Isaac Koi - New Uploads

Saturday, July 31, 2021

10,000+ pages of skeptical UFO discussion - James Easton's "UFO Research" forum (1999-2004) - Now online as searchable PDFs

James Easton was a Scottish UFO skeptic that operated the "UFO Research List" ("UFORL") between 2001 to 2004 , which was basically for informed UFO sceptics to discuss various issues/cases. Those skeptical discussions tended to be more detailed than the discussions of UFO issues on more recent skeptical forums like the James Randi JREF forums.

The posts to the UFO Research List included some of the most detailed public skeptical examinations of Rendlesham, Kecksburg and various other UFO incidents. Participants included many of the leading UFO skeptics of the early 2000s.

Those posts were archived on a public forum on the Yahoo Groups website in html format (with a rather horrid search interface). All content on Yahoo Groups has unfortunately since been deleted, including that archive of UFORL posts.

James Easton repeatedly posted his "housekeeping" rules which stated: "The list archives are *PUBLIC* ...".

I think that post, and other material posted by James Easton, implied permission to share material from UFORL elsewhere. I’ve tried contacting James Easton for about a decade to confirm my inference before posting a PDF archive I’ve created of posts to his group. Over the years, I've used email addresses supplied by various people and attempted to contact James Easton about this by posting in Joe McGonagle's Ufologyinuk List and contacting Ian Ridpath and others. I mentioned on Facebook and elsewhere in 2014 that no-one seems to have been in touch with James Easton for quite a few years. He may have passed away a few years before that. I posted in 2014 that I was tempted to share a PDF archive of UFORL posts to enable efficient/effective searches by other researchers, but would have prefered to have his express blessing.

Since another 7 years have passed without my being able to contact James Easton and no one has objected to my inference that James Easton impliedly gave permission for posts to be shared, and would have wanted to see this material shared and disseminated, I have now uploaded the relevant PDFs I've created. These PDFs total over 10,000 pages.

(Archived email versions of these posts were kindly supplied to me by Italian researcher Edoardo Russo about a decade ago).

By the way, in case anyone else wants to create their own PDF archive of relevant posts from Yahoo Group posts, I’ll post below the text of macros I created to tidy up the archived email versions of the UFORL archives for post-2001 and pre-2001 material respectively before converting them to PDFs. The results are imperfect, but much more readable than the raw archived format of the emails.

Click on the image below (of James Easton) for a link to the folder containing these PDFs:

Macro to tidy up Edoardo Russo's copy of James Easton's List archives
for 2001 onwards:
Sub CleanUp()
With Selection
.HomeKey Unit:=wdStory
With .Find
.ClearFormatting
.Replacement.ClearFormatting
.Text = "From ???(*)^13From:"
.Replacement.Text = "^mFrom:"
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "MIME-(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "X-Mailer(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Content-Type(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Reply-To:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Reply-to:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Content-type(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Content-Transfer(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Content-transfer(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Content-disposition(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Content-Disposition(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Status:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "^13To:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "^13Reply-to:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "^13Message-id(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "In-reply-to:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "In-Reply-to:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "X-Mime(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "X-MSMail(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Delivered-to:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Mailing-List:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "X-Priority(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "X-Sender:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "^13Sender:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "X-BeyondMail(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "X-Yahoo(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "X-AOL-(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAllwdReplaceAll
.Text = "X-AOL-(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "UFO Research List - http:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "X-eGroups(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "MIME-Version(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Mailing-List:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Delivered-To:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Precedence:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "List-Unsubscribe:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "X-MD(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "X-Return(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "X-Originating(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "X-Spam(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
End With
End With
End Sub

Macro to tidy up Edoardo Russo's copy of James Easton's List archives
for 1999-2000 onwards:

