An Innocent in Exile...

John Ford, a retired police officer, holds a Master's degree, 
and was a community pillar of the Doric variety!
A good man and true!

 

An Innocent in Exile

by Alfred Lehmberg

Our John Ford was not the famed filmmaker (with a UFO in his own right), though his name echoed one. Our John Ford was a busy archivist of the revealed anomalous and a Long Island investigator who had the audacity and the temerity to ask questions that our more “uptight” institutions refused to even entertain! See, in the early 1990s, Ford uncovered what he believed to be compelling evidence of extraterrestrial visitation in Suffolk County—radiation traces, eyewitness accounts, and the obligatory official silence. UFOs are beside the point.

Ford, a retired officer of the court, documented, cataloged, and broadcast his findings through his Long Island UFO Network, a modest but defiant node in the larger web of human interest and legitimate UFO disclosure, at the time. His investigations were... uncomfortable some... for the criminal political machine then alive and well in his home, Suffolk County.

Then came the implosion. John Ford was dropped into a virtual black hole from which there is no seeming escape and very little communication with the outside world. What happened?!

Recall that Ford was arrested in 1996 on charges so bizarre they read like a bad paranormal pulp novel: consider... a conspiracy to poison local officials with "radioactive toothpaste" because they were concealing UFOs. The evidence? A recorded phone call of dubious provenance and content, a small cache of uranium (legally purchased to test his Geiger counters used in investigation!), and a narrative stitched together by authorities who seemed a lot more interested in silencing Ford than prosecuting him. 

Declared mentally unfit to stand trial, conveniently, Ford was committed to the Mid-Hudson Psychiatric Center—where he remains to this day (if not there, in some other minimum security facility!), nearly three decades later.

No trial. No conviction. Just indefinite detention when guys like him, more guilty by orders of magnitude, but of real crimes, walk every day! Due process was indulged to the full extent of the law... but not in a good way. Ford was accused, tried in the press, and quickly gulaged... The black hole loomed...

The Kafkaesque machinery of Ford’s fate grinds on and on. Periodically, he is evaluated. Periodically, he is deemed “not ready.” The institutions locking him away offer no roadmap to release, no reckoning with the possibility that Ford’s real "crime"… was epistemic courage. 

He challenged the orthodoxy. He refused to play the skeptic’s game. He documented what others dismissed. ...And for that, he was disappeared—not by shadowy men in black, but by the banality of bureaucratic political evil! 

Recall that this was an evil threatened with dire exposure in the lurid existential if Ford’s investigations were continued! All of this was proven out when that “evil” was later incarcerated for HIS crimes… if not consigned to Ford’s black hole!

Ford’s story is not just tragic—it’s emblematic. It reveals the soft tyranny of our growing institutional denial, the unethical way systems protect their own narratives by pathologizing dissent against them. His continued lockup is not about justice. It’s about containment. See, "They" owe him a LOT of money for the obvious injuries he has suffered... which are monstrous. Officialdom would be running out Ford's clock just to preclude that pecuniary juncture.

It remains, Ford is a living reminder, friends! He reminds that the uncomfortable truth, once glimpsed, cannot be unglimpsed. …And so he is kept out of sight, out of mind, and in a facility cruelly designed not for healing... but for forgetting. A black hole by any other name…

But we remember... we recall stuff...

We remember the year—1947—when Ford's truth might first have been revealed. We’d have that at our backs for four or five generations if we’d been braver! Where would we be?! 

We remember the Brookings Report, warning that UFO disclosure could unravel our whole civilization. We remember the War of the Worlds broadcast, weaponized as a cautionary tale, facilitating that ignorance. We remember an undeclared air war with ET in 1952 and "lurid duels of death"… ...And now we remember John Ford, the innocent archivist rotting in exile, whose only crime in 1996 was refusing to kneel before the altar of sanctioned ignorance.

Restore John Ford. Not just the man, but the myth. Let his story be told—not as a footnote, but as a fulcrum. ...Because if our culture cannot withstand the truth he tried to share, then perhaps it deserves to implode into its own black hole. …And from that rubble? We might build something better.

Something worthy.

"The Flatwoods Monster: From Myth To Reality," ...And More!

One highly strange Indian Summer night in West Virginia... 
something along the lines of what the kids playing football
saw fron the school playground and then went
to get their mom, to investigate.

"The Flatwoods Monster: 

From Myth To Reality"; 

a New Book Chronicling Frank  Feschino's ongoing 

30-year Investigation into the "Flatwoods Monster" Case.

by Alfred Lehmberg 

Tirelessly, researcher/author/Illustrator Frank Feschino, Jr. has spent more than three decades on his investigation into the terrifying "Flatwoods Monster" incident of September 12, 1952. This has been done at great physical and existential cost. He's been professionally betrayed many times in his quest and even physically wounded in the struggle, a direct result of his involvement with it. Costs have been high.

...Yet somehow, Feschino ever manages to bounce back to his feet! He continues his work on the case he has devoted half his life to... the "Flatwoods Monster" incident! You go, Feschino! Excelsior!

