Flying Saucers and Science: A Scientist Investigates the Mysteries of Ufos: Interstellar Travel, Crashes, and Government Cover-Ups

As a newbie to the UFO topic, I'd have to say I think this book is a fantastic introduction to this topic, and it's the book I recommend to other newcomers who ask for a good first book to read on this topic. I never gave UFOs any thought outside of the entertainment world until I saw one myself that really disturbed me. At that time, I didn't know about organizations like MUFON or the National UFO Reporting Center, nor did I know there were any serious UFO researchers like Stanton Friedman, so I just put the incident to the back of my mind and forgot about it for a few years. Then in 2008 I saw some interviews about the UFO topic on the Larry King Live show, learned a few things and took a chance on this book, and it turned out to be probably the best book I could have started with. So I have to respectfully disagree with one of the other reviewers here who said a newbie would not be able to follow this book without reading Mr. Friedman's earlier books. It's true that this book provides a summary of his earlier works, (50 years worth, WOW!) but what makes a good summary to veterans also makes a good overview to newcomers who wish to read further on the topic, which is what I am now doing thanks to the guidance provided in this book. Plus, Mr. Friedman has weeded out all the CRAP so that I don't have to. THANKS Mr. Friedman!

I appreciate the additional insight Friedman puts into this new book of his. However, I must warn those who haven't read Friedman's other books as background knowledge - you will be a bit lost on a good portion of what he says in this book. I suggest anyone who is new to Friedman's research to read his other books beforehand. Honestly, I find the organization of this book a bit hard to follow sometimes. To me, it sounds as if Friedman is thinking aloud as he writes this. That makes sense, as he states that this book's purpose is to answer questions that he can never seem to fully cover in his lectures. I give this a five out of five rating based purely upon its information, and not its organization. I highly recommend this book, as it answers a lot of common tactics debunkers like to use to promote their "scientific" assertions.

Friends, I ask all of you to consider the negative reviews posted here: Not a SINGLE ONE of them offer rebuttals to the facts presented by Friedman. They offer NO evidence Friedman is wrong, NO counter facts, NO data, nothing but off the cuff negative statements, designed to discourage you from buying the book. The shallow NEGATIVE reviews with NO substance here are suspiciously good reasons to BUY the book, not to dismiss it. Way to go Friedman.. Keep up the good work.

Finally a book on Flying Saucers/UFO's that gets away from the old genre and brings us into the 21st century. Stanton Friedman's handling of the subject is befitting a man of his education as a scientist and stature as a life long researcher and believer in the phenomenon. This should be required reading in every news room across the globe. Let every empty talking/writing head who ever made fun of the idea or derided those that reported the sightings take a sobering look at themselves and the matter. I hope I live long enough to see this government 'give it up' and open up their UFO files to the world. Best work yet on this issue.

Simply put: Flying Saucers and Science answers all the big questions pertaining to the subject of Unidentified Flying Objects. If you are skeptical of the subject of UFOs and the hypothesis of extraterrestrial origin, or find the very idea of such visitation to be irrational, this is a book for you. UFO researcher/lecturer and former Nuclear physicist Stanton Friedman effectively establishes the reality of UFOs by referencing several large scale scientific studies and declassified government documents that point invariably to the likely hypothesis that some UFOs may indeed be extraterrestrial spacecraft. (As hard as that is to believe) In addition, Mr. Friedman effectively demolishes dismissive arguments put forth by the skeptical community against UFO reality; from well respected scientists, such as the SETI specialists, to famous science fiction writers, such as Isaac Asimov, Ben Bova, and Arthur C. Clarke. A common argument in Ufology is that you can't get here from there. That travel between stars is simply science fiction. Skeptics often argue: "The distances between stars are simply too vast for interstellar travel to be a reality." "The Voyager probe would take 70,000 years to reach the nearest star." "Energy requirements for such a voyage would be astronomical." "Even traveling to the nearest star at the speed of light would take more than 4 years." (A common misconception that is addressed) Friedman thinks otherwise. An entire chapter is devoted to the feasibility of interstellar travel with a strict adherence to the laws of physics. Friedman effectively demonstrates, in layman's terms, that star travel is by no means science fiction, but a very real possibility -- without faster than light travel. Another common misconception Friedman corrected is that of public opinion. It is often assumed that most people don't believe in UFOs, and most scientists certainly don't believe in them. Friedman shows that statistics garnered through public polls indicate a correlation to belief in UFOs and higher education and uses charts to help illustrate these results. Additionally, Friedman cites a poll taken by Industrial Research and Development Magazine, which was a controlled circulation monthly publication going to about 100,000 people involved in research and development activities, in 1971 and 1979 that shows equally startling results. As alluded to earlier, a large volume of commonly asked questions are addressed throughout the book. From common technical questions such as, "Why do the flight characteristics of UFOs appear to violate the laws of physics?" (They don't), or "Why don't some UFOs produce a sonic boom while clearly traveling at supersonic speed?", or "How would aliens even find us?" to philosophical questions such as, "Why would alien visitors choose not to make contact?", "Why would aliens come to Earth?", and of course "Why the cover-up?" If you have a question you need answered, there's a pretty good chance you wi