UFOs, JFK, and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don't Have to Be Crazy to Believe

First Mort Sahl, now Richard Belzer. Every now and then a political comedian finds himself obsessed with the murder of John F. Kennedy--and sacrifices the funny in the process. Though this book is categorized as humor, it offers sarcasm but few laughs. And why should it? Belzer, now best known as Detective Munch on TV's Homicide, is serious here. Obsessed with conspiracies, he apparently read a bunch of books (many from fringe publishers) on the subject and decided to share the fruit of his musings. Most concern the assassination, and, indeed, many aspects remain in dispute. But when he declares Gerald Posner's Case Closed ""a grossly overstuffed suitcase,"" Belzer doesn't inspire confidence, and he doesn't offer footnotes so readers can check his sources. The second half of the book relies significantly on conspiracy expert Jim Marrs, author of Alien Agenda. Belzer relates that many people who've consented to alien experimentation have told Marrs they don't consider it a violation. No wonder Belzer says, ""I believe that history--past and current--is just a collection of accepted lies."" He wrote this book, he claims, to inspire us to question authority. Mr. Belzer, tell jokes. Author tour. (May)