Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Gabriel Mckee

@secret-terror.bsky.social

190 followers 190 following 210 posts

Print culture, libraries, religion, science fiction, comics, PKD, Coptic language. "The Saucerian: UFOs, Men in Black, and the Unbelievable Life of Gray Barker" available now from the MIT Press.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Gabriel Mckee @secret-terror.bsky.social · Jul 7

"THE SAUCERIAN: UFOs, Men in Black, and the Unbelievable Life of Gray Barker" is available now from the MIT Press (and your favorite indie bookstores).

mitpress.mit.edu/978026204954...

Several copies of the book "The Saucerian: UFOs, Men in Black, and the Unbelievable Life of Gray Barker" by Gabriel Mckee. The cover image shows a disc-shaped craft emitting a ray of light over a valley filled with homes, trees, and satellite dishes.

1 3 8

Gabriel Mckee @secret-terror.bsky.social · 3d

I've written a teensy-tiny but on remaindered books used as set dressing for movies in the 1950s (and it's something I'm interested in looking more into, so-- following)

1 1 6

Gabriel Mckee @secret-terror.bsky.social · 5d

It's Bandcamp Friday and this is the best song I've heard all year
marklane2.bandcamp.com/track/yellin...

Yelling At Cars, by MARK LANE

from the album Yelling At Cars

marklane2.bandcamp.com

1 2

Gabriel Mckee @secret-terror.bsky.social · 6d

If you're a person who digs weird stuff who has read and enjoyed THE SAUCERIAN, please consider reviewing it for Goodreads or Amazon!
(And if you're a person who digs weird stuff but you *haven't* read it... you should!)

1 3

Gabriel Mckee @secret-terror.bsky.social · 7d

Good morning to everyone except people who respond to questions by posting screenshots of Google's AI Overview without comment

Gabriel Mckee @secret-terror.bsky.social · 14d

Thrilled to have been invited to appear on Binnall of America to talk Gray Barker and UFO narratives with the ever delightful @binnall.bsky.social !

Tim Binnall @binnall.bsky.social · 14d

This week on BoA: The Revival, author Gabriel Mckee joins us for a conversation about 'The Saucerian,' his fantastic book on the remarkable life and legacy of flying saucer publisher Gray Barker. We talk Men in Black, Mothman, contactees, UFO zines, and tons more. www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS6k...

Binnall of America: The Revival - E91 | Gabriel Mckee

YouTube video by Binnall of America

www.youtube.com

1 2 3

Gabriel Mckee @secret-terror.bsky.social · 16d

Stay tuned for the executive order declaring Bohabs a terrorist organization

Critical Hauntology @highway62.bsky.social · 16d

Uh oh. Gwar is escaping containment.

Get ready for a whole new generation of adolescents understanding that yes, listening to and watching this is the way to piss off their tyrannical parents.

Gabriel Mckee @secret-terror.bsky.social · 19d

Just deleted my Academia.edu account, and I advise everyone do the same.

It's not a repository. It's a grift.

(If you want my stuff, it's here: archive.nyu.edu/handle/2451/... )

3 10

Reposted by Gabriel Mckee

Dr. Sheila 🦇-is🎃n 🧛🏻‍♀️ @drsaddison.bsky.social · 21d

Academia.edu wants permanent rights to your likeness, signature, voice, name, etc. to be used in any setting. My answer was "absolutely not." Log in, click on "privacy policy" when prompted to accept the new terms (don't accept!" then find "account settings" @ dropdown, scroll down to delete.

2 21 31

Gabriel Mckee @secret-terror.bsky.social · 24d

It's a "story" in the same way that "Goodbye, Vincent" from THE DARK-HAIRED GIRL is a story-- fiction, sure, but basically intended for private reading by a woman he wanted to impress, not to make sense to a general readership

Reposted by Gabriel Mckee

Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 26d

If I don't see multiple ~media reporters~ columns about the extraordinarily irresponsible Wall Street Journal report from yesterday morning — and their extensive promotion of that inflammatory report — you all should just pack up and go home.

58 1.9K 9K

Gabriel Mckee @secret-terror.bsky.social · Sep 4

The current @forteantimes.bsky.social carries a five-star review of THE SAUCERIAN by the brilliant Andrew May, whose own book "Pseudoscience and Science Fiction" is an excellent resource. Just snippets of the review here, but check out the whole thing in the October 2025 issue!

Headline from book review, reading "Portrait of a ufologist. The biography of the man who first wrote of Men in Black reveals that he mixed fact, fiction and downright hoaxes to stir up the ufological pot." The details of the book being reviewed are: "The Saucerian: UFOs, Men in Black, and the Unbelievable Life of Gray Barker. Gabriel Mckee. MIT Press, 2025. HB, 368 pp., £30, ISBN 9780262049542."

Photograph of the cover of the book "The Saucerian," showing the book's title in lime green and yellow over an image of a hovering flying saucer emitting a beam of light over a valley filled with houses and satellite dishes. The text below the image reads: "The subject of this book, Gray Barker, is a case in point. Although he's far from a household name today-- even among serious ufologists-- his work, in the words of author Gabriel Mckee, 'played a key part in the development of the UFO macronarrative.' Mckee is a bibliographic historian by profession, which makes for a different but remarkably insightful perspective on the early development of ufology."

The final paragraph of a book review of "The Saucerian" by Gabriel Mckee. The text reads: "In a bizarre twist in 1957, Barker even proposed that one of his hoaxes had been perpetrated by the authorities in order to discredit ufology. Some people may find this hilarious, others may find it reprehensible-- but whichever camp you're in, Barker's lifelong stirring-up of ufology makes a fascinating story. It's one that Mckee tells with admirable clarity and attention to detail. Andrew May. ***** [five stars]."

