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A Paranormal File
OPENED: An Investigator's Astonishing File
Bestselling journalist and author John Pinkney has devoted most of his career to investigating paranormal events at first hand.
In this unique book he describes some of his most extraordinary cases:
* Australia's Bass Strait Vanishings: 1978, 1935, 1934
On October 21 1978, young pilot Frederick Valentich disappears without trace after reporting that he's being 'orbited' by an eerie green-lit craft. Despite massive air force and naval searches, neither Valentich nor his plane are ever found. Old newspaper reports from 1934 and 1935 show that two other planes had vanished in uncannily similar circumstances - their pilots, crew and passengers lost forever..
* The magazine article that unintentionally predicted Princess Diana's car-crash death - three weeks before it happened.
* The newspaper photographer whose cabdriver handed him seven spectacularly clear snapshots of a saucer-shaped craft maneuvering above a tropical Australian park.
* The dead husband whose silhouette appeared in a photograph at his widow's second wedding.
* Leonski - the insane World War 2 killer - whose name was found to be chillingly 'embedded' in his victims' surnames. And much more.
Pinkney presents his first-hand reports in an open-mindedly analytical style. After studying the cases in these pages, you might find yourself agreeding with biologist J.B.S. Haldane, who wrote:
'The universe is not only queerer than we imagine - it is queerer than we CAN imagine.'
Bestselling journalist and author John Pinkney has devoted most of his career to investigating paranormal events at first hand.
In this unique book he describes some of his most extraordinary cases:
* Australia's Bass Strait Vanishings: 1978, 1935, 1934
On October 21 1978, young pilot Frederick Valentich disappears without trace after reporting that he's being 'orbited' by an eerie green-lit craft. Despite massive air force and naval searches, neither Valentich nor his plane are ever found. Old newspaper reports from 1934 and 1935 show that two other planes had vanished in uncannily similar circumstances - their pilots, crew and passengers lost forever..
* The magazine article that unintentionally predicted Princess Diana's car-crash death - three weeks before it happened.
* The newspaper photographer whose cabdriver handed him seven spectacularly clear snapshots of a saucer-shaped craft maneuvering above a tropical Australian park.
* The dead husband whose silhouette appeared in a photograph at his widow's second wedding.
* Leonski - the insane World War 2 killer - whose name was found to be chillingly 'embedded' in his victims' surnames. And much more.
Pinkney presents his first-hand reports in an open-mindedly analytical style. After studying the cases in these pages, you might find yourself agreeding with biologist J.B.S. Haldane, who wrote:
'The universe is not only queerer than we imagine - it is queerer than we CAN imagine.'
253 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2000
6 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
John Pinkney
34 books46 followersJOHN PINKNEY is a bestselling Australian author, screenwriter and journalist.
*His newest ebook is the novel Grave Injustice: An Afterlife Odyssey.
This dark, pacy science fiction thriller draws on John's career-long research into the paranormal - and the strange phenomena that may occur beyond the barriers of death.
Over the years, he has spoken to numerous people who clinically died and were then resuscitated - returning to describe landscapes and events of breathtaking beauty. The testimonies of these returnees from the brink inspired John to write Grave Injustice.
The narrative extends far beyond NDEs (near-death experiences.) It's set in Sydney and tropical Queensland; describing human love, courage and sacrifice, both earthly and transcendental.
Ranged against the young lovers are a corporate cell of scientifically accomplished soul-thieves,who draw their ideas from Dante's nine circles of Hell.
Terrifyingly, the novel portrays brutal conflict between good and evil. And it's hard, for a host of reasons, to predict which will prevail.
John Pinkney's other ebooks include Haunted: the Ghosts that Share Our World...Australia's Strangest Mysteries #1 and #2...A Paranormal File: An Australian Investigator's Casebook...The Mary Celeste Syndrome...Alien Airships Over Old America...Thirst: an Inheritance of Evil...The Girl Who Touched Infinity...The Key and the Fountain.
