“An Account of a Meeting with Denizens of Another World, 1871 reports to be just that, an account of meeting between William Robert Loosley and ‘perhaps’ visitors from another world. It consists of a central essay, supposedly written by Loosley, but found in the papers of a long dead Langford relative. This is surrounded by a short introduction and lengthier following explanation, both courtesy of Mr (or should that be Dr) Langford.

The account itself is entertaining enough and encourages the reader to guess at the strange sights reported by the essayist. Some are obvious, such as the Camera device and Holographic projectors, whilst some are fairly cryptic requiring the reader to speculate, with the advantage of 20th Century knowledge, much in the manner that Loosley himself speculates from a 19th Century standpoint.

All the sights are then explained, from a slightly sceptical viewpoint in the later sections. In these later sections the book shines. Langford writes with just the right mixture of incredulity and disbelief, and manages to carry off the spoof perfectly.

Unquestionably the book is indeed a spoof, which the author now admits, but which has nevertheless fooled many would be believers. Most famously these include Whitley Strieber, of abduction and anal probing fame, who quotes the central narrative, without permission in his 1989 book Majestic. Mr Strieber is one of those charmless ‘Chariot of the Gods’ style cranks who, apparently, refuses to believe that this is a work of fiction.”

If you’re still interested, there are copies of Langford’s book available from Amazon starting at a penny apiece.

S