Contactees Blazed The Trail

Richard Hall, The Contactees & Disappearance Syndrome

Richard Hall, the long-time prominent UFO writer and researcher died on July 17th. Mr.Hall is probably known most for his association with Donald Keyhoe and N.I.C.A.P., including the classic book he authored, 'The UFO Evidence'.

On April 30th, I had contacted Richard Hall by e-mail. This e-mail is reproduced below, preceded by Mr.Hall's reply.


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Mr. Transit,
You are entitled to your opinion. But I would add that if there is some kind of mental block at work, it is among those who can't see that Adamksi, Menger, Bethurum and many others like them were obvious frauds and con-men. Some contactees are borderline cases.
I only named a sample of those who speak for our real ufology (i.e., scientific) viewpoint, and that doesn't include dead people. Leonard Cramp was well-meaning but naive and gullible. There are many features of the contactee accounts that have proven to be absolutely false. There may be some truth in some few of the accounts.
Richard Hall

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Mr.Hall,

I have several of your books and have read your articles and posts on UFOUpdates. In a recent post you stated:

"..Who speaks for us? See the works of Dick Hall, Jerry Clark, Mike Swords, Mark Rodeghier, Rob Swiatek, Don Berliner... for example, and you will see legitimate 'representatives' of our position...."

If you see the above-named people as worthy scientific ufo researchers (as I do), then can you tell me whether or not you consider Professor Hermann Oberth, James McCampbell or Leonard Cramp to have been legitimate UFO researchers, also?

I ask this question, because these scientists did not take your hardline stance against the contactees.

As you probably know, Professor Oberth attended a conference in Germany alongside Carl Anderson and Reinhold Schmidt - see photo top-right below. He was quoted saying words to the effect that he was open-minded about the contactees, and had been impressed by Carl Anderson. The early experiences of Mr.Anderson contained features that would be found again and again in UFO reports in the decades that followed. One of the main features - in the subject range of objects or people being observed to disappear (or going out of view unobserved during an impossibly brief period of time) - is very pertinent to the subject matter of Budd Hopkins' book 'Sight Unseen.' Yet, Mr.Hopkins doesn't mention Carl Anderson, nor the cases of Howard Menger and Truman Bethurum - among other contactees - who reported extraordinary disappearances associated with the 'Space People.'

It seems that there is either a mental block at work here, or else it is politically expedient to edit out the factual history of contactee statements about disappearances being a significant part of their experiences. Indeed, all of the features within the contactee accounts that would turn up for decades to come in "rational" UFO accounts should seemingly not be thought about too much, even though it was these people who were among the forerunners or pioneers of making our world aware of these significant aspects of the UFO enigma!!!

Best Wishes,
Daniel Transit.

James McCampbell on George Adamski
http://www.gafintl-adamski.com/html/Landing.htm