In his new book, "The Flatwoods Monster: From Myth To Reality," the author exposes a massive amount of new evidence revealed only as a result of his unceasing investigation! All this but adds to his case, reader... and further exposes the massive, well-concerted, and evidenced "flying saucer" cover-up by the United States Government... ...and an undeclared airwar with ET? Read on! 

This close encounter incident involved a downed UFO and its alien occupant, a 12-foot-tall armor-clad being encountering a group of townspeople shortly after it crash-landed in Flatwoods, West Virginia. This terrifying UFO incident quickly made headlines across the globe, was steadily aired on radio across America, and was one of the biggest news stories of the year!

...Yet, there will be the inevitable downside to the story indicated only by the lack of officialdom's intitutional courage and constructive imagination. See? The Government had clandestinely worked through the West Virginia State Police to sabotage the story and discredit it! 

Purportedly, in order to prevent a Nationwide panic to a World already jittery over the glut of UFO sightings during that summer of 1952, according to Donald Keyhoe, the police visited Flatwoods shortly after the incident and planted their seed of "doubt." Truly, they publicly joked about the story, gave false information about the incident, and debunked the honest witnesses in front of several newspaper reporters—a cheap and humiliating shot and a kind of stochastic terrorism!

...Only, and but days after the incident, the United Press picked up the story and shot it around the world! Consequently, and sadly, much of the information contained in these newspaper articles was inaccurate and convoluted. It would become decidedly more risible... and for decades!

As a result of the false information given to the press during the process of this official cover-up, the encounter (and its UFO!) was said to be brought on by hallucination, mass hysteria and the passing of a nearby meteor over Flatwoods.  We've already written that these explanations were wholly ridiculous by orders of degree...

A result of this distracting subterfuge? The Flatwoods incident was beginning to be viewed by many as... too sillily far-fetched! A few days later, insult was added to injury when an inaccurate illustration of the so-called "Flatwoods Monster" appeared on the "We The People" television program, which aired on September 19, 1952. 

This drawing was used during the live nationwide broadcast of the TV show featuring the interviews of two guest witnesses, Mrs. May and young National Guardsman Gene Lemon. Before the program aired, the artist sat down in the studio, as we've reported before, and interviewed the witnesses as he drew his "illustration." Sadly, the artist had misinterpreted their already well-reported previous descriptions of the figure seen in Flatwoods! The outcome of this drawing would be disastrously disingenuous!

The abject inaccuracy of the artist's work resulted in a drawing that portrayed the figure as a garment-wearing "monster" with arms and claws, cloaked with a pointed cloth hood, and sporting a long-pleated dress that floated in the air like some loathsomely smelly faerie. Subsequently? This inaccurate portrayal of the "Flatwoods Monster" incident was deemed too far-fetched! It became doomed in relegation to some obscure West Virginia folklore tale... the truth of which was never likely to be revealed! 

Forty years later? Illustrator Frank Feschino, Jr. began his investigation, researched the story extensively, and uncovered the original documentation on the case. He worked assiduously with most of the original witnesses. He was tireless!

Through his interviews and by doing police-style forensic renderings, he discovered that the nearly 12-foot-tall figure was not a "space monster," but was actually a large metallic "space suit," if the reader would allow, resembling a small rocket ship capable of maneuvering and hovering around on the ground. 

By the use of his professionally trained so professionally produced illustrations, both paintings and drawings, Feschino has rewritten the history books, reader, bringing to life the true likeness of the "Flatwoods Monster."

Since the release of Feschino's previous "Updated and Revised Edition" book, "The Braxton County Monster," he's continued to relentlessly research and investigate the "Flatwoods Monster" incident for another decade. He's accumulated the largest collection of "Flatwoods Monster" research materials in the world! He has used this material to document this case in explicit and exquisite detail! 

Moreover, Feschino conducted more first-hand interviews with the witnesses involved in this incident than any other modern-day researcher to date. His stolid inquiry has revealed an undeniable massive wave of UFO sightings over America! This single encounter would involve 21-hours of sustained UFO sightings that day... and even reveal that three other UFOs crashed in the United States that night! Furthermore, he uncovered the additional alien encounters occurring in West Virginia in the wake of those other UFO crash incidents. It was a busy night.

As Feschino's ongoing investigation progressed over the past decade, he continued to discover a vast array of new information, which he entered into his existing storyline to complete his final (?) and definitive book on the "Flatwoods Monster" incident. 

The new book, now in one complete volume, contains additional historical documentation about the incident, further information about the September 12, 1952 UFO flap, newly discovered news clippings, new illustrations, maps, and many uncovered rare photographs. 

The author first guides the reader through aviation’s historical backdrop leading up to the Flatwoods Monster incident. He then delivers a meticulous walk-through of the encounter itself, and culminates it in a vivid, moment-by-moment retelling of the days that followed. Furthermore, value added, the book includes an amazing scientific assessment of the "Flatwoods Monster" by indefatigable military aerospace historian Michael Schratt, and then also reveals the full story of another incident involving another "monster" encounter in Braxton County, which followed the Flatwoods incident! It is a full plate requiring no seasoning. 

