Jason Colavito

{{Infobox writer

| name = Jason Colavito

| image =

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption =

| pseudonym =

| birth_name =

| birth_date =

| birth_place =

| death_date =

| death_place =

| resting_place =

| occupation = Author

| language =

| nationality =

| citizenship =

| education = Bachelor of Arts

| alma_mater = Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York

| period =

| genre =

| subject =

| movement =

| notableworks = The Cult of Alien Gods: H.P. Lovecraft And Extraterrestrial Pop Culture

| spouse =

| partner =

| children =

| relatives =

| awards =

| signature =

| signature_alt =

| website = {{URL|jasoncolavito.com}}

| portaldisp =

}}

Jason Colavito (born 1981) is an American author and independent scholar specializing in the study of fringe theories particularly around ancient history and extraterrestrials. Colavito has written a number of books, including The Cult of Alien Gods (2005), The Mound Builder Myth (2020), and Legends of the Pyramids (2021).

Biography

Colavito attended Auburn High School, in Auburn, New York, and graduated summa cum laude from Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York, where he received a bachelor of arts degree in anthropology and journalism in 2003.{{cite news | title=Achievers | date=August 7, 2003 | agency=Post-Standard | location=Syracuse, NY}}

Colavito's work has largely focused on debunking "alternative archaeology". His work has been cited in by John Kelly in a The Washington Post opinion column{{Cite news|title=Perspective {{!}} I once made fun of UFOs. Now the U.S. government is giving me second thoughts.|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/washington-government-ufo/2021/06/06/2658f87e-c575-11eb-93f5-ee9558eecf4b_story.html|access-date=2021-12-14|issn=0190-8286}}, by

Stephen Winick and Firas Al-Atraqchi in The Huffington Post opinion pieces,{{cite web|last1=Winick|first1=Stephen D|title=Killer Legends Available on DVD and iTunes|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-d-winick/more-about-killer-legends_b_5559392.html|website=The Huffington Post|accessdate=June 9, 2015|date=July 8, 2014}}{{cite web|last1=Al-Atraqchi|first1=Firas|title=Let's Not Omit History Because It Is Convenient|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/firas-alatraqchi/lets-not-omit-history-bec_b_2212945.html|website=The Huffington Post|accessdate=June 9, 2015|date=December 5, 2012}} and other publications, as well as on the History Channel.[http://ancientaliensdebunked.com/aad-podcast-jason-colavito-interview/ "AAD Podcast {{endash}} Jason Colavito Interview"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305033904/http://ancientaliensdebunked.com/aad-podcast-jason-colavito-interview/ |date=2016-03-05 }}. Retrieved 2015-05-20.

In 2005, Colavito authored The Cult of Alien Gods: H. P. Lovecraft and Extraterrestrial Pop Culture, published by Prometheus Books. In the book, Colavito explores the influences of H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos on the popular works of Erich von Däniken (author of Chariots of the Gods?) and Graham Hancock, as well as its overall influence on "extraterrestrial pop culture".{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jh97v3zeKc0C&dq=%22Jason+Colavito%22&pg=PA126 | title=Icons of Horror and the Supernatural: An Encyclopedia of Our Worst Nightmares | publisher=Greenwood | author=Joshi, S. T. | year=2006 | pages=126 | isbn=978-0313337802}}

In 2008 Colavito's The Science of Horror, the Horror of Science was published. The book examined the history and science of the horror genre with a particular focus on providing a broad overview and introduction to the subject. A reviewer in the Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts concluded "Academia aside, this is among the finest introductions to the horror genre I have read." and commends his epistemological approach to analyzing the genre.

In 2018 the SPLC referred to Colavito as an independent scholar with an expertise in the convergence of fringe theories with contemporary politics.{{cite web |last1=Zaitchik |first1=Alexander |title=Close encounters of the racist kind |url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/01/02/close-encounters-racist-kind |website=splcenter.org |publisher=SPLC |access-date=18 December 2022}}

In 2021, Colavito published articles regarding UFOs in Slate and The New Republic.{{Cite magazine|last=Colavito|first=Jason|date=2021-05-21|title=How Washington Got Hooked on Flying Saucers|magazine=The New Republic|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/162457/government-embrace-ufos-bad-science|access-date=2021-12-14|issn=0028-6583}}{{Cite magazine|last=Colavito|first=Jason|date=2021-12-14|title=Congress Is About to Send the Pentagon on a Wild Flying-Saucer Chase|magazine=The New Republic|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/164699/pentagon-ufos-gillibrand-ndaa-spending|access-date=2021-12-14|issn=0028-6583}}{{Cite web|last=Colavito|first=Jason|date=2021-02-12|title=What UFOs and Joe McCarthy Have to Do With the Assault on the Capitol|url=https://slate.com/technology/2021/02/ufos-mccarthy-qanon-aliens-conspiracy-theories.html|access-date=2021-12-14|website=Slate Magazine|language=en}} He was also interviewed for an article in Slate about the links between ancient aliens conspiracies and contemporary right-wing conspiracies like QAnon.{{Cite news|last=DeVega|first=Chauncey|date=2021-06-21|title=Why Tucker Carlson loves UFOs: Jason Colavito on the hidden links between conspiracy theories|work=Salon|url=https://www.salon.com/2021/06/21/why-tucker-carlson-loves-ufos-jason-colavito-on-the-hidden-links-between-conspiracy-theories/|access-date=2021-12-14}}

