John Alva Keel
(b. March 25, 1930)
A researcher who dismisses both the extraterrestrial hypothesis and the scientific-skeptic explanations of UFOs as equally crazy.
“I abandoned the extraterrestrial hypothesis in 1967 when my own field investigations disclosed an astonishing overlap between psychic phenomena and UFOs . . . I feel that the ultimate solution [to the UFO question] will involve a complicated system of new physics related to theories of the space-time continuum . . . The objects and apparitions do not necessarily originate on another planet and may not even exist as permanent constructions of matter. It is more likely that we see what we want to see and interpret such visions according to our contemporary beliefs.”
In 1976, Keel published The Mothman Prophecies, an account of his 1966-1967 investigation of sightings of the Mothman, a strange winged creature reported in and around Point Pleasant, West Virginia. In the film version, Richard Gere’s character was partially based on Keel.
Author of many Fortean books including Operation Trojan Horse (1996), and Disneyland of the Gods (1988).