Flying Saucers

By Don Nardo

Discusses the debate over whether unidentified flying objects really exist and how belief in them affects our culture. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Library Binding
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1565103513
• ISBN13: 9781565103511
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Lucent Books
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 7.6" x 9.4"
• Age Range: 10 to 14 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 9

Customer Reviews

Klaatu Barrada Nikto!!!!

For those who were born after 1960 and have never watched old science fiction films on TV, the above words are those spoken by the heroine in "The Day the Earth Stood Still" to stop the alien robot Gort from destroying the world. Nardo mentions this classic film in this excellent study of twentieth-century reports of flying saucers and aliens. He points out that the plot of the film was copied subsequently by several people claiming to have made contact with the saucer people (hence their name: the "contactees"). Just about all the aliens these people described looked and talked like the leading actor in the movie and also claimed to be on earth for the same sort of mission: to end war and save humankind from destroying itself! In other chapters, Nardo shows, in surprising deatil, how other events and trends in society and the popular media colored the saucer reports, which changed dramtically over the years. To me, this shows that the phenomenon is more a figment of society's imagination and fears than anything real. This is a fascinationg, very well researched book that both high school and adult readers will enjoy and benefit from.

Good Stuff

Definitely one of the better books out there on the subject. First of all, it doesn't take sides, but presents viewpoints from both sides of the issue, which is obviously a controversial one. I like the way the author shows how the saucer and alien reports evolved and changed over the years, reflecting social and political changes in the USA and the world. The book was written for young people but almost anybody will be able to learn something from it.

A Surprisingly Good Book

Though written for young people, this is a first-rate historical overview of the flying saucer phenomenon, taking the reader on a well-documented voyage from the first modern saucer sightings through the contactee era, the abductees, the "whistleblowers", and so on. The author also provides some neat speculation about what the saucers might be (if they are not actually piloted by extraterrestrls). I was surprised at how detailed and thorough and objective this treatment of a controversial subject is. This is good bedtime reading for those who like to speculate about the strange and unusual.

Little Green Men Watch Out!!

Though the reading level of this book is aimed at young people, the author's style is straightforward enough and there is enough detailed information about the subject for me to recommend it to adults. I have read numerous books about flying saucers, some of them very good and most terrible! This is by far one of the best, partly because it doesn't just consist of the typical series of saucer sightings and abduction stories, but is instead a rounded and fascinating history of the UFO phenomenon. I must say that I walked away from reading it with some doubts about the saucers being piloted by intelligent beings. The bibliography was excellent too (I have read several of the works listed in it).