The Octopus: The Secret Government and Death of Danny Casolaro [Hardcover]

Kenn Thomas (Author), Jim Keith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1996

A provocative analysis of the mysterious death of journalist Danny Casolaro discusses the link between the death and high-level government conspiracy involving the Iran-Contra affair, the October Surprise, BCCI, and other political scandals and cover-ups. Tour. IP.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 182 pages
• Publisher: Feral House; 1st edition (December 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0922915393
• ISBN-13: 978-0922915392
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,270,926 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kenn Thomas works as a conspiracy writer, a parapolitical researcher, university library archivist, and showrunner for Steamshovel Press, a parapolitical conspiracy cyber presence and magazine. He has written books on the Inslaw affair, co-authoring The Octopus with the late Jim Keith, and on Fred Crisman and the Maury Island Incident.

Thomas has authored over a dozen books on various conspiracy topics. The latest is JFK & UFO, about the possibility that 1947 UFO witness Fred Crisman was connected to the assassination of John F. Kennedy; and The Octopus: Secret Government and the Death of Danny Casolaro, about theInslaw affair. In 2004, Feral House published a new edition of The Octopus, extending the suggestion of connections to the post-9/11 world and al-Qaeda. Feral House also recently published the new book, fully titled JFK & UFO: Military-Industrial Conspiracy and Cover-Up from Maury Island to Dallas.[1]

Thomas calls his research interest "parapolitics," the study of conspiracies of all colors -- from alien abductions and the Illuminati, to the John F. Kennedy assassination and the September 11, 2001 attacks. The New Yorker called his work "on the cutting edge" of conspiracy. His name has become a proverb for a conspiracy theorist; enough so that a baseball almanac described the sport as involving "enough fishy behavior to keep Kenn Thomas swarming for years."[2]

Thomas lectures extensively. He has appeared at Conspiracy Con in San Francisco many years; the Disinfo Con and Media Monotone conferences in New York,; the Crash Retrieval Conference in Las Vegas; the International UFO Conference in Laughlin; the FortFest and Beyond Knowledge conferences in London; even on a Caribbean cruise ship. Most recently he appeared at the Alternative Research Community conference in Bath, England and the All I Want Is The Truth conference in Atlanta, Georgia.



In addition to JFK & UFO, Thomas' writing currently also appears The Casebook on the Men In Black (published by AUP) and Round Trip To Hell In A Flying Saucer (published by Global Communications). His web site, steamshovelpress.com, also makes available a new PDF book entitled Popular Parapolitics and a DVD of his appearance with psychedelic philosopher Timothy Leary, called Cafe Chaos.


1. http://feralhouse.com/jfk-ufo/
2. Baseball Prospectus by Joseph S. Sheehan and Chris Kahrl.
3. Conspiracy Con: Video & Audio:
http://www.conspiracycon.com/audiotapes.html
4. Steamshovel Press: Appearances:
http://www.steamshovelpress.com/appearances1.html
^ Conspiracy Con: Speakers:
http://www.conspiracycon.com/speakers.html

External links

Steamshovel Press (official site): steamshovelpress.com

Kenn Thomas Profile in St. Louis Magazine:
http://www.stlmag.com/St-Louis-Magazine/August-2008/Stalking-the-Octopus/

Nov.22 appearance on Coast To Coast:
http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2009/11/22

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Murder of a Hero, June 4, 2001

By 

Jonathan Schaper (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Octopus: The Secret Government and Death of Danny Casolaro (Hardcover)

Danny Casolaro was a relatively wealthy individual who decided he wanted to become a writer. He already had a few articles published in various magazines when he first learned about the PROMIS software. Basically, PROMIS is a database program with amazing flexibility and statistical abilities and can also be used to predict future trends, submarine locations, etc. This software was developed by private individuals with some help in funding by the U.S. Department of Justice. However, the government decided to [take] the program instead of paying for it and began to market it as their own. This information is widely known and well-accepted and much documentation of this exists (including a successful lawsuit by the software developers that was later overturned on the flimsiest of grounds through the interference of the powers that be). However, when Casolaro set out to write an article about the robbery of the PROMIS program by the government, potentially to sell it to a computer magazine, the deeper he dug, the more sinister things became.

