Ufology Research

In 1978, when still part of the Winnipeg Science Fiction Society, I got into the "zine" bug and published the first issue of my ufozine, The Swamp Gas Journal. I kept on putting it out periodically until about 1997, making it the longest-running Canadian UFO publication at the time. (I put out a "special issue" in 2003.) With the advent of the Internet by the end of the 1990s, the time of the photocopied/Gestetnered paper issue of zines was essentially over. Many moved completely to online versions, and the SGJ was no exception. Zines were the forerunners of blogs, and served the same purpose as today, conveying individuals' personal opinions, views and creativity in ways that were impossible otherwise.

This is relevant this week because I am traveling with Guy Westcott to Warren, Minnesota, next week to meet with a camera crew from UFO Hunters, the History Channel TV show, to talk about the Val Johnson close encounter case from 1979. Guy and I investigated the incident, and it represents a true challenge to investigators. The physical interaction of a UFO with a police car was investigated by the police force as a crime scene, and the evidence studied intensively.

My report on the case is detailed in a Swamp Gas Journal special issue here:
http://www.geocities.com/thecynicalview/sgj1no7.txt

Other issues of the Swamp Gas Journal that were digitally converted are here:
http://www.geocities.com/thecynicalview/sgj.htm