It’s been many decades since I first discovered Frank Edwards in a used bookstore – the kind that are all too scarce these days, with narrow low-lit aisles and paperbacks crammed floor to ceiling on unpainted wooden shelves.  While combing the paranormal section (which wasn’t labeled; I just knew where the old guy who ran the place stacked those volumes), I found Strange World.   A quick scan of the back cover and I was hooked.  I devoured the book and returned for more of the same.  Each of Frank Edwards’ texts chronicled allegedly true stories that seemed to defy the laws of physics and reality as we understand them.

Long before Edwards began penning his books, he had already carved a successful radio and television broadcasting career.  The longer Edwards remained on the air, the more he explored unorthodox subjects.  Like his on-air shows, his books recounted ordinary men and women’s encounters with ghosts, UFOs, strange lights on lonely highways, coincidences, synchronicity, and many other off-the-wall subjects.  In fact, Edwards’ extensive coverage of UFOs and what the government may or may not have known about them may have resulted in the cancellation of his popular radio show.

Strange World is just one of Edwards’s books in his “Strange” series.  There is also Strangest of All, Stranger Than Science, and Strange People.  Each text is very much in the same vein.  A sample of the chapter titles in Strange World gives you an idea of the gist of the book and the rest in the series: “She Dreamed A Headline,” “Ghost Lights,” “Does Science Follow the Flying Saucers,” “Freak Fires,” “Rocks from the Sky,” and “Lucky Animals.”  Edwards enhanced the veracity of the tales by including specific days, months, years, and locations associated with the incidents. He made it clear whether he personally investigated an incident or culled parts of the story from other sources.  At times, he recommended that readers seek out the original version of the tale for further verification of its authenticity.

Although there were always amazing discussions of UFO sightings and ET encounters in his “Strange” series, Edwards focused exclusively on ufology in Flying Saucers – Serious Business (1966).  Unlike the two-to-three-page recounting of unusual events found in the “Strange” volumes, Flying Saucers – Serious Business provides more extensive discussion of the UFO phenomenon, from early to ongoing sightings by ordinary folk.  As a time capsule, this is a valuable book.  It provides a snapshot of global public opinion regarding UFOs as America was on the cusp of landing on the moon.  For instance, it’s interesting to hear Edwards share Carl Sagan’s early take on unidentified flying objects.  Sagan eventually grew into a hardcore skeptic, always ready to dismiss any stories of paranormal phenomena as explained by ufologists, ghosthunters, and paranormal enthusiasts.  Yet in Flying Saucers – Serious Business, Edwards notes that

“In December of 1962, at the convention of the American Rocket Society in Los Angeles, the speaker was Dr. Carl Sagan, the Advisor on Extra-terrestrial Life to the Armed Services.  Dr. Sagan told his audience that mankind must be prepared to face the probability that we have already been visited by intelligent beings from elsewhere in the universe – and that they have – or have had – bases on the averted side of our moon.”  (196)

Edwards presents a plethora of witness accounts and information, but he doesn’t try to convince us that these unexplained aerial craft and sightings are coming from one specific location.  Nevertheless, it’s obvious that on a personal level, he believes our planet is being visited by outer space entities.  The same skillful reporting and conclusions are evident in Edwards’s follow-up volume, Flying Saucers – Here and Now (1967).

These days, many younger investigators of the Weird might consider Frank Edwards and his books outdated, but I suspect few would find them boring.  Who knows what other strange narratives Edwards may have penned, had he not died of a heart attack shortly before midnight on June 23, 1967?  Certainly, his death date is close enough to June 24 for most of us interested in this subject matter to raise an eyebrow.  June 24 is the date in 1947 when pilot Kenneth Arnold first spotted nine flying discs near Mount Rainer, Washington.  When asked about them, he noted their movement resembled a saucer skimming across water. With this description, Arnold unwittingly heralded the term “flying saucer” and effectively launched the modern era of ufology.

– Oscar De Los Santos