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Tracking Down A 70s UFO Booklet

SimonBurchell

SimonBurchell

Justified & Ancient
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I'm trying to track down the title/author a UFO booklet my family had when I was a child in the 70s. From memory it would have been about A5 size, thin, with a dark blueish cover, UK published. It was quite well illustrated in colour, and the only thing I really remember is an illustration of the Kelly-Hopkinsville case that scared the living daylights out of me, a couple of little glowy humanoids outside a shack at night. Sorry, not much to go on, the booklet vanished years ago but it is probably the first exposure I had to UFO literature. Any ideas?
 
Thanks for that - it could well be Exploring UFOs by Jonathan Rutland (Piccolo Books) - it certainly seems the most likely, and seems plenty of them are available second hand.
 
Hmmm. Just had a cheap copy of Exploring UFOs delivered. It looked familiar because I used to have it many years ago... I'm happy I've got it but it's not the one I'm trying to track down... Dark blue cover, probably square in proportions, very much a booklet rather than a book, with a creepy illustration of the Hopkinsville encounter. Any ideas?
 
SimonBurchell said:
... Dark blue cover, probably square in proportions, very much a booklet rather than a book, with a creepy illustration of the Hopkinsville encounter. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

More clues, please ...

Hard or soft cover?
Was the Hopkinsville illustration inside, or was it the cover art?
Was the book(-let?) focused on the Hopkinsville incident alone, or ... ?
Can you reliably identify anything else in the contents besides the Hopkinsville incident?
Did it seem like a mass market publication, or something more modest (e.g., a self-published item)?

Describe the Hopkinsville illustration in more detail. That seems to be your strongest memory of the publication. There are lots of illustrations for the incident. Describe the scene in the illustration and *all* the figures (humans; goblins) visible within it.

Could this have been a kids' / youth publication?
 
I took a look at eBay;; if the item was some kind of serial booklet or orphaned piece from a larger publication it might show up with all of the stuff on eBay. No dice.
 
EnolaGaia said:
More clues, please ...

Hard or soft cover?
Was the Hopkinsville illustration inside, or was it the cover art?
Was the book(-let?) focused on the Hopkinsville incident alone, or ... ?
Can you reliably identify anything else in the contents besides the Hopkinsville incident?
Did it seem like a mass market publication, or something more modest (e.g., a self-published item)?

Describe the Hopkinsville illustration in more detail. That seems to be your strongest memory of the publication. There are lots of illustrations for the incident. Describe the scene in the illustration and *all* the figures (humans; goblins) visible within it.

Could this have been a kids' / youth publication?
Click to expand...
This was almost certainly aimed at the younger market, and was probably a mass-market publication - it was definitely typical 70s sensationalist UFO fare. My memories of it are very vague, it was not dedicated to the Hopkinsville case but did cover it. It was slim, softback, probably square, and I doubt it would have had more than 30 pages. I remember it as well illustrated and glossy - but the glossy bit may be faulty memory, since there wasn't too much of that going around in the 70s. There was an illustration of a house/cabin at night among trees with glowing humanoids with black dot eyes. I think the front cover was dark blue with trees, and a glowy humanoid, but I may well be getting an inside illustration mixed up with the cover. It was certainly the illustration of the humanoids that made the most impact on me, hence me trying to track it down. Sorry, not much to go on.
 
Here are some possibilities (see below). It's possible to email bibliographic search results from Wordcat FirstSearch, too if you wanted them.
There are at least 133 books from the time period that could fit the bill, but finding the item seems to depend on the cataloging of the contents too in this case. With a visual description being the primary bit of information, seeing covers would be useful too. You might try to interlibrary loan the most promising candidates when Covid goes away some, and borrowing services at your library start again.

