FATE Sept-Oct 2010 Vol 63, No. 5
Fay Clark, the publisher of Hiawatha Books, who died on October 23, 1991, was an early mentor of mine. When I was just beginning to seriously explore the strange, the unusual, and the unknown, it seemed that Fay knew everyone in the psychic, paranormal, and UFO field from coast to coast. He opened many doors for me—and he opened corners of my mind that might have remained shut far longer if not for his guidance and inspiration.
An extra bonus for me was that Fay was an absolute dead-ringer for the great motion picture actor Claude Rains, even to his manner of speaking. Sometimes I truly felt as though I was receiving instruction from the Invisible Man, Sir John Talbot, or Mr. Jordan.
I want to share this remarkable account of a UFO sighting, circa 1973, from Fay in his own words:
"I had been investigating UFOs for 22 years, but the sighting that completely changed my view of the phenomenon occurred at Lone Pine, California. My wife and I observed a UFO resting on a small grove of aspen trees. We had been attracted to the area by a terrifically bright light that was so intense we were unable to look directly at it.
Clark’s Account
"Then the light subsided somewhat and we could see the clear outline of the object. All the way around it were openings in its side. The light began to grow until it covered nearly the entire area of the object. As it grew in size, it lost its brilliance and became a lavender color. When the light reached nearly the entire size of the object, the illumination began to shrink down again until it got to the very brilliant white portion again, which, if my judgment were correct, would probably have been about 20 feet in diameter. Then the light would again increase its size to maybe three-quarters or four-fifths of the size of the entire object, and it would be that lavender color.
"This process of expansion and contraction of light continued, and my wife and I realized that it was matching the rhythm of our respiration rate.
"We became aware that the object was increasing its tempo. We saw one edge of the UFO raise so that it was no longer level with the tops of the trees. In the length of time that it took me to turn my head, the object had moved ten miles out over Death Valley. I know it was ten miles, because we drove out underneath it.
"The thing that really amazed my wife and me was that it took off at that tremendous speed instantly—with no sound, no fire, no smoke. And all of the trees leaned with it. They were not blasted backward. We looked the area over carefully and found no more small limbs and leaves on the ground than one would find under any grove of trees.