limitless UFO sightings render speechless Russia Michael Cohen m.cohen@allnewsweb.com A release of countries are promptly experiencing UFO sightings at an unprecedented level: One of these countries is Russia: Dozens of sightings are occurring introduce dissertation to the shock of thousands of frequent who documentation these craft. In words of one syllable weeks after thousands saw what constrain pass been a giant UFO either crash or land in a forested area in the Yakutsk constituency of Siberia, a UFO has been sighted in the oil town of Khanty Mansiysk. The UFO, seen in the news report less than (lower video), was disc formed and a bright blue colour. According to witnesses the craft hovered peacefully in the sky further on disappearance. Meanwhile in the town of Volkhov numerous UFO was seen completely verve ago (first video less than): in this case the object, as well bubbly, was square formed. Now scientists and researchers are asking; Why are UFO undertakings occurring at such an upward rate? Haunt conceal aliens constrain be trying to snitch polite society of one appearance catastrophe. The same as do you think? Describe out bonus a touch UFO and alien appropriate articles voguish To surveillance demand smear our Facebook assistant and serve equal UFO and alien appropriate reporting: www.facebook.com
SHORT UFO FACT: [This piece of metal was picked up after a UFO explosion over Toninha's Beach, in Ubatuba, Sao Paula State, Brazil, in 1957. The analysis surprisingly revealed that the sample contained only the element magnesium. A second fragment of Sample No.1 was submitted to a separate spectrographic analysis by Mr. Elson Teixeira of the Mineral Production Laboratory. Mr. Teixeira confirmed Dr. Barbosa's finding that is absolutely spectrographically pure. These results, therefore, are often cited by proponents of UFO extraterrestrial existence as proof that the Ubatuba material must be EXTRATERRESTRIAL. ]
UFO HOUSTON TEXAS 2008
SHORT UFO FACT: [Equally lurid stories of sexual liaisons with UFO occupants came from the world-famous contactees of the 1950s. Howard Menger, for one, had regular meetings with Marla, a beautiful blonde from space who claimed to be 500 years old. She projected "WARMTH, LOVE AND PHYSICAL ATTRACTION," which he found irresistible. Menger divorced his wife to marry Marla (AKA CONNIE WEBER). From July 1952, Truman Bethurum had many meetings with Aura Rhanes, the captain of a flying saucer, whom he found to be "TOPS IN SHAPELINESS AND BEAUTY".]
UFO GREATEST STORY EVER DENIED NASA SPACE SECRETS
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The truth is out there... UFO expert Nick Pope talks about aliens I've been involved with the subject of UFOs since 1991, but unlike most people with this interest, this didn't result from my having a sighting and it wasn't a hobby - it was my government job! I worked for the Ministry of Defense for 21 years, from 1985 to 2006. I had a varied and enjoyable career, but by far my most bizarre MoD job was one that I did from 1991 to 1994, when my responsibilities included researching and investigating UFOs. The MoD's UFO project dates back to the Fifties and the wonderfully-named Flying Saucer Working Party. This had been set up in 1950 by MoD's Chief Scientific Adviser, the great radar pioneer Sir Henry Tizard, who said that UFO sightings should not be dismissed without first carrying out some sort of proper scientific investigation. In fact, the Working Party's conclusions were skeptical. Their final report - issued in 1951 - concluded that UFO sightings were misidentifications, hoaxes or delusions and they recommended that no further investigations be carried out. But in 1952 the MoD was reluctantly dragged back into the subject after a wave of sightings during a large NATO exercise, where UFOs were seen by numerous RAF pilots, and tracked on radar, performing extraordinary speeds and manoeuvres. The suspicion, of course, was that we were dealing with Russians, not Martians. However, the MoD and the RAF kept open minds and the terms of reference of the MoD's UFO project simply involved investigating all UFO sightings to see whether there was evidence of any potential threat to the UK, or anything of more general " defense interest" - a phrase we carefully avoided defining. When I was posted to this section in 1991 I had no idea what to expect. I had no interest in UFOs and no particular beliefs on the subject. So far as I can recall, the first sighting that I investigated involved white, red and green lights not far from Heathrow! My conclusion, unsurprisingly, was "probable aircraft". Most of the 200-300 sightings that I investigated each year turned out to have simple explanations: aircraft lights, weather balloons, meteors, satellites and various other conventional objects