Clarke, David, & Roberts, Andy (2007). Flying Saucerers. A social history of UFOlogy. Wymeswold Loughborough, UK: Alternative Albion
di cui avevo parlato qui.
In realtà i processi di declassificazione andrebbero analizzati iuxta propria principia: e chi ha seguito negli ultimi anni, anche alla lontana, tali processi in relazione a documentazione politica, militare e/o d’intelligence, avrà probabilmente intuito, in tutto o in parte, le ragioni “esplicite” (almeno all’interno dell’istituto decisore) degli odierni rilasci di ampie dimensioni. Ragioni che, per il caso britannico, sono oggi evidenziate da uno scambio di messaggi, nell’intenzione degli autori riservato, ottenuto in questi giorni da David Clarke insieme ad altro materiale relativo alla documentazione del DI55, compreso un sommario di quanto sarà pubblicato.
Il tutto è presentato da Joe McGonagle (che con Clarke e Gary Anthony ha avuto un importante ruolo di stimolo nel convincere gli uffici competenti del dicastero a giungere alla decisione poi presa) in un commento intitolato Contaminated records and the release of the DI55 files, firmato anche dagli altri due ricercatori, che è apparso oggi sul sito da egli curato. Dallo scambio di messaggi si evince anche l’opinione maturata nei confronti della normativa britannica sulla libertà d’informazione e di coloro che la utilizzano da parte di uno dei due anonimi interlocutori nonché il possibile rischio che correrà la documentazione originale dopo la pubblicazione on-line.
[Per approfondire l’interesse “ufficiale” nel Regno Unito:
Clarke, David, & Roberts, Andy (2002). Out of the Shadows. UFOs, the Establishment & the Official Cover-up. London (UK), Judy Piatkus.
Clarke, David, & Anthony, Gary (2006, August). The British MoD study: Project Condign. International UFO Reporter 30(4), 3-13, 29-32
nonché il sito del Condign team:
http://www.uk-ufo.org/condign/
Come già ricordato in un precedente post, David Clarke parteciperà il prossimo 23 giugno al convegno organizzato dal Centro Italiano Studi Ufologici. Per maggiori informazioni vedi qui ]
Un’intervista (della durata di circa quattordici minuti) fatta dal giornalista radiofonico Adam Thompson a David Clarke per presentare il volume è andata in onda ieri 27 aprile intorno alle 21.11 WEST durante il programma radiofonico Alan Thompson for Mal Pope su BBC Radio Wales ed è ascoltabile fino a venerdì 4 maggio qui (l’intervista è alla fine).
A proposito: il dr. Clarke è fra i relatori previsti del convegno internazionale 1947-2007 Sessant’anni di UFO che il Centro Italiano Studi Ufologici (CISU) sta organizzando per il prossimo 23 giugno a Saint Vincent (AO). Maggiori informazioni qui.
Oggi mi è arrivato l’appena pubblicato:
Clarke, David, & Roberts, Andy (2007). Flying Saucerers. A social history of UFOlogy. Wymeswold Loughborough, UK: Alternative Albion
(La distribuzione del volume nelle librerie tradizionali britanniche è prevista dal 17 aprile, ma il volume era già disponibile nelle librerie web almeno dalla fine di marzo).
Di taglio divulgativo (ma si tratta di buona divulgazione), si occupa della storia sociale dell’ufologia britannica fino agli anni ’70: gli autori si occupano quindi di personaggi, gruppi e idee legati al Regno Unito (ma che spesso hanno avuto ben più ampia diffusione). E’ prefato da Shirley McIver, Senior Fellow all’Health Services Management Centre dell’University of Birmingham, che nei primi anni ’80 si occupò dell’ufologia britannica dell’epoca per il suo dottorato di ricerca in sociologia.
Ecco la quarta di copertina:
Since August 1945 the Western world has been fascinated with the notion of ‘flying saucers’, subsequently termed ‘Unidentified Flying Objects’ or ‘UFOs’. Numerous ‘experts’ have offered explanations, often involving extraterrestrial entities. These early experts promoted their beliefs enthusiastically. Some were undoubtedly sincere – although somewhat maverick – while a few might have been intentional ‘psychological con men’.
