Brad Steiger

Early Life and Writing Career

Brad Steiger was born Eugene E. Olson on February 19, 1936, in Bode, Iowa. He was educated at Luther College (1953–57) and the University of Iowa (1963), initially pursuing a career in education. From 1957 to 1963, he taught high school English in Clinton, Iowa, then served as a literature and creative writing instructor at Luther College from 1963 to 1967. His transition to full-time writing began in the mid-1960s, coinciding with a pivotal shift toward paranormal research. By the early 1970s, Steiger achieved widespread recognition through his syndicated newspaper column, "The Strange World of Brad Steiger," which appeared in over 80 U.S. newspapers and was distributed internationally from Bombay to Tokyo. This sustained platform allowed him to reach millions of readers curious about the unexplained, establishing him as a dominant cultural voice in paranormal discourse.

UFO Research and Major Works

Steiger formally turned his attention to UFO research in 1966 with the publication of Strangers from the Skies, a book that became a foundational text in UFOlogy circles and is now recognized as a MUFON Classic and Top 100 must-have work for serious ufologists. The book featured accounts from credible witnesses including a noted Jesuit priest-astronomer, an American astronaut who photographed a UFO during spaceflight, and a nine-year-old Brazilian girl who witnessed a craft descend into a boiling river. Over the course of his career, Steiger authored or co-authored approximately 170 books in total, of which more than 15 titles focused specifically on UFOs, alien contact, and abduction phenomena. Key UFO-related works include UFO Abductors, which explores airplane disappearances, alien abductions, star-children, and alien experimentation. His bibliography sold approximately 17 million copies worldwide, making him one of the most commercially successful paranormal authors in history. In 1987, Steiger was inducted into the Hypnosis Hall of Fame for his pioneering work with UFO contactees, abductees, and past-life regression techniques—acknowledging his unique role at the intersection of UFO contact experiences and altered consciousness research. Throughout his career, Steiger was often accompanied in his research by his wife, Sherry Hanson Steiger, who co-investigated UFO phenomena and their cultural ramifications across world history.

Research Methodology and Philosophy

Steiger's approach to UFO research was characterized by systematic fieldwork and eyewitness testimonial collection. Rather than relying solely on secondary sources, he traveled extensively to reported sighting locations, conducted direct interviews with witnesses, and compiled their testimonies into thematic analyses. He supplemented oral accounts with rigorous archival research, examining newspaper clippings, military documents, and folklore collections to contextualize modern UFO reports within historical precedents. This methodology allowed him to construct narratives that spanned centuries and cultures, suggesting a universal pattern of extraterrestrial contact. Philosophically, Steiger articulated a cosmological worldview that extended beyond simple ET visitation. He stated: "I believe humankind is part of a larger community of intelligences, a complex hierarchy of powers and principalities, a potentially rich kingdom of interrelated species, both physical and nonphysical. I believe that humankind's one truly essential factor is its spirituality." This perspective positioned UFO encounters not merely as physical events but as expressions of a deeper spiritual reality, influencing his interpretation of abduction accounts and contactee claims.

Legacy and Critical Reception

Steiger's enormous popular success stood in sharp contrast to academic reception. While the general public embraced his accessible narratives and prolific output, scholars and scientific skeptics criticized his work for making far-fetched claims without adequate evidence, loose source attribution, and insufficient scientific methodology. Despite these critiques, Steiger's cultural impact on UFO discourse and paranormal belief systems remains undeniable—his books shaped public understanding of contactee phenomena, alien abduction narratives, and the integration of UFO experiences into spirituality and personal transformation. He died on May 6, 2018, leaving a legacy as one of the most influential popularizers of UFO and paranormal themes in American culture.