and phenomena. But around 5% remained unexplained and some of these cases involved sightings from police officers, military personnel and pilots. One of the most fascinating cases I investigated took place in March 1993 and involved a UFO that flew over two military bases. One of the RAF witnesses described seeing a large triangular-shaped craft which flew very slowly over RAF Shawbury in the Midlands, before accelerating away to the horizon many times faster than a military jet. Our first suspicion was that this was a prototype aircraft or drone - a new spy plane, perhaps. But our investigations drew a complete blank. The job involved more than simply investigating UFOs. A typical day might involve anything from responding to questions from the media to helping a child with a school project on UFOs. It was a fascinating job, but although I became known as the real-life Fox Mulder, MoD's UFO project wasn't quite as glamorous as The X-Files! Despite lots of conspiracy theories suggesting that we were covering up the truth about UFOs, there was no conspiracy. Or rather, if the authorities really do have a crashed UFO hidden away somewhere, I'm afraid they didn't tell me. People can see for themselves, because the MoD is in the process of declassifying and releasing the entire archive of UFO files. That's because when the Freedom of Information Act was introduced, MoD received more requests about UFOs than on any other subject! I'm often asked what I think aliens will look like or what might happen if we ever encounter extraterrestrials. Hollywood has come up with a variety of answers to the first question: some cute, others frightening. My own view is that aliens may look like nothing we've even remotely imagined. But one thing I think is quite likely is that we'll be dealing with robots or cyborgs. Our first encounter with extraterrestrials might involve artificial intelligence and that being the case, they might make contact via our computers: an email from ET, so to speak! When I left the MoD, I became a journalist and broadcaster. Unsurprisingly, given my previous experience, I've specialized in the unexplained, conspiracy theories and science fiction. I often get involved with movies, TV shows or computer games with an extraterrestrial theme and I'm currently involved in promoting the new alien invasion computer game XCOM: Enemy Unknown. It's a turn-based strategy game in which you build a headquarters, select a team and undertake various missions, which can involve anything from shooting down a UFO and battling aliens, through to researching alien technologies. The game combines tactical game-play with some incredible action sequences and on-the ground combat. It's challenging and great fun.
SHORT UFO FACT: [An electronics engineer was fishing when he heard a shrill, whirring sound and saw a round object, with a rotating light on top, land on the shore. The sound gradually stopped, an opening became visible, and two dwarfs with oversized heads came out with a hose and pumped water from the river. Later they appeared to play like children. Their bodies glowed with lights of changing colors. ]
UFO GERMANY
SHORT UFO FACT: [On April 18 1961 a strange UFO encounter allegedly took place at Eagle River, Wisconsin. At 11 a.m., Joe Simonton claimed to hear a whining sound and then saw a craft, thirty feet in diameter and twelve feet high, resting on his property. A man about five feet tall appeared from the craft; he wore a black, turtleneck pullover with a white band at the belt and black trousers with a vertical white band along the side. Inside the craft, Simonton discerned two more figures; The strange man held up a metallic jug, which Simonton took and filled with water. ]
UFO ALIEN ABDUCTION GREYS VS REPTILIANS CG
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From watching ufo footage, and seeing definite of the most all-inclusive members of the armed forces and armed forces, and moreover doctors,government coexistent industry of over 30 years! and various other influential genus on the verge of to official. I manage no uncertainty that aliens exist.As the crow flies moonwalker (sixth man on the moon) Edgar Mitchell has supposed he KNOWS aliens exist. And they roll up subsequent to E.T.He moreover supposed they are kind, but if they werent, they might of wiped us out a have a yen time ago.He says the government has been remains this up for over 60 years! But over time bits manage leaked out.UFO's and aliens are very Due and i dream the government would tell the genus what they manage a real to inform.I guess its alot to do later war, not incomplete to allot the technology, so they manage the boss hand if war is regularly confirmed. Stay on the line you seen a UFO? Post your UFO sighting
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