Get into the mind of a UFO expert.

Former Fostoria resident James Nichols has just published his first book entitled “Case Files Revealed: the UFO Art of James Nichols.”

The book contains 40 of his best known UFO illustrations and contains secret stories behind each painting.

Nichols, who now lives in Tucson, Ariz., initially became interested in space and science fiction during his adolescent years during the 1960s. He grew up during an era when the whole country was “obsessed” with rockets and space.

“We were involved in a space race with the Soviets,” he said. “John Kennedy made the mandate that we would put a man on the moon by the end of the sixties and we were totally mesmerized by science fiction and space travel.”

When Nichols moved from Fostoria to Arizona in 1972, he concentrated more on southwestern landscape paintings, which consisted of mostly desert scenes influenced by the Arizona geography. His interest in space and science fiction really took off in the late 1970s when Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind were released.

“I got really involved with painting the scenery out here, its fantastic,” Nichols said. “But when Star Wars and Close Encounters came out, that really rekindled my interest in science fiction art.”

It was in 1980 when Nichols met Wendelle Stevens, the man who would change his future. Stevens was a retired Lieutenant Colonel and was involved with UFO research and Nichols became so impressed with his work that he offered to do illustrations for his research.

Nichols has never seen a UFO or had any unnatural experiences, but he is able to recreate people’s experiences with his art, including Stevens’ research.

“I have seen a lot of the things that people mistake for UFOs,” he said. “The luxury of being an artist is, if I can’t see it, I’ll make it.”

Nichols UFO artwork caught the attention of a TV producer in 1991 and Nichols became a co-host on UFOAZ Talks which was an award winning weekly UFO talk show that had many callers share their UFO experiences. The show was aired in many major cities across the country including New York City and Los Angeles. It aired from 1991 until 1997

Despite never seeing a UFO, Nichols is “99 percent” convinced that they do exist based on the experiences and stories told to him from many different people.

“I have heard countless stories that prove something strange is happening and that these people aren’t crazy,” Nichols said. “These people aren’t crack pots, farmers or just people looking for UFOs, it happens to serious people.”

Nichols also believes that the government is lying to the public when it comes to UFOs. Nichols refers to the Fire Officers Guide to Disaster Control, which is an emergency book in many fire stations. In that is a whole chapter explaining what to do in case of a UFO crash in the area.

“The government says that UFOs don’t exist, so then why is this in the Fire Officers Guide,” he said. “They just want to protect the American people and keep them from panicking.”

Throughout the years, Nichols has gathered enough information through other people’s real life experiences and has developed his own beliefs and opinions and he felt it was time to make a book about UFOs.

The idea came to him when the Fostoria native was called on to do a talk show two years ago and they asked him to bring a collection of his paintings to the station. Nichols thought releasing one big collection of his illustrations at one time was a good idea.

“It is the kind of book where someone doesn’t have to have a clue about UFOs but can still enjoy it,” he said. “It is supposed to be entertaining but informative at the same time.”

By NICK CARRABINE
Fostoria Review-Times