Hubbry Logo
Jerome ClarkJerome ClarkMain
Open search
Jerome Clark
Community hub
Jerome Clark
logo
7 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Jerome Clark
Jerome Clark
from Wikipedia

Jerome Clark (born November 27, 1946) is an American writer, specializing in unidentified flying objects and other paranormal subjects. He has appeared on ABC News Special Report, Unsolved Mysteries, Sightings and the A&E Network discussing UFOs and other oddities. Clark is also a country and folk music songwriter.

Key Information

Biography

[edit]

Clark was born on November 27, 1946 and raised in Canby, Minnesota, attending South Dakota State University and Moorhead State College.[1] He has served as a writer, reporter, and editor for a number of magazines which cover UFOs and other paranormal subjects. He has been an editor of Fate magazine and International UFO Reporter.[2][3] He also studied the UFO religion Heaven's Gate prior to their 1997 mass suicide.[4]

Clark authored the multi-volume The UFO Encyclopedia: The Phenomenon From The Beginning with its first edition published in 1992. Library Journal stated in its review of The UFO Encyclopedia that "A respected UFO authority provides a much-needed update of the [UFO] field with this new encyclopedia ... [it] is the most thorough treatment yet of this puzzling phenomenon ... the [encyclopedia] should be considered by larger public and academic libraries.[5] Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries wrote that "the articles are factual and balanced, with neither a believer's nor a skeptic's viewpoint predominating", and that The UFO Encyclopedia is "recommended for public libraries and undergraduate collections.[6]

In 1997 an abridged, one-volume edition of The UFO Encyclopedia, entitled The UFO Book: Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial, was published as a trade paperback. In 1998, The UFO Book won the Benjamin Franklin Award in the Science/Environment category sponsored by the Independent Book Publishers Association.

In its review of his 1999 book Cryptozoology A to Z, Salon commented that Clark and co-author Loren Coleman "show a touchingly supportive nature" for a subject often criticized for lack of scientific rigor.[7] Sunday Express combined its review of Clark's 2000 book, Extraordinary Encounters, An Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrials and Otherworldly Beings with another similar book entitled UFOs and Popular Culture by James R. Lewis, calling both books "inexplicably entertaining" and commenting that they "manage throughout to maintain a healthy rationality and openmindedness, neither over-sceptical nor too ready to believe the claims of the UFOmongers."[8] According to skeptical academic Paul Kurtz, "Clark attacks skeptics for being closed-minded and dogmatic, yet he is easily impressed by questionable evidence."[9]

Songwriting and music reviews

[edit]

Clark is also a country and folk music songwriter.[10] Clark has written songs which have been recorded or performed by musicians such as Emmylou Harris, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Tom T. Hall and has collaborated with Robin and Linda Williams.[10] He has also written a number of reviews of American folk music albums and CDs for Rambles magazine.[11]

Works

[edit]
  • Unexplained: Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena, third edition, 2012, Visible Ink Press, ISBN 1-57859-344-1
  • Hidden Realms, Lost Civilizations, and Beings from Other Worlds, 2010, Visible Ink Press, ISBN 1-57859-175-9
  • The Unidentified & Creatures of the Outer Edge by Jerome Clark and Loren Coleman. Anomalist Books, 2006. ISBN 1933665114
  • Unnatural Phenomena: A Guide to the Bizarre Wonders of North America, 2005, ABC-Clio Books, ISBN 1-57607-430-7
  • Strange Skies: Pilot Encounters with UFOs, 2003, Citadel Books, ISBN 0-8065-2299-2
  • Extraordinary Encounters: an Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrials and Otherworldly Beings, 2000, ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-57607-379-3
  • Cryptozoology A to Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature by Loren Coleman and Jerome Clark. Simon and Schuster, 1999. ISBN 0684856026
  • The UFO Encyclopedia: The Phenomenon From The Beginning (2-Volume Set), 1998, Omnigraphics Books, ISBN 0-7808-0097-4
  • The UFO Book: Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial, 1997, Visible Ink Press, ISBN 1-57859-029-9
  • Encyclopedia of Strange and Unexplained Physical Phenomena, 1993, Thomson Gale Press, ISBN 0-8103-8843-X
  • Earths Secret Inhabitants by D Scott Rogo and Jerome Clark. Tempo Books, 1979. ISBN 0-448-17062-0
  • The Unidentified: Notes Toward Solving the UFO Mystery by Jerome Clark and Loren Coleman. Warner Paperback Library, 1975. ISBN 0-446-78735-3
  • Strange & Unexplained Happenings: When Nature Breaks the Rules of Science by Jerome Clark and Nancy Pear. UXL Publishing. ISBN 0-8103-9780-3

