Flying Saucer to the Center of Your Mind: Selected Writings of John A. Keel

If you're not familiar with Keel's work, this is one way to hit some of the high points. If you've already read a few of his books like I have, you might find the arrangement of articles by subject matter instead of chronologically a little annoying (like I did). Instead of this book, you might be better off starting with "Operation Trojan Horse" and then "Mothman Prophecies" if you like "Horse".

So apparently, Mothman researcher and connoisseur of weird Andy Colvin met John Keel in 2003 at the unveiling of the Mothman statue in Point Pleasant. And now, 11 years later, we're all benefiting from that meeting.This collection of Keel's writings covers everything from the UFO phenomenon to Mothman to cattle mutilations. No, it is not in chronological order. It is instead organized in such a way that it follows a loose narrative structure, which I found really enjoyable. For instance, Keel references an article in the transcription of a speech he gave…and the next chapter is the mentioned article. I especially have enjoyed the little things, like memos that Keel sent out to other researchers. Admittedly, I'm a hardcore Keel fan and would happily read his grocery list. But any true Fortean enthusiast will get something out of this collection. And for those like myself who feel like Keel was as close as anyone has come to a "Unified Field Theory of the Paranormal" it provides even more tantalizing bits of information to add to the never-ending search for truth.I'm happy that Mr. Colvin promised Keel that he would compile these works for publication. I feel like we might also have him to thank for the fact that many of Keel's more obscure works have been reissued in the past year. Well worth the ten dollars that it cost to instantly download this book onto my Kindle. Many of the articles do mention things that Keel has said in other works…but others contain new material or different insights, and I feel like most of them would be nearly impossible to track down. Having them all together in one place is very cool.This book even triggered a minor synchronicity that made me smile…I was reading it in a waiting room and noted Keel's reference to an Ivan Sanderson book that I had not heard of. I underlined it to remind myself to look it up later. An hour later, we stopped into an otherwise uninteresting thrift shop, and there on the shelf crammed between the Reader's Digest condensed books and mail order bible tomes was the very same Sanderson book! High strangeness. I can't wait to read the next two volumes, and I sincerely hope that Mr. Colvin and Co have more up their sleeves.

This expertly edited book will guide you through John Keel's thought process as he grapples with the flying saucer mystery; and convinces the reader through the Socratic method, of the conclusions Keel makes as a result of his thousands of hours of witness interviews, and his own encounters with the paranormal. Nothing is explicit because it can't be. You have to draw the conclusions for yourself, and when you understand, it's astounding.

For any students/investigators of the unknown,mysterious and strange,..this is one of the top books out. There's too many subjects written about in this book to even list!! John Keel steps out of the ufo realm occasionally and digs deeper into that unplumbable rabbit hole,farther than some folks may be comfortable with. Still..in my mind,.when he's writing about the Ufos and their shady and suspicious occupants or any of the other subjects he spent a lifetime on the trail of,..Keel was (and still is!) definitely a legend,an outstanding author and one of the greatest minds ever to ponder the unknown.

I wanted to weep tears of joy when this book and the others in this series were released.. Articles some of which have not seen the light of day for 40 years , once relegated to old magazines, again allow the truth and humor of Mr. Keel to shine forth into our sadly darken world. He was the modern Mark Twain of all things Para Normal.

My introduction to Forteana was due to the stacks of those curious publications of the 1950's and 60's- the so called 'Men's' magazines my Dad had. These were not prurient fleshy rags, and the only thing 'manly' about them were the plethora of WW2 stories about the romantic skills our American GI's had to sway Axis vixens to our side. Titles such as 'Men', 'True', 'Saga', et al, were rich sources for stories on Bigfoot, UFO's, mysterious disappearances, and other mind expanding topics. These articles represented the best of that first generation of Fortean writers, Vincent H. Gaddis, Ivan Sanderson, Donald Keyhoe and of course, John A. Keel (1930-2009).Following UFO studies from the mid-60's to present, one fact is clear, only three authors truly understood the para-physicality/folkloric roots and psychological dimensions of the phenomena- John Michell, Jacques Vallee and Keel. This is the collection Keel fans have been waiting for, a collection of those early and later writings by Keel from these magazines. Andrew Colvin is to be commended for this effort. Keel possessed a knack for placing himself in the right place at the right time to observe these sociological events first hand, writing with an engaging journalistic, 'you are there' quality brings the people and events to life for the reader. Keel's 'Mothman Prophecies' has become a classic of its kind and remains required reading for all budding forteans.Though focused on primarily the UFO phenomena, this collection offers a wide range and variety of subject matter. You will find his concise summation of the encyclopedic Ummo series of events that captivated European UFO circles for a decade. Reading these articles after 40-50 years the insights and suggestions they pose remain startlingly astute. Keel is among just a hand full of researchers today, who rise above the new age rubbish and nonsense that passes for paranormal studies today. Keel's day of recognition may be arriving, along with Mr. Colvin's work, Anomalist Books has republished his 'Operation Trojan Horse' and will also soon offer his 'The Eighth Tower' an elusive and rare book which I've not had the pleasure of reading.Keel remains one of the most important writers on our 'haunted planet' and offers pertinent clues to the mysteries that surround us. Highly recommended.

John Keel has become my favourite UFO author. He is wrong on a number of things in my opinion, but this may because he didn't have the benefit of the internet and the shared research of the last forty years or so. Let me just give a couple of things I believe he is wrong about: 1/Roswell. He is completely off the mark with this. 2/Related to 1/ , He is overly generous to government. Although he doesn't discount "physical" saucers, he tends to think of them as less tangible - I think there is something in this up to a point, but not necessarily to the extent that Keel states.Criticisms aside he was a very dedicated researcher who has spoken of things few others have. I like his notion of UFOs, Poltergeists and Cryptids having similar origins. He states that there is no proof of UFOs having extraterrestrial origins and I have come round to this view. In "Operation Trojan Horse", which I have also reviewed, he describes the UFO phenomena fitting the frame of reference of human understanding, like apparitions and deities of the past fitted in with a religious frame.

This is essentially a collection of essays and talks by Keel in the Sixties and Seventies that somehow manages not to appear (too) dated and builds into a persuasive argument supporting the theory of UFOs as part of an interdimensional phenomenon. I’ve been a fan of Keel since he published Operation Trojan Horse and there is nothing in this collection to shake my position. Old material admittedly, but well worth revisiting.

Absolutely awesome! John Keel's writing style is conversational (as some of these transcripts are based on) and really absorbing.He had so many original insights into the UFO, M.I.B phenomena, you can't help but feel that the real answers to these mysteries are somewhere in his writings.Without doubt one of the very best writers/investigators on the paranormal subject.Well worth the price - can't wait to get the other two volumes.

For a fan of Keel, this is great. I love his books (read them all) and this one contains lots of articles and assorted material. The "curation" (is that the word?) by Andy Colvin is careful and well-thought. It links specific articles with speeches that relate to each other. It also includes an interesting foreword by the widow of Phillip K. Dick, who compares some of the "paranormal" experiences of her late husband to those of Keel, whom she admires a lot. For fans of Forteana, this is nice.

A selection by Mothman's specialist Andy Colvin of John A. Keel's articles gathered together in one tome : a great idea .