Dark Intrusions Review

Nick Redfern reviews Louis Proud's Dark Intrusions on his Reviews of the Mysterious Kind blog. An excerpt:

A lot of words have been written about the strange and unnerving phenomenon (or, perhaps, phenomena would be a better and more accurate word to use) that has popularly become know as Sleep-Paralysis (SP).

Some of those words have been good and some of them have been bad. Others have been wholly skeptical; while many have been firmly pro-SP.

But, what has been lacking until now is a truly in-depth, book-length and definitive study of the mystery written by someone who has actually experienced repeated episodes of sleep-paralysis, first-hand - and in all their terrifying glory, no less.

That situation has now changed (and radically so, too), thanks to Australian author Louis Proud, whose title (just published by Anomalist Books) Dark Intrusions: An Investigation into the Paranormal Nature of Sleep Paralysis Experiences, makes for both remarkable and essential reading.

I'm looking forward to reading this book. I've had many experiences of sleep paralysis throughout my life, though they seem to have diminished as I get older. I don't know if that's significant or not. One thing I've noticed is that, as many of these often very frightening experiences as I've had, I've never had any that hinted at aliens (as in ET, grays, etc) UFOs, Mothman, etc. And yet I've also had a life time of experiences involving "aliens' I suppose, and UFOs. So there goes that theory; that alien abductions (and I am NOT saying I am an abductee!) are merely episodes of sleep paralysis. Anyway, I think I'm going off on a tangent. . . check out the book, I know I plan to.

UFO Media Matters: MUFON’s 600 lb Gorilla: Common Sense

Joseph Capp makes good points concerning a very interesting (and a bit creepy, with MIBS and black helicopters) UFO case, and MUFON's investigation, as well as new directions for MUFON:
UFO Media Matters: MUFON’s 600 lb Gorilla: Common Sense

Ninja Bookseller and Contactee Synchronicities

My friend and I were at Borders today, and naturally I had to show off Nick Redfern's new book Contactees: A History of Alien-Human Interaction; since he quotes my article on Dana Howard in the book. So there we are, generally having fun and delighted to find the book on the shelves. My friend insists on taking a picture of me holding the book open to the chapter on Dana Howard. I am not kidding, no more than two seconds after I held the book up, a sales clerk swoops down (she must have come down from the ceiling) and says we can't take photos due to copyright laws. "No photos of books in any bookstore in the U.S." she says. My friend said "But she's the author" (in her excitement she meant I was mentioned in the book, not that I'm the author. I certainly am not!) and the sales clerk snaps "She's not the author" with great authority. I had to laugh and couldn't resist; I said "How do you know?" which of course elicited no response from her, as it should. I was being pretty flip. Giddy with my caffeine buzz gone and the crazy crowds of people all day. My friend said, laughing, "No, she's not, but she's in it," which didn't help matters. I thought we were going to be 86'd out of Borders. The woman walked away but hovered in the next aisle spying on us, like we were two naughty middle schoolers in the school library. We both thought the whole thing was funny; my friend kept whispering "Is she still there? She's still there!"

The chapter I'm referring to is I AM DIANE… I COME FROM VENUS, about female contactees, including Dana Howard. Diane means “divine” -- a being from the heavens, something holy and purer than ourselves from the stars.

My friend, whose name is Stella, (which means Star), turned to me and said "You know my middle name is Diane." That's right! I'd forgotten. So there we were, looking at Nick Redfern's book on Contactees, and a chapter on Diane from the stars, with my friend Stella Diane.

Change is Afoot: Happy Solstice!

I hadn't intended to change the looks of any of my blogs, but an intense vibe of change is in the air. I changed the look of Frame 352 and Octopus Confessional, I think for the better. And now, Mothman Flutterings -- as to that theme, I never was satisfied but finally found a WP look that feels "mothy."

The Solstice is here and I've been experiencing a strong current of creativity and thought, including change, but not out of a sense of dissatisfaction or depression, but rather a kind of quiet joyful sense of newness.

Happy Solstice!

Frame 352: Fresh New Look!

New look at Frame 352; same layout, just changed the colors, but I think it looks fresher, and easier to read. Also a new post over there; an article I wrote for UFO Magazine following up on the beeping sounds that often occur in UFO and paranormal, cryptid encounters.


My blogs:
The Orange Orb
Mothman Flutterings
Vintage U.F.O.