Indubitably! To date, "The Flatwoods Monster: From Myth To Reality" is the most complete book ever written about the "Flatwoods Monster" encounter and the UFO events surrounding this terrifying incident. 

Frank Feschino's 30-year research investigation into this incident, the longest ever conducted into a UFO case, continues to uncover the lurid truth behind this controversial story! Truly, it unravels the government's cover-up! Subsequently, Frank Feschino, Jr. is recognized by the UFO community as the authority on the

"Flatwoods Monster" case.

Closing, the following quotes are listed, as compiled by Feschino, to exhibit the popularity of the "Flatwoods Monster" incident over the years from 1952 until the present day. One key quote (of many!) was chosen from each year and taken from various media sources! These include books, TV shows, radio shows, podcasts, newspapers, magazines, and internet websites. 

This article is copyright-protected, as they all are. (Bowles Rice 

LLP)...

FLATWOODS MONSTER 

MEDIA QUOTES: 1952-2025

1952. “I will file this story in my archives as one of the top stories of the day." Daniel Seymour; Master of Ceremonies for NBC television talk show, We The People. Two "Flatwoods Monster" eyewitnesses, Mrs. May, Gene Lemon and Braxton County Democrat newspaper reporter, A. Lee Stewart, Jr. appeared on this episode.

1953. “On September 12, 1952, the nation’s wire services crackled with the news of a 10-foot red-faced monster, which sprayed a foul, sickening gas and sent seven Flatwoods, W. Va. residents into panic." Gray Barker; FATE Magazine, January 1953.

1954. “One has the impression that here, some entity was clad in a giant spacesuit and equipped to withstand differential pressures and the gravity and atmosphere, unlike the world it came from.” Harold T. Wilkins; Flying Saucers on the Attack.

1955. "Three years have now passed, since the story of the "Phantom of Flatwoods" was flashed all over the civilized world by the way of the press and the radio to become what the press services rated as the No. 11 news story of the world." Holt Byrne; Beckley Post-Herald newspaper. 11 September 1955.

1956. “What happened to the Monster? Braxton County Woman Feels Glowing Object was Jet Ship. Discovery in 1952 stirred up nationwide ‘Martian’ debate.'" Donald Seagle; The Charleston Gazette newspaper. 7 October 1956.

1959. “Those who saw the thing were terrified. Those who investigated were it convinced it had been there. But what it was and where it came from constitute the mystery of the Flatwoods Monster.” Frank Edwards; Stranger Than Science. 

1963. “The final incident in the summer's panic occurred on the evening of September 12 when a family group near the town of Sutton, West Virginia, saw a flaming object flash across the sky and apparently land on a nearby hill.” Donald Menzel and Lyle Boyd; The World of Flying Saucers.

1966. “The flash had spotlighted an immense, man-like figure with a blood-red face and greenish eyes that blinked out from a pointed hood. The party was in definite agreement about one characteristic of the alien and that was the sickening odor it seemed to emit.” Brad Steiger; Strangers from the Skies.

1967. “Probably the most frightening landing incident on record, considering the physical description of what was thought to be an occupant and its actions, is the Flatwoods, West Virginia incident.” Coral and Jim Lorenzen; Flying Saucer Occupants.

1968. “During the first years of the flying saucer craze, it was mostly strange lights, discs and windowed craft, which were reported. None had proved dangerous in any way, and none had landed. But in 1952, the first of two stories about menacing space creatures appeared in newspapers and magazines. On the night of September 12, 1952, near Sutton, WV…” Dale White; Is Something Up There-The Story of Flying Saucers.

1969. “About 4-meters tall, the figure had a blood-red face and ‘floated’ toward the witnesses who fled in terror. A lingering smell and skid marks were found.” Jacques Vallee; Passport to Magonia.

1973. “The United States has something still better to offer us with the Flatwoods Monster. In September 1952 in the little West Virginia village of Flatwoods, some children swore they saw a monster.” Jacques Bergier; Extraterrestrial Visitations from Prehistoric to Present.

1975. “Actually, relatively few of the sightings of UFO occupants have created much excitement outside of the relatively narrow world of UFO enthusiasts. But there are a couple of American monsters that have become classics in their field. On September 12, 1952…” Daniel Cohen; Monsters; Giants and Little Men from Mars.

1976. “They saw under trees, a creature, about 12-feet tall, which looked horrible to the witnesses: it had a sort of cowl or hood around the ‘head,’ and 2 big eyes, fixed round and luminous. The thing moved by floating and then the witnesses got scared and ran away.” Claude Mac Duff; UFOlogy-The Journal of UFO Research, Fall 1976.          

1977. “They didn't see a saucer, but did see a ‘monster’ ten-feet high, four-feet wide with bulging eyes a foot apart, blood-red face and glowing-green body.” Susy Smith; Strangers from Outer Space. 

1978. “Not all aliens are reported as undersized. The ‘Sutton Monster,’ nine feet tall with bulging red eyes and a bright green body, moved ominously towards onlookers in the West Virginia country side.” Van Geloven & B.V. Riel; Strip-paperback Nr. 1 UFO. Germany.   

