October 6, 2010
Our sister site, UFOmystic, has just announced the death of a major figure in research into the unexplained. The death of Dr. Berthold Eric Schwarz comes as a surprise, a memory from the past brought forward quickly.
Schwarz’s research findings figured prominently in my first two books with Jerome Clark, The Unidentified: Notes Towards Solving the UFO Mystery (1975) and Creatures of the Outer Edge (1978), recently (2006) reprinted as a combined volume.
Specifically, in the Creatures book, Schwarz was the source of a remarkable story of an encounter that took place at Uniontown (Fayette County), Pennsylvania, on October 25, 1973. The event involved a UFO and a creature that sounded an awful lot like a Bigfoot. The case became a classic “high strangeness” incident that seemed far outside the norm, although it fit right into the times in which it was reported.
A psychiatrist, Dr. Schwarz wrote the event up for Flying Saucer Review (Vol. 20: 1, 1974) in an article entitled “Berserk: A UFO-Creature Encounter,” which pretty much summed up the case.
Now we hear of his passing.
Here’s how UFOmystic is noting his death:
Tim Green Beckley writes: “The sad news just reached us via Brent Raynes author of Edge of Reality (Inner Light Publications) that a Paranormal Giant has passed.”
Brent says:
“Dr. Berthold Eric Schwarz:
“The passing of a true Giant in the Paranormal Field It is with genuine and deep regret and sadness that I must report the passing of a long time and dear friend and colleague, Dr. Berthold Eric Schwarz, 85, of Vero Beach, Florida. Dr. Schwarz, a true giant in the field of ufology and parapsychology, passed away on Thursday, September 16. Born on October 20, 1924, in Jersey City, New Jersey, he engaged in private practice as a psychiatrist for nearly 25 years in Montclair, New Jersey, and then after moving to Vero Beach in 1982 continued for slightly over 20 more years. He leaves behind a grieving and loving wife of 55 years named Ardis, and a son and daughter, Eric Schwarz and Lisa Ericson, as well as one granddaughter named Kristi.
“In the fields of ufology and parapsychology, Dr. Schwarz had many friends. For this magazine he wrote many articles and put us in touch with many intriguing personalities, many of whom we interviewed for this publication….
A formal obituary is here.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Filed under Breaking News, Conspiracies, CryptoZoo News, Forteana, Obituaries