The various opinions of these ‘experts’ generated extensive tabloid and media attention in the 1950s and 60s with the result that reported sightings became wrapped up in any number of beliefs and legends. David Clarke and Andy Roberts carefully unpick the origin of these beliefs, looking carefully at the key individuals involved. This reveals how the paranoia of the Cold War era generated its own myths and also shows that many aspects of the subsequent ‘New Age’ ideology had their origins in the UFO cults.
Flying Saucerers is not written for people who believe in UFOs. Readers are not expected to believe in their ‘nuts and bolts’ existence, still less the prospects of a Close Encounter of the Third Kind. Instead it is both a social history and a history of ideas, revealing how the notions of a few inspired ‘experts’ evolved into one of its most pervasive modern day myths.
Ed ecco invece il comunicato stampa della Sheffield University presso cui Clarke insegna giornalismo:
Space babies and flying saucer religions
Issued 12/04/07
Dr David Clarke, lecturer in Journalism Studies at Sheffield Hallam University and co-author of Flying Saucerers, a Social History of UFOlogy, has been researching the folklore of UFOlogy for two decades with colleague Andy Roberts. Stories from the book include:
The Space Baby
Mum-of-two Cynthia Appleton claimed that she was visited in her Birmingham semi by beings from Venus in November 1957, one month after the launch of the first space satellite, Sputnik 1. The story took an even more bizarre turn in 1959, when the aliens told Cynthia she was going to give birth to a baby from Venus.
Her strange visitors insisted the child would be a boy and should be named Matthew. They said he would become a ‘leader of men’ at the age of 14. Just after midnight on 2 June 1959 Matthew was indeed born and press reports show that at 13 months there were no obvious signs of his amazing future. The book tells the full story up to the present day.
UFO cult investigated by Special Branch
A London taxi-driver, George King, founded a small cult in 1954 that grew to become an influential New Religious Movement with thousands of followers and branches across the world. The Aetherius Society was formed after King, a yoga devotee, claimed to have heard a disembodied voice announce: ‘Prepare yourself, you are to become the voice of Interplanetary parliament’, whilst meditating in his Maida Vale flat.
King continued to channel telepathic messages from alien intelligences until his death in 1997. His followers have dedicated their lives to spreading these messages, which include warnings of a future apocalypse and the dangers of atomic experimentation.
The book reveals how the society’s pacifist, anti-nuclear stance at the height of the Cold War brought them to the attention of the Metropolitan Police Special Branch who suspected the society might be a front for communists. Drawing upon papers released under the Freedom of Information Act, the book reveals how Special Branch sent undercover officers to monitor a rally organised by the society against Government secrecy on ‘flying saucers’ held in Trafalgar Square in 1958.
Dr Clarke said: “Belief in UFOs and aliens is a fruitful area of research for social scientists but until recently the idea of alien visitations as ‘a modern myth’ had received little attention, possibly because it is a phenomenon that is occurring here and now. For instance, an opinion poll in 1998 revealed that almost a third of UK residents believe that ‘extraterrestrial life has already visited earth’ and two per cent of those questioned claimed to have had direct experience of alien visitations.
“Flying Saucerers examines how and why people develop these types of beliefs. It examines how interest in ‘flying saucers’ originated in the USA at the height of the Cold War. When UFOs arrived here during the 1950s, the subject quickly became a British obsession with its own clubs, magazines and cast of famous believers which included celebrities such as Lord Mountbatten, Prince Philip and Lord Dowding, of Battle of Britain fame.
“The book isn’t about UFO sightings and doesn’t set out to debunk the claims of those who have had UFO and other extraordinary experiences. It is about the people who see, investigate and write about UFOs and what has led them to believe what they believe. Whatever opinion you hold, it cannot be doubted that belief in UFOs and aliens has shaped modern history and continues to do so.”
Notes to editors
Flying Saucerers: A Social History of UFOlogy, by David Clarke and Andy Roberts will be published by Heart of Albion Press on 17 April 2007.
For an advance copy please contact Bob Trubshaw, Heart of Albion Press on 01509 880 725 or visit www.hoap.co.uk/alternative.htm#FlSc
For press information contact: Contact Lorna Branton on 0114 225 5104
Lo scorso 29 marzo il volume era stato recensito da Nick Redfern sul suo blog qui.
Infine, per chi volesse un assaggio, un’anticipazione di quello che è oggi possibile trovare nel volume era apparsa su Fortean Times 211 (June 2006) in un articolo di Clarke dal titolo “Flying Saucers From Hell”, che è disponibile qui.
