Russ Reardon's Quest - Part 3

Although many things about Russ Reardon's life eluded me, he was more than happy to supply brief responses when asked.  He did clarify something of his intriguing history in broadcasting, as snippets from a few of his letters demonstrate. He actually went through a succession of typewriters as years ensued, and at least one machine failure resulted from a male household cat urinating on and converting its parts into rust (no, I can't imagine this either!)

  All in all, by the time we began corresponding, I know he was restless about retirement and projects he might not be able to complete because of his age.  As a post WWII serviceman, the passing years would hardly be kind to one with boundless ideas interrupted by slowly waning energy.  He also smoked, a lot I believe, and smoking would turn out to be one of just several demons working to defeat, to borrow from writer Ernest Hemingway, the old man and the scene.

On three occasions over the years, Russ admitted to taking trips to Mexico and even to the area of the ancient Palenque (Mayan) ruins, where he obtained artifacts of some nature for collectors.  He wrote about this to me in May of 1977, but provided no specific details (such as, oh, I don't know -- was this legal?).

 

As you might guess from his letters, Russ had become rather partial to a concept that Jesus could still be very much alive in body, kept relatively "young" by traversing the universe in a spaceship where time barely squeaks along, while planet Earth time advances concurrently by hundreds or thousands of years.  He would subsequently write an article about this, but in the meantime (April, 1978) he was quite happy when, recalling his interest in the Palenque ruins, I referred him to an article in the Winter, 1978 issue of Pursuit, journal of the (now defunct) Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained (SITU).  The piece referenced something with which I think Russ was already familiar -- a particular skeleton entombed below ground at ancient Palenque.

By his own admission (August 10, 1980), Russ Reardon had become more the heretic than a Christian regarding religion in general, and appeared quite intrigued with certain aspects of the "ancient astronaut" theories.  In a few years, his infatuation with such things would drive his curiosity to the max.  Why?  Maybe because sitting around and watching the clock of age advance as you admire endless photos of yourself, the cat and the flowers (shown here) outside just isn't enough for a curious mind on the loose.

Russ Reardon's Quest - Part Two

Russ Reardon had occasionally mentioned his 30-year career in broadcasting, though I didn't really know what that was all about until I read his wife's obituary.  Susan died in June of 2012, and Russ years earlier (I have not yet found his obituary), and her brief but informative death notice did fill in a blank or two.  For instance, Russ, "The love of her life," had worked as a jazz disc jockey and musician on the West Coast before they met and married.  His envelopes to me usually were embossed with the words, Natural Sand Dollars, which he and she picked up every morning and sold after making them into jewelry.  Susan herself, having worked in Naval intelligence during WW II, enjoyed a long career in broadcasting, eventually ending up at TV channel 5 in Charleston, SC. This much I already knew, as Russ was always very complimentary about his wife and wasn't averse to writing me on channel 5's letterhead now and then.

You can read Susan Reardon's interesting obituary in the following link:: 

 https://obits.postandcourier.com/us/obituaries/charleston/name/sue-reardon-obituary?pid=158291648


As photos taken by Russ suggest, they loved animals, and Russ's keen sense of humor caused him to write that one photo shows him launching birds into the air from a bag.  The triple-photo scan shows the exterior areas where the 1986 TV movie, "North and South: Book 2, Love and War" was shot, and both Russ and Susan acquired employment as extras in this period drama (neither are seen here, though Russ is standing behind a horse in one photo, unrecognizable and obliterated).

Something I could always depend upon were envelopes stuffed with cartoons copied from various magazines or photocopies of same, frequently with a UFO theme.  Some items were humorous, but unsuitable for posting here, and I can't actually post the others because of copyrights probably still very much in effect.

By now, you're probably asking yourself, why am I going through all of this?  In way of introduction, I just wanted you to meet the Reardons, fun-loving, nice people.  Unfortunately, before I can get to the point of this cornucopia of stuff, there are other, less pleasant instances to lay out, and we'll do that next time.  Is there an alien in the woodpile?  Well. . .

Russ Reardon's Quest (Part One)

In the "old days" when newspapers and magazines owned the day, and some of us actually wrote enough articles to at least be known for some expertise in our craft, or lack thereof (I confess to the latter, but I tried. . .), there were occasions when readers sent us letters and postcards.  This was a time when there was no easily accessible public Internet, nor emails, so typewriters and early computerized word processors were standard.

In an article I wrote in the 1970s for the very much now defunct Argosy UFO, a companion magazine to Argosy, a popular "men's magazine," I included a post office box number, and as you might imagine the letters started coming in from readers all over the country.  Many were routine, often from teenagers intrigued by the UFO subject, but there were others from people with scientific credentials and even from professional people who wrote UFO books under assumed names.  I attempted to answer them when possible (except for the anonymous ones with no return address, of course).  One repeat writer insisted satellites overhead were controlling his mind (so maybe they were, how would I know?).

As the 1980s began, one day I received a letter from Isle of Palms in South Carolina, from a man named Russ Reardon.  I replied.  Then I started receiving more letters and enclosures, and then more and more.  I ended up corresponding with Russ for years, into the early nineties.  Writing back and forth was not easy, for Russ's letters overall probably made sense to me about five or so percent of the time.  He was right smart, he was, but expressing himself in letters seemed often to be an exercise in getting to relate only part of what was on his mind, as he excitedly tried to put it into words.