References

[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia
from Grokipedia
Jerome Clark (born November 27, 1946) is an American author, researcher, and ufologist specializing in the documentation and analysis of unidentified flying objects (UFOs), paranormal events, and anomalous human experiences. His work emphasizes historical case studies and eyewitness accounts drawn from primary reports, often challenging both skeptical dismissals and unsubstantiated extraterrestrial hypotheses by prioritizing verifiable patterns in sightings and encounters. Clark has authored or co-authored over a dozen books, with his multi-volume The UFO Encyclopedia standing as a foundational reference compiling thousands of documented UFO incidents from antiquity to the modern era, distinguished for its breadth and reliance on archival sources rather than speculative narratives. As a senior research fellow and former board member of the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS), he co-edited the organization's International UFO Reporter, contributing to systematic investigations that highlight empirical anomalies in radar tracks, physical traces, and physiological effects reported by witnesses. While his research has influenced serious inquiry into aerial phenomena—predating government acknowledgments of unexplained sightings—Clark's focus on "high strangeness" cases, including close encounters with reported entities, has drawn criticism from both academic skeptics for insufficient mechanistic explanations and fringe proponents for rejecting unverified abduction claims without corroboration.

Early Life and Education

Childhood and Family Background

Jerome Clark was born on November 27, 1946, in Canby, , a small rural town in Yellow Medicine County in the southwestern part of the state. He was raised there amid the agricultural landscape typical of mid-20th-century Midwestern America. Publicly available information on Clark's family background remains limited, with no documented details on his parents or siblings emerging from biographical accounts focused primarily on his professional contributions. His early life in Canby, a community of fewer than 2,000 residents during the postwar era, coincided with the town's economy centered on farming and small-scale commerce.

Academic Training

Clark pursued undergraduate studies in history and political science at South Dakota State University and Moorhead State University (now Minnesota State University Moorhead). These institutions provided his formal academic training following high school in his hometown of Canby, Minnesota. No advanced degrees are documented in biographical accounts of his educational background.

Musical Career

Songwriting Achievements

Jerome Clark has co-authored several songs in the and folk genres, often in collaboration with musicians and Linda Williams. His compositions typically explore themes of rural life, loss, and Americana storytelling. Notable among these is "Don't Let Me Come Home a Stranger," co-written with and first released by Robin and Linda Williams in 1984; the song has received at least six covers by other artists, including Irish folk singer . Another key work is "Rollin' and Ramblin' (The Death of Hank Williams)," co-written with Robin and Linda Williams and originally recorded by them in 1988. This narrative ballad, recounting the circumstances surrounding country legend Hank Williams's death on New Year's Day 1953, was covered by on her 1995 album , produced by , where it contributed to the record's atmospheric blend of country and alternative styles. Clark also co-wrote "Famous in Missouri" with , which recorded for his 1984 album Natural Dreams on ; the single peaked at number 81 on the Hot Country Singles chart that year. Additionally, he adapted the traditional "Step It Out Mary" into "Step It Out Nancy" with , first performed by Robin and Linda Williams and covered by at least two other acts. These efforts underscore Clark's contributions to folk and country songcraft, with recordings and performances by artists such as and , though specific titles for those remain less documented in discographies.

