Lee Shargel a Hoax!


Date: Tuesday, March 11, 1997
Source: By MICHAEL CABBAGE Staff Writer
Section: LOCAL
Copyright SUN-SENTINEL

UFONEY? CONTROVERSY ISN'T ALIEN TO AUTHOR

Even in the fantastic world of alien abductions, UFO crashes and massive government conspiracies, Lauderhill author Lee Shargel works close to the outer limits.
Armed with items he identifies as secret photos taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, debris from a flying saucer and a mark on his chest left by dolphin-like aliens, the science-fiction writer has been touring the country since November, publicizing his new novel, Voice in the Mirror. The story was inspired, Shargel says, by his real-life meeting with beings from another solar system in 1993.
Buoyed by Shargel's promotional talents and positive reviews, the book has been selling well. So well, in fact, that Oughten House Publications is gearing up for a second printing.
But Shargel's insider accounts of extraterrestrials at an international UFO conference in January have embroiled him in a cosmic-size controversy. The squabble is expected to heat up next week when Shargel is scheduled to address a meeting of the Mutual UFO Network in Los Angeles.
A group of outraged UFO researchers charges that Shargel has done the unthinkable: namely, fabricate evidence of alien encounters. A few claim he's a government agent spreading disinformation. Others say he's a flake.
"The fruit salad factor in the UFO community is a problem for everyone," said Shelle Thomson, a California UFO researcher who addressed the conference on alien contact. "It's hard enough to figure out what's really going on without the disinformation. That's what makes Shargel so annoying."
Shargel laughs off charges he's a fraud or a flake. He says all he wants to do is become the Stephen King of science fiction.
"Controversy sells books a lot faster, and I'll be remembered a lot longer," he said. "Don't you just love it?'' Shargel claims he and six other unidentified researchers met and photographed dolphin beings from a water-covered planet called Chulos while working on a government project in the California desert. The project's name, Shargel says, isn't important.
"While I was there with several scientists, we encountered, for a very brief period of time, three aliens," he said. "They were inside a very large bubble filled with water. I was the closest one to the bubble and I walked right over to it. "One of them lifted its hand toward me. They changed colors for about 10 seconds and then they were gone."
According to Shargel, when the dolphin creature reached toward him, it left a heart-shaped mark on his chest. The mark, a small, discolored V-shaped patch of skin above his stomach, signifies a special energy that protects him from evil, Shargel says. He senses that 20 other people in the world, including a Washington radio talk show host, have the mark.
At the sixth annual International UFO Conference in Laughlin, Nev., Shargel discussed the dolphin episode, along with other titillating revelations. During his presentation, he displayed an item he said was a piece of a crashed UFO given to him by an unidentified Coral Springs woman, whose father supposedly worked at Roswell Army Air Field in New Mexico.
Skeptics pointed out that Shargel's alien artifact looked remarkably like a toilet valve. Another critic charged that in one of Shargel's photos, a UFO appeared to be just pasted onto the background of another photo.
"In all of my years of following this stuff, we've never had anyone so blatantly attempt to pull the wool over people's eyes," said Bob Brown, president of the Denver-based International UFO Congress. "If you're going to make these kinds of claims, you've got to be prepared to back them up."
Shargel has yet to offer much in the way of supporting evidence that would rebut his critics. He simply says his interpretations of the items are just as valid as those of anyone else..
"These people got together and decided to appoint themselves the authorities on UFOs for the world," Shargel said. "They don't want people to make up their own minds."
Since the conference, Shargel has been the object of scorn and ridicule from many UFO buffs. One Internet site displays his mug shot on its "Galaxy's Most Wanted" list.
Questions about Shargel's credentials, as listed on his novel's book jacket, have heightened the controversy. A short biography claims he has a Ph.D., graduated from Northeastern University and worked for NASA on several projects, including the Hubble Space Telescope. The claims have all been disputed.
Shargel insists a mixup led to the erroneous Ph.D. reference. He actually earned a bachelor's degree from a northeastern university in New York, he said, not Northeastern University.
Furthermore, Shargel explained, he was never employed by NASA but worked on projects for several contractors at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. Goddard's public affairs and security offices have been unable to confirm that Shargel ever was there.
Although Shargel's standing as a UFO expert is under attack, his fortunes as an author have never looked better.
Oughten House has agreed to publish two more novels in the Chulosian Chronicles series, and a company spokesman says several Hollywood studios want to discuss movie rights. After a two-week West Coast book tour this month, Shargel plans to return to South Florida for a series of appearances in April and May.
As far as the criticism is concerned, Shargel says bad publicity still is publicity.
"As long as they get the spelling right, S-H-A-R-G-E-L, that's all I care about," he said. "Maybe I'll prove Andy Warhol wrong and keep that fame for a little longer than 15 minutes."



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