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    An alternative way to explore and explain the mysteries of our world. "Published since 1985, online since 2001."

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Book Reviews Perceptions Magazine, October 2017





UFOs Over Maine:
Close Encounters from the Pine Tree State
by Nomar Slevik

Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.
4880 Lower Valley Road
Atglen, PA 19310
2014, 144 pages, US $14.99
ISBN: 978-0-7643-4623-1

Reviewed by Brent Raynes

Since I was born and raised in Maine, and where many moons ago at age 14 I began researching and investigating the subject of UFOs, this book occupies a special place in my heart. Through emails and over the telephone, I have in recent months come to know and respect this talented author. He has a deep and genuine interest in the phenomenon, and he isn't afraid to explore possible interrelated paranormal and cryptozoological events as well.

In this book Nomar shares how his interest in the paranormal began at a very young age, beginning with stories that his mother told of paranormal experiences she and some of her sisters had as teenagers, and then he shares his own personal experiences of a paranormal and ufological nature.

He began checking out UFO books from the elementary school library in the seventh grade on a regular basis. This fascination with UFOs continued on into his adulthood and “UFOs Over Maine” is an intriguing, thought-provoking compilation of UFO encounters reported throughout the pine tree state.

Some cases, like the David Stephens 'alien abduction' case and the MIB visitation described by Dr. Herbert Hopkins are quite familiar to me as I was personally involved in investigating those stories as I was still living in Maine at the time. But absent from Maine since November 1977 (living in Tennessee since) Nomar's book brings me up-to-speed on many stories I've missed out on since, as well as stories I simply missed out on even while living there.

Nomar is a kindred spirit and I highly recommend his book.


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The Final Countdown: Rockets to Venus
Book II of the Venus Rising Trilogy:
A Concise History of the Second Planet
by Raymond Andrew Keller II

Headline Books, Inc.
P.O. Box 52
Terra Alta, WV 26764
www.headlinebooks.com
2018, 280 pages, US $24.95
ISBN 13: 9781946664037
Reviewed by Brent Raynes

While the vast majority of ufologists today look well beyond the planet Venus, out into deep space as the probable point of origin of “flying saucers,” Dr. Keller takes us back to the early days of contactees like George Adamski whose focus was on this legendary planet of love. Dr. Keller insists contrary to mainstream ufology's perspective or the pronouncements from NASA and the majority of astronomers who see Venus as a lifeless planet, it is instead a planet with highly evolved life forms!

“Rockets to Venus” is a treasure trove of thought-provoking stories, complete with many great photos and illustrations, covering a wide range of historical and oft-times controversial subject matter like the Vril Society, the medium Maria Orsic who channeled ET messages and described how countless worlds used so-called Vril energies – the closest of which was Venus! Then too there was Aleister Crowley, his entity LAM, who closely resembles today's “Greys,” along with the late rocket fuel scientist Jack Parson's connection with Crowley, the Thelemic Rite of Venus, and his work with L. Ron Hubbard. Then too there was Adamski's membership in Theosophy, his admiration of the works of Russian born mystic Helena P. Blavatsky, a co-founder of the Theosophical Society.

The author delves into so many different personalities in all of this, contactees, mystics and scientists, metaphysical belief systems and organizations – all too many to touch upon in this brief review – but all who form an intriguing background to the Venusian theme of this book.

Supernatural Gods: Spiritual Mysteries, Psychic Experiences, and Scientific Truths by Jim Willis


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Supernatural Gods: Spiritual Mysteries, Psychic Experiences, and Scientific Truths
by Jim Willis
Visible Ink Press (September 1, 2017)
7.125" x 9.25" Trade Paperback
416 pages, 120 B/W Photos and Illustrations
ISBN-10: 1578596602
ISBN-13: 978-1578596607

Reviewed by Robert A. Goerman

http://robertgoerman.wixsite.com/paranormal

One word defines both Supernatural Gods: Spiritual Mysteries, Psychic Experiences, and Scientific Truths and its author Jim Willis... HONESTY. If nothing else, Willis, without pretense, accompanies the reader on his honest vision of mankind's quest for supernatural beings and magical realities.

Who are these supernatural beings? Willis writes, "Call them what you will -- gods, angels, fairies, elves, jinns, leprechauns, demons, spirit guides, or helpers -- there is simply no rational reason to assume that beings who can experience rational consciousness exist only on our side of the fence -- the material universe. We now know, through tried and true scientific and mathematical processes, that whole universes exist outside our perception realm." In other words, the supernatural and mystical encounters are real. Willis elaborates, "We're going to explore the claims of people who seem to have broken free of the perception realm bound by our five senses."

Human consciousness is one key to this end. Willis explains that "In vision, dream, sickness, meditation, or through hallucinogenic material of some kind, defenses built and maintained by our five senses are somehow relaxed and overcome. A crack appears in the window of space-time. We perceive something that is normally beyond our mental perception reality."

Supernatural Gods: Spiritual Mysteries, Psychic Experiences, and Scientific Truths is easily readable and divided into three parts. Each section features its own introduction and conclusions. Researchers will be pleased with its appendix, helpful bibliography and extensive index.

In "Part I: The Object of the Quest," readers are escorted from shamanic initiations to alien abductions. We were never alone! Stripped of their cultural trappings, human encounters with "visitors from afar," while varied, have clearly demonstrated amazing similarities. No stone is left unturned as readers examine energy vortexes and earth magic, shape-shifters, faery, metaphysical manifestations, parallel worlds, and religious concepts. These "visitors" may be within each and every one of us, coded into our very DNA. Willis adds his personal out-of-body experiences to the mix, with his OBEs culminating in physical healing.