John's original screenplay Thirst, directed by Rod Hardy and produced by Anthony I. Ginnane won Best Horror
Film prize at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival. His 3-act drama, The Face in the Mirror, was co-awarded Best Stage Play in the General Motors/Elizabethan Theatre Trust competition.
He has written several hundred drama episodes for TV - and his paperbooks, including such titles as Great Australian Mysteries 1 & 2, Haunted, Unexplained and Unsolved have been numerously reprinted. His 3-volume Mazeworld series has appeared in USA and UK and in translation through Europe. His logic puzzle books Think!, Think Again! and Wordgames have also been published internationally.
For many years John was a prominent writer with Australia's Age newspaper, subsequently moving his column, Pinkney Place to Rupert Murdoch's national daily The Australian. Here he covered the century's most extraordinary UFO case: the disappearance without trace of young pilot Frederick Valentich, after radioing Flight Services that he was being 'orbited' by a gigantic craft. [full story and photographs are in A Paranormal File.]
John has had a lifelong interest in the unsolved and unexplained. His fascination with the unknown took its most practical form when, with lawyer-friend Peter Norris, he co-founded the organization known today as VUFORS - the Victorian UFO Research Society. John and Peter collaborated to host the weekly radio series The Truth Behind UFOs and Do You Believe in Ghosts?
Over the years John Pinkney's broadcasts and columns have attracted a large mail from listeners and readers describing their brushes with the bizarre. Readers of his books continue the input.
*His newest ebook is the novel Grave Injustice: An Afterlife Odyssey.
This dark, pacy science fiction thriller draws on John's career-long research into the paranormal - and the strange phenomena that may occur beyond the barriers of death.
Over the years, he has spoken to numerous people who clinically died and were then resuscitated - returning to describe landscapes and events of breathtaking beauty. The testimonies of these returnees from the brink inspired John to write Grave Injustice.
The narrative extends far beyond NDEs (near-death experiences.) It's set in Sydney and tropical Queensland; describing human love, courage and sacrifice, both earthly and transcendental.
Ranged against the young lovers are a corporate cell of scientifically accomplished soul-thieves,who draw their ideas from Dante's nine circles of Hell.
Terrifyingly, the novel portrays brutal conflict between good and evil. And it's hard, for a host of reasons, to predict which will prevail.
John Pinkney's other ebooks include Haunted: the Ghosts that Share Our World...Australia's Strangest Mysteries #1 and #2...A Paranormal File: An Australian Investigator's Casebook...The Mary Celeste Syndrome...Alien Airships Over Old America...Thirst: an Inheritance of Evil...The Girl Who Touched Infinity...The Key and the Fountain.
John's original screenplay Thirst, directed by Rod Hardy and produced by Anthony I. Ginnane won Best Horror
Film prize at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival. His 3-act drama, The Face in the Mirror, was co-awarded Best Stage Play in the General Motors/Elizabethan Theatre Trust competition.
He has written several hundred drama episodes for TV - and his paperbooks, including such titles as Great Australian Mysteries 1 & 2, Haunted, Unexplained and Unsolved have been numerously reprinted. His 3-volume Mazeworld series has appeared in USA and UK and in translation through Europe. His logic puzzle books Think!, Think Again! and Wordgames have also been published internationally.
For many years John was a prominent writer with Australia's Age newspaper, subsequently moving his column, Pinkney Place to Rupert Murdoch's national daily The Australian. Here he covered the century's most extraordinary UFO case: the disappearance without trace of young pilot Frederick Valentich, after radioing Flight Services that he was being 'orbited' by a gigantic craft. [full story and photographs are in A Paranormal File.]
John has had a lifelong interest in the unsolved and unexplained. His fascination with the unknown took its most practical form when, with lawyer-friend Peter Norris, he co-founded the organization known today as VUFORS - the Victorian UFO Research Society. John and Peter collaborated to host the weekly radio series The Truth Behind UFOs and Do You Believe in Ghosts?
