Recently the news spread in paranormal circles that Kenn Thomas passed away last week on September 22ndNLwhich means a huge loss for parapolitics.
For those of you who have never heard of this funny word, you need to understand that in the field of alternative news and fringe topics: Parapolitics is the correct way to refer to the study of political practices and secret arrangements Not recognised by the public and mainstream media, with the intent to misinform or cover up a hidden agenda. It is the things that are conveniently left out of the history books by the victors who are allowed to write them.
The ill-mannered way to refer to this type of research? Conspiracy theory.
Kenn Thomas, founder of Steamshovel Press – co-author of the groundbreaking book The octopus, and author of many books and journal articles – was certainly more likely to be called a parapolitical researcher than a ‘conspiracy theorist’. After all, he came from a time when research into things like the JFK assassination (the “wake-up call” of many in his generation), the Gulf of Tonkin or the Waco massacre was done in the library instead of on TikTok . When you had to cite original sources and first-person interviews instead of YouTube videos and podcasts. When distrust of official versions was a sign of healthy skepticism instead of of ideological fanaticism.
If he pressed it, Ken would probably accept the “conspiracy theory” hat But with a caveat: there is a difference between a conspirator And conspiracy. One has an impressive library and large cupboards full of newspaper clippings and original documents; while the other has a messy basement office no one may come in with a garish notice board full of colored strings – and if you dare to tell them that you don’t see any ‘connections’ with the patterns they have painstakingly exposed, they get very angry.
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Perhaps it’s because Kenn often cited comedian Lenny Bruce as a personal inspiration, which helped him maintain a healthy sense of humor throughout his career, which is an excellent tool for keeping things in perspective and (more importantly) not taking yourself too seriously. I’ve listened to several podcast interviews with Kenn over the years (here are a few you can listen to on the Radio Misterioso website) and he is always laugh, or joke about how much money Mel Gibson should have paid him and his colleagues when he made the 1997 blockbuster Conspiracy theory.
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Kenn’s friends jokingly called him “America’s Most Beloved Conspiracy Investigator” as proof that he never took it personally when someone disagreed with him on a certain subject. Like I said, Kenn was old school before Twitter and Facebook ruined everyone’s public manners.
One thing that did What set Kenn apart from the rest of the old-school conspiracy field, however, was that he wasn’t afraid to “cross the lines,” so to speak, and delve into areas where more conservative parapolitical researchers would normally frown – namely the UFO phenomenon. His book JFK and UFOs combines the two fringe topics in a way that is far more intriguing – and plausible – than the usual sensational stories promoted at modern paranormal conventions.
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No, that was President Kennedy not murdered because he was about to expose the nefarious UFO cover-up; but the fact that a mysterious figure like Fred Crisman appears in one of the first great flying saucer stories of the 1940s – the Maury Island incident – And he was also investigated by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison for his alleged involvement in the Dallas events of 1963. *is* something that doesn’t seem coincidental. Garrison believed that Crisman was one of the “bums” investigated by the Warren Commission, and Kenn theorized that he was a hired gun working for the aerospace giant Boeing.
By the way, I had the chance to meet Kenn in person in April 2018, when he joined a group of friends and me for a weekend of sightseeing and camaraderie in New Orleans. One of the memorable things I remember from that trip was walking next to Kenn – who was already struggling with health issues – as our group was traversing the French Quarter looking for a restaurant, and he casually asked me my opinion about the JFK -affair. Two years earlier, the same group of friends visited the infamous Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, and that visit forced me to reconsider my assumptions about the 1963 magnicide (which was heavily influenced by Oliver North’s film).
I told Kenn that at that point in my life I wasn’t entirely sure that Oswald hadn’t been the “lone gunman” the Warren Commission had accused him of all along—unlike Bill Hicks, I I could see the road perfectly from that small window outside the book storage building that is now the JFK Assassination Museum, and it was not entirely ridiculous to me that Oswald had gotten incredibly lucky with that little crappy carbine he had ordered in the mail.
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At the same time, I said to Ken as we pushed our way through the crowd of drunken tourists and I kept an eye on his position: I thought the main conspiracy was lying not in the involvement of the mafia or the military-industrial complex’s goal to escalate the war in Vietnam; but in the way the CIA tried to bury the fact that Oswald had worked for them as an informant for years – the fact that Langley had not set off the alarm bells when Oswald visited the Cuban embassy in Mexico informing them of his plans to assassinate Kennedy (something the Mexican government informed their American partners) was more telling to me than all the speculation about magic bullets and second shooters hiding behind the mythical Grassy Knoll.
Ken just politely listened to me while I did most of the talking. I’m sure he could have made 15 different points to refute my naive assumptions before we even had a chance to reach our restaurant and sit down at a table, but instead he just kept quiet. Perhaps he was feeling tired from the long walk, but I prefer to believe that this experienced truth seeker knew the best lesson he could give this novice Mexican investigator. was to let him find his own answers.
The next morning, the entire group went on a road trip to visit the Metairie Cemetery, where Jim Garrison is buried. In contrast to the revelry of the night before, there was a palpable solemnity and – dare I say – holiness to the experience when our small group of Fortean friends arrived at the gravestone marking the final resting place of the man who took it upon himself to discover the truth about one of the most defining moments in twentieth century history – and before paid the price.
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Garrison’s grave is very discreet and modest. Besides us, there were no other visitors taking photos. A hundred years from now, perhaps hardly anyone will remember who he was and what he was trying to do. But I’m willing to predict that there shall are still a few curious individuals who keep their ears close to the ground and learn about these deep sociopolitical currents that shape the outside of our reality in ways many of us can barely imagine.
And those individuals will be immensely grateful to Kenn Thomas. Whether they realize it or not.
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