Sub CleanUp()
With Selection
.HomeKey Unit:=wdStory
With .Find
.ClearFormatting
.Replacement.ClearFormatting
.Text = "From ???(*)^13Date:"
.Replacement.Text = "^mDate:"
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "MIME-(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "X-Mailer(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Content-Type(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Reply-To:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Reply-to:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Content-type(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Content-Transfer(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Content-transfer(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Content-disposition(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Content-Disposition(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Status:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "^13To:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "^13Reply-to:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "^13Message-id(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "In-reply-to:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "In-Reply-to:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "X-Mime(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "X-MSMail(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Delivered-to:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "Mailing-List:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "X-Priority(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "X-Sender:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "^13Sender:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "X-BeyondMail(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "X-Yahoo(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "X-AOL-(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAllwdReplaceAll
.Text = "X-AOL-(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
.Text = "UFO Research List - http:(*)^13"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
End With
End With
End Sub

Friday, July 30, 2021

New folder for UFO newsletters from another African country - "Contact (Rhodesia)" (early 1970s) now online

I have now created a new folder for UFO/Fortean newsletters and magazines from Rhodesia, adding to the (limited) material from Africa in the existing folders for Zimbabwe [which includes Cynthia Hind's "Afrinews"] and South Africa [which includes "Approach, "Skywatch", "Aquarian News", "Contact South Africa" and "Southern UFO News"].

Even among the informal network of over 100 UFO groups and researchers that assist in the scanning project, further material from African countries is very, very slim.

The first (and potentially only) UFO newsletters/magazines that I can currently upload from Rhodesia are two issues of the brief "Contact (Rhodesia)" newsletter.

This particular branch of Contact International no longer exists, but I have previously obtained permission from Contact to upload its newsletters.

The two available issues are now online, thanks to scans by the AFU in Sweden.

Click on the image below for a link to the relevant folder.

Thursday, July 29, 2021

"Dead of Night" magazine (UK, 1990s-2000s) - UFOs, paranormal phenomena, nocturnal entities, ghosts, cryptozoology and witches

"Dead of Night" magazine was a magazine published by Lee Walker in the United Kingdom in the 1990s-2000s. It stated that it was "Merseyside's Premier Publication Dealing With All Forms of Paranormal Phenomena".

This magazine included articles about UFOs, paranormal phenomena, nocturnal entities, ghosts, cryptozoology and other Forteana.

In an editorial in the first issue, Lee Walker explained that the magazine "seeks to explore ALL realms of what we might term, for want of a better description, 'Strange Phenomena'". He stated that this included ghosts and apparitions, weather anomalies, corn circles and occult crimes, vanishing people, combustion and curses and jinxes and "just to round things off" a very long list of other Forteana.

A sense of humour is obvious in the editorials and the selection of some of the material covered in the magazine. One of the more lighter items in this magazine was a collection of "The Cosmic Joker's Latest Pranks", including articles about part of a man's penis being sucked off by a vaccuum cleaner and a "groom killed by stripper's boobs".

Lee Walker has sadly passed away but his wife has kindly given permission for me to upload his magazine. She commented that Lee would have been flattered.

Once again, this publication has been scanned by the AFU in Sweden.

Click on the image below for a link to the folder containing the searchable scans of this magazine.

4 more sets of South African UFO newsletters now online - "Skywatch", "Aquarian News", "Contact South Africa" and "Southern UFO News"

I have previously posted about the paucity of African UFO material online. As many of you probably know, Cynthia Hind's Afrinews is already on various websites (including in the Zimbabwe folder of the online archive I've helped create in the last few years) but until now there have been very, very few other African UFO newsletters online.

I've now uploaded another 4 sets of South African UFO newsletters, namely "Skywatch", "Aquarian News", "Contact South Africa" and "Southern UFO News".

I have added these newsletters to the South African folder, which already contained Edgar Siever's "Approach" (mentioned in one of my previous posts).

Each of these was published by Contact International (South Africa). That branch of Contact International no longer exists, but I have previously obtained permission from Contact to make their newsletters available online.