Over the years John Pinkney's broadcasts and columns have attracted a large mail from listeners and readers describing their brushes with the bizarre. Readers of his books continue the input.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 22, 2016
What can I say? I do believe that I'm rapidly becoming a big fan of author John Pinkney! 'A Paranormal File' is only the second book of his that I've yet read, but I may have actually enjoyed this one even more than the first. What I liked the most about it is that the ever inquisitive Mr. Pinkney doesn't just stick to the usual round of ghost stories in this volume, but delves much deeper into the wider paranormal realm, serving up a surprisingly diverse smorgasbord of curious dishes; from tantalizing tales of inexplicable curses, to bizarre coincidences, to reincarnation, to out of body experiences, UFO phenomena, and a whole lot more!
Admittedly, some readers may turn up their noses at the pan-optic potpourri treatment that the author offers up in this particular collection of spooky stories, but I for one found it quite a breath of supernaturally infused fresh air. But sure, if you're looking for the run of the mill collection of nothing but ghost stories, eyewitness reports of cryptid creatures, or the usual litany about UFOs and government conspiracies (yada yada yada), you'll probably fail to appreciate the finer points of a fine collection of paranormal oddities such as this. Though there definitely IS a smattering of most of all of the above in the book, the author doesn't dwell excessively on any of it - which I honestly found refreshing, and a very welcome change of pace for this type of literary fare.
Yes, I personally read a whole lot of separate books that deal with only one of a host of supernaturally themed topics, but I wouldn't dismiss a wonderfully diverse collection such as this. Though far from flawless, John Pinkney's 'A Paranormal File' is actually quite well composed overall. What's more, the author not only comes off as being highly knowledgeable about the subject matter, but he also manages to be very personable in his writing, while not distracting overmuch from the topic at hand. Sometimes the man is even downright insightful!
But then I started this review by saying that I'm rapidly becoming a fan of Mr. Pinkney, did I not? So I guess that means that I'm somewhat biased. Oh well. I really enjoyed this book and am now thoroughly sold on the author's work. And hey, it's loads better than reading yet another poorly written and horrifically under-edited ghost story collection by yet another fledgling author who obviously doesn't even have half the experience reporting on the paranormal that John Pinkney most certainly has.
Admittedly, some readers may turn up their noses at the pan-optic potpourri treatment that the author offers up in this particular collection of spooky stories, but I for one found it quite a breath of supernaturally infused fresh air. But sure, if you're looking for the run of the mill collection of nothing but ghost stories, eyewitness reports of cryptid creatures, or the usual litany about UFOs and government conspiracies (yada yada yada), you'll probably fail to appreciate the finer points of a fine collection of paranormal oddities such as this. Though there definitely IS a smattering of most of all of the above in the book, the author doesn't dwell excessively on any of it - which I honestly found refreshing, and a very welcome change of pace for this type of literary fare.
Yes, I personally read a whole lot of separate books that deal with only one of a host of supernaturally themed topics, but I wouldn't dismiss a wonderfully diverse collection such as this. Though far from flawless, John Pinkney's 'A Paranormal File' is actually quite well composed overall. What's more, the author not only comes off as being highly knowledgeable about the subject matter, but he also manages to be very personable in his writing, while not distracting overmuch from the topic at hand. Sometimes the man is even downright insightful!
But then I started this review by saying that I'm rapidly becoming a fan of Mr. Pinkney, did I not? So I guess that means that I'm somewhat biased. Oh well. I really enjoyed this book and am now thoroughly sold on the author's work. And hey, it's loads better than reading yet another poorly written and horrifically under-edited ghost story collection by yet another fledgling author who obviously doesn't even have half the experience reporting on the paranormal that John Pinkney most certainly has.
Displaying 1 of 1 review