The lure of the fringe

 

Staffan Stigsjöö was a Swedish ufologist who wrote three almost “classical” books about UFOs and aliens during the 1970´s: “Tefatsfolket ser oss”, “Tefatsfolket – vänner eller fiender?” and “Tefatsfolket har landat!” Two mainstream Swedish ufology groups, UFO-Sverige and AFU, apparently disavowed one of the books. I originally assumed it was the third one, but after looking through them (I actually have these rare gems in my private stash), I came to the conclusion that it must have been the second book.

Yepp, it´s a bit fringey, alright.

The first and third books are pretty moderate as UFO books go, especially the first one. Think ETH plus Däniken (yes, really – ancient aliens were a moderate take during the 1970´s). By contrast, “Tefatsfolket – vänner eller fiender?” (The Saucer People: Friends or Foes?) contains more radical takes, at least by respectable Swedish standards. A similar book published in the United States would presumably be considered rather bland! It was published in 1974.

Stigsjöö takes abduction stories and MIB reports seriously. He wonders aloud whether Earth might be threatened by an alien invasion, and eventually reaches the conclusion that several different alien civilizations are fighting over our planet. Some of the factions are hostile, others are not. And while he rejects the Theosophically-inspired contactees (and even wonders whether they are CIA agents or dupes), he espouses an even more absurd scenario: some of the aliens might be benign secular missionaries, who just like Che Guevara, Fidel Castro and Ho Chi Minh dream of a better society…

Wtf?! Sounds like Stigsjöö would be prime material for recruitment by the bizarre Posadists, who actually believed that the ufonauts were socialists! It also reminds me of the Swedish comic “Ville” (originally published 1975-76) by Jan Lööf, in which a UFO contactee writes pamphlets about socialist utopias instructed to do so by wise and ecologically conscious space brothers. Going back to Stigsjöö again, his book contains a chapter on overpopulation and the ecological crisis, even briefly mentioning anthropogenic global warming. Some things haven´t changed since 1974, it seems.

Stigsjöö also discusses the interface between ufology and what many today would call cryptozoology, wondering about Mothman (here called “birdman”) and Spring Heel Jack. Could they be animals left behind by the aliens? Forteana is also extensively discussed, such as worms falling from the sky. While rejecting George Adamski, Stigsjöö believes we should at least have an open mind towards John Keel and Charles Hoy Fort. He also discusses the Philadelphia Experiment and the Bermuda Triangle (plus a supposed similar triangle on land in Florida). His most original speculation is that the Man with the Iron Mask was actually a captured alien! 

Stigsjöö somewhat notoriously claims that UFO researchers or contactees often die on the 24^th of a month (or around that date). Kenneth Arnold´s original UFO observation was made on June 24, 1947. More suspiciously still, many of the deaths are from heart attacks or suicides. It´s rumored that Stigsjöö himself “snapped” after writing this book, believed himself to be harassed by MIBs, and so on.

Somewhere in this strange collection of factoids, there are actually some interesting reports, including two “UFO cases” which happened before Arnold´s famous encounter in 1947.  Both are Finnish, and sound like a strange blend between folkloric fairy encounters and alien ditto. One is even a kind of abduction case. I might return to these in a future blog post.

Somewhat ironically, I almost suspect that the more spiritually-inclined subsegment of the ufology milieu might have been more well-disposed to this book than the secular mainline ufologists Stigsjöö presumably wanted to be seen as part of. Ironic, since the spiritual contactees are the only UFO believers he very explicitly rejects!