1979. “The Flatwoods Monster in Braxton County, a foul-smelling thing that oozed evil, apparently landed in a bright, shiny object in a desolate area.” Robert Robinson, Associated Press writer. 

1980. “Flatwoods: What was perhaps the most frightening case on record of an encounter with a ‘UFO creature’ allegedly occurred on the evening of September 12, 1952, near the small community of Flatwoods.” Ronald Story; The Encyclopedia of UFOs.

1982. “One of the more frightening of the early landing reports came from Flatwoods, WV. in 1952.” Editors of Readers Digest; Mysteries of the Unexplained.

1989. “Two very bizarre reports involving entity sightings, from the many on record, were the Flatwoods, West Virginia (USA) case of 1952, and the Kelly/Hopkinsville (USA) case of 1955.” Janet and Colin Bord; Unexplained Mysteries of the 20^th Century.

1991. “During the night [eyewitness] Gene Lemon became seriously ill, suffering the same inflamed throat as the other boys but also went into fits and convulsions." John Spencer; The UFO Encyclopedia.

1993. “The things they saw that night in late summer have never been fully explained. To this day the mystery is still shrouded in mystery. It’s become part of the folklore of West Virginia. It’s the tale of the Braxton County Monster.” Benjamin Caldwell; The Charleston Gazette newspaper.

1994. “The widely discussed Flatwoods incident reportedly occurred on September 12, 1952. The Flatwoods, WV. incident allegedly involved a giant humanoid monster with glowing eyes.” David Ritchie; The Definitive Guide to UFOs and Related Phenomena.

1995. “The party reached the hill but fled in terror from a hooded monster ‘worse than Frankenstein.’” Peter Brookesmith; UFO-The Complete Sightings.

1996. “It was 10-15-feet tall and had a blood-red face with two greenish-orange eyes that glowed like a wild animal’s.” Patrick Hughe; The Field Guide to Extraterrestrials.

1997. “The first alien encounter in the classic science fiction mould occurred on September 12, 1952, in Flatwoods, West Virginia USA. It remains highly unusual and is not easy to dismiss as a hoax.” Jenny Randle; Alien Contact-The First 50 Years.

1998. “The case of the Flatwoods Monster has become one of the most famous incidents in UFOlogy.” W. Haden Blackman; The Field Guide to North American Monsters. 

1999. “To everyone’s considerable astonishment, the beam highlighted a grotesque-looking creature.” Jerome Clark; Unexplained.

2000. "How Monsters Appear...And so a spooked barn owl in turn spooked the interlopers, and a monster was born." Joe Nickell. Skeptical Inquirer. November/December 2000. 

2001. "Members of that group, who were nearly scared out of their wits by what they found on that hillside, have been the butt of many jokes and ridicule. One party, even suggested that what they saw was merely a barn owl perched on a limb." Monster Remembered. Gary Harris. Midstate Star. October 2001. 

2002. “What happened in West Virginia that night in September, with several seeming UFOs landing all over the rural countryside and unloading creatures is almost like a scene from War of the Worlds.” Loren Coleman; FATE Magazine, September 2002.

2004. “One of the objects crash-landed on a rural hilltop in Flatwoods, West Virginia. A group of schoolboys saw the object maneuver across the sky and seemingly fall to earth. The boys and two adults headed off to look for the object. Soon a twelve-foot tall being from the downed craft terrified these innocent people.” Frank C. Feschino, Jr. The Braxton County Monster-The Cover-Up of the Flatwoods Monster Revealed.

2005. “On September 12, 1952, one of the strangest and most terrifying apparent extraterrestrial encounters took place near Flatwoods, a small town in West Virginia. The bizarre image of the alien creature was immediately seared into UFO folklore…Despite the media attention; the case was quickly dismissed and buried by authorities and debunkers." Rosemary Ellen Guiley; FATE Magazine, January 2005.

2007. “It was the twelfth day of September during the Indian summer of 1952. Brace yourself. It is not my intent to shock you, but perhaps as a result of an undeclared war with bona fide extraterrestrials involving the United States—let that sink in—there came to be a crash-landed alien craft with at least one occupant.” Alfred Lehmberg; UFO Magazine, November 2007.

2008. “Nothing in life had prepared them for what unfolded next - a 12-foot, metallic object, red in the chest region, topped with a medieval-like cowl, and green from the waist down, emitting a sulfuric odor.” Mannix Porterfield; West Virginia South Magazine, January 2008. 

2009. “The scare in Flatwoods, West Virginia on September 12, 1952 could be compared to that of a horror movie of the period...The group saw a pair of ‘lights’ shining beneath a large oak tree. After shining a light in the direction of the object, the group were astonished to see a bizarre creature staring back.” Meta-Religion.com. Sept. 2009   

2010. “An amazing, gripping encounter...the “Flatwoods Monster” case. It will stand in history as one of the premier investigations.” Team IQXS Researchers - MD, July 2010.

2011. “The entity that Freddie May and others saw came out of a UFO that had crashed during the dogfight between U.S. Air Force jets and unidentified objects...in 1952.” William J. Birnes, UFO Magazine publisher; UFO Magazine, Volume 23, No. 13.   

