It began in 1966 as a small stencil-duplicated bulletin put out by the Merseyside UFO Research Group called, rather predictably, the Merseyside UFO Research group Bulletin. The magazine rapidly gained a reputation amongst the conservatively-minded UFO community of the time as being a sceptical and disrespectful commentator of the foibles of the UFO scene.
As the editors increasingly realised that the UFO mystery was only a small part of a greater set of phenomena the coverage of the magazine widened, and MUFOB was a pioneer in Britain of the study of folklore in relation to UFOs. The work of controversial American researchers of the era, such as John Keel, and Frenchman Jacques Vallee, found an enthusiastic reception with MUFOB.
This change in direction, and a keen sense of the ridiculous kept the magazine in the forefront of controversy as a voice of the New Ufology, and kept the editors well supplied with letters of apopleptic fury from outraged readers like Fred O. Gardner. The range of topics the new MUFOB covered now spread far beyond UFOs (although ufology has always been central to the magazine) a new name was needed. With a nod to Jacques Vallee the title changed to “Magonia,” but the coverage and philosophy remained the same.
Now approaching thirty years of continuous publication the MUFOB/Magonia tradition of open-mindedness, sensible scepticism and a keen sense of humour helps to keep Magonia at the forefront of independent UFO and Fortean journalism in Britain and around the world.
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hey derren, is this something to do with why you’re coming to liverpool this week? i may start a ‘derren brown hunt’ this week. because im off work and have nothing in particular to do
hopefully see you (in the most non-stalkerish way possible)
karl
They are a spooky looking lot
Nice site. Read the part on headaches and close encounters. I’m in favor for looking for more normal explanations for those things. I relate most of my weird things to the body, although a few remain unexplained. Point is ofcourse as well that even though those brain ‘disorders’/'flaws’/impulses/responses can not always, quite often, be explained properly by medical science either, so the patients gets to live with something something not so liveable. They will have to put sort of control on top of them which other people don’t need to see to. With its backdrafts. Depression is often in the background and the brain/body seeks other ways as an outlet. Socially it didn’t work out so well either anymore at times for lots.
As others hide in their floor above their depressed core .. and socialize from there. These differences are quite clear between people .. between 35-45 there’s a change and it does not get better due to these changes ..
When people lack the awareness (that there’s something not normal in theirselves for quite some time already) they will adapt to things they see/hear as if it was the real thing, and their brain will search for explanation other than that there is something not normal in their body/brain. Just because they had no reason to see it like that. No-one told them. They quite often misused those for something social wise. Pushing them even further in their depressed selves. Not being aware of that either.
That’s only one possible reason, weak points in the body / brain will take its time to come to the surface (or never will sometimes).
Anyhow .. don’t dislike Magonia from what I’ve read sofar. Researching the interesting things around and search for explanations other than the most wanted.
Hi, Derren, and all your fans …
Thanks for giving us a plug, and apologies to any of your readers totally traumatised by the photograph of the Magonia Mobsters – it is pretty scary!
Just an update on your information. After forty years of publication, I closed the magazine late last year with number 99 (number 144 if you counted from the original Merseyside UFO Bulletin) simply because I felt that UFO research was just going round in circles (yes, I must have been pretty slow on the uptake not to have worked that out in less than forty years!)
We’re keeping an Internet presence at http://magonia.haaan.com/ where I’m building up an archive of almost everything that we’ve published since 1968, and there’s a blog at http://pelicanist.blogspot.com/ which is largely book reviews, mostly by our tame reviewer Peter Rogerson (on the right in the photo) and some general comment and waffle about ufology and suchlike. You’re all very welcome to visit.
I’m the tall guy at the back and the little chap with the glasses is John Harney who started the whole thing off in Merseyside forty years ago (we’re down in The Smoke now). the balb bloke is just someone who dropped in for a chat and a pint or three.
This photo was about ten years ago, we’re even spookier-looking now!
All the best:
John Rimmer, Once and Future Editor of Magonia.