CHAMELEO on STRANGE ALPHABETS

Craig L. Gidney (author of such books as SEA, SWALLOW ME & OTHER STORIES, BEREFT, and SKIN DEEP MAGIC) has just reviewed CHAMELEO for his blog, STRANGE ALPHABETS.  You can read the entire review by clicking HERE.

A Holiday Recipe Like No Other

The good folks over at OR Books--in conjunction with several of the world's most famous chefs--have prepared the following recipe for your upcoming holiday needs.  Yes, indeed, I'm told by my relatives in the "Old Country" that these are the perfect fixin's for any traditional St. Patrick's Day lunch... or dinner... or breakfast....

Lo, the Integratron!

Here's an excerpt from Jennifer McCartney's 2-20-15 Atlantic article entitled "A Time Machine in the Mojave Desert":

"The sign said, 'Dedicated to Research in Life Extension.' George Van Tassel, an aviator and UFOlogist, put it outside a structure he described as 'a time machine for basic research on rejuvenation, anti-gravity, and time travel' in the Mojave Desert in the early 1950s.

"In fact, the story of George Van Tassel’s Integratron, as the machine is known, is so outlandish, so otherworldly, and so enchanting—encompassing UFOs, electromagnetism, Nikola Tesla, Howard Hughes, Moses, and an alleged German spy—that it’s little wonder the site continues to attract tourists, artists, reporters, drifters, and spiritual pilgrims more than 60 years after Van Tassel began to build what would become his life’s work.

"The white wood-domed structure sits four stories high and 55 feet in diameter, just off Twentynine Palms Highway in Landers, California, about an hour north of Palm Springs. According to Van Tassel, the site was determined by its relationship to the Great Pyramids in Giza as well as its proximity to magnetic vortices. It is a 16-sided metal-free building constructed using a technique called joinery—no nails or screws were used in an attempt to avoid interference with the conductive properties of the machine. Inside, the acoustically perfect sanctuary made of Douglas fir rises three stories high and features sweeping views of the desert from its 16 small windows. The Integratron remains open to visitors today, although it’s no longer outfitted for the purpose of time travel—the machinery is, mysteriously, long gone.

"The story of Van Tassel’s time-travel dome begins under a rock—yes, an actual rock—where he lived. It was here, a few miles from Landers, that the inventor established an airport which he ran for 29 years on land leased from the U.S. government. It’s also where he incorporated a science philosophy organization called The Ministry of Universal Wisdom, one of many UFO cults that sprouted up in California shortly after the 1947 Roswell incident that brought UFO culture into the mainstream.

"The most infamous of these groups is probably Heaven’s Gate—whose members committed suicide in order to ascend to a spaceship following the Hale-Bopp comet—but there’s also Scientology (founded in 1952), the Universal Articulate Interdimensional Understanding of Science (1954), and the Aetherius Society (1955). The organizations held in common the belief that communication with extraterrestrials was possible and that by channeling their messages (many aliens, believers said, were concerned with the earthlings' attempts to develop a hydrogen bomb) the contactee could ultimately help save mankind. 'The UFO culture of the 1950s arose after the end of WWII, and rockets, nuclear weapons, and new aircraft were being designed and built based on war effort innovation,' notes Bernard Bates, a professor of astronomy at the University of Puget Sound. 'People were afraid death could come out of the sky... and they were seeing all sorts of natural and human made phenomena which they didn’t understand.' It was during this era of increasing distrust among Americans of the U.S. government, the beginnings of the Cold War, with the possibility of nuclear weapons looming and the new-age movement in California blossoming, that Van Tassel rose to local, then national prominence as a charming, well-spoken UFO expert. Much of his notoriety was a result of the annual Giant Rock Interplanetary Spacecraft Convention, which he hosted for more than 20 years.

"Seven stories high and many thousands of tons, Giant Rock dominates the desert landscape and became a local landmark due to its size. It was underneath the boulder that a German immigrant named Frank Critzer carved out a 400-square-foot house for himself where Van Tassel would visit him occasionally. The story goes that Critzer also installed a radio antennae on top of the rock and came under suspicion by the authorities for being a German spy shortly after WWII. Accounts vary, but a tear gas canister from a botched FBI raid is said to have somehow ignited Critzer’s store of dynamite and blown him to bits. Van Tassel moved in shortly thereafter with his wife. And on August 24, 1953, it was here that Van Tassel received his instructions regarding what would become his 'tabernacle'—the Integratron."

The entirety of McCartney's article, well worth reading, can be found by clicking HERE.

What follows are some photos of my own pilgrimage to George Van Tassel's Integratron--as well as to nearby Giant Rock--just this past October.  I made this journey in the company of my good friend Eric Williams and inventor Richard Schowengerdt (whose explosive theories are featured prominently in my new book, CHAMELEO).  If you're a UFO enthusiast living in Southern California, you shouldn't hesitate to make this trip.  Upon approaching the remote destination after hours of driving, you can only stare in awe as the blazing white dome of the Integratron emerges out of the barren, Ralph-Steadmanesque desert landscape like a mythical fortress from a fractured fairy tale.  This is a quite a surreal experience, to say the least.  You can't help but feel the the 1950s UFO energy rising from the desert floor in tangible waves of 100% pure FORTEAN HEAT!  