Bibliography

His work has appeared in publications such as The New Republic, Slate, Esquire Magazine{{cite web |last1=Colavito |first1=Jason |title=It's Time We Let James Dean Be the Queer Icon He Is |url=https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a37713234/james-dean-queer-icon/ |website=Esquire |access-date=9 August 2022 |language=en-us |date=30 September 2021}} and Skeptic magazine.{{cite news | title=New Book Sends The Saucers Spinning; Author Rebuts Claims Extraterrestrials Created Civilizations On Earth | date=November 21, 2005 | agency=The Post-Standard | author=Beth Beer, Cuddy | location=Syracuse, NY}}{{cite web | url=http://www.jasoncolavito.com/biography.html | title=Jason Colavito Biography | publisher=Jason Colavito | accessdate=March 25, 2013 | author=Colavito, Jason}}{{cite news | url=http://www.midwestbookreview.com/calbw/apr_06.htm | title=Cult of Alien Gods | date=April 1, 2006 | agency=California Bookwatch | accessdate=March 25, 2013}}{{cite journal | title=Dawn of the Aquarian age | author=Callahan, Tim | journal=Skeptic | date=June 22, 2005}}{{cite web | url=http://www.concatenation.org/nfrev/cultofaliengods.html | title=The Cult of Alien Gods: H. P. Lovecraft and Extraterrestrial Pop Culture | publisher=Science Fact & Science Fiction Concatenation | work=Non-Fiction Reviews | accessdate=March 25, 2013 | author=Cowie, Jonathan}}

; Books (as author)

The Cult of Alien Gods: H. P. Lovecraft and Extraterrestrial Pop Culture (2005). Prometheus Books
Knowing Fear: Science, Knowledge, and the Development of the Horror Genre (2007). McFarland & Company{{cite journal |last1=Wilson |first1=D. Harlan |title=The Science of Horror, the Horror of Science Review Essay: The Science of Horror, the Horror of Science Knowing Fear: Science, Knowledge and the Development of the Horror Genre by Jason Colavito Review by: D. Harlan Wilson |journal=Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts |date=2009 |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=109–116}}
A Critical Companion to Ancient Aliens Seasons 3 and 4: Unauthorized (2012). Lulu.com
Faking History: Essays on Aliens, Atlantis, Monsters, and More (2013). CreateSpace
Unearthing the Truth: An Unauthorized Commentary on America Unearthed Season One (2013). CreateSpac
Cthulhu in World Mythology (2014). Atomic Overmind Press
Jason and the Argonauts Through the Ages (2014). McFarland & Company
The Mound Builder Myth: Fake History and the Hunt for a "Lost White Race", 2020 University of Oklahoma Press{{cite journal |last1=Timmerman |first1=Nicholas A. |title=The Mound Builder Myth: Fake History and the Hunt for a "Lost White Race" by Jason Colavito, and: Colonizing the Past: Mythmaking and Pre-Columbian Whites in Nineteenth-Century American Writing by Edward Watts (review) |journal=Journal of Southern History |date=February 2022 |volume=88 |issue=1 |pages=155–157 |doi=10.1353/soh.2022.0013|s2cid=246819009 }}{{cite journal |last1=Jennings |first1=Matthew |title=The Mound Builder Myth: Fake History and the Hunt for a "Lost White Race." By Jason Colavito |journal=Western Historical Quarterly |date=Winter 2021 |volume=52 |issue=4 |pages=459–460 |doi=10.1093/whq/whab093}}
The Legends of the Pyramids, 2021 Red Lightning Books
Jimmy: The Secret Life of James Dean, 2024 Applause

; Books (as editor)

A Hideous Bit of Morbidity: An Anthology of Horror Criticism from the Enlightenment to World War I (2009). McFarland & Company{{cite journal |last1=Ransom |first1=Amy J. |title=Review: Delightful Horrors |journal=Science Fiction Studies |date=March 2010 |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=115–117 |jstor=40649592 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40649592 |access-date=9 August 2022}}
Unseen Horror: 15 Tales of Invisibility and the Macabre (2011). JasonColavito.com Books
The Faust Book: And Other Early Stories of Dr. Faustus (2011). JasonColavito.com Books
Moon Men!: A Lunar Anthology of Proto-Science Fiction, A.D. 200{{endash}}1835 (2012). JasonColavito.com Books
Theosophy on Ancient Astronauts (2012). JasonColavito.com Book
Pyramidiots: Outrageous Theories about the Great Pyramid (2012). JasonColavito.com Books
Foundations of Atlantis, Ancient Astronauts and Other Alternative Pasts: 148 Documents Cited by Writers of Fringe History (2015). McFarland & Company

;Books (as translator)

The Orphic Argonautica (2011). JasonColavito.com Books
The Xipéhux (2012). JasonColavito.com Books

Jason Colavito

Biography

Bibliography

References

Further reading