2012. “Researcher Frank Feschino has done such a thorough job of digging into the Flatwoods case and its secrets, it’s doubtful that even government insiders would have to say more about it.” Whitley Strieber, radio talk show host of Dreamland. November 2012.

2013. “The ‘Flatwoods Monster’ is one of the most significant alien contact incidents in modern history and Feschino proves the case beyond any argument. The ‘Flatwoods Monster’ incident should have been the ultimate wakeup call for America.” Professor Frank Thayer, Dept. of Journalism and Mass Communications. New Mexico State University. January 2013. 

2014.”The Flatwoods Monster, a mysterious visitor to earth, is an extraterrestrial reported to have been sighted in the town of Flatwoods in Braxton County, West Virginia, United States on September 12, 1952. One man in particular has taken the investigation into the Green Monster as a life’s mission to discover the truth and uncover the cover-up of the incident...Frank Feschino.” West Virginia journalist John Clise. May 2014.

2015. "The Flatwoods Monster Is The Creepiest Extraterrestrial Being of All Time. What started as a flash across the sky turned into one of the most iconic images of alien activity in the world." Writer Tim Unkenholz. June 2015.

2016. "On September 12, 1952, a small town named Flatwoods in West Virginia became the subject of an eternal mystery after a group of Flatwoods residents had a strange encounter with an unidentified creature. The creature of the alleged encounter is now known as the Flatwoods Monster." Gabrielle Pickard, Top Secret Writers. August 2016.

2017. "On the night of September 12, 1952, in the town of Flatwoods, West Virginia, there occurred one of the strangest close encounters of the third kind ever reported... a hissing, ten-foot-tall creature with a head like a spade and glowing red eyes." Counting Down the 13 Most Famous UFO Encounters of All Time. Johnny Brayson, The COMET Television Channel. July 2017.

2018. "No matter what you believe the Flatwoods Monster to be, it is pretty undeniable that its form is easily recognizable to many, in and out of the paranormal community... just recently, the original drawing itself has been found!" The Braxton County Monster Drawing. Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-state. September 2018.

2019. "West Virginia folklore includes many alien and monster-like characters, such as Mothman, Big Foot and the Yeti. One such monster has made a big resurgence in the past few years, becoming a part of the state’s pop culture...The story of the Flatwoods Monster." The W.Va. Monster that Crept Into International Pop Culture. WV Public Broadcasting. October 2019.

2020. "FLATWOODS, W.Va. – On September 12 in 1952, a family in Flatwoods said they were visited by an alien spacecraft. That mysterious night became national–and eventually international–news that put Braxton County, West Virginia on the map." Paranormal W. Va.: The Flatwoods Monster. WBOY News. October 2020.

2021. "Somewhere in between the notoriety levels of the Mothman and the Ogua lies one of the most visually iconic creatures in all of cryptid lore: the Flatwoods Monster...The attention paid to the encounter led to an investigation by the U.S. Air Force as part of Project Blue Book, the government investigation into alleged UFO sightings and alien encounters." The Bizarre True Story of the Flatwoods Monster. Benito Cereno. July 2021

2022. "Newspaper stories were carried throughout the country, radio broadcasts were carried on large networks, and hundreds of phone calls were received from all parts of the country. The national press services rated the story 'No. 11 for the year.'" In 1952, The Flatwoods Monster Appeared and Terrified People in Braxton County West Virginia. Vintage Everyday. March 2022.

2023. "The Flatwoods Monster has become a cultural icon, inspiring many works of art, literature, and film. Its eerie appearance and mysterious origins have captured people’s imaginations for decades, and the legend shows no signs of fading." The Mysterious Legend of the Flatwoods Monster. Unbookedlife.com. April 2023.

2024. "The Flatwoods Monster stands out as one of the most detailed and memorable UFO encounters from the 1950s. Unlike many sightings that offer only brief glimpses or faint lights in the distance, this incident involved multiple witnesses, each of whom saw the creature up close and described it with precise, unique details." The Flatwoods Monster. Abovethenormnews.com. David Freeman. November 2024.

2025. "Frank Feschino gets credit for doing the legwork on this [Flatwoods] case...If we can go back to 1952, this is exactly where it all went down." The Light Gate podcast. Military Aerospace Historian and UFO investigator Michael Schratt. September 2025.

Let the record show: truth may be buried, distorted, and mocked—but it never dies! Thanks to Feschino? The Flatwoods Monster walks again, not as folklore, but as forensic fact!

READ ON! RESTORE JOHN FORD!

 

"FLYING SAUCERS From Outer Space"

 

"FLYING SAUCERS 

             ...from Outer Space"  (...a stunning read, still!)

by Pioneer UFO Researcher Major Donald Keyhoe

...A cameo of same by Alfred Lehmberg

Writer/Researcher Major Donald Keyhoe was a well-known and respected war hero, USMC officer, and naval aviator! It follows, given the blatant evidence available at the time, that he would become interested in "flying saucers," even as early as the late 1940s. 

