From The Archives: James Moseley – Saucer Smear and Other Controversies

Moseley is the editor/ publisher of the 50 year-old ‘zine Saucer Smear. Smear has always been my favorite UFO publication because it concentrates on the people in the field, rather than the UFOs themselves. Moseley will occasionally publish new information on old cases or behind-the-story features on new ones, though. His book Shockingly Close To The Truth is a must-read.

On September 7th, 2003, Jim was in Los Angeles for the National UFO Conference. For some reason, he did not want to make the 5 mile drive to the studio for an interview, so we called him in his hotel room at the Beverly Garland hotel in North Hollywood. Ralph Coon, director/ writer/ producer/ editor of the Gray Barker documentary Whispers From Space was on hand to ask non-sequitur questions.

We delved into the history of Saucer Smear, Jim’s experiences with the classic flying saucer contactees of the 1950s-’70s, Al Bender and his Men-In-Black experiences, his history with a certain arch-fundamentalist skeptic and a longish discussion about Moseley’s best friend, the late Gray Barker, among many other subjects.

This was a very enjoyable interview with one of the legendary figures of UFO study, who also happens to be quite sensible and agnostic about the mystery, which makes him one of my favorite personalities.

Primitive recording and microphone techniques were in evidence throughout.

Photo: Moseley wonders who has stolen the film out of his camera at the 2004 National UFO Conference. Conference director Lisa Davis is baffled.