Contributions to Music Journalism

Jerome Clark has contributed to music journalism primarily as a freelance album reviewer for the online publication Rambles.NET, where he has evaluated recordings in genres including folk, bluegrass, Americana, and blues since approximately 2003. His reviews typically analyze song structures, lyrical themes, instrumental performances, and artistic contexts, often spanning dozens of releases annually. For example, in a 2024 review of Special Consensus's Great Blue North, Clark praised the band's energetic renditions of traditional bluegrass material, noting their ability to evoke joy through precise musicianship. Clark also compiles yearly "best albums" lists for Rambles.NET, curating subjective selections from hundreds of listened-to recordings and providing brief rationales for standout works. These lists, such as his 2023 edition highlighting albums like ' What's Buggin' You? for its gritty return to form after a recording hiatus, reflect his preferences for roots-oriented music with historical depth. By 2023, he had marked two decades of such contributions, occasionally extending to book reviews on musical topics. Beyond reviews, Clark has written liner notes for albums, offering contextual essays on repertoire and interpretations. In the notes for Dakota Dave Hull's This Earthly Life (released circa 2006), he described the guitarist's arrangements of American folk and popular standards as memorable melodic explorations rooted in tradition. His journalistic output draws on personal expertise as a songwriter, though it remains centered on critical assessment rather than mainstream periodical features.

Entry into Paranormal Research

Initial Interests in Forteana

Jerome Clark's engagement with Forteana originated in his youth through immersion in the writings of , whose collections of anomalous events—such as unexplained aerial phenomena, spontaneous combustions, and bizarre natural occurrences—challenged conventional scientific dismissal of the "damned" data. Clark has reflected that encountering Fort's works at an early age profoundly shaped his intellectual trajectory, instilling a fascination with phenomena outside mainstream explanation, despite the professional drawbacks it later entailed. This foundational influence positioned Fort's methodology—aggregating empirical anomalies without dogmatic resolution—as a model for Clark's own inquiries into the unexplained. As a self-identified "skeptical Fortean," adopted an approach that emphasized rigorous scrutiny of reports while resisting premature rejection or acceptance, distinguishing his pursuits from both credulous belief and outright . His initial explorations extended beyond UFOs to broader Forteana, including , hauntings, and physical traces of anomalies, reflecting Fort's eclectic cataloging of interdimensional or extraterrestrial intrusions into earthly reality. By the late , this groundwork evolved into systematic investigation, as transitioned from passive readership to active documentation, compiling case files that highlighted patterns in witness testimonies and often overlooked by institutional . Clark's early Forteana pursuits underscored a commitment to primary sources and eyewitness accounts, prioritizing verifiable details over speculative theories; for instance, he scrutinized historical reports of "" waves in the as to modern anomalies, applying Fortean skepticism to discern genuine enigmas from hoaxes or misidentifications. This phase laid the empirical foundation for his later ufological work, where Forteana's emphasis on beyond materialist paradigms informed analyses of recurring motifs like luminous objects and entity encounters.

Formation of Scholarly Approach

Clark's scholarly approach to Forteana and UFO research emerged from his immersion in Charles Fort's writings, particularly (1919), which cataloged anomalous phenomena without dogmatic explanations, influencing Clark to prioritize data collection over hypothesis-driven speculation. This Fortean foundation emphasized skepticism toward conventional scientific dismissal of outliers, fostering a centered on archival compilation of sightings, documents, and witness accounts to reveal patterns in the unexplained. By the mid-1960s, amid a broader shift in toward interpretations among Fortean researchers, refined his method to distinguish "event phenomena"—verifiable physical traces like tracks or ground markings—from subjective experiential reports, insisting on empirical scrutiny to assess credibility. He advocated evidence-based inquiry, evaluating cases through multiple corroborations rather than isolated testimonies, which guarded against cultural or psychological contamination of data. Entering the 1970s as a key figure in organized , including roles at for UFO Studies (CUFOS), Clark solidified this approach through objective historical analysis, pulling together ephemeral sources into structured references that prioritized factual reconstruction over etiological debates. His work rejected , instead applying interdisciplinary lenses—drawing from history, , and —to contextualize anomalies, as exemplified in early contributions to journals like the International UFO Reporter. This rigor positioned his research as a counter to both credulous belief and blanket , aiming for comprehensive documentation amenable to future verification.

