Review by Mark Turner
6/26/2013
Author Nick Redfern exposes
monsters and government secrets
For Your Eyes Only - Dossier of Fantastic Beasts
Why would any government care about the Abominable Snowman,
the Loch Ness Monster, or any far-out camp-fire stories? And yet they do, and with alarming
consistency. Blowing the lid off of accepted strange creature lore, prolific
author Nick Redfern does not settle for stale explanations, instead in Monster
Files, he delivers at every turn, a compelling view of possible government
involvement of a clandestine nature. Monster Files is just what the name
suggests; a probing of government secrets, freedom of information act documents,
first-hand accounts, investigations of tall-tales and dogged research. The
result is a fascinating blend of paranormal and conspiracy.
Following a general timeline of monstrous events, the book
starts off with Teddy Roosevelt’s Bigfoot story and ends with modern day
beasts.
Not every creature is
necessarily the target of government interest; some monsters are presented to
serve as an introduction to the next tale of official involvement. Yet, it is
not so easy to lump each case into narrow classifications. Some monsters are ‘used’
by governments as clever misdirection, a ‘wild-goose-chase’ to hide top secret
projects and advanced weaponry. At other times, these same agencies have a curious
interest in all things paranormal. At times, they seem fascinated or even
frightened as with the case of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) and the National Ocean Service (NOA) both protesting
loudly that Mermaids do not exist!
At other times, the government has technological interests,
as with vanishing beasts of the werewolf and Bigfoot variety, where
multi-dimensional super technologies could be used for our governments own
nefarious purposes.
In Monster Files, Nick Redfern shows that he is an author
and researcher who is willing to offer original conclusions and concepts to what
might otherwise be familiar lore. His explanation for the origins of the
somewhat famous, or infamous, Flatwoods monster sighting of 1952, in the small
town of Flatwoods West Virginia is original and more than a little thought
provoking.
The files of oddities are frequent and varied in form.
Government research
into the psychic abilities of cats and dogs to spot for hidden mines? It’s
true! That research also showed that cats and dogs transfer ESP information
between one another.
FDR green-lighting a project to use bats as living-bombs? Yes! It’s here too!
FDR green-lighting a project to use bats as living-bombs? Yes! It’s here too!
Monster Army and
Ape-Human Hybrids
A book about monsters would not be complete without the
scientific Dr. Frankenstein creations, real or rumored. Redfern explores the
tale of Russian physiologist Ilya Ivanov, who was hired, allegedly by none
other than Joseph Stalin to create an army out of a race of genetically spliced
half human/half ape men in late 1920’s. The book is good at digging for the
truth behind such wild claims and its author is not one to simply accept such
stories at face value. There is something here for skeptics’ and believers’
alike. Redfern covers all of the bases.
And concerning the reality of the Russian ape-men?
“What we have here then, is a saga that has some truth to it, that describes very real attempts to create human-ape hybrids that were undertaken by the Soviet Union’s scientific elite, that were funded by the Soviet Academy of science, and that did have the support of the Bolshevik government.”
(Reprinted, with permission of the publisher, from MONSTER FILES © 2013 Nick Redfern. Published by New Page Books a division of Career Press, Pompton Plains, NJ. 800-227-3371. All rights reserved.)
Stalin’s involvement, however, as the author points out,
remains to be see.
There are other ape-people here too, those of the
long-lost-cousin variety, and a few stories of possible Neanderthal’s show up
for a visit.
The best is the last one in chapter 3, (again from the
U.S.S.R.) recounting the story of a Lt. Col.
Karapetyan in the Soviet Army’s Medial Service in World War II. A strange looking man had been captured; who
the Soviet’s initially thought was a spy. Covered in a long brown coat of
shaggy hair, six-feet tall with powerful arms, the beast had to be kept in a
cold room because it could not bear heat.
The possibility of what any of these ape-people could have
been makes any future trip to my local zoo’s ape exhibit, a disturbing one.
Indian Jones: Monster
Hunter
Adventurer Tom Slick, the possible real-life inspiration for
Indiana Jones is profiled in his possible involvement as a spy for the CIA.
Slick studied at Harvard and MIT, served in the Navy during the Pacific
engagement of WWII and was also instrumental in three groups that later became
the Texas Bio-medical Research Institute and the Southwest Research institute.
For all intense of purposes, Slik was a man who had solid connections to
important people. He was also a globetrotting adventurer who had a very real passion
for mystery beasts like the famed Yeti, A.K.A. the Abominable Snowman.
The real reason, as some have theorized, for Tom Slick’s 1956
trek to Tibet wasn't just to search for the Yeti but also to use the expedition
as a cover story for a secret CIA mission to spy on the encroaching communist
Chinese government that was attempting to takeover Tibet. The evidence that is
presented in Monster Files certainly lends credibility to Slick's clandestine
role. Redfern presents a document from the US State Department from 1959
titled: Regulations Covering Mountain Climbing Expeditions in Nepal – relating to Yeti.
And it doesn't end there. That chapter continues to link the
loose threads of the JFK assassination, Bigfoot, and the budding career of none
other than George H. W. Bush (AKA Bush 41) and ties them all together neatly into
one tight bundle!
The real scare comes at the end of that chapter with the mysterious
death of Tom Slick on October 6th of 1962. Returning from a hunting
trip while flying over Montana, Slick's plane seems to have disintegrated in
flight. As you can imagine, the sinister notes of a conspiracy can be heard.
Did the CIA monster hunter know one-too-many secrets, secrets that doomed him
to an early grave?
Locking Down the Mysteries
of the Loch?
Our friend Nessie, the great Loch Ness Monster is visited
and re-visited numerous times and for different reasons throughout the book.
The good thing is that this never gets old. You still have so many questions.
Sure, Nessie could be a ruse by the British government to hide sophisticated
weapons, argues Monster Files, but then, that does not explain the sightings
that date back before submarines were invented, as the author also notes.
And then there’s British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s interest
in protecting Nessie for Scottish tourism!
The hot idea for me in Monster Files, was how could there be
so many sighting of a large creature that could not possibly survive with such
a scant food supply provided by the Loch? The possibility that Nessie could in
fact be the ghost of an extinct dinosaur, is a mind-blowing concept.
Bigfoot: What the U.S.
Government Doesn't Want You to Know
Mount Saint Helens erupted with terrible violent force in
May of 1980. Once all of the volcanic ash had settled, there were rumors and
scattered reports that several beasts resembling Sasquatch were whisked away by
the US Army Corps of Engineers’. Chapter 18 holds more surprises too, but the
reason for any government involvement can only be speculated. The book points
to the idea that these beasts, Bigfoot, have some sort of special ability that the
military is studying.
There’s a chapter here too on UFO’s and Bigfoot. The
possibility that these creatures can jump into other dimensions and that they
have psychic abilities are the possible reasons given for government/military
involvement.
Monster Mash-Up
There are many stories that haunt and fascinate and the
brief tale of the US Government trying to hot-wire a common house-cat to work as
a spy, was for me, a show-stopper. It is just one of many that make this book a
must have. The case of the dissected Bigfoot, Princess Di and the large black
killer cat, the WWII werewolf; it’s all page turning stuff! There are so many
good tales here highlighting any one story does a disservice to the other weird
tales. Nick Redfern’s Monster Files delivers mysteries, monsters, conspiracies
and excitement. It’s a book to read and read again.
New Page Books 15.99
Paperback 288 Pages
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