A touch of impatience can be detected in some of these publications, such as Elizabeth Klarer's "Contact South Africa" newsletter of November 1977, which stated "As far as I am concerned, I'm sick and tired of having to put Flying Saucers across to the ignorant public".

I'll turn to UFO material from other African countries soon. Any help getting relevant permissions would, as always, be welcome.

Once again, these scans were all provided by the AFU in Sweden. I haven't found any group in Africa yet that has an interest in preserving or disseminating UFO material.

Click on the image below for a link to the relevant South African folder.

"Approach" - $150 per issue on Amazon - rare early South African UFO newsletter (1950s-1960s) - 24 issues online

Some people have previously debated why UFO sightings appear to be rare in Africa and Asia, but without seeming to bother seeking out any African or Asian sources and material regarding UFOs (or at least not sharing any such material online). Speculating before obtaining data is a bit, well, frigging stupid.

More politely, as put by the great Sherlock Holmes (okay, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...), “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”

So, I've recently been seeking out UFO source material from Africa and Asia.

Before posting some new scans, I'll just mention again one relevant newsletter : "Approach", published by South African ufologist Edgar Sievers in the 1950s-1960s. This is a rather rare publication, with single issues on sale on Amazon for about $150 each.

One seller on Amazon has commented : "Something new and different, even for the churning and seminal UFOlogy/spirituality time period of the 50s: UFO's from a South African / Tibetan Buddhism perspective".

Scans of 24 issues are freely available at the link below, scanned by the AFU in Sweden.

Under South African copyright rules, copyright expires 50 years after the authors death. I have not found any references to Sievers (or any family) after about 1960, so presume he died more than 50 years ago. I also think, given the content of several statements in his newsletter, he wanted it made freely available.

One of Edgar Siever's editorials commented on some of the problems on ufology in the 1950s - with comments that could be echoed in relation to the UFO community today.

Click on the image below for a link to the folder containing relevant issues.

59 issues of "Folklore Frontiers" (Paul Screeton, UK) - urban myths, rumours, conspiracy, forteana

Paul Screeton has kindly given me permission to upload issues of his "Folklore Frontiers" newsletter.

As the title of the newsletter suggests, this newsletter focused on folklore. One issue states that the magazine covers "primarily contemporary legend (i.e. urban myths), ancient and modem traditions, rumour, conspiracy, forteana, modem culture and belief, mostly clipped from the press and commented upon here".

I have previously uploaded other material edited by Paul, including "Ancient Skills and Wisdom Review", "Terrestrial Zodiacs Newsletter" and "The Shaman" and relevant issues of "The Ley Hunter" - all of which are in the UK folder I created on the AFU's website.

The AFU in Sweden has scanned issues 1 to 60, with the sole exception if Issue 38.

PLEASE NOTE: Pictures of scantily-clad / topless women are common on the cover of this newsletter.

Click on the image below for a link to the folder containing issues of this publication.

"Malaysian UFO Bulletin" (1980s, Malaysia and southeast Asia) newsletter now online

The "Malaysian UFO Bulletin" was published in the 1980s by Ahmad Jamaludin, the author of several UFO books - including the recent "UFOs, Earthquakes and the Straight Line Mystery: The Answer to the UFO Enigma" (2021).

This newsletter focused on UFO sightings from Malaysia and southeast Asia.

Material on UFO sightings from Asia and Africa are, for whatever reason(s), a relatively small part of the material currently available online (including in the online archive that I have been helping to create in the last few years). I have recently been trying to address this by seeking to get permission to upload more material from these regions. However, I have been finding it very difficult to find knowledgeable people in large parts of these regions that have an interest in preserving and freely disseminating UFO material.

Ahmad Jamaludin has kindly given me permission to upload his newsletter. Scans have, once again, been provided by the AFU. (At least one issue is currently missing, but I hope to fill this gap soon).

I have added this newsletter to a new folder (in relation to Malaysia) on the AFU's website.