Of course, my mind immediately traveled back to 1983 when British UFOlogist Jenny Randles noted that some UFO witnesses experienced a "sensation of being isolated, or transported from the real world into a different environmental framework." She called this the "Oz Factor." There appeared to be a "zone of influence" surrounding UFO close encounters. Witnesses told Randles "that they felt a strange sensation prior to the encounter – a sort of mental tingling as if they were aware that something was about to happen." She suggests that there is a direct feed from the source of the encounter to the consciousness of the witness.

"Part II: The Method of the Quest" investigates a "whole host of techniques that have been employed through the centuries to contact, or at least glimpse, these supernatural entities."  Willis leads us to his three-point premise:

1. What you have been taught about reality is insufficient.

2. You are living within the walls of an illusion.

3. You have the ability, perhaps even the obligation, to break through those walls and glimpse the truth.

Willis asks, "What is left to believe in?" He answers with, "If intelligent beings, who humans used to label gods and deities, exist in parallel dimensions that we label 'supernatural,' they may only be a thought away. Are they beckoning us...?"

"Part III: The End of the Quest and Beyond" finds the reader barraged with questions. Willis examines what it will be like to finally meet these parallel-dimension entities. Is it our destiny, at some time during mankind's great sweep of evolutionary history, to make contact? Are we talking about pure and intelligent energy? Has ALL THAT IS imprinted itself on to our human consciousness? Are these supernatural beings to be found, in some way or another, within ourselves? What does the universe hold -- and hide? Where do we come from and where are we headed?

Such an honest book deserves an honest review. As an investigative scholar of unknown and unexplained phenomena, I have been fortunate enough to have my writings featured in national magazines and serve as source material for many books and popular television shows. With these credentials and experience, I can honestly recommend this book.

Although it is reassuring to find another researcher that reaches many of my same "conclusions" from an entirely different approach, there are certain areas where Jim Willis and I do not completely agree. Perhaps some physical "visitors" exist exactly as they appear to us, while it might be true that others may have forms that are unrecognizable by our five senses. These entities might project or shape-shift to conform to our beliefs or for reasons of their own. Our "visitors" may have many origins. Not all human journeys to "other realms" need to be psychic or metaphysical in nature. There have been reports where other worlds have been seen through holes or tears in our reality. People have unintentionally strolled right into "time slips" and parallel worlds. Of course, we only hear from those folks that make it back alive. All in all, this is why they call it the unknown and unexplained.


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Real Nightmares: Alien Strangers and Foreign Worlds; Ghastly and Grisly Spooks; Secret Schemes and Conspiring Cabals; Freaks, Fiends, and Evil Spirits
Author: Brad Steiger
Publisher: Visible Ink Press
Price: $2.99 Each
Contact Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


Overviewed by Paul Dale Roberts, Paranormal Investigator – Halo Paranormal Investigations- http://www.cryptic916.com/

Comments:  Paranormal Researcher and Master Storyteller Brad Steiger does it again.  This time with 4 e-books!   Brad gathers his favorite and scariest stories of the unexplained and unimaginable! Let’s do a run down. 

Real Nightmares – Alien Strangers and Foreign Worlds:  You get the scoop on the Great Shaver Mystery.  You will learn about Deros (Detrimental Robots) and Shaver’s mysterious rock paintings.  As you dig deeper, you will learn about the Grays invading Earth in 1954 and their secret pact with world governments to abduct humans.   Somewhere along those abductions, the Grays were abducting more humans than they were supposed to, which causes a rift between the Grays and the government.  It has been reported that at one time Delta Force was annihilated by the Grays at an underground base in Dulse.  Some researchers say that there are 6 varieties of Grays.  If you love stories about UFOs, it’s all here and you will be pleased reading about an abduction conducted by extraterrestrial robots!

Real Nightmares – Ghostly and Grisly Spooks:  Step into the world of the Tokoloshe, a South African spirit parasite.  Touch base with the Navajo as you will learn that skinwalkers are werewolves.  You may have heard stories about Wendigos, but did you hear what happened in Canada on a Greyhound bus?  A case of a Wendigo that is blood crazed on a city bus.  Unimaginable horror!!

Real Nightmares – Secret Schemes and Conspiring Cabals:  Learn about The Assessment.  Learn about the UFO massive cover-up and what we need to know!

Real Nightmares – Freaks, Fiends, and Evil Spirits:  Get goosebumps while reading about Richard Trenton Chase aka the Vampire of Sacramento.  Learn how this serial killer tortured animals and then progressed in killing and even eating humans!  More goosebumps as you learn about Jack the Ripper.  Do you think you know everything about Jack the Ripper?  Maybe not, check this story out!  With this segment, you get werewolves, Voodoo Queen, Tiger People.  Tiger People was one of my favorites, about the Khonds – an ancient people who inhabit Eastern Bengal and how an Englishman actually saw a Khond transform into a were-tiger!  These 4 e-books are books to read with the lights on!  Brad Steiger is a wealth of paranormal and scientific knowledge and he lays down some of the most terrifying stories that will chill you to the bone!  Halloween is just around the corner, I suggest you get all 4 e-books!  Get ready for the horror!


Friday, March 29, 2024