Mothy Sketch Number 2

As I posted on Facebook, I'm watching "Haunted" (it's an asylum, of course it's haunted!), working on contactees, the Cosmic Joker and the BVM, and making sketches of Mothman. Christmas came early! How else to spend a Fortean Sunday? Oh, and I just finished listening to Adam Gorightly's Mothman Extravaganza podcast with Andrew Colvin and Allen Greenfield.

 The Orange Orb
http://orangeorb.blogspot.com Regan Lee Oregon
http://reganleeoregon.blogspot.com

Mothman Sketch

I've been feeling the urge to paint Mothman images -- do a whole series of small paintings with UFOs and entities as the theme -- and this is my first Mothman attempt. Just scribbling, really. This is a pen and pencil sketch I did, then manipulated it with the Photobooth tools. The original drawing has more color (didn't have the tools I wanted, and too lazy to walk out to the studio in the back to get them) and I've cropped the image a bit.

It's Skylaire.com! Video Interview and More

One of the coolest, smartest and excellent of female writers in the UFO/Fortean field, Skylaire Alfregen, is interviewed here.

Skylaire is the founder of LOWFI, which hosts people like Andrew Colvin (Mothman Photographer's), Adam Gorightly, Lesley Gunter, myself, Thomas Cosgrove, sMiles Lewis.

Around the Orb

Report Damn It! And Do It Like This on my blog UFO Proletariat.

UFOs, et al has an interesting article on Bigfoot in West Virginia; I comment a bit on it at my Bigfoot blog Frame 352.

A few new things at Oregon L.O.W.F.I., some are reposts, like the one from UFO Proletariat, some are older ones from my blog Trickster Northwest that I'm merging into other blogs, like Oregon L.O.W.F.I., and some are new, like the squid invasion in Seaside, Oregon.

New posts from myself and others at Women Of Esoterica.

The Cylinder Alien Heater is new at my Trickster's Realm column for Tim Binnall on BOA. Other new columns by Lesley Gunter, Richelle Hawks, Richard Thompson, Maria Pena, Tina Sena and A.M. Murphy.

Interstellar Housewife Interviews Cartoonist Dennis Rano

Interstellar Housewife interviews UFO cartoonist Dennis Rano. Very enjoyable; and thanks again to Dennis for his cartoon of moi.

An Orange Orb Blip

Something slightly odd and startling happened the other day. It was around 5:30 in the afternoon. I was relaxing on the sofa, not asleep but just in that semi-drowsy, pleasant light trance state. I had a short little dream -- a dreamlet, you could call it -- but I was awake on some level at the same time.

I “dreamt” I had a strong urge to go outside and look at the sky full of stars. (this is something I do almost every evening) and I walk out onto the path to the sidewalk, and scan the dark sky. I hear a voice inside my head, or more like a telepathic nudge, to turn around and look towards the south. I do, and see, very high up, a bright orange light, which is rotating. As far away as it is, and as small as it is -- like a large, bright star -- I can tell it’s revolving. When I see this orange “star” I’m very scared, and I can feel my stomach drop with cold dread.

I wake up abruptly, feeling very uneasy. With the sighting of the orange object I again am aware of a telepathic message; this one tells me that I know exactly what it is I saw years ago, and to stop playing games. I assume it meant stop playing games with myself, but I had a sense it might have meant with it as well, whatever “it” is.

I’m not sure why I feel it’s important to keep track of episodes like this, but I’m sure one of the many purposes doing this serves is that is simply makes me feel better. No closer to any mystery but I don’t think that’s the point any more. Acknowledging these weird little moments and adding them to the collection of pieces gives the illusion of work, of study. It’s calming somehow. It’s also empowering; once you call it, reclaim the name of something, it’s power diminishes.

And maybe, as has been said by Forteans and esoteric explorers, the Trickster or whatever you want to call it is alerted to our interest and responds. When we start noticing “it,” “it” starts to notice us back.

Patrick Harpur, Rushing Murmurs

The following quote by Patrick Harpur parallels what Nick Redfern has to say about the Contactees experience in his new book, Contactees, of which I'll write about later as soon as I finish the book. 

"Anyway, there is no ‘explanation’ for the widespread abduction epidemic—it is not a problem to be solved but rather a mystery to be entered"

Harpur also has a new book: The Complete Guide to the Soul. Harupur's Daimonic Reality is a fantastic book, I think, along with George Hansen's Trickster and the Paranormal, these are two books any Fortean junkie or UFO researcher needs to read.


An interview with Harpur from 2007 for the Dreamflesh Journal, very enjoyable and insightful.


