John Grant Fuller, Jr. (November 30, 1913 – November 7, 1990) was a New England-based American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

of several nonfiction books and newspaper articles, mainly focusing on the theme of

extraterrestrials Extraterrestrial life, colloquially referred to as alien life, is life that may occur outside Earth and which did not originate on Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been conclusively detected, although efforts are underway. Such life might ...

and the supernatural. For many years he wrote a regular column for the '' Saturday Review'' magazine, called "Trade Winds". His books include ''

We Almost Lost Detroit ''We Almost Lost Detroit'', a 1975 Reader's Digest book by John G. Fuller, presents a history of Fermi 1, America's first commercial breeder reactor, with emphasis on the 1966 partial nuclear meltdown. It took four years for the reactor to be r ...

'', ''

The Ghost of Flight 401 Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was a scheduled flight from New York JFK to Miami. Shortly before midnight on December 29, 1972, the Lockheed L-1011-1 TriStar crashed into the Florida Everglades, causing 101 total fatalities. Three of the 4 cockpit ...

'', ''Incident at Exeter'', and ''The Interrupted Journey''.

Writing

''Incident at Exeter'' (1966) concerned a series of well-publicized

unidentified flying object An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are ide ...

(UFO) sightings in and around the town of

Exeter, New Hampshire Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,049 at the 2020 census, up from 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood. ...

in the fall of 1965 (see the Exeter incident). Fuller personally investigated the sightings and interviewed many of the eyewitnesses; he also claimed to have seen a UFO himself during his investigation. ''The Interrupted Journey: Two Lost Hours "Aboard a Flying Saucer"'' (1966) tells the story of the

Barney and Betty Hill Barney and Betty Hill were an American couple who claimed they were abducted by extraterrestrials in a rural portion of the state of New Hampshire from September 19 to 20, 1961. It was the first widely publicized report of an alien abduction in ...

abduction. The Hills were a married couple who claimed to have been abducted in 1961 by the occupants of a UFO in the White Mountains of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

while returning home from a vacation. The book was the first to seriously claim that competent, reliable witnesses were being abducted by UFOs for medical and scientific experiments. The book remains one of the most influential in UFO history, and has been hotly debated since its publication. Like ''The Ghost of Flight 401'' three years later, ''The Interrupted Journey'' was turned into a made-for-television movie in 1975. ''Aliens in the Skies'' (1969) is based on transcripts from the July 29, 1968 Congressional Hearing Before the House Committee on Science and Astronautics where experts such as Carl Sagan and J. Allen Hynek testified on the possibility of UFOs. Fuller wrote ''The Great Soul Trial'' (1969) about the disappearance of Arizona Miner James Kidd and the later trial regarding his will, which left his fortune to anyone who could prove the existence of the human soul. The book was published prior to the final resolution of the case in 1971. '' Arigo: Surgeon of the Rusty Knife'' (1974) was about the life and purported supernatural healing powers of a psychic surgeon in Brazil. A poor review in

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...

led to a public disagreement between Mr. Fuller and the reviewer,

Martin Gardner Martin Gardner (October 21, 1914May 22, 2010) was an American popular mathematics and popular science writer with interests also encompassing scientific skepticism, micromagic, philosophy, religion, and literatureespecially the writings of Lew ...

. Gardner protesting Crowell-Collier's publishing of Fuller's book ''Arigo'' withdrew publication of his own (Gardner's) book. His book ''

'' (1975) deals with a serious accident at the Fermi nuclear power plant near Detroit. The book title was later the title of a song by Gil Scott-Heron on the ''No Nukes'' live album recorded by the

Musicians United for Safe Energy Musicians United for Safe Energy, or MUSE, is an activist group founded in 1979 by Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Bonnie Raitt, Harvey Wasserman and John Hall. The group advocates against the use of nuclear energy, forming shortly after the Th ...

. ''The Ghost of Flight 401'' (1976) was based on the tragic

Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was a scheduled flight from New York JFK to Miami. Shortly before midnight on December 29, 1972, the Lockheed L-1011-1 TriStar crashed into the Florida Everglades, causing 101 total fatalities. Three of the 4 cockpi ...

airplane crash in December 1972, and the alleged supernatural events which followed; it was eventually turned into a popular 1978 made-for-television movie. ''Are The Kids All Right?'' (1981) focused on

The Who concert disaster The Who concert disaster was a crowd disaster that occurred on December 3, 1979, when English rock band The Who performed at Riverfront Coliseum (now known as Heritage Bank Center) in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, and a rush of concert-goer ...

at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati on December 3, 1979. Fuller suggested that hard rock music's hypnotic rhythms mean the music "ignites and is responsible for unprecedented and potentially disastrous concert violence on a regular and continuing basis". He wrote two plays — ''The Pink Elephant'', which opened in 1953, and ''Love Me Little'', which opened in 1958, both on Broadway. ''The Poison That Fell From the Sky'' (1977) is about dioxin poisoning following a chemical plant disaster in

Seveso Seveso (; lmo, label= Lombard, Séves ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Monza and Brianza, in the Region of Lombardy. The economy of the town has traditionally been based on the furniture industry. Its name comes from the river o ...

, Italy. In reviewing Fuller's book, Jeff Greenfield, reviewer for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', commented that Fuller was known for "raising the most unsettling of questions"; Fuller was also known for his ability to obtain and use government documents in his investigations.

Personal life

Fuller was married to a

Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA) was a major American airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines, Inc. by a merger. The merger, approved on October 29, 2008, made Delta the largest airline in the world until the American Airlines ...

flight attendant who was the researcher mentioned in his book "Ghost of Flight 401". Fuller died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

in 1990.

Bibliography

Books

* ''The Gentleman Conspirators: The Story of Price-Fixers in the Electrical Industry'', 1962 * ''Incident at Exeter: The Story of Unidentified Flying Objects Over America Now'', 1966 * ''The Interrupted Journey: Two Lost Hours "Aboard a Flying Saucer"'', 1966 * ''The Day of St. Anthony's Fire'', 1968 * ''Aliens In The Skies - The New UFO Battle of the Scientists'', 1969 * ''The Great Soul Trial'', 1969 * ''200,000,000 Guinea Pigs: New Dangers in Everyday Foods, Drugs and Cosmetics'', 1972 * ''Fever!: The Hunt for a New Killer Virus'', 1974 * '' Arigo: Surgeon of the Rusty Knife'', 1974 * ''

'', 1975 * ''The Ghost of Flight 401'', 1976 * ''Poison That Fell from the Sky'', 1977 * ''The Airmen Who Would Not Die'', 1979 * ''Are the Kids All Right?'', 1981 * ''The Day We Bombed Utah'', 1984 * ''The Ghost of 29 Megacycles'', 1985 * '' Tornado Watch Number 211'', 1987

Notable newspaper articles

* "A Communication Concerning UFOs", ''Saturday Review'', vol. 50, February 4, 1967, pp. 70–72 * "Flying Saucer Fiasco", ''Magazine Look'', May 14, 1968, pp. 58–63 * "Aliens in the Skies: The Scientific Rebuttal to the Condon Committee Report", Putnam, 1969

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuller, John G 1913 births 1990 deaths American UFO writers Ufologists Deaths from lung cancer Place of birth missing Place of death missing 20th-century American non-fiction writers