Phenomenon: Forty Years of Flying Saucers

By John Spencer

Here, from the widely respected British UFO Research Association, are the reports of a group of dedicated and well-known UFO researchers--believers and skeptics alike--that present a complete overview... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0380706547
• ISBN13: 9780380706549
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Avon Books
• Length: 413 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.

Customer Reviews

TWENTY YEARS OLD, YET STILL A VALUABLE "SURVEY" BOOK

Those of us interested in UFOs often like to curl up with a good "summary" book; this collection of essays is interesting in that it includes both "pro" and "con" opinions, by a wide variety of researchers (including Budd Hopkins, Jenny Randles, and John Keel) gathered by the editors John Spencer ("pro") and Hilary Evans ("con") of the British UFO Association (BUFORA); Spencer and Evans each include an essay to close the volume ("The Case for Scientific Study," and "The Case for Skepticism," respectively). The book includes a rather sparse 8 pages of photos, as well. Essays included are "The Legend of the Crashed Saucers," "The Development of UFO Occupants," "The Elusive Photographic Evidence," "Government Cover-Up and Conspiracy" (by Jenny Randles), "The UFO Cults," and many more. In an essay by John Keel on "The People Problem," he notes that "I have seen reports by police officers who claimed the object they saw must have been traveling at a speed of at least 2000 mph. One report by an elderly man in Florida claimed he saw an object take off at a speed of 5000 mph!" The editors note about some "witness" claims of having received "reassurance, peace, even love" from UFO encounters that "Unfortunately, such emotional responses are no guarantee that the UFO is what it seems to be: they have been known to occur even when the alleged UFO can be positively identified as a natural or manmade object." In the essay, "Extraterrestrial UFOS - Yes or No?" the writer notes, "There are no photographs of UFO occupants. A UFO has never been clearly photographed by two persons independently. There are extremely few CLOSE-UP photos of an alien craft, and I do not know of one that has passed rigorous laboratory scrutiny of the negative." Concerning the possibility of alien civilizations intercepting our radio/TV transmissions, the point is made that "the mathematics of ETI distribution suggest that the nearest technological civilization would be over 1000 light years away, so won't be able to detect our radio/TV/readar waves for another 930 terrestrial years." The breadth and even-handedness of this collection make it of continuing value to UFO book fans.