Charles Fort's Lost Notes

Here's some exciting new for Charles Fort mavens!  What follows is an excerpt from a recent post on Chris Chaos' All Things Weird blog:

"According to Above Top Secret (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread1037963/pg1), 60,000 plus notes from Charles Fort's writings based on the weird and odd will soon be available to the public. These notes were written in the 1920's and 30's on a variety of paper sources and should prove a difficult task to transcribe. John H. Reed, M.D. of the World Institute for Scientific Exploration (WISE: http://wisewiki.org/ ) acquired them from a house in Connecticut as the new owners were going to throw them out, not aware of their significance."

To see the entire post (dated 2-17-15), click HERE.

John A. Keel's The Invisible Diet

Any day on which I learn about the release of a John Keel book I've never heard of before is a very good day indeed!  Click HERE to order New Saucerian Books' most recent publication, The Invisible Diet by the late journalist, John A. Keel (author of one my favorite Fortean books of all time, The Mothman Prophecies).  According to the publisher, The Invisible Diet is a "suppressed classic" in which Keel "shares classified health secrets rumored to have been developed by either the CIA or NSA, specifically for their agents in the field.  In these pages, Keel provides forbidden advice on how to:  lose weight unnoticed; quit smoking; say goodbye to your dentist and doctor; improve cognitive ability and focus; grow spiritually; have more sex; and generally avoid surveillance."

The Keel-centric website, John Keel:  Not an Authority on Anything, provides further information about the pedigree of this lost Keel volume right HERE.

Lou Reed & Theosophy

Oliver Hall recently wrote an illuminating article for Dangerous Minds entitled "The Occult Book that Inspired the Velvet Underground's 'White Light/White Heat'."  Hall's 2-12-15 article details the surprising extent to which Theosophy may have inspired some of Lou Reed's earliest work.  Here's a brief excerpt from the article:

As it turns out, not only was Reed genuinely interested in [Alice] Bailey’s [Theosophical] work, but the Velvets’ “White Light/White Heat” was inspired by Bailey’s A Treatise on White Magic. That “white light goin’ messin’ up my mind” wasn’t just the rush of speed; Lou was singing about some heavy astral shit! Rock historian Richie Unterberger developed the Reed/Bailey connection while researching his White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day-by-Day.

To read Hall's entire post, simply click HERE.

On a related note:  On the day of his death, I wrote about my one and only encounter with Lou Reed in a Cryptoscatology post entitled "Lou Reed R.I.P."  You can read my previous Lou Reed post by clicking HERE.

The cover of Alice Bailey’s 1934 book.

Bigfoot in San Diego and Environs

The other day, while glancing at a website called monsterislandnews.com, I stumbled across an intriguing article entitled "A Brief History of Bigfoot in Southern California" by Ken Hulsey and Terri Pressley.  Oddly enough, certain aspects of the article actually tie in with my new book, CHAMELEO.  If you read Chapter 7 of CHAMELEO (specifically pp.  48-50, which describe modern sightings of "ape-men" in San Diego County), then read Hulsey and Pressley's article, it would be difficult to overlook the obvious connections.

As Hulsey and Pressley write, "It may come to the surprise of those who follow stories about Bigfoot and other mysterious creatures that the first report of these creatures by European settlers did not come from the East Coast, Midwest, or even the Pacific Northwest.  It actually came from southern California.  In 1769, Spanish priests founded the first missions in San Diego.  Local Gabrieleno Indians told the padres about 'harry devils' that lived nearby.  In fact, according to written accounts, the Indians lived in fear of these large, foul-smelling, 'wild-men' and refused to [go] anywhere near their reported home called 'towis puki' (camp of the devil) on the southern bank of the Santa Ana River."

To read Hulsey and Pressley's entire article, simply click HERE.

CHAMELEO UNLEASHED!

My new book, CHAMELEO:  A STRANGE BUT TRUE STORY OF INVISIBLE SPIES, HEROIN ADDICTION, AND HOMELAND SECURITY, has now been thrust upon an unsuspecting planet thanks to the auspices of OR Books in New York!  Will the U.S. military and Wall Street continue to function in the immediate aftermath of this paradigm-shifting event?  Many psychics and scholars--including the highest paid experts in the fields of both palmistry and sociology--have been at a loss for words when asked to predict what impact this publishing milestone will have on civilized society.  So place yourselves firmly at the cutting-edge of the eternal mystery known as the FUTURE and secure your copy of CHAMELEO TODAY!  Don't be left in the lurch, my friends, for CHAMELEO is an indispensable guidebook to the bloody, chaotic WORLD OF TOMORROW!!!

CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR COPY OF CHAMELEO RIGHT NOW!!!