Thank you to The Daily Grail for the link idea. Speaking of the Daily Grail, Greg Taylor has more on his ideas about sound and the source of liminal, weird experiences like OOBEs, Marian Apparitions, and other strange encounters. He wrote a very good article in Darklore discussing the rushing, roaring, ringing, bells, even singing, heard during these events: Her Sweet Murmur, which you can download for free as a PDF, and expanded with A Mighty Rushing Wind on The Daily Grail.

More Unsolved Cattle Killings and Cattle Rustling

In the post below I comment on the recent San Luis Valley, Colorado cattle mutilations, news of which made the national news, along with references to UFOs and aliens.

About two weeks ago items appeared about mysterious cattle and chicken killings in Virginia.

Back out west, in the remote area of eastern Oregon, cattle rustling is a major problem for ranchers and law enforcment. These cattle rustlers know what they're doing; really quite an endevour given the remote and inhospitable area. See
Modern-day cattle rustlers hit ranches in southeast Oregon for article.

Cattle Mutes in Colorado's San Luis Valley

Cattle mutilations made the mainstream news today: Creepy string of calf mutilations mystify Colorado rancher, police This item seems to be making all the rounds; it appeared in our local paper, Eugene's Register Guard.

The dead calves had their skins peeled back and organs cleared from the rib cage. One calf had its tongue removed.

But rancher Manuel Sanchez has found no signs of human attackers, such as footprints or ATV tracks. And there are no signs of an animal attack by a coyote or mountain lion. Usually predators leave pools or blood or drag marks from carrying away the livestock.

"There's nothing really to go by," said Sanchez, who's ranched for nearly 50 years. "I can't figure it out."

Colorado's San Luis Valley has been the home of supreme high strangeness for literally hundreds of years. Cattle mutilations, UFOs, even Bigfoot, and a whole lot of other Fortean and weird events. Paranormal researcher Chris O'Brien has written three books on the strange happenings in the area in his "Haunted Valley" series: Secrets of the Mysterious Valley, Mysteriosu Valley, and Enter the Valley. (O'Brien's Stalking the Tricksters: Shapeshifters, Skinwalkers, Dark Adepts and 2012 is his recent work, released about a month or so back.)

 O'Brien isn't mentioned in the news item but Chuck Zukowski of UFOnut.com is. On Zukowski's site there is a report, along with graphic photos, of the mutilations.

In the news item references are made to UFOs and aliens and the odd history of the place:

When something like this happens, there's always talk of UFO's and alien visits. Neither believe in that, either.

But some may look upward for an explanation. The San Luis Valley is a place where an unexplained horse mutilation maintains celebrity status 40 years after its death because of mysterious circumstances. It also has a UFO watchtower sitting on the roadside near Hooper.

Interesting this item made it into the national news stream, along with references to UFOs. 

Psychic Communications with Aliens and UFOs: More Oregon Tales

My recent Trickster's Realm article for Tim Binnall: a follow-up to the abduction experience of "Jane" which took place in Gold Hill, Oregon:

Psychic Communications with Aliens and UFOs: More Oregon Tales

In the previous Trickster's Realm, I wrote about a woman who experienced what seems to be an alien abduction in Gold Hill, Oregon. "Jane" also encountered alien beings a few months after her frightening encounter in Oregon a few months later in the Grand Canyon. Her latter experience was in contrast to her first; while the Gold Hill encounter was terrifying and seemed like a "typical" alien abduction in many ways, the Grand Canyon event was a positive one, and concerned different types of beings.

Jane refers to these second set of aliens as "Dimension Travelers." The night before she saw the aliens, Jane witnessed a "huge, imposing golden white orb in the sky." The next night, she encountered beings that were "gentle . . . tall, fair and human in appearance...dressed in white." They communicated with Jane telepathically. They also removed "unhealthy tissue" from her right breast.

A telepathic communication also took place with Jane and aliens during her Gold Hill encounter. However, that first event was an intensely negative one. Under hypnosis Jane revealed that the aliens seemed almost transparent, their skin a "pale shade of grey-green" and they had huge black eyes. They seemed clinical in their actions, and communicated with her telepathically in a matter of fact and emotionally distanced manner.

Jane quotes Oregon UFO author Ida Kannenberg's UFOs and the Psychic Factor to help explain her ideas about her interactions with aliens. For example, Jane refers to page 187 of Kanneberg's book, where Kannenberg points out some of the ways extraterrestrials interact with us:

Hallucinatory craft and occupants due to hypnosis of the contactees ... craft/personalities are unseen, but their presence detected. These are psychic manifestations ... remote contact by telepathy ...

For the rest, visit Binnall of America.

Visit my blog The Orange Orb
http://orangeorb.blogspot.net