Strange Saga

Just recently, I received a huge stash of UFO-related books-for-review from Timothy Green Beckley - or "Mr. UFO," as he's also known. One by one, I'm gonna make my way through all those titles - starting with Strange Saga.

Basically, Strange Saga is a collection of Beckley's early (and otherwise very hard to find nowadays) writings within the UFO field. And a highly entertaining collection of material it is, too!

Long before Area 51, Roswell, the Greys, Alien Abductions, and Flying Triangles became the big buzz-words within Ufology, there were cases, characters, incidents, gigs and events that - sadly and in many respects - have been lost to the fog of time.

Thankfully, however, Beckley's republished articles will (A) rekindle the memories of those who were on the scene back in the 60s and 70s, and (B) thoroughly entertain those like me who first set foot in the UFO arena in the mid-80s onwards.

It's clear from what Beckley has to say that the world of Ufology back then was very different to that of today. For a start, it still possessed a sense of humor and wasn't full of pompous, self-important ufologists (or there were certainly less of them, at least!). And the subject was full of something else too: characters.

And that's where Beckley's book shines: in his republished articles (culled from publications such as Saga, Flying Saucers, and others), Beckley treats us to his memories of hanging out with ufological legends like Jim Moseley, Gray Barker, John Keel, countless contactees, and many more.

Road-trips to gigs, on-the-road-style adventures in search of UFO witnesses and interviewees, and roving-reporter-type accounts are what make up the body of Strange Saga.

And for your money, you also get the low-down on some little-known (and long-forgotten) incidents from around the globe, much on the dreaded Men in Black, an excellent interview with J. Allen Hynek that Beckley conducted back in 1976, a wealth of data on astronaut encounters, and a lot more, too.

You also get a a 1-hour CD that contains an interview with Beckley about his life and career within Ufology.

Strange Saga is a real blast from the past that provides the reader with a very personalized look at the UFO scene from a man who was there.