On reflection, this writer, also a combat aviator, suspects that the Major would become attentive to UFOs and their ancillaries because inattention to them and their blatant obviousness would be deemed  to be unintelligent, unprogressive, unimaginative, and unbrave. 

Subsequently, he'd become a true believer—if learned, logical, and unrelenting in his investigation. A true crown jewel in this nascent ufology. 

He would begin to write rational magazine articles on the subject, but with "reasoning fever" taking hold... he'd double DOWN! Major Keyhoe became heavily involved in a serious "flying saucer" research effort as a consequence! He would write several bestselling books on the subject! 

In his first 1950 book, "The Flying Saucers Are Real," he made the following bold statement, "The evidence is overwhelming that the Earth is being closely observed by intelligently controlled vehicles from outer space." That's not subtle, reader. This writer offers, moreover, that this is just as obvious... currently!

As well, Major Keyhoe was also aware that the United States government was... well... it was "coverin' up on the greasy deets" of these otherworldly visitations from a betrayed American public, is this writer's take, and he was willing to write about it! In turn, Major Keyhoe would come to be quickly recognized by the American public as a quality source of responsible UFO information... in a fashion similar to a ufological Walter Cronkite or Stanton Friedman, and not just as a result of his very well-received writings and UFO books.  

Indubitably, he was reputed to be a top-drawer pioneer researcher in the field... AND a field man! His memory remains undisgraced to this day! Yeah …he'd have had a different take on these UFOs.

Major Keyhoe would become an increasingly well-known figure throughout his career.  He knew many people within various aviation circles and was well-connected in and around Washington, D.C. ...He was WELL rolodexed, personally and societally! 

During the years of his research, he spoke to many different government officials, military personnel, pilots (civil and military), and numerous other functionaries regarding his research into the "flying saucer" phenomena! Why, he'd flown with Charles Lindbergh as a trusted aide, as rubber meets road! Truly, the man had made "inroads"—footings... he had a presence on the cultural stage!

Shortly after the "Flatwoods Monster" incident in September of 1952 through early 1953, Major Keyhoe investigated the Flatwoods case...

...Begins the Flatwoods investigation... the longest-running UFO investigation... ever!

On two occasions, Keyhoe phoned the Pentagon and spoke to USAF public spokesman Albert Chop. Major Keyhoe made deep inquiries about the Flatwoods case... but he was perplexed with the answers he had received concerning Project Blue Book's "conclusions" regarding the incident. Sneer quotes intended!

He stated the following in his 1953 book, "Flying Saucers From Outer Space (pdf above!)." Major Keyhoe admonished Chop, "This could get out of hand. Why doesn't the Air Force squelch it?" Chop retorted, We've already said the object was a meteor..." We've been over this previously... and earmarked this exchange as evidence of a deliberate official cover-up! 

Chop also stated, "All those people saw was a meteor! They imagined the rest. We can't send intelligence officers out on every crazy report." 

Keyhoe then wrote, "The Air Force hands-off attitude seemed peculiar to me. For the monster story was having a serious effect, in addition to letters from worried Americans." He then added, "It was far better to brand the whole thing as a hallucination—which Intelligence evidently believed was the answer." Major Keyhoe also remarked, "Whether or not the Air Force analysis is correct, one point is certain—Intelligence carefully avoided a public investigation in order to prevent hysteria."

We point out that this "hysteria," a result of a "first contact," is a can we keep kicking indolently down the road. It's a hurdle that we could have overcome back in 1952 with a sack more stone... godamnit! 

That can is due to turn itself into an anvil, reader, and GENERATIONS of humanity could have had this all well behind them and living in an inevitable future, a future roaring down on us all like the proverbial freight train, anyway. We could have caught that train in 1952! We can catch it now!

Approaching the close, Major Keyhoe made this powerful statement about the Flatwoods case, "When the time came to admit that the saucers were real, the slightest official hint of possible menace would be quickly remembered. From that angle, the Sutton [Flatwoods] story was dangerous with its picture of a fearsome-looking creature intelligent enough to build and control spaceships." Ouch!

Flashing forward 73 years after the Major's investigation, author Frank Feschino, Jr. has released his last (?) definitive book about the "Flatwoods Monster" incident! This is after his relentless 30-year investigation into this watershed case. 

Yes, Major Keyhoe was right, the "Flatwoods Monster was "a fearsome creature intelligent enough to build and control space ships." Perhaps the sooner we cop to that and gain a little more self-awareness, an awareness that we may be in some dire need of accepting the likely reality... ...that we are probably NOT the jewel in the crown of creation we self-style ourselves to be, eh?

Finally, the terrifying "Flatwoods Monster" incident involving a downed UFO and its alien occupant... can be read about in its entirety via Feschino's new book, "The Flatwoods Monster: From Myth To Reality." ...And recall that undeclared air war with ET denied for 73 years harkens back to that section written above... about "can kicking" and perhaps NOT being the center jewel in creation's crown?

See? There IS that weird comet, 3I/Atlas, approaching with its weird smaller "comet" companions. Look it up! What's all THAT about? These may possibly have a potential for giving some significant pause... going forward, nes't pas? Read on!

