I was fortunate enough to meet Nick Redfern at a recent convention in Houston, Texas, where we were both guest presenters. Although there are certain similarities between us both (we’re both British, prolific, and write about the paranormal for the same publishers) Nick has been doing this for much longer than I have – to the tune of about fifteen years longer.
He’s also a thoroughly nice bloke, as I discovered while chatting to him on an early-morning drive to the airport. I’m a sucker for signedf books, so I dropped by Nick’s table and picked up a copy of Keep Out! Top Secret Places Governments Don’t Want You To Know About.
Nick has written widely on a diverse litany of Fortean topics, ranging from UFOs and cryptids to MIBs, ancient civilizations, conspiracy theories and black-eyed kids…and everything in between. This particular book focuses on a number of secret, semi-secret, and in at least one case, possibly fictitious installations around the globe, each of which has some sort of connection with strange and bizarre phenomena. It’s essentially a whistle-stop tour of underground, undersea, and in one case space-based facilities that are said to host some truly out-of-this-world projects and technologies.
Along the way, Redfern gives us the low-down on the Nazi fascination with the supernatural and Noah’s Ark, clandestine programs designed to weaponize the weather and climate, assassinations, diseases, and a host of other fascinating and enthralling subjects, most of which may or may not be true.
There’s Porton Down, where the British government has tested some of its most lethal bio-warfare agents in years past (and, some claim, may be storing alien bodies today). Montauk, Long Island, was once the scene of the now-legendary ‘Philadelphia Experiment,’ in which a U.S. Navy destroyed — the USS Eldridge — was said to have been rendered invisible to the naked eye…and a hole was ripped in the very fabric of space-time as a consequence.
What guide to secret bases would be complete without coverage of the infamous Area 51, where recovered alien spacecraft are said to be stored, studied, and possibly reverse-engineered by government scientists? Redfern covers many of the stories that surround the base, including that of Bob Lazar, who remains as much of an enigma today as when his story first surfaced during the 1990s.
Redfern writes in an accessible and engaging style that makes for a fast-paced, page-turner of a book. It’s difficult to say just how much of this stuff is genuine, as he freely admits in several instances, but if you’re looking for an entertaining and thought-provoking primer on the subject of conspiracies and secret facilities, this book will not disappoint.
