Jim Keith

Jim Keith
Keith in the late 1990s
Born	James Patrick Keith (1949-09-21)September 21, 1949 Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Died	September 7, 1999(1999-09-07) (aged 49)

James Patrick Keith (September 21, 1949 – September 7, 1999) was an American author and conspiracy theorist,¹²³ best known for the books Black Helicopters Over America and The Octopus, co-written with Kenn Thomas, detailing theories around the death of reporter Danny Casolaro. After starting his career with writing and editing the zines Dharma Combat and Notes from the Hangar, as well as contributing articles to Fate Magazine, Keith became an editor at Steamshovel Press. He also authored 12 books covering topics such as mind control, the New World Order, black helicopters, the Oklahoma City bombing, Illuminati and Men in Black. Keith died at Washoe Medical Center in Reno at age 49, following a fall at the Burning Man festival.

Jim Keith was born in Kansas City, Missouri. He became interested in UFOs and the occult from age 7, writing short stories and articles at age 10. Growing up, the 6’4” self-described radical libertarian considered himself a member of the 1960s counterculture. After avoiding the Vietnam War draft as a conscientious objector, he left Haight-Ashbury and hitchhiked to Klamath Falls in 1972. There he worked as a newspaper publisher, cable TV salesman, restaurant worker and at a lumber mill. He also contributed to small publications on science fiction, New Age and conspiracy topics.⁴⁵

Moving to Reno with his parents in 1980, Keith gained custody of his two daughters and home-schooled them. During this time, he worked out of the home on writing projects to make money, writing 6 hours a day. His first published work was The Gemstone File, written in three months and accepted by IllumiNet Press with a $250 advance. One week later, his work Secret and Suppressed was accepted by Feral House with a $500 advance.⁴⁶

Keith was also a member of the writing collective called Commander X, covering subjects such as free energy, the Philadelphia Experiment and alien conspiracies.⁷⁸³ He wrote on the men in black.⁹ The historian Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke described him as a "veteran U.S. conspiracy theorist".³

On September 6, 1999, Keith injured his leg after stepping off a three-foot stage at the Burning Man festival. Thinking it was only a severe sprain, he went home. The next morning, he checked into the Washoe Medical center for treatment of a broken knee. Surgery was delayed due to issues with kidney function. At 8:10 PM on Tuesday, September 7, 1999, a blood clot released from his leg and entered his lung, an issue which proved fatal.⁷¹⁰

In an article published three weeks after Keith's death, conspiracy theorists expressed suspicion that he was killed because he mentioned the name of a physician who declared Princess Diana was pregnant at the time of her death.¹¹