Hal, in charge of public relations for the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization for a time in the late seventies and early eighties, even put out a record album (also known as an LP for you folks who were too young to remember them, and still don't know what I'm talking about, nonetheless) featuring a few of his radio spots -- appropriately melodramatic, but certainly attention-getting, I must say.
In 1979 he hosted a well-attended UFO conference called "UFO '79" in California and, because I was at that point doing book and audio reviews for various publications, I decided to inquire about audio cassettes he was selling to the public. These were destined to be very interesting cassettes because Starr had an "all-star cast" of knowledgeable UFO speakers at the event.
Hal sent along a price list, but I really hoped for complimentary copies to review for publication. When I contacted him again, he very kindly sent me a loaner set intended for a paying customer, and per his advice I quickly dubbed the whole set and returned the tapes so he could make the sale to some unsuspecting second-hand buyer, and indeed I did review them for a couple of publications. In recent years I was happy to turn them over to Wendy Connors for conversion into digital format for her immense Faded Discs historical collection before they went the way of most tapes -- to the land of deterioration and extinction. By this time, I doubt that almost anybody would still possess copies of these important historical recordings, and by Hal Starr's own admission, he hadn't had orders for very many sets.
Origin: alienspress.blogspot.com