Ufological Contributions

Organizational Roles

Clark has been a prominent figure in the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS), founded by astronomer in 1973 to promote scientific inquiry into unidentified flying objects. He serves on the CUFOS , contributing to its governance and research oversight. Additionally, Clark held the position of past of CUFOS, aiding in administrative and strategic decisions during his tenure. As coeditor of CUFOS's International UFO Reporter, the organization's primary publication from 1976 to 2007 and revived periodically thereafter, Clark shaped the dissemination of ufological findings, emphasizing documented case analyses over . His editorial role involved reviewing submissions on sightings, investigations, and theoretical discussions, maintaining a focus on . Beyond CUFOS, Clark's direct organizational affiliations in ufology remain limited, with no verified leadership roles in groups such as the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). His contributions have primarily centered on scholarly output rather than operational leadership in multiple entities.

Key Investigations and Theories

Clark's scholarly investigations into UFO phenomena emphasized archival research, eyewitness interviews, and cross-referencing historical accounts rather than on-site fieldwork, often through his affiliations with organizations like the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS). A prominent example is his examination of the 1975 Travis Walton abduction near Snowflake, Arizona, on November 5, where logger Walton reported being struck by a beam from a hovering disc-shaped object and subsequently missing for five days, during which crew members passed polygraph tests supporting their non-involvement in a hoax. Clark analyzed the case's multiple witness corroborations, physical evidence like Walton's reported injuries, and inconsistencies in skeptical dismissals, concluding it exemplified "high strangeness" resistant to conventional explanations. In broader ufological inquiries, Clark documented cases involving physical traces, such as the 1966 Portage County, Ohio, UFO chase on April 17, where police officers pursued a large, lighted object leaving ground impressions and barkless tree limbs, attributing evidential weight to the officers' credibility and exclusion of mundane causes like or misidentifications. His approach integrated data, photographic analysis, and comparative studies with similar incidents, highlighting patterns of electromagnetic effects on vehicles. Theoretically, Clark advanced a folkloric-interpretive framework for UFO encounters, arguing that reports often mirror pre-modern motifs like fairy kidnappings, changelings, and visitations found in European and Native American lore, rather than conforming to a uniform extraterrestrial visitation model. This perspective posits the phenomenon as a culturally modulated expression of deeper psychological or interdimensional realities, evolving with societal anxieties—from 19th-century mysteries to atomic fears—challenging rigid physicalist hypotheses by noting inconsistencies like occupant variability and absurd behaviors defying interstellar logic. He critiqued reductionism for ignoring empirical anomalies while acknowledging cultural shaping, as seen in the shift from technological in the 1940s-1950s to humanoid interactions post-1952, urging interdisciplinary synthesis over dogmatic ET advocacy.

Major Publications

Encyclopedic Works on UFOs

Jerome Clark authored The UFO Encyclopedia, a multi-volume reference work that compiles detailed entries on UFO sightings, encounters, investigations, theories, hoaxes, and associated personalities from historical antiquity to modern times. Initially released in three separate volumes between 1990 and 1996—covering UFOs in the 1980s (1990), The Emergence of a Phenomenon: UFO Sightings from Antiquity to 1959 (1992), and subsequent periods up to the mid-1990s—the encyclopedia adopted an alphabetical format to systematically document the phenomenon's evolution. The second edition, published in 1998 by Omnigraphics, consolidated the content into two volumes titled The Phenomenon from the Beginning (Volume 1: A–K; Volume 2: L–Z), expanding coverage to include global reports, scientific debates, and cultural impacts while emphasizing primary sources and eyewitness accounts. Subsequent omnibus editions, including a revised third edition in two volumes around 2003 and a fourth edition post-2020, incorporated updates from Clark's ongoing research, such as newly declassified documents and post-1990s cases, maintaining its status as a foundational text in ufological scholarship. An abridged version, The UFO Book: Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial (Visible Ink Press, 1998), distills key entries into a single accessible volume with over 200 alphabetically arranged topics, including ties, official explanations, and photographic analyses, drawing directly from the parent encyclopedia's framework. Clark's approach prioritizes chronological and evidential detail over speculative narratives, though entries reflect his view of UFOs as a persistent, multifaceted anomaly warranting empirical scrutiny rather than dismissal.