2 2 13

Reposted by Gabriel Mckee

James Hell Brooks @kleinman.bsky.social · Aug 19

They're trying to convince everyone that building a Dyson Sphere around the solar system is more realistic than increasing the capital gains tax

Robert Evans (the Only Robert Evans) @iwriteok.bsky.social · Aug 19

building a Dyson sphere around the sun is an incomprehensible undertaking. building one around the solar system is simply impossible in even the wildest sci fi projections of the future

every statement Altman and his fellow tech oligarchs make is just as preposterous

Kat Tenbarge @kattenbarge.bsky.social · Aug 18

The people dominating our political landscape, culture, and economy are just so stupid and full of shit it's almost impossible to describe

24 360 1.4K

Reposted by Gabriel Mckee

Robert Evans (the Only Robert Evans) @iwriteok.bsky.social · Aug 12

we need to teach the 1930s properly so that people know the Reichstag Fire was exactly this stupid

Schooley @schooley.bsky.social · Aug 11

I just can’t believe our Reichstag Fire is the Big Balls Beatdown.

98 2.3K 11K

Gabriel Mckee @secret-terror.bsky.social · Aug 11

I'll be looking at the context of the song, both in The Cure/Robert Smith's career and the history of the site in Jerusalem that inspired it, and how the song both embodies and critiques imperialism and orientalism.

Schedule and details for the conference are here -- docs.google.com/document/d/1...

2nd Goth Music Symposium Schedule

2nd Online Symposium on Goth Music and Subculture Saturday 16 August 2025 9:00AM - 4:00PM (Pacific) Zoom Link: https://mtsac-edu.zoom.us/j/89113637730 Welcome 9:00am - 9:05am Noah Gallego Eastern ...

docs.google.com

2 2

Gabriel Mckee @secret-terror.bsky.social · Aug 11

Looking forward to presenting this Saturday at The 2nd Annual Online Symposium on Goth Music and Subculture. My presentation is on the Cure's "Wailing Wall," and is a sort-of sequel to last year's paper on "The Holy Hour"...

Flier for an online symposium. The text reads: "16 August 2025 - 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM (Pacific) - 'A Day'" 2nd Annual Online Symposium on Goth Music and Subculture." Alongside the text are two black-and-white images of black-clad musicians performing on fog-shrouded stages. [The flier also indicates it contains hyperlinks to the conference schedule and the Zoom link for the event itself, but this is just an image, not the original PDF. Both are available at the link in the post itself.]

1 3 4

Reposted by Gabriel Mckee

Talia Lavin @swordsjew.bsky.social · Jul 29

the US profoundly needs a children's rights movement. children are not property... they deserve opportunity and learning and autonomy and security.... and our country just does not acknowledge this

210 2.8K 13K

Gabriel Mckee @secret-terror.bsky.social · Jul 24

One of these things is... a lot like the other

1 1

Reposted by Gabriel Mckee

FLAVOR FLAV ⏰ @flavorflav.bsky.social · Jul 19

I saw Flavor Flav in the mirror

Bluesky @bsky.app · Jul 17

what's the most random interaction you've ever had with a celebrity?

420 2.1K 19K

Gabriel Mckee @secret-terror.bsky.social · Jul 16

Desperately hoping that this dope's typo manifests some actual subsidies for urban beekeeping

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · Jul 16

Right-wing columnist Charles Gasparino complains that Zohran Mamdani wants to hand out "free bees"

Tweet from Charles Gasparino:

I keep hearing that young people are propelling Mamdani because the city is so unaffordable.
The real question is whether young people should want to start their career here particularly by living in Manhattan. There are much more affordable places w good paying jobs, decent living standards and low crime. Mamdani handing out free bees will just make the place less affordable and Miami and Dallas more appealing

3 2 15

Gabriel Mckee @secret-terror.bsky.social · Jul 12

...and that was well before they won an Eisner Award! It's still a must-visit location any time I'm in Massachusetts. I'm thrilled that they're hosting me to talk about Gray Barker's impact on UFO narratives!
#bookevent #comicbookstore #UFOs #flyingsaucers #graybarker #booktalk #somervilleMA

Gabriel Mckee @secret-terror.bsky.social · Jul 12

This is a bit of a homecoming for me-- I worked at Comicazi when I was in grad school! At the time it was already the hands-down best comic store in the greater Boston area...

1 2

Gabriel Mckee @secret-terror.bsky.social · Jul 12

Next Saturday (July 19 at 5pm), come to @comicazi (Davis Sq. in Somverville) for a fireside chat about THE SAUCERIAN: UFOs, MEN IN BLACK, AND THE UNBELIEVABLE LIFE OF GRAY BARKER.

1 2 3

Gabriel Mckee @secret-terror.bsky.social · Jul 10

Bringing thaumaturgy to the final day of #SHARP2025

This account's holder (a white, cis-male-presenting person with sunglasses and a receding hairline) pointing to a street sign reading "No parking - Do not block drive - Magic deliveries only."

Gabriel Mckee @secret-terror.bsky.social · Jul 10

Both literatures thrive on "what ifs"-- So even though SF fans rejected UFO culture, the genre comes back to a lot of narratives that overlap with it.

Gabriel Mckee @secret-terror.bsky.social · Jul 10

Great question! The sociologist William Sims Bainbridge called SF "a highly effective cultural redoubt for deviant knowledge"-- a place where ideas that science has rejected can live on in fictional form.