My friend Kithra of the blog Kithra’s Krystal Kave sent along heartbreaking news this morning detailing the passing of one of today’s most celebrated ufologists, Mac Tonnies.

Tonnies (left, photo courtesy of Greg Bishop) was an American ufologist and futurist, whose books After the Martian Apocalypse and his much anticipated masterwork dealing with “Cryptoterrestrials” helped broaden the views regarding UFOs, strange creatures, and how they relate to time, space, and mankind.

My own interaction with Mac was somewhat limited… we would occasionally email one another, though arguably, one of the sincerest compliments I ever received came from my pal Red Pill Junkie at the Daily Grail who in his article Mario, Micah and the Midnight Oil compared Greg Bishop, Nick Redfern and I to Tonnies, saying that like the Mac-Man, we were “not afraid to have a broader view of all these phenomena, instead of desperately trying to keep them separate and compartmentalized.”

It was for this very reason, in my own heart and mind, that Mac will be so badly missed. I had looked forward to so many collaborations with him, and always found comfort in knowing that while Mac was among us, the world seemed a little smaller. A truly great mind indeed; you will be missed.

Finally, here are some of Greg Bishop’s words on the matter:

Nick (Redfern) just called to tell me that our friend and colleague Mac Tonnies was found in his apartment this (Thursday) afternoon, apparently dead of natural causes. There was no evidence of foul play or suicide according to a close friend.

It is hard to find the right words to describe my feelings at this moment.

The last time we talked was just after his appearance on Coast To Coast on September 28th. He asked if I thought he had done a good job. I said he hit one over the fence. Tentatively, I asked if he would consider collaborating on a fiction project, and he liked the idea. Now, I don’t really know what to do or say.

The manuscript of Mac’s last book was apparently complete and ready to be delivered to the publisher.

Nick will have his feelings and more details to follow, but Mac’s family have been informed, and we wanted to get the news out to people who either knew Mac, or were inspired by his original and highly intelligent contributions to the study of UFOs and other anomalies, as well as many aspects of leading-edge science and technology.

UPDATE: I’m receiving a lot of general info, memories, and statements from folks in the paranormal community regarding Tonnies’ passing. Please feel free to email your insights to info@gralienreport.com if you’d like me to post them here at the site.

That being said, my friend and fellow researcher Wm Michael Mott set this along moments ago:

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I was stunned and saddened to see the news about Mac Tonnies on your web site today.

As with so many other writers and researchers, Mac and I were internet “friends.” We had corresponded off and on for quite some time, due primarily to the fact that his theory on “cryptoterrestrials” was very similar to my own theories as expounded upon in “Caverns, Cauldrons, and Concealed Creatures,” yet with very original differences. We were going to exchange signed books when his in-progress work on “Cryptoterrestrials” came out soon.

Some time back I sent him the contact info for various radio talk shows and their hosts, and was heartened to see that he had gone on to appear on many of those programs. He was a gifted, brilliant, original thinker, and the community of fortean researchers and writers has suffered a severe loss. I hope that Greg Bishop, Paul Kimball, or Nick Redfern, who all knew Mac “in person,” will somehow make sure that his research and writing on cryptoterrestrials goes on to publication.

God bless and peaceful dreams, Mac. Sorry we never got to sit down for that beer.

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Nick Redfern also shares this at the UFO Mystic blog:

The news that good friend, fellow author and Fortean writer and researcher Mac Tonnies has passed away suddenly at the age of only 34, is tragic, mind-numbing and overwhelmingly saddening.

It’s difficult (as it always is in such situations) to put my thoughts and feelings into words. But, my first thoughts are, of course, with Mac’s family at this terrible time.

I first came across Mac in 2004, when Paraview-Pocket Books published his book, After the Martian Apocalypse, which is a very good, and highly balanced, study of the Face on Mars controversy. I interviewed Mac not long after the book came out for the now-defunct Phenomena Magazine, and we stayed in touch, and soon became friends – albeit at the time purely by email and sometimes by lengthy night-time phone-calls, during which we would chat about Forteana, music and more.

Then, in late 2006 – at Paul Kimball’s New Frontiers Symposium in Halifax, Nova Scotia – we got to meet up, along with Greg and several others for a weekend of Forteana, UFOs, Cryptozoology, and general high-strangeness.

Needless to say, it was a fun few days, and I have a lot of good memories of Mac from that gig – he gave a fine presentation, everyone had a great time, and there was a cool vibe in the air.

After that, me and Mac continued to stay in regular contact. Indeed, only a couple of months ago I interviewed him for an upcoming project, about which he was very excited – and now he’s gone; which I am still finding hard to believe and accept.

Mac was a great thinker and a thoughtful individual. He was a person with much to say and who had the skills to say it, too. And, with the manuscript of his planned book The Cryptoterrestrials nearly completed, I truly believe that Mac was about to come into his own in the Fortean field on a very large scale indeed.

He was also my friend, and I’ll greatly miss him.

Mac was taken far too early; so let’s always remember the man, the friend, and the work that he left behind. That’s really all I want to say right now.

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Jeremy Vaeni at the UFO Magazine Blog shares the following:

I always liked Mac. I won’t say we were great friends but I’ll bet we would have been if we’d lived closer to each other. He always struck me as a fish out of water: sharp guy into alternative things struggling to get by with a crap job in a small town. I urged him to move to New York where he’d be appreciated but he just didn’t have the funds. (I also practically begged him to write for UFO Magazine until he thankfully caved!)

His untimely death is that jarring reminder of all our mortality but to me it’s something else too. Mac had just completed his new book. He’d just gone on Coast To Coast for the first time. He earned the respect of those who paid attention to his work and was on his way to breaking out of obscurity. For the public at large, that would have meant a refreshing, intellectually honest and level voice in a field where such is nearly extinct. For Mac, that might have meant an end to the financial struggle and the personal struggle to be heard above the droning noise churning from the stagnant minds around him.

New directions for him. New directions for us. Greater freedom for all.

Gone.

Gone but not forgotten. Remembered for what he gave us. Remembered for where he was bringing us. His is the story of a man with his whole future ahead of him and not distantly so. No, right at his fingertips, actually. He was an artistic thinker, arguably poetic, and this is the fitting ending to that general story, tragic though it is for those of us who knew and appreciated Mac and for those who loved him.

On that note, my heartfelt condolences to Mac’s family and his good friends, Greg Bishop and Paul Kimball. Mac has passed into that good night but you know better than the rest of us he was a man with a flashlight. Wherever he is now, take comfort that he’s doing just fine.

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