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by Curtis Peebles 
Important for skeptics and believers alike
This is a good solid history of the creation of the UFO myth of the post WWII era, beginning with its earliest manifestations and leading up to 1992. A revision is certainly in order, considering the popularity of The X-Files. All of the elements of that show are here: strange lights in the sky, possible UFO landings, alien visits to our world, and a conspiracy to cover up the whole matter. Unfortunately, it is not as well written as one would hope. For example, the author states that 1947 was in the fourth decade of the twentieth century. He could benefit from having a thesaurus: in one paragraph 3 sentences in length, for example, he uses the word "myth" 4 times. His accounts, while thorough, are rather methodical. Regardless of these flaws, the book is very important, because it carefully outlines the history of the flying saucer myth. That last word is of central importance: Peebles uses it to mean "the system of beliefs that have developed around the idea that alien spacecraft are being seen in Earth's skies." The author is a skeptic, but readers, he says, "are encouraged to make up their own minds." The analyses included herein are most damaging to those who accept the hardware hypothesis that flying saucers are indeed material machines piloted by extraterrestrial intelligence. His careful analysis should compel those who accept the hardware hypothesis to find more definitive proof, or reinvestigate cases in order to find further proof of the existence of flying saucers. Skeptics will find it useful as a source of mainstream scientific information about saucer sightings, while those who believe that UFOs are a paranormal rather than a physical phenomenon will find support for that idea, namely that encounter phenomena, such as UFOs, ghosts, and other unexplained events, are in fact merely disguises for some other force not yet explained by science. Despite the flaws mentioned above, the information here, as well as the extensive bibliography, makes this work an essential part of any ufologist's collection, and will also please historians of ideas with interest in the field of ufology. |
