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Books > Health, Home & Family > Mind, body & spirit > Unexplained phenomena / the paranormal > UFOs
Here is the first A–Z encyclopedia to explore the convictions
held by many in the modern day world that extraterrestrials,
angels, fairy-folk, and other-dimensional intelligences regularly
interact with human beings. Extraordinary Encounters: An
Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrials and Otherworldly Beings is the
first ever illustrated A–Z encyclopedia to explore these
fascinating modern day beliefs, personalities, beings, and events.
Among the beings you'll meet in its pages are Abraham, a collection
of highly evolved entities that speak in one voice; Metranon, the
divine interface between God and the Outer Worlds (and sometime Old
Testament angel); and The Planetary Council, whose members include
Jove, Merlin, Quetzalcoatl, and Lao-Tzu.
The debate about UFO's has raged for as long as people have stared
into the heavens. Yet to this day the scientific establishment has
steadfastly refused to engage in systematic study of what they are.
This book examines why.
Randles and Warrington establish by detailed case histories of many
UFO sightings that unexplained phenomena certainly exist. Picking
their way expertly through the maze of misinformation and fantasy,
they examine the possible explanations, rejecting the 'standard'
view- that UFO's are alien spaceships- in favour of more
scientifically based and testable ideas. They suggest ways in which
scientific standard should be applied and consider the fruits that
such enquiries might yield- and the potential consequences for
mankind of explaining the hitherto inexplicable.
This volume provides an in-depth discussion on the central question
- how can people express and survive dissent and disagreement in
confined habitats in space? The discussion is an important one
because it could be that the systems of inter-dependence required
to survive in space are so strong that dissent becomes impossible.
John Locke originally said that people have a right to use
revolution to overthrow a despotic regime. But if revolution causes
violence and damage that causes depressurisation with the risk of
killing many people, is it even permissible to have a revolution?
How then are people to express their liberty or dissatisfaction
with their rulers? The emergence of structures of dissent and
disagreement is an essential part of the construction of a
framework of liberty in space (revolution is just the extreme
example) and thus the topic deserves in-depth and immediate
attention. Even today, the way in which we assemble organisations
and corporations for the government and private exploration of
space must take into account the need for mechanisms to allow
people to express dissent.
Accounts from recorded history of unidentified flying objects
moving into and out of bodies of water.
For over fifty years an incident near Roswell, New Mexico, has
sparked the imaginations of UFO enthusiasts. Did the military
recover a crashed "flying saucer" there, along with several
extraterrestrial bodies? Has the government gone to great lengths
to hide the evidence? Over time these speculations have reached the
status of unquestionable truths in the minds of many ufologists.
In this definitive study of the Roswell incident, longtime UFO
researcher Karl T. Pflock-who is convinced that some UFO reports
are real alien sightings-concludes, after an exhaustive
investigation, that no alien craft or bodies were ever found at
Roswell. Pflock admits at the outset that he too once strongly
believed there might be something to the Roswell alien stories, and
he describes how he then came to discover the whole truth. Using
formerly classified records he proves that the U.S. government has
absolutely no physical evidence of aliens, shows how critical
weather data completely refute key claims of Roswell believers, and
explains why the case now rises and falls on the testimony of just
one witness, who cleverly manipulated leading investigators and
continues to do so today.
Pflock's intensive research and access to once-classified
documents-including facsimilies of important formerly classified
documents, 28 witness affidavits, and the entire Pratt-Marcel
interview transcript-make this book must reading even for UFO
buffs-believers and skeptics alike- who feel they know everything
about Roswell.
Are extraterrestrials real? Or are they the product of overactive
imaginations fed by weekly TV shows and tabloid headlines? Is the
government's silence due to ignorance, or to a plan that was
implemented long before the public ever heard of 'Martians'? Is the
motive of the media to simply profit from this phenomenon, or is it
to act as a medium of something much larger and more complex than
entertainment? This book is for both the believer and the sceptic
-- to be used to decipher the connection between the role of the
media and the history of UFOs. For nearly fifty years, in TV shows
from Captain Video to The X-Files, movies from The Day the Earth
Stood Still to Men in Black, from headline stories in both trashy
tabloids and respectable publications, and now on the internet --
we have constantly been exposed to extraterrestrials. This book
examines the media's saturation with UFOs and aliens, and addresses
a series of arguments as to how it became that way, when it will
end, and who's pulling the strings.