THE FLATWOODS MONSTER: FROM MYTH TO REALITY!

Flatwoods... Looking southerly, the school is photo right,
on the street where the street and RR tracks begin to converge! 
The "landing" is generally in the flatter clearing at the top center of the photo...

THE FLATWOODS MONSTER: 

FROM MYTH TO REALITY!

By Frank C. Feschino, Jr. & Foreword by Alfred Lehmberg.

This book is published by "Starborn Illumination Publishing"

*Michael Schratt: UFO Researcher, Author and Military Space Historian writes in 2025: "Frank's ongoing 30-year investigation into this case is the longest one ever conducted, and this book is the most complete book ever written on the subject."

Author/investigator Frank C. Feschino, Jr. spent the last three decades of his life on the sober investigation of the "Flatwoods Monster" incident of September 12, 1952. His work, we admonish, is ever the portrait of a complete sincerity! 

Indubitably, his research into this case is unparalleled in the worldwide UFO community! ...And, employing all due diligence and cogent intelligence, he is considered the topmost authority and subject matter expert on this terrifying close encounter incident, by far and away! Truly, "that which others saw from afar, [he] has left far behind [him]."

Feschino had discovered that this case, once thought to be a dismissible and forgettable West Virginia "cryptid" folklore tale, was actually involving a damaged UFO going down on a farm in Flatwoods, West Virginia... uh, ...with its non-human occupant! That, singularly, might just explain its speedy relegation to a forgettable folklore tale... eh?

Shortly thereafter, a group of unsuspecting local residents who'd gone in search of the downed UFO, abruptly encountered its occupant (!) near a wooded area—a metallic, nearly 12-foot-tall, armor-clad being! Fescino worked with and interviewed many of the eyewitnesses! They described it as looking like a "small spaceship resembling a helmeted space suit"! He was also told that this mechanical figure had hovered and emitted a sulfurous gas from its lower torso pipes... which sickened them! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Officialdom was easy with disclosure... once.

This terrifying "close encounter" quickly made local newspaper headlines and was broadcast by radio across the region. The first local newspaper accounts about the incident were reported to the Charleston Gazette newspaper by one A. Lee Stewart, Jr., the photojournalist for the Braxton Democrat newspaper... and who we've written about previously. He was the first person of authority, remember, to go to Flatwoods shortly after the incident that night, he was the first one to go to the farm where the encounter occurred, and he was the first person to interview the witnesses!

Subsequently, after Stewart's story broke in the Charleston Gazette that night, he followed up the story with additional information that appeared in their newspapers over the next few days. On Sunday, September 14, 1952, The Gazette's first headline read, "Did It Ride Meteor?—Boys Spot Appalling Creature Near Flatwoods, Link It to Passage of Fiery Object in Skies." In this article? The "Creature" was also said to be a "strange visitor." 

On the same day, the Charleston Daily Mail newspaper headline read, "Braxton Co. Residents Faint, Become Ill After Run-In With Weird 10-Foot Monster." This article made a reference to the "Monster" as being "metallic"! One day later on Monday, September 15, 1952, the Charleston Gazette headline read, "Braxton Monster Left Skid Tracks Where it Landed." In this article, the "Braxton Monster" was also referred to as the "Phantom of Flatwoods." 

This article also reports that the initial detailed description of the "Phantom of Flatwoods" was first made by the witnesses to Mr. Stewart! It states that the subject "wore a suit of green armor" and that it "looked like a mechanical man." It also reported that it, "...was 10 feet tall, four feet wide," and "...had a blood red face"! Also added? "It sported a black spade-like cowl, which extended a foot or more above its head." Uh... from where, then, would we get a claw-waving space nixie in a sweet-sixteen party skirt?! 

Meanwhile, the United Press picked up the Flatwoods story, and it was shotgunned around the world on Monday, September 15, 1952... only... the information contained in the reports had taken on a new perspective... a peculiar negative slant. Behind the scenes, a plan had already been implemented by the United States government to defuse the incident and cover it up. There is data! 

Why, they admit it themselves! Consider that comment a foreshadowing!

Agents of disinfo?

The United States Government worked through the West Virginia State Police shortly after the incident and sent them to Flatwoods that weekend. The police "secured" the details about the story, debunked the entire incident, and then planted the disingenuous seed of doubt in the heads of the sponge-like reporters who were covering the story! 

The Press now "reported" that the Flatwoods incident was the result of "saucer hysteria"! One headline explicitly reported, "Police Say Braxton Monster Product of 'Mass Hysteria'," while numerous newspapers reported, "Police laughed. They said the so-called monster had grown from seven to 17 feet in 24 hours." 

Where did THAT come from?! Furthermore, the UFO that flew over Flatwoods and landed that night was to be blamed on a, now, fulsomely debunked "meteor." 

As a result of this cover-up? The "Flatwoods Monster" story had become convoluted and filled with inaccuracies in the press! The witnesses were in turn ridiculed, laughed at, and made fools of. ...Ah, humanity!

