#26: "Why is everything just two steps removed from Jonestown?" - an Exploration into Mothman, the Hill Abductions, the Hopkinsville Goblins, Hypnosis, and Related Psychological Operations...

[originally published on Patreon May 10, 2022; now you should check out Tanner's blog, Getting Spooked]

Today I'm joined by a very special guest, Fortean expert Tanner Boyle (@TannerFBoyle1) to discuss some early high strangeness, and particularly a lot of the incredibly underdiscussed parapolitical angles to said phenomenon. We discuss the weird figures around the Mothman thing, the factories around Point Pleasant, the backgrounds of people like John Keel, Woodrow Derenberger, and Indrid Cold, and the Lanulos abduction story.

We talk Bosco Nedelcovic, Union Carbide, COINTELPRO, men in black, the Hopkinsville goblins, the Flatwoods Monster, the recurring theme of weird connections between cryptozoology and espionage, and the alien abduction concept. We discuss certain salient aspects of the Betty and Barney Hill abduction, and the truly insane stories of several hypnosis experts.  At the end, we contemplate what's left of these stories and their possible utility as psychological operations.

Links:

https://twitter.com/TannerFBoyle1

https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/the-fortean-influence-on-science-fiction/

https://tannerfboyle.substack.com/

Songs:

I Got Abducted by a UFO - the Lillingtons

Hardcore UFOs - Guided By Voices

When You See Those Flying Saucers by the Buchanan Brothers

Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft - Klaatu