My association with Fortean Times began in 1996, when I spoke at the UnConvention on conspiracy theories. My presence - and that subject - was just another part of the X-Files effect on British popular culture. X-Files creator Chris Carter had used the US Air Force disinformation about Majestic 12 and the government-alien conspiracy as the programme's main theme. It was, in a sense, a contemporary version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers - one in which the pods had opened up and taken over the US military and intelligence outfi ts. Before this point in Anglo-American popular culture, the X-Files-generated interest in UFOs, the paranormal and US conspiracy theories would surely have run out of steam and been replaced by the next TV-manufactured enthusiasm.