Sequentially, on September 19, 1952, the "Monster" was featured on a nationwide TV program, "We The People." Two of the guests who appeared on that program were witnesses Mrs. May and Gene Lemon (a young National Guardman) of Flatwoods. They were interviewed by host Daniel Seymour (above) and retold their frightening encounter to a record "live" TV audience that very night!

Before the show aired, as we've written before, an artist hired by the TV show sat and interviewed Mrs. May and Gene Lemon backstage in the studio! He drew an "illustration" of the figure they "saw." This illustration was to be shown during their live interviews, as has been reported, later that night. 

Sadly, during the artist's backstage interviews with the two witnesses, he misinterpreted (?) their descriptions of the figure and drew it incorrectly. The artist portrayed the figure as a garment-wearing being with a large red head and glowing eyes, ludicrously covered with a big black pointed cloth hood! He drew it wearing a tunic-type top across the upper torso area and sporting a long-pleated dress from the waist area down. Risible!

Additionally, this mechanical figure, which actually hovered via a silent propulsion system... was illustrated as floating in mid-air next to a 6-foot-tall man for scale proportions. Moreover, the artist drew the figure as having arms and claws! This depiction turned the "monster's" total appearance into a complete "disingenuousness"! A scary, wholly contrived "monster," a stereotypical 1950s Hollywood-style monster from space! We'd already allowed for risible!

Later on, The "Phantom of Flatwoods," first correctly reported to have "looked like a mechanical man" and "wearing a suit of green armor" had now been turned into a complete "unreasonable" by the errant artist. This inaccurate drawing of the figure was then shown to the nationwide TV audience during May and Lemon's interview! It was now "culturally" thought to be the "true likeness" of the figure they saw. Risibility turns abruptly to societal irresponsibility! Was this deliberate?!

As a result of the massive media coverage that the "Braxton Monster" received from this TV show... it began to scare the American public. Although, even as many American citizens didn't believe the "meteor" and mass "hysteria" explanations, there were still many Americans who were starting to panic! This ugly floating space monster alien with arms and claws caused many Americans to worry because of the massive number of UFO sightings that were occurring across the United States that year! 

Is this what the aliens looked like who were plaguing the skies in their saucers over America that year, 1952, the "Summer of the Saucers"?

Keyhoe... wholly credible!

In 1952, sober pioneer UFO researcher and author Major Donald Keyhoe competently researched the "Flatwoods Monster" case and then wrote about it in his 1953 book, "Flying Saucers From Outer Space." Keyhoe stated the following, "The Sutton [Flatwoods Monster] story wasn't so easily downed. Radio and commentators repeated it all over the country. A newspaper syndicate ran a series of articles. Then Mrs. May and the Lemon boy appeared on 'We the People' and retold their frightening experience." 

Shortly after, Major Keyhoe phoned the Pentagon and spoke with Air Force publicity man Albert Chop about the Flatwoods case. During that conversation, Mr. Keyhoe stated the following to Mr. Chop... 

"This could get out of hand. Why doesn't the Air Force squelch it?"

Chop retorted, "We've already said the object was a meteor..." Full stop! This was a reported quote and an admission of that official cover-up we'd alluded to, ladies and entities lurking. A small but meaningful diversion...

To continue, Keyhoe replied, "A lot of people don't believe it. And the way this has built up is bad." Chop replied, "It'll die out." ...Keyhoe responded, "But people will remember it if something breaks."

Eventually, the panic brought on by the "Flatwoods Monster" incident started to fade from newspaper headlines... and the story slowly died out. Subsequently, Project Blue Book intelligence officials recorded the case and explained the incident away as "astronomical." They "recorded," in sneer quotes, "The West Virginia Monster so-called. Actually, the object was the well-known Washington area meteor of 12 Sep., Landing near Flatwoods." Risible now by an order of magnitude and at toxic levels! Blatant obfuscation! 

It concluded that all of the events happening that night only involved a meteor, mass hysteria, and witness misidentification. Risible! We may have mentioned that!

As for the "We The People" TV show; this Television talk show began in 1948 and continued for five seasons through 1952. The "Flatwoods Monster" episode was aired during season 5, episode 19 on September 19, 1952. 

Oddly enough? "We The People," a hugely popular National program, only aired but one more episode the following week after the "Flatwoods Monster" episode... and was then cancelled! 

Was this a coincidence? ...We're reminded of Colbert and Kimmel!  

Although history had heavily documented this terrifying UFO incident, there was a downside to the story as a result of the government's massive cover-up! The truth behind the "Flatwoods Monster" incident was never fully disclosed, and it was eventually written off as some silly West Virginia folklore story. 

Heavy sigh...

Still, there remained one individual who has dedicated nearly half of his life to uncovering the truth about the "Flatwoods Monster" case. Frank Feschino's own ongoing 30-year investigation into this affair, the longest-running UFO investigation since it began in 1952, has continued to uncover information about the United States Government's cover-up behavior. 

Feschino's new 2025 book, titled "The Flatwoods Monster: From Myth To Reality," is the definitive book on the "Flatwoods Monster" incident and other numerous UFO events and encounters that occurred during that time... ...Undeclared air war with ET? There is DATA.

For More Information About This Book, Please Visit Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/mr3945ht