Author Nick Redfern exposes monsters and government secrets
For Your Eyes Only – Fantastic Beasts Dossier
Why would a government care about the Abominable Snowman, the Loch Ness Monster, or any wild campfire story? And yet they do, and with alarming consistency. Blowing the lid on accepted strange creatures lore, prolific author Nick Redfern doesn’t settle for outdated explanations, but instead monster files, offers at all times, a compelling vision of the possible participation of the clandestine government. Monster Files is just what the name suggests; an investigation of government secrets, freedom of information act documents, firsthand accounts, false tale investigations, and dogged investigations. The result is a fascinating mix of paranormal and conspiracy.
Following a general timeline of monstrous events, the book begins with Teddy Roosevelt’s Bigfoot story and ends with modern day beasts.
Not all creatures are necessarily the target of government interest; some monsters are introduced to serve as an introduction to the following official participation story. However, it is not so easy to group each case into narrow classifications. Some monsters are ‘used’ by governments as a cunning diversion, a ‘wild goose hunt’ to hide top-secret projects and advanced weaponry. At other times, these same agencies have a curious interest in all things paranormal. Sometimes they seem fascinated or even scared, as in the case of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Oceanic Service (NOA), both loudly protesting thatmermaids don’t exist!
At other times, the government has technological interests, such as with vanishing beasts of the werewolf and Bigfoot variety, where multidimensional super-technologies could be used for our governments’ nefarious purposes.
In Monster Files, Nick Redfern proves that he is an author and researcher who is willing to offer original insights and insights into what might otherwise be a family tradition. His explanation of the origins of the famous, or infamous, Flatwoods monster sighting in 1952, in the small town of Flatwoods, West Virginia, is original and more than a little thought provoking.
Archives of rarities are frequent and varied.
Government research into the psychic abilities of cats and dogs to detect hidden mines? It’s true! That research also showed that cats and dogs transfer ESP information to each other.
Did FDR give the green light to a project to use bats as living bombs? Yes! It’s here too!
Monster Army and ape-human hybrids
A book on monsters wouldn’t be complete without Dr. Frankenstein’s scientific creations, real or rumored. Redfern explores the story of Russian physiologist Ilya Ivanov, who was hired, supposedly by none other than Joseph Stalin, to create an army out of a genetically spliced race of half-human/half-ape men in the late 1920s. it’s good at digging for the truth behind such wild claims and its author is not one to simply accept such stories at face value. There is something here for skeptics and believers alike. Redfern covers all the bases.
And about the reality of the Russian ape-men?
“So what we have here is a saga that has some truth to it, describing very real attempts to create hybrids between humans and apes that were undertaken by the scientific elite of the Soviet Union, which were funded by the Soviet Academy of Sciences, and thatmade have the support of the Bolshevik government”.
(Reprinted, with permission of the publisher, from MONSTER FILES © 2013 Nick Redfern. Published by New Page Books, a division of Career Press, Pompton Plains, NJ. 800-227-3371. All rights reserved.)
However, Stalin’s involvement, as the author points out, remains to be seen.
There are other apes here as well, those of the long-lost cousin variety, and a few stories of possible Neanderthals showing up for a visit.
The best is the last one from chapter 3, (again from the USSR) which tells the story of a lieutenant colonel. Karapetyan in the Soviet Army Medical Service in World War II. A strange-looking man had been captured; who was initially thought by the Soviets to be a spy. Covered in a long brown cloak of shaggy hair, six feet tall with powerful arms, the beast had to be kept in a cold room because it couldn’t take the heat.
The possibility of what any of these monkeys might have been makes any future visits to my local zoo’s monkey exhibit unsettling.
Indian Jones: Monster Hunter
Adventurer Tom Slick, the possible real-life inspiration for Indiana Jones, is outlined in his possible involvement as a spy for the CIA. Slick studied at Harvard and MIT, served in the Navy during the Pacific engagement of World War II, and was also instrumental in three groups that later became the Texas Institute for Biomedical Research and the Southwest Research Institute. . For all intense purposes, Slik was a man who had strong connections to important people. He was also a globe-trotting adventurer who had a very real passion for mysterious beasts like the famous Yeti, also known as the Abominable Snowman.
The real reason, as some have theorized, for Tom Slick’s trip to Tibet in 1956 was not just to search for the Yeti, but also to use the expedition as a cover story for a secret CIA mission to spy on the invading Chinese government. communist who was trying to take over Tibet. The evidence presented in Monster Files certainly lends credence to Slicks’ clandestine role. Redfern presents a 1959 United States Department of State document titled: Regulations covering mountaineering expeditions in Nepal – Yeti related.
And it doesn’t end there. That chapter continues to tie up the loose threads of the JFK assassination, Bigfoot, and the fledgling career of none other than George HW Bush (aka Bush 41) and ties them together neatly into one package!
The real scare comes at the end of that chapter with the mysterious death of Tom Slick on October 6, 1962. Returning from a hunting trip while flying over Montana, Slicks’ plane appears to have disintegrated in mid-air. As you can imagine, the sinister notes of a conspiracy are heard. Did the CIA’s monster hunter know too many secrets, secrets that doomed him to an early grave?
Locking the mysteries of the lake?
Our friend Nessie, the great Loch Ness Monster, is visited and revisited numerous times and for different reasons throughout the book. The good thing is that this never goes out of style. You still have many questions. Sure, Nessie could be a ruse by the British government to hide sophisticated weapons, Monster Files argues, but that doesn’t explain the sightings dating back to before submarines were invented, as the author also points out.
And then there’s British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s interest in protecting Nessie for Scottish tourism!
The burning thought for me on Monster Files was how could there be so many sightings of a large creature that couldn’t survive on such a meager food supply provided by the lake? The possibility that Nessie could, in fact, be the ghost of an extinct dinosaur, is a mind-boggling concept.
Bigfoot: What the US Government Doesn’t Want You to Know
Mount Saint Helens erupted with terrifying and violent force in May 1980. Once all the volcanic ash had settled, there were rumors and scattered reports that the US Army Corps of Engineers carried off several Sasquatch-like beasts. Chapter 18 also holds more surprises, but one can only speculate as to the reason for any government involvement. The book takes aim at the idea that these beasts, Bigfoot, have some kind of special ability that the military is studying.
There is also a chapter on UFOs and Bigfoot here. The possibility that these creatures can jump to other dimensions and that they have psychic abilities are the possible reasons given for the government/military involvement.
monster mix
There are many stories that haunt and fascinate, and the brief history of the US government trying to trick an ordinary house cat into working as a spy was a spectacle for me. It is just one of the many that make this book a must. The Case of the Stuffed Bigfoot, Princess Di and the Big Black Murderous Cat, the World War II Werewolf; It’s all about turning the page! There are so many good tales here that highlighting any one story does a disservice to the other weird tales. Nick Redfern’s Monster Files offers mysteries, monsters, conspiracies, and excitement. It is a book to read and reread.
Nick Redfern’s Monster Files
New Page Books 15.99
Softcover 288 pages
