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unding ufo secrets of james w moseley a special tribute to the editor of saucer smear and the court jester of ufology new brunswick nj global communications inner light moseley james w 1998 smear editor exposes fake alien photos on the back cover of his own book saucer smear january 10th vol 45 no 1 pp 1 3 moseley james w pflock karl t 2002 shockingly close to the truth confessions of a grave robbing ufologist amherst ny the text below originally appeared on pages 18 23 of beckley timothy green ed 2013 the astounding ufo secrets of james w moseley a special tribute to the editor of saucer smear and the court jester of ufology new brunswick nj global communications inner light some of the links in the endnotes no longer work a printer friendly pdf of the text of the tribute below is available at http tricksterbook com articlesonline jameswmoseleyastrickster pdf james w moseley as trickster by george p hansen it is not how men think in myths but how myths operate in men s minds without their being aware of the fact claude lévi strauss jim moseley has been called the clown prince and the court jester of ufology the appellations are entirely fitting moseley was indeed a trickster he perpetrated some amusing hoaxes exposed others mocked and antagonized ufology s establishment and often referred to the field as ufoology during the eight years i spent writing the trickster and the paranormal i often pondered jim s life and work his zine saucer smear provided invaluable information information critical to judicious assessments of ufo cases witnesses and researchers but for me moseley was more than that he himself was one of the trickster exemplars that i used in my thinking here i want to express my appreciation for jim moseley comment from the perspective of trickster theory and explain why he remains an important figure moseley ufo phenomena and the field of ufology generally share some abstract qualities that can be illuminated by recourse to certain scholarly works on the trickster those works help clarify several major predicaments of ufology but before i say much about moseley and ufology i will need to explain a few concepts what is the trickster the trickster is a character type found worldwide in mythology and folklore and trickster tales must number in the thousands the trickster is something of an irrational being he the trickster is typically male can be seen as a personification of a cluster of abstract qualities that often manifest together these include deception disruption abnormal sexuality boundary crossing taboo breaking supernatural paranormal powers marginality and outsiderhood when a few of these characteristics are found in a person group or situation one should be alert for others the trickster is an irrational figure he cannot be captured by a crisp precise definition there is necessarily some blurriness and ambiguity though there is considerable academic analysis of the trickster in anthropology literary theory jungian psychology and folklore that work is appreciated by few people in our culture today ufos myth ritual and the trickster in the 1960s and 1970s john keel and jacques vallee pointed out that reports of ufo occupants are strikingly similar to entities described in myths and folklore during those same decades anthropologists made significant advances in understanding myth and ritual that scholarship can be applied to ufo phenomena however most scientists including most ufologists shun the topics of myth and ritual those are often thought to be remnants of superstition and hence have no place in science yet myths have survived for thousands of years it is hubris to dismiss them the most illuminating theoretical work on the trickster utilizes analyses of myth and ritual particularly the structural study of myth which focuses on binary oppositions and the analyses of ritual that generated the concept of liminality earlier cultures used myth to understand supernatural forces and ritual to channel and control them it is under liminal conditions and around liminal people that paranormal i e supernatural events are more likely to be reported i find it impossible to give a succinct comprehensible and comprehensive explanation of liminality but briefly it involves change transition transformation flux ambiguity instability blurred boundaries and uncertainty these apply both to persons e g james moseley and to groups e g the field of ufology some synonyms include betwixt and between interstitial and anti structure marginality and outsiderhood are types of liminality paranormal organizations and phenomena display properties of liminality the trickster exemplifies the concept 1 most people probably associate the trickster with deception and that provides an obvious connection to ufology the field is plagued by frauds hoaxes con artists and government disinformation even though the vast majority of ufo reports are made by honest people deception is one of ufology s greatest challenges but there are many other aspects of ufology that can be addressed within the framework of trickster theory i will describe only a couple of applications here anti structure and the betwixt and between anti structure anti structure is a synonym of liminality it primarily refers to conditions of instability in social relations including those within and between institutions strong manifestations of anti structure are incompatible with hierarchical institutions groups and organizations that seek to directly study paranormal phenomena using rational scientific methods frequently encounter infighting schisms and dissolution ufology has never established viable long lasting well recognized widely trusted institutions that study and comment authoritatively on the phenomena no university departments are devoted to the study of ufos college courses on the topic are rarely offered for academic credit ufos generate massive popular interest ufo movies have grossed hundreds of millions of dollars in contrast the more serious interest by mufon cufos and other organizations gains meager support most research is done by individuals and small groups who operate independently of larger institutions this state of affairs illustrates the anti structural nature of the field moseley s style was highly compatible with anti structure his ufo activities were not undertaken as an employee or representative of any organization and he proudly proclaimed his low rank within the ufo field by appending j s to his name on the masthead of smear j s standing for journal subscriber of the mufon ufo journal moseley did head nufoc national ufo conference but it was a small group that only occasionally helped him organize conferences a few colleagues assisted him with smear for instance vince ditchkus provided him with information from the internet but smear was essentially moseley s product his newsletter appeared for 59 years it was produced by an individual not an organization thus reflecting the anti structural nature of ufology betwixt and between a concept closely related to liminality is the betwixt and between among other things it refers to a social position between two larger or more powerful groups moseley held a spot betwixt and between aggressive proponents and sneering debunkers he was not part of ufology s establishment but neither was he a fan of the committee for skeptical inquiry csi formerly csicop moseley accepted the reality of ufos even though shockingly