The other thing about Russ was, if I did not answer his letters fast enough, he sent several more until I responded.  He was kind of a rascal.

I believe he was a WW II veteran, and he was old when we began corresponding, as photos demonstrate.

I'm carrying this story into multiple parts.  It is not a big deal, but ends in a way I wish it had not.  Well, there are several edges to this sword.  Anyway, let me just put up some photos Russ sent me, as he did so now and then.  He and his wife are long deceased now, no kids, but lots of friends.

These are from 1984.  One photo shows Russ and his wife Sue outdoors at some gathering, while another is a picture of the house they shared in Isle of Palms.  Russ decided to play baby Jesus while Sue assumed her own spot during the Christmas season.   A fourth photo shows Russ at home with what he claimed were four of their eight cats in the picture.  Hmm, maybe.

(More coming up in Part Two, soon I hope.)

The Damned Jew

 

 

 

 

"You call me a damned Jew. My race was old when you were all savages. I am proud to be a Jew."  (John Galsworthy: from Loyalties, Act 2)

Pascagoula's 50th -- Remembering Terror at the Water's Edge

What goes up must come down?  Not since the Space Age began sending things literally out of this world.
 
And when strange objects soar across the skies or fly through the atmosphere, must they descend?  Why wouldn't they, if doing so with purpose?  However, there may be consequences for living creatures on the ground for such actions, particularly when an interloper appears to affect our environment with electromagnetic effects, marks left on the ground or direct physical encounters with humans or animals.

While Congress, the Dept. of Defense, NASA, your brother-in-law and beasts in the field gaze upward, precious little attention is apparently being paid by officials, at least publicly, to long-established reports of some very, very peculiar encounters between humans and somebody/something else on the ground.  Are there implications beyond our comprehension?  Are we aware enough to know what to look for?

There was reported an incident on the banks of the Pascagoula River in Mississippi on October 11, 1973, the details of which sent rational brains scrambling for answers destined to remain out of reach.  That is, how does one process an alleged double-victim UFO alien abduction involving a strange descending craft (?) witnessed by numerous onlookers and seemingly confirmed by radar, followed by a disturbing secret audio recording made during a "private" conversation between rattled abductees Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker, sitting alone in a room at the sheriff's office afterwards, as they remained legitimately puzzled and (especially Parker) frightened?

You probably know about the Pascagoula case because it made headlines all over the world, and books have been written.  I've referenced the case numerous times over the years, almost as long as this blog has been online, and if you wish to access all of those entries you may easily do so by going to the search engine at the top of the page and just type: Pascagoula.

However, you can do better by going to Frank Warren's UFO CHRONICLES site in my link list, because he has featured several up-to-date entries which far surpass what I discuss.  He currently displays an excellent wrap-up piece by researcher Philip Mantle, who draws from his book on the Pascagoula incident AND offers new information with visuals.  For that one, just click on the link below:

https://www.theufochronicles.com/2023/10/the-pascagoula-alien-abduction-smoking.html
 

Charles Hickson, and now Calvin Parker who died but weeks ago, are gone, but accounts of their terrifying experience -- reportedly ongoing in some fashion long after the initial incident -- will survive.

What comes down sometimes goes back up, to where we may know not.  What appears in the sky arbitrarily seems quite comfortable about coming down in locations where human hearts beat in terror, and where restless animals sometimes attempt a futile escape.  What happened to two fishermen on the banks of a river in Mississippi 50 years ago?  Whatever it was, the "catch" reportedly involving bizarre alien creatures with claw-like "hands."  May we suggest, like hell we're alone, either in the universe or in our psyche.

In the News Today:  Question:  How will Democrats initiate a new U.S. military draft -- almost inevitable, in my opinion -- by blaming the Republicans?  Now that Israel's incredible intelligence failure regarding Hamas and Iran has put yet another dilemma on America's doorstep, while even more international hot spots are destined to arise in the future -- as military recruitment efforts continue to fail under "Woke" stupidity -- strong Armed Forces will be mandatory.  Draft-age kids can't run to Canada this time because we have agreements (of course, there's always Mexico-o-o-o-oh oh).  We envision in the mist an army of illegal aliens to bail out Biden's butt, though that's a nightmare.  May we annoy everybody at this point by suggesting ever so gently that this further middle finger to Biden's non-leadership would not be happening under Trump or somebody else living in reality?  And -- six billion dollars returned to Iran?  Why WOULDN'T Iran assume, well, let's use the money we have to support Hamas and other terrorists because five billion more is on the way, and they'll spend THAT any way they want, despite "promises."  Strange how a Biden administration rabidly consumed by the non-insurrection of January 6 didn't learn a damned thing from an older September 11 series of incidents involving the World Trade Center and Pentagon.  We suffer under lies and morons and the mentally declining attired in authoritative clothing.  Can Israel's latest tragedy happen in the USA?  Well, when one considers an ongoing flow of occasional grade-A international terrorists captured at the borders, logic dictates a hell of a lot more made it in without apprehension.  Where are they?  What are they doing?  Again, thanks to the Biden bunch, those know-all, see-all, brilliant administrators lording over our lives like the dictator class they are seem to know very little.  Save us?  Who will do that?  After all, nobody wants to be a cop and nobody wants to be a soldier as Wokeness drugs the young and strangles traditional values.  So, is it unreasonable to believe that American families may eventually experience what Israel knows only too well?  Know what?  The monster extracted from under the bed almost always wears a human face.