Might be this (cover would be different)
https://www.amazon.com/Mysteries-of...&keywords=9780860204923&qid=1614870725&sr=8-1

Mysteries of the unknown.
Author(s): Miller, Carey.
Maynard, Christopher.
Wilding-White, Ted.
Publication: London : Usborne,
Year: 1977
Description: 96 pages : color illustrations ; 28 cm
Language: English
Contents: pt. 1. Monsters -- pt. 2. Ghosts -- pt. 3. UFO's.
Standard No: ISBN: 0860204928; 9780860204923
SUBJECT(S)
Descriptor: Monsters.
Ghosts.
Unidentified flying objects.
Ghosts.
Monsters.
Unidentified flying objects.
Note(s): Cover title./ Includes index./ The material in this book was also published as three books, All about Monsters, All about Ghosts and All about UFO's in Usborne Publishing's World
of the Unknown series.
Class Descriptors: Dewey: 001.

Or this:

Here is pic of it:
41k2OpuQDtL._SY373_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

Title:
All about UFO's /
Author(s): Wilding-White, Ted.
Publication: London : Usborne Pub. ; Tulsa, Okla. : Published in the USA by EDC Pub.,
Year: 1977
Description: 32 pages : chiefly color illustrations ; 28 cm.
Language: English
Series: The World of the unknown; Variation: World of the unknown.; The World of the unknown.
Standard No: ISBN: 0860201503; 9780860201502
Abstract: Investigates in text and illustrations the mystery of UFO's and suggests some possible solutions.
SUBJECT(S)
Descriptor: Unidentified flying objects -- Juvenile literature.
Unidentified flying objects.
Unidentified flying objects.
Genre/Form: Juvenile works.
Children's nonfiction.
Note(s): Includes bibliographical references (page 32) and index.
Class Descriptors: LC: TL789; Dewey: 001.9
Responsibility: [written by Ted Wilding-White].
Material Type: Juvenile (no specific ages) (jau)
Document Type: Book
Entry: 19841126

Another:
Mysterious visitors :
the UFO story /
Author(s): Le Poer Trench, Brinsley, Lord Clancarty, 1911-1995.
Publication: London : Pan Books,
Edition: Rev. ed.
Year: 1975
Description: xiv, 175 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 18 cm
Language: English
Standard No: ISBN: 0330242520; 9780330242523 LCCN: 75-323620
SUBJECT(S)
Descriptor: Unidentified flying objects.
Unidentified flying objects.
Note(s): Originally published in 1973 under title: The eternal subject./ Includes bibliographical references and index.
Class Descriptors: LC: TL789; Dewey: 001.9/42
Responsibility: Brinsley Le Poer Trench.
Document Type: Book
Entry: 19750908
Update: 20190122
Accession No: OCLC: 1676843
Provider: OCLC
Database: WorldCat
 
Thanks for all the suggestions, still no joy, and looking at all the pictures on the web is now starting to muddle my memory, nonetheless, I shall keep looking...
 
SimonBurchell said:
The book has now been identified by pure luck, UFOs and Other Worlds by Peter Ryan over at a Post in thread 'Kelly / Hopkinsville (Kentucky) 'Goblins' Incident (1955)
My mind is at rest!
Click to expand...
Glad to learn you finally identified the book. One FYI note intended as an illustrative tip for everyone's future reference, not criticism directed at you ...

I might have had a better chance at identifying the book based on your description if you hadn't claimed the Hopkinsville picture contained multiple humanoids outside a farmhouse. The actual picture that scared you depicted a single glowing figure viewed by two men outdoors.

Illustrations of the Hopkinsville incident depicting multiple weird visitors seen outside or from the farmhouse (even from within the farmhouse) are quite common. I couldn't narrow down the possibilities using the illustrations from my archive because they were numerous, pretty much all the same, and (as it turned out) quite different from the one you were seeking.
 
EnolaGaia said:
Glad to learn you finally identified the book. One FYI note intended as an illustrative tip for everyone's future reference, not criticism directed at you ...

I might have had a better chance at identifying the book based on your description if you hadn't claimed the Hopkinsville picture contained multiple humanoids outside a farmhouse. The actual picture that scared you depicted a single glowing figure viewed by two men outdoors.

Illustrations of the Hopkinsville incident depicting multiple weird visitors seen outside or from the farmhouse (even from within the farmhouse) are quite common. I couldn't narrow down the possibilities using the illustrations from my archive because they were numerous, pretty much all the same, and (as it turned out) quite different from the one you were seeking.
Click to expand...
Bear in mind it was my memory of an illustration from 40+ years ago...
 
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