The proposal of the School was made in 1998 to three institutions,
which responded enthusiastically: The Abdus Salam International
Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), its main co-sponsor, the
International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology,
both in Trieste, Italy, and the Chancellor's Office, Universidad
Simon Bolfvar (USB). The secretarial and logistic support was
provided in Trieste by the ICTP and in Caracas by USB and the IDEA
Convention Center. In addition the event was generously supported
by the following institutes, agencies, foundations and academies:
NASA Headquarters, European Space Agency, TALVEN Programme,
(Delegacion Permanente de Venezuela ante la UNESCO), The SETI
Institute, Centro Latinoamericano .de Ffsica, The Third World
Academy of Sciences, Academia de Ciencias Ffsicas, Matematicas y
Naturales, Red Latinoamericana de Biologfa, The Planetary Society,
The Latin American Academy of Sciences (Fondo ACAL), Alberto
Vollmer Foundation, Inc, Fundacion J. Oro, Associated to the
Catalonian Research Foundation, Red Latinoamericana de Astronomfa
and Colegio Emil Friedman. A total of 36 lectures were delivered by
20 lecturers, of which 14 were from the following countries:
Argentina, Mexico, Italy, Spain and the USA. Six lecturers were
from the host country. In addition there were 5 chairpersons from
the host country that were not participants; two participants acted
as chairpersons (Pedro Benitez and Tomas Revilla).
Engaging and entertaining, UFO Sightings: The Evidence is the most
up-to-date overview of the UFO phenomenon, a controversy that gains
strength with each new report of strange happenings in the sky.
Written from the skeptical perspective, and applying the scientific
method to the cases explored, this book differs greatly from the
proparanormal tomes widely available today.
"Most broad survey UFO books contain absolutely uncritical
presentations of sensational claims," says author Robert Sheaffer.
"Typically, pro-UFO books deliberately omit all facts that tend to
discredit the cases."
UFO Sightings is unique because it gives the reader a broad
overview of the world of UFOlogy, dealing with most major cases and
trends, while offering references and commentary to provide a clear
perspective. Incidents and photographs are scrutinized within a
framework of objective science.
Included are the Jimmy Carter UFO sighting; the "abduction" of
Betty and Barney Hill; the incidents at Exeter; the Men in Black;
messages from space; mothmen, wolf girls, and transparent apes;
films; the UFO blitz of Mexico; and the comparisons to sightings of
fairies and witches in colonial times.
The power of imagination, group psychology, and the concept of
"fantasy prone personalities," are explored by Bartholomew and
Howard as they probe the history of how UFO stories are spread. The
impact of "collective delusion" enhanced by the media can be
dangerous, leaving great pain and tragedy in its wake. Included are
detailed descriptions of the United States airship flap of 1896-97;
the imaginary sightings of Thomas Edison's "electric star" of the
late 1800s; Canada's phantom balloon wave of 1896-97; the New
Zealand zeppelin scare of 1909; the British UFO panic of 1912-13;
phantom German air raids and spy missions over Canada, New York,
Delaware, New Hampshire, and Africa during World War I; Sweden's
ghost rocket crisis of 1946. These are all reports of UFOs before
the famed Roswell incident and the emergence of flying saucers
since 1947.
The authors examine collective behavior, fallible human perception,
deviance, religion, popular culture, history, the role of the
media, and relationships to the paranormal. From alien contact with
humans to well-organized cults, UFOs and Alien Contact is gripping,
humorous, and at times horrifying.
For years, the public has been led to believe that the US
government and the military have tried to cover up the recovery of
a crashed saucer and its alien occupants from near Roswell, New
Mexico. This belief has been fostered by numerous books, newspaper
articles, TV shows, and movies released since the incident of 1947.
After many years of investigation, Philip J. Klass (the Sherlock
Holmes of UFOlogy), has uncovered hard evidence that there is
indeed a cover-up, 'but not by the US government'. This is based on
solid evidence contained in once 'secret' and 'top secret' Air
Force and CIA documents whose contents were intentionally withheld
by authors of books and articles on Roswell, as well as by those
who produced TV shows on the subject. Here, Klass discloses what
really crashed on the Brazel ranch. He also reveals serious flaws
in the tales told by alleged witnesses, some of whom have
drastically changed their accounts.
UFOs and space aliens are visiting Earth? Now it's time to get the
facts
Did a "flying saucer" really crash near Roswell, New Mexico, in
1947, and have we been victims of a sinister government conspiracy
to hide its alien occupants in a secret facility? Is there truth
behind the swirled crops phenomenon? Have humans been abducted by
aliens?