close to the truth was published by prometheus books whose founder co founded csicop moseley maintained open even friendly relations with individual skeptics and debunkers he has described philip klass as a personal friend and klass s comments frequently appeared in smear also moseley published remarks from michael dennett martin gardner james oberg gary posner tim printy james randi and robert sheaffer shortly after moseley s death lance moody reported that jim and i had long conversations about once a month for 20 years i loved talking to him hearing all of his stories and discussing ufos and the paranormal we never had a single cross word even though he knew i was a hard core skeptic 2 while moseley was friends with individual proponents and skeptics of ufos his relations with the establishment of ufology were not so warm members of that establishment were not shy in saying what they thought of him michael swords a now retired professor a stalwart member of cufos and former editor of its journal of ufo studies wrote the following moseley however nice a guy he may or may not be has spent a life fouling the waters of ufology with hoaxes misrepresentations rumors misplaced humor it has been an almost wholly unhelpful career to the field ellipses in original 3 richard hall was perhaps the epitome of establishment ufology he worked for nicap served as a board member of mufon wrote a column for ufo magazine and was dubbed the dean of ufology his feelings toward moseley were those of revulsion in an online roast that celebrated moseley s 50 years of saucering hall responded to a commentator who wrote love him or hate him there s no denying jim moseley for better or worse has been and remains a presence in ufology hall replied yes like a steaming turd on the living room carpet this sort of silly crap explains why you and your idol who constantly treat the whole subject as a joke might just as well be on the government payroll for ufo debunkers 4 clark swords and hall served in official capacities within major organizations of ufology they spent decades of their lives contributing to the field and attempting to gain mainstream acceptance for it 5 moseley on the other hand had little concern for such acceptance he not only accepted his marginality he revelled in it tricksters are often looked upon with suspicion especially by those who aspire to respectability tricksters today are frequently seen as amusing or annoying but also as rather inconsequential characters not serious and not worthy of much attention centuries ago court jesters were held in esteem they were often highly intelligent and were allowed to say what others were not earlier cultures honored them and understood their importance moseley s significance jerry clark author of many books on ufos and long time editor of international ufo reporter of the center for ufo studies cufos wrote to moseley though you have nothing of consequence to say about the ufo phenomenon as such anymore if you ever did after you exposed adamski you are still the greatest living authority on the history of saucer fandom and the funniest writer around posted above the masthead of saucer smear october 5th 2002 shortly after moseley died lance moody reported we spoke about two weeks ago and had an excellent and upbeat conversation he faced his illness soberly he also wondered if his life with ufo s had any value in the end i think he concluded that he had fun and that maybe that was enough 6 grandiosity is an occupational hazard of ufo research but jim avoided it i never found him to be pompous pretentious or self important consequently he seems not to have recognized his own substantial contributions to the field they were masked by humor and it is easy for many including himself to overlook or dismiss them yet in more than two decades of non subscribing to smear i found sharp intellectual engagement impressive critical judgment and commentary far more credible and insightful than that produced by the major ufo organizations my own view of moseley s saucer smear was expressed by the late psychic ingo swann who was an official non subscriber swann trained many of the u s government s psychic spies and he reported a number of bizarre ufo encounters himself swann wrote although many of its readers might view saucer smear merely as a droll ufology gossip rag in the larger picture it is rather more accurately a profound window opening up onto the sociology of ufology therefore its cumulative issues constitute a precious historical archive see saucer smear january 5 1995 page 1 if ufology sees substantial intellectual advances in the years to come i am confident that moseley s work will be much more appreciated than it is today jim exemplified the liminal anti structural marginal trickster nature of ufology and of ufo phenomena both his writings and his life are worthy of contemplation endnotes 1 the most advanced theoretical work on the trickster was done by barbara babcock in 1975 that work has been largely ignored by white male members of the academic establishment black scholars american indian scholars and some women have recognized its importance those who have been in positions of significant marginality often have some appreciation for the trickster see babcock abrahams barbara 1975 a tolerated margin of mess the trickster and his tales reconsidered journal of the folklore institute vol 11 pp 147 186 an early noteworthy application of liminality to the topic of ufos is peter rogerson s 1986 paper taken to the limits as far as i am aware it is the earliest work that provides significant discussion of liminality in relation to the paranormal see rogerson peter 1986 taken to the limits magonia no 23 july pp 3 12 available at http magonia haaan com 2009 limits 1 and http magonia haaan com 2009 limits 2 2 for moseley s acknowledgement of his friendship with klass see the video prepared by lance moody on youtube at http www youtube com watch v lookh3re0g8 for moody s brief account of his contact with moseley see moody s post on kevin randle s blog on november 18 2012 at http kevinrandle blogspot com 2012 11 jim moseley is dead html 3 see michael swords blog post of july 18 2012 at http thebiggeststudy blogspot com 2012_07_01_archive html 4 for background information on richard hall see rojas rick 2009 august 23 dean of ufo studies devoted life to seeking others beyond earth washington post at http articles washingtonpost com 2009 08 23 news 36812967_1 for hall s comment on moseley see http www martiansgohome com moseley_roast memories html 5 i submit that their failure to gain such mainstream recognition had little to do with any personal character flaws rather the liminal nature of ufo phenomena themselves precludes acceptance by establishment institutions of science 6 see moody s post on kevin randle s blog on november 18 2012 at http kevinrandle blogspot com 2012 11 jim moseley is dead html george p hansen was an official non subscriber to saucer smear for more than two decades for eight years he was employed full time in parapsychology laboratories he is author of the trickster and the paranormal publisher s note referencing michael swords comments at least moseley did what he did openly with no attempt to conceal his approach while others do the same in a condescending way behind everyone else s backs mr swords seems awfully naive for someone associated with the field for such a long time same with jerry clark who flip flops back and forth in his be...