Kenn Thomas (born June 12, 1958) is a conspiracy writer, archivist, and editor and publisher of ''

Steamshovel Press ''Steamshovel Press'' is a zine devoted to conspiracy theories and parapolitics. The magazine was started in 1992. It was founded and previously published by Kenn Thomas. The magazine was named after one of Bob Dylan's song, From A Buick Six from Hi ...

'', a parapolitical

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

magazine. Thomas, who was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, has written over a dozen books on various conspiracy topics. These include ''NASA, Nazis & JFK''; ''Maury Island UFO'', about the possibility that

Fred Crisman Fred Lee Crisman (July 22, 1919 – December 10, 1975) was a fighter pilot and later educator from Tacoma, Washington known for claims of paranormal events and ties to 20th century conspiracies. In 1946, Crisman claimed to have battled with non- ...

was connected to the assassination of

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

; and ''The Octopus: Secret Government and the Death of Danny Casolaro'', about the

Inslaw Inslaw, Inc. is a Washington, D.C. based information technology company that markets case management software for corporate and government users. Inslaw is known for developing PROMIS, an early case management software system. It is also known ...

affair. In 2004,

Feral House Feral House is an American book publisher founded in 1989 by Adam Parfrey and based in Port Townsend, Washington. Early history The company's first book was '' The Satanic Witch'' (1989; originally published in 1971 by Dodd, Mead & Company) by A ...

published a new edition of ''The Octopus'', extending the suggestion of connections to the post-

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

world and

al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

. A new edition of ''Maury Island UFO'' was published by

in 2011 as ''JFK & UFO: Military-Industrial Conspiracy and Cover-Up from Maury Island to Dallas.'' Thomas calls his research interest "parapolitics", the study of conspiracies of all colors—from alien abductions and the

Illuminati The Illuminati (; plural of Latin ''illuminatus'', 'enlightened') is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on ...

, to the

John F. Kennedy assassination John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was Assassination, assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. Central Time Zone, CST in Dallas, Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Deale ...

and the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

. ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' called his work "on the cutting edge" of conspiracy. His name has become a by-word for a conspiracy theorist; enough so that baseball was described in print as involving "enough fishy behavior to keep Kenn Thomas swarming for years." Thomas appeared at

Conspiracy Con Conspiracy Con (shortened form for Conspiracy Conference) was an annual conspiracy convention begun in 2001 by Brian William Hall and took place in Santa Clara, California, USA. It was held on the weekend preceding Memorial Day until 2007 and h ...

in 2003 and 2007.Conspiracy Con: 2007 Speakers
/ref>

Bibliography

* ''Acid: A New Secret History of LSD'', David Black (introduction by Kenn Thomas), Vision, UK, 2003, paperback, * ''The Arch Conspirator'', Len Bracken (introduction by Kenn Thomas), AUP, US, 1999, paperback, * ''The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold'', Acharya S (introduction by Kenn Thomas), AUP, US, 1999, paperback, * ''Cyberculture Counterconspiracy: A Steamshovel Web Reader'', Book Tree, US, 2000, (2 volumes) * ''Inside the

Gemstone File The Gemstone File is a conspiracy theory document attributed to Bruce Porter Roberts. In 1975, "A Skeleton Key to the Gemstone File" appeared and is generally attributed to Stephanie Caruana. The "Key" is purportedly a synopsis of Roberts' document ...

'', Kenn Thomas and

David Childress David Hatcher Childress (born June 1, 1957) is a French-born American author, and the owner of Adventures Unlimited Press, a publishing house established in 1984 specializing in books on unusual topics such as ancient mysteries, unexplained pheno ...

, AUP, US, 1999, * ''The Little Book of Conspiracies: A Paranoiac's Pocket Guide'', Joel Levy (introduction by Kenn Thomas), Thunder's Mouth, US, 2005, paperback, * ''Maury Island UFO: The Crisman Conspiracy'', IllumiNet, US, 1999, paperback * ''Mind Control, Oswald & JFK'', AUP, US, 1997, paperback * ''NASA, Nazis & JFK: The Torbitt Document & the Kennedy Assassination'', Adventures Unlimited Press, US, 1996 paperback, * ''The Octopus: Secret Government and the Death of Danny Casolaro'', with

Jim Keith Jim Keith (September 21, 1949 – September 7, 1999) was an American author best known for the books "Black Helicopters Over America" and "The Octopus", co-written with Kenn Thomas, which details conspiracy theories around the death of reporte ...

, US, 2005, paperback, * ''Parapolitics: Conspiracy in Contemporary America'', AUP, US, 2006, paperback, * ''Popular Alienation: A Steamshovel Press Reader'', IllumiNet, US, 1995, paperback, * ''Popular Paranoia: A Steamshovel Press Anthology'', AUP, US, November 2002, paperback, * ''Saucers of the Illuminati'', Jim Keith (introduction by Kenn Thomas), AUP, US, 2004, paperback, * ''Secret and Suppressed II: Banned Ideas and Hidden History into the 21st Century'' Feral House, US Oct. 2008, paperback * ''Shadow Government: 9/11 and State Terror'', Len Bracken (introduction by Kenn Thomas), AUP, US, 2002, paperback, * ''

William Cooper William Cooper may refer to: Business *William Cooper (accountant) (1826–1871), founder of Cooper Brothers * William Cooper (businessman) (1761–1840), Canadian businessman *William Cooper (co-operator) (1822–1868), English co-operator * Will ...

: Death Of A Conspiracy Salesman'', various with contribution from Kenn Thomas, Inner Light, US, 2001, paperback,

References

External links

Steamshovel Press (official site)

Nov. 22, 2009 appearance on ''Coast To Coast''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Kenn 1958 births 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American conspiracy theorists JFK-UFO conspiracy theories Maury Island incident Date of birth missing (living people) Living people Science fiction fans Writers from St. Louis