About the Author

MARTIN SHOUGH is author or co-author of various books, papers, and reports, and has been involved in a number of notable investigations. He is a Research Associate for the National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena (NARCAP) and is the author of several NARCAP Technical Reports. He has contributed to the book "UFOs: 1947-1987" (Fortean Tomes, 1987) and the monograph "Report on Aerial Phenomena Observed Near the Channel Islands, UK, on April 23, 2007" (UPIAR, Torino, 2008 ), co-authored "Return to Magonia" (Anomalist Books 2015), and authored "Truant Boy: Art, Authenticity & Paul McCartney" (Monymusk Media, 2017). He has also published in the Journal of Scientific Exploration, Magonia, and Darklore. He has been a photolithographer, semi-professional musician, artist and gallery owner. He lives in the north of Scotland. WIM VAN UTRECHT dates his interest in unusual sky phenomena back to 1974. In 1994 he initiated CAELESTIA, a research initiative that seeks to fi nd explanations rather than promote mysteries. In 2007, together with Frederick Delaere, he set up the Belgisch UFO-meldpunt to monitor UFO reports in Belgium. He is co-author of two books: "Unidentified Aerial Object Photographed near Zwischbergen, Switzerland, on July 26, 1975" (CAELESTIA, 1995, with Frits van der Veldt) and "Belgium in UFO Photographs - Volume 1" (UPIAR, 2018, with Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos). His interests include photography and eccentric meteorological phenomena.

Reviews

"The research that has gone into Redemption is nothing short of staggering . . . . a worthy and necessary addition to the small library of scientifically and informationally weighty UFO volumes. From this day forward, no naïve reader ought to plunge into Fort's Book of the Damned without Shough with Utrecht close at hand. [A] reference work to be taken off the shelf whenever we encounter a Book of the Damned-derived ostensible-UFO datum and seek a second opinion. We couldn't ask for a more credible one."--Jerome Clark, Journal of Scientific Exploration"It is an exquisite pleasure to sit with a great work like Redemption of the Damned. The book shows how far you can go with critical source work, patience, thoroughness and cooperation, when exploring unfolding experiences, and how cautious you should be in interpreting experiences that lie far back in time and can immediately appear mysterious and inexplicable. . . It is an insanely thorough and admirable detective work documented in more than 400 closely packed pages, over 800 notes and, not least, very interesting photos, drawings, maps, tables, etc."--Kim Møller Hansen, Chairman, Scandinavian UFO Information"It is fitting and wonderful that in the centennial anniversary year of the publication of Charles Fort's iconic work The Book of the Damned in 1919 . . . Redemption of the Damned by Martin Shough with Wim van Utrecht, has appeared. . . . It should be studied intensely by anyone who investigates Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. . . The authors . . . bring a huge amount of research to focus on these 'damned' anomalies . . . . There is much to fascinate, learn and enjoy in this wonderful study. Redemption of the Damned. Vol. 2, Sea and Space Phenomena is planned, so there is more to look forward to from this highly recommended collaboration of Martin Shough and Wim van Utrecht."--Bill Chalker, The Oz Files"Now on the centenary of Charles Fort's first book, The Book of the Damned, comes a detailed study of this work. The authors have tackled all 82 of Fort's anomalous observations in the fields of astronomy, meteorology and atmospheric optics and subjected them to detailed critical scrutiny against period maps, investigation reports, and additional first-hand testimony. . . . Redemption of the Damned is set out clearly and precisely, and there is the promise of more to come. It is the sort of study that true forteans have long hoped for and will welcome unequivocally as adding considerably to what we know of Fort, his work and its implication."--Bob Rickard, Founding Editor of Fortean Times"Redemption of the Damned constitutes an accurate 'revaluation after one hundred years' of the work of Charles Fort, an author often cited, little read, even less understood. For the first time the eye and the skills of contemporary scholars have recovered the original sources of all the anomalous observations reported by Fort . . . subjecting them to a careful critical examination . . . in an attempt to find rational explanations, which has been possible in a large number of cases, while some well documented events remain unexplained. . . .Needless to say, it cannot be omitted from the personal library of every scholar or lover of unusual aerial phenomena."--Edoardo Russo, Centro Italiano Studi Ufologici "Damned fine research . . . . Each case is a model of how historical Fortean investigation should be done. . . . This is a remarkable achievement of not just Fortean study, but more general historical study..."-- John Rimmer, Magonia