Books on Anomalous Phenomena

Jerome Clark has compiled extensive documentation of reported anomalous events in books that extend beyond to encompass , apparitions, poltergeists, and unexplained natural occurrences, emphasizing eyewitness testimonies, historical precedents, and available physical evidence without endorsing interpretations. His 1993 work Unexplained!: Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena, published by Visible Ink Press, catalogs over 300 cases spanning phenomena like encounters, fairy sightings, bizarre animal rains, crop circles, and , sourced from archival records, newspapers, and investigator reports dating back centuries. Clark applies a case-study method, cross-referencing claims against skeptical analyses where available, such as debunkings of hoax elements in some cryptid reports, while highlighting patterns in witness descriptions that resist easy dismissal. In Strange and Unexplained Phenomena (1997, Gale Research), Clark surveys a broader array of anomalies including ghosts, sea serpents, and , integrating scientific hypotheses like for some events alongside unresolved testimonies, such as 19th-century accounts of luminous humanoids. The book prioritizes verifiable documentation, citing over 100 historical sources, and critiques cultural influences on perception without rejecting anomalous reports outright. Unnatural Phenomena: A Guide to the Bizarre Wonders of (2003, ABC-CLIO) focuses geographically on continental U.S. and Canadian cases, detailing over 200 entries on topics from vanishing hitchhikers to lights, with timelines and maps correlating events to seismic activity or clusters. Clark incorporates geophysical data, noting correlations like electromagnetic anomalies preceding some sightings, while documenting evidential gaps such as lack of photographic corroboration in pre-20th-century claims. The Encyclopedia of Strange and Unexplained Physical Phenomena (1998) expands to 150 global entries, including searches and UFO-adjacent events like , supported by photographs, diagrams, and bibliographic references to primary investigations. Clark's entries balance proponent and skeptic viewpoints, such as weighing geological surveys against in ark hunts, underscoring the persistence of reports despite technological scrutiny.

Reception and Criticisms

Scholarly Recognition

Jerome Clark's contributions to the documentation of UFO and anomalous phenomena have earned recognition primarily within organizations dedicated to scientific inquiry into unconventional topics. In 2008, the (SSE), which publishes the peer-reviewed Journal of Scientific Exploration, awarded him the Dinsdale Award for significant contributions to the expansion of human understanding through his extensive research and writing on unexplained phenomena. This honor acknowledges his role as a chronicler of UFO history, emphasizing empirical case compilation over speculative theorizing. His multi-volume UFO Encyclopedia (third edition, 2018) has been reviewed positively in the SSE's Journal of Scientific Exploration, where it is described as a "massive undertaking" supported by decades of , serving as a foundational reference for over 1,500 pages of detailed entries on UFO sightings and related events from historical beginnings through the late . The work's third edition, spanning volumes A–M and N–Z, buttresses entries with primary sources and avoids unsubstantiated claims, earning praise for its comprehensive scope despite the field's marginal status in mainstream academia. Clark's encyclopedic efforts are cited in scholarly contexts exploring UFOs and hotspots, as evidenced by references in SSE publications that integrate his data for analyzing patterns in anomalous reports. However, broader academic endorsement remains limited, reflecting ufology's exclusion from conventional peer-reviewed disciplines due to evidentiary challenges and institutional toward non-falsifiable claims. His recognition thus centers on niche communities valuing historical rigor over experimental verification, with no documented awards from mainstream scientific bodies like the .