First of all, he learned that the DOJ had a backdoor added into the program so that the U.S. could access the files of whoever they sold the PROMIS program to, including the governments of Israel and Canada. This led to further revelations and meetings with various informants that further revealed a complex web of deceit leading down some surprising avenues. Casolaro now changed his plans to writing a novel, perhaps even presenting it as fiction in order to avoid scaring off publishers. But before this happened, Casolaro was found dead from what was an obviously staged suicide and many of his notes disappeared.

This very well documented book (that also verifies and is verfied by information published elsewhere) chronicles Casolaro's story, citing many excellent sources, including court records and affidavits. It also attempts to recover and recount some of the information about the conspiracy Casolaro began to call "the Octopus" because of its many, long-reaching tendrils. While it is not always clear Casolaro was on the right track (Casolaro himself often took note of what information seemed manufactured to mislead and discredit him), it is clear he was onto something big given his subsequent murder and its sloppy coverup.

Casolaro might have led a comfortable life as a mediocre writer publishing the occassional article, but because of his sense of justice and the need he felt to uncover the truth, he was ruthlessly murdered. This book is a wonderful epitaph to two courageous men (including co-author Keith who mysteriously died from knee surgery).

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Frightening Indictment, September 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Octopus: The Secret Government and Death of Danny Casolaro (Hardcover)

Kenn and Jim's magnum opus. (RIP, beloved friend to humankind.) This book is as scary as they come, and stranger than fiction. As a conspiracy writer, I found myself shaking while reading it. THEY are real, and THEY can do and have done horrifying things. The Octopus is the Matrix vivified.

This book is especially important for anyone who still naively believes "there are no conspiracies." The word "conspiracy" means "to breathe together." Only two people are needed to make a conspiracy, and this book will leave you breathless.

Danny Casolaro is a heroic figure who bravely and, perhaps, foolhardily attempted to foil the Octopus, whose tendons reach into the most intimate parts of all our lives. He should never be forgotten. Thank goodness for the valiant likes of Kenn Thomas and Jim Keith for telling his story. Movie studios should be clamoring for this highly untold story - but they are no doubt part of the Octopus. Danny, Kenn and Jim should be lauded for their audacity and courage in bringing forth this treacherous tale of murder and mayhem. Such valor is akin to that of Gary Webb in his expose of CIA drug-dealing.

Carry on, fellow warriors for truth.

Acharya S; Archaeologist, Historian, Mythologist, Linguist; Member, American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Greece; Associate Director, Institute for Historical Accuracy; Director, Center of the Research and Study of Theology; Author, "The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold"

32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars JIM KEITH, HONORED FRIEND, 1949-1999, September 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Octopus: The Secret Government and Death of Danny Casolaro (Hardcover)

Jim Keith died after knee surgery on September 8, 1999. He was a dear friend of mine and an important person to the world. The loss is immeasurable. He was not just the co-author of The Octopus, but a dharma combatant who demonstrated time and again that the world is far more multi-dimensional, far more interesting, than the pablum that usually passes for news, information and normal discourse. Unfortunately, it is also far more dangerous.

Rumor has it that Jim may have been killed because he mentioned the name of the physician who declared Diana was pregnant at the time of her death. I have long noted the connections between Diana's death and the Octopus. Diana was the subject of Jim's last column for Nitro News, which has been linked via the web site of my magazine, Steamshovel Press, for the past couple of weeks. Nitro News has not been accessible since Jim's death, although I reached it just before receiving word of his passing.

This rumor may be nonsense. Casolaro may have committed suicide. It is the way of the Octopus. It exists but it doesn't exist. These are blood clots or suicides or non-suspicious homicides or real accidents. They just happen to cluster coincidentally around a certain set of facts or a certain perception of an organized conspiracy.

And if Jim Keith did not die as a result of a conspiracy, then I'm sure he would want us to make it look that way!

I hope all will remember Jim Keith for his good humor and for his fearlessness. He wrote what he knew and he let the chips fall where they might. He lived on the edge, where I usually tried to catch up with him. I hope he taught me enough about the place to keep up the work to which we were both committed.

Thank you again. Remember Jim!

Kenn Thomas