In an effort to counter media misinformation The UFO Invasion
offers definitive, behind-the-scenes accounts of each case of
extraterrestrial visitations and paranormal claims. This fully
documented look at sightings, encounters, the Roswell incident,
"MJ-12" documents, crop circles, the "alien autopsy," and more will
challenge, illuminate, anger and amuse. Included are revealing
articles by Robert A. Baker, Robert E. Bartholomew, Joseph A.
Bauer, William B. Blake, Robyn M. Dawes, C. Eugene Emery, Zen
Faulkes, John F. Fischer, Kingston A. George, Jr., Philip J. Klass,
Joe Nickell, James E. Oberg, Peter J. Reeven, Ian Ridpath, Robert
Sheaffer, Armando Simon, Lloyd Stires, Trey Stokes, Dave Thomas,
Richard L. Weaver (Col. USAF), Jeff Wells, and Robert P. Young.
Also, SETI coordinator Thomas P. McDonough ponders searching for
extraterrestrial intelligence.
This irreverent, satirical look at the never-ending flying saucer
controversy lampoons the full spectrum of the UFO "invasion," from
the ancient astronaut theories to the evolution of today's alien
abduction "epidemic."
From the first chapter, "Wheelbarrows of the Gods," readers see how
a close look at prehistoric myths from around the world reveal
common threads in each account. McHugh relates how Noah and his
sons inadvertently caused aliens to flood the Earth for forty days
and nights; how extraterrestrials gave Nostradamus his power, and
how they influenced the success of the 1969 New York Mets. He
traces the evolution of the alien abduction epidemic and offers a
tongue-in-cheek quiz to determine if you have been abducted without
realizing it.
For centuries, from the earliest legends of the man on the moon,
mankind has fantasized and speculated about other life in the
universe. With the discovery of biochemical evolution - which
showed how life could evolve out of simple compounds - those
speculations took on a new dimension. Most scientists now believe
that it is possible that there is other intelligent life in the
universe.
What are the possibilities of our making contact with ETIs in the
profound vastness of space (a problem, as Isaac Asimov notes, too
easily dismissed by cultists)? What will be the consequences to our
images of ourselves and our world of the first proven contact with
beings from another planet, since they are likely to be of superior
intelligence? Could we still believe in the value of life as we
live it? How would it affect mankind's religions, both Western and
Eastern? Would it in fact mean, as Arthur C. Clarke has said, an
end to mankind's childhood?
These and other questions are explored in Extraterrestrial
Intelligence - from the most practical issues, such as how the news
of contact should be handled, to the most exciting and troubling
questions of philosophy, religion, and science.
Extraterrestrial Intelligence begins the search for a cosmic
context for mankind. It leads the way in reflecting on the next
stage in our gradual self-discovery.
The study of the Solar system, particularly of its newly
discovered outer parts, is one of the hottest topics in modern
astrophysics with great potential for revealing fundamental clues
about the origin of planets and even the emergence of life. The
three lecturers of the 35th Saas-Fee Advanced Course, which have
been updated and collected in this volume, cover the field from
observational, theoretical and numerical perspectives.
Some say they have been abducted and subjected to terrifying
physical examinations. Others claim that young children have been
kidnapped and returned only after the removal of flesh samples.
Still others allege that women have been kidnapped and impregnated,
the unborn children later removed for a vast cross-breeding
experiment. These crimes against humanity are not perpetuated by an
international terrorist organisation. The 'abductees' assert that
they have been kidnapped by extraterrestrial beings. UFO abduction
claims have spawned a veritable cottage industry, providing the
fodder for an explosion of magazine articles, television
interviews, newspaper features, best-selling books, and movies.
Somewhere beyond all the tumult lies the truth. Dedicated to 'those
who will needlessly bear mental scars because of the foolish
fantasies of a few', "UFO Abductions" lifts the shroud of mystery
from the invisible epidemic of UFO abduction claims. Philip J
Klass, an internationally recognised sceptical authority on the
subject of UFO reports, traces the history of these claims, from
the celebrated Betty and Barney Hill case in 1966 to the
extraordinary tales which are surfacing today. His response to
these claims and the answers he provides are both absorbing and
factual - a fascinating glimpse into an American subculture
obsessed with visitors from outer space.
Everyone is familiar with the idea of strange lights in the night
skies, but Pennsylvania's UFO reports go far beyond that. This book
is a selection of stories about the bizarre experiences of those in
the Keystone State who have spotted UFOs, encountered aliens, or
were abducted by extraterrestrial beings.
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