The UFO Phenomenon (Mysteries of the Unknown)

If you have not already read books about UFO's, this large-format, illustrated book offers an easy way to read into the phenomenon. The first part is a summary history describing sightings as far back as Biblical times. After a brief section on the treatment of alien visitors in films, the authors describe the "saucer era" that began in 1947. Succeeding chapters intersperse selected sighting reports with more general historical sections, including brief treatments of close encounters, abductions, Project Blue Book, and Men in Black. Two sections show alleged photographs of UFOs, plus Air Force comments on them. The book ends with speculations about ways in which advanced extraterrestrials might get around the galaxy. The authors do not offer any firm conclusions themselves, though they clearly consider the issue of whether some UFO sightings are real to still be open. Some of the art work seems rather unsophisticated by today's standards, particularly the crude treatment of lunar craters.

Although it is hardly the most in-depth or serious of UFO books, "The UFO Phenomenon", a part of Time-Life magazine's "Mysteries of the Unknown" series of books released in the late 1980's, is one of the best-illustrated UFO books you'll ever see. And, thanks to the work of Time magazine's first-rate writers and researchers, this book is also superior to many of the mediocre and poorly-researched books published on UFOs. The book offers a good history of the UFO phenomenon, dating back to 1947 when a respected pilot and businessman, Kenneth Arnold, saw what he later described to reporters as nine "flying saucers" buzzing over Mount Rainier in Washington State. Soon many people were reporting strange airborne objects all over the nation, prompting a worried US Air Force to begin a secret investigation that would last until 1969. Despite its slim length, this book does a good job of covering almost every aspect of UFOs, from mysteries such as the nuclear bomb-style explosion in Siberia in 1908 which destroyed a thousand square miles of forest, to most of the better-known UFO sightings in the USA, to the creepy "Men In Black" who have been rumored to try and intimidate UFO witnesses into not publicizing their sightings, to possible explanations for UFOs - from the sensible to the outlandish. The book's authors make no judgements on any of these stories - they simply report them and leave it up to the reader to decide their authenticity. Although other UFO books will provide the reader with a much greater wealth of detail and knowledge, "The UFO Phenomenon" is still a fine introduction into the subject.

This is a nice, comprehensive, but brief little book on the subject. It covers most of the bases/theories and gets a few very important details that many ufology books never seem to get. The authentic eyewitness illustrations as well as the section on Samaria are intelligently chosen. Go to a local library and check-it-out if you have an interest.