Beyond Reality Magazine

History

Beyond Reality launched in October/November 1972 as a bi-monthly magazine published by Simplex Textured Reproductions, Inc. from 114 East 32nd Street, New York City, with editorial offices at 303 West 42nd Street, Suite 505. Harry Belil served as associate publisher and editorial director from the first issue, later becoming publisher and editor outright. A single copy sold for 75 cents on newsstands; subscriptions ran $4.50 per year. Publishers Distributing Corporation handled nationwide newsstand placement, and Great Eastern Color Lithographic Corp. printed the magazine.

Belil assembled a staff drawn from the overlapping worlds of UFO research and paranormal publishing. Timothy Green Beckley served as managing editor for the first issue before moving to contributing editor from the second issue onward. Saul Goldstein managed editorial production. Lydia Belil ran the research desk. Hayden C. Hewes, who also directed the International Headquarters of UFO Phenomena Organization (IHOUPO) out of Oklahoma City, wrote the regular UFO Report column and later held the title of mid-west editor. Arthur Shuttlewood filed as European correspondent from Warminster, England, where he had become a central figure in the long-running Warminster UFO flap. Max Toth, Bryce Bond, and Lee Walsh contributed as editors and writers across multiple issues.

The first issue set the template. Brad Steiger wrote on ESP and income. Brandon Blackman covered astral projection. Max Toth explained how parapsychology was displacing superstition. Beckley and H. Salkin profiled Muhammad Ali's claim that "they are watching me." N. Brunswick reported on American witchcraft. Louise Ludwig and Thelma Moss investigated a haunted house. Nancy McIlvaine decoded tarot cards. Zolar wrote on Satan. Thomas Kaveney explored mysticism. The UFO Report column and a "Strange and Unknown" department rounded out the contents. Everything from psychic phenomena to demonology to flying saucers shared the same pages.

The editorial mix remained consistent across the run. Book reviews filled several pages each issue, covering titles from major publishers: Prentice-Hall, Doubleday, Harper and Row, St. Martin's. The coverage ranged from Richard Cavendish's scholarly history of the Tarot ($19.95 from Harper and Row) to George Friedrich's UFO or God? ($3.95 from Carlton), written by a Wisconsin prospector who claimed to see UFOs nearly every night. The Tunguska explosion, Kirlian photography, biorhythm, ancient astronaut theories, Bermuda Triangle mysteries, and Uri Geller's psychokinetic claims all received feature treatment.

Letters to the editor ran several pages and showed an engaged readership willing to argue. A magician named Bill Pitts attacked Uri Geller; readers wrote detailed rebuttals citing the distinction between conscious and subconscious psychokinesis. The correspondence columns functioned as an informal peer review system for the paranormal field, with readers checking claims, citing published research, and challenging editorial positions.

By the mid-run, the staff had evolved. Joseph Galioto joined as assistant editor. Mark Feldman covered the northeast. Kathy Ginger handled promotion and then editorial assistance. The production remained professional throughout: colour covers, clean typography, full-page advertisements from vitamin companies, book clubs, and occult suppliers. The advertising tells its own story about the readership: health-conscious, mail-order oriented, interested in self-improvement alongside anomalous phenomena.

The magazine also produced annual UFO Special issues beginning in 1979, published separately by Beyond Reality Magazine Inc. at the same 303 West 42nd Street address. The 1979 UFO Special carried Brad Steiger on "Time, Space and the UFO Enigma," a piece on being seduced by a female extraterrestrial, Curt Sutherly on alien weather tampering, John Lindermuth on Indonesian UFOs, Gene Steinberg interviewing Charles Berlitz about the Bermuda Triangle, and a feature asking whether the Soviets had solved the UFO mystery. The UFO Specials concentrated the magazine's flying saucer content into dedicated annual editions while the regular issues maintained the broader paranormal mix.

The last issue in the archive is No. 45, dated September/October 1980. Belil was still listed as editor/publisher, and the magazine had raised its subscription price to $6.00 per year. Letters in that issue referenced content from early 1980, and one reader noted a misprint reading "1989" inside the magazine, asking if it was "a time-warp." The run spanned eight years of bi-monthly publication through the peak era of American paranormal popular culture.