Skeptical and Believer Perspectives

Skeptics, particularly those affiliated with organizations like the , have faulted Clark for advancing questionable ufological assertions, such as his contention in a 1989 essay that the MJ-12 documents—purporting a secret government UFO crash retrieval program—had "not been successfully debunked" despite detailed refutations by investigator . Reviews in skeptical publications have highlighted perceived imbalances in Clark's contributions, noting that UFO sections in edited volumes he participated in often lack countervailing skeptical analyses and instead frame debunkers as obstructive to "overwhelming" evidence, thereby reinforcing narratives over mundane explanations like misidentifications or hoaxes. Such critiques portray Clark's encyclopedic style as inadvertently legitimizing fringe claims by cataloging them exhaustively without sufficient emphasis on disconfirming evidence or alternative causal mechanisms, such as psychological or cultural factors driving UFO reports. In contrast, ufologists and proponents of anomalous phenomena regard Clark as a paragon of rigorous within the field, commending his self-described toward simplistic extraterrestrial interpretations and his insistence on physical evidence over anecdotal testimony. Fellow researchers, including historian David Halperin, have praised Clark's even-handed documentation in works like The UFO Encyclopedia, which chronicles sightings, theories, and critiques without dogmatic bias, despite his personal leanings toward alien visitation hypotheses. This approach has earned him enduring respect across the ufological spectrum, with investigators like Kevin Randle noting that Clark's publications avoid privileging either believer or skeptic viewpoints, instead prioritizing verifiable facts and historical context to foster informed inquiry into unidentified aerial phenomena.

Controversies in Ufology

Jerome Clark's advocacy for the objective study of UFO phenomena has positioned him amid longstanding tensions between and scientific skeptics. Skeptics associated with organizations like the (CSI, formerly CSICOP) have criticized Clark for documenting anomalous reports without sufficient debunking, arguing that such inclusions perpetuate . For example, in a 1978 analysis, skeptics highlighted Clark's and John Keel's acceptance of purported photographs as authentic evidence of the , viewing it as emblematic of uncritical endorsement of fringe claims. Clark has countered by emphasizing the empirical limitations of debunkers' methodologies, such as Philip Klass's tendency to equate UFO research with irrational extremism, including comparisons of academic UFO symposia to gatherings. Internally within ufology, Clark's scholarly focus on "high strangeness"—UFO cases from the 1960s onward featuring bizarre, paranormally inflected elements like time distortions, humanoid encounters with resemblances, or psychological aftereffects—has fueled debates over the field's direction. His dedicated volume High Strangeness: UFOs from 1960 through 1979 chronicles hundreds of such reports, positing them as integral to understanding the phenomenon's full scope rather than dismissible outliers. This perspective, echoing influences from and , challenges strict adherents to the (ETH), who contend that prioritizing physical-trace landings and radar-visual confirmations is essential to establishing scientific credibility, while high-strangeness narratives risk conflating UFOs with unrelated or hallucinations. Critics within argue that Clark's inclusive inadvertently bolsters skeptical dismissals by amplifying low-evidentiality accounts often labeled as the "least credible" subset of reports. Nonetheless, Clark maintains that the sheer volume of corroborated sightings—tens of thousands since —defies reduction to cultural artifacts or individual pathologies, urging a multidisciplinary approach over premature fixation. These debates underscore broader ufological schisms: materialist proponents versus interdimensional or control-system theorists, with Clark's even-handed encyclopedias serving as reference points for both sides despite accusations of insufficient rigor from skeptics and over-broadness from purists. His resistance to outright condemnation of experiencers or contactees, while privileging verifiable data, has preserved his reputation as a but perpetuated contention over what constitutes in pursuing causal explanations for the UFO enigma.

References

Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.