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Books > Health, Home & Family > Mind, body & spirit > Unexplained phenomena / the paranormal
The Believer is the weird and chilling true story of Dr. John Mack.
This eminent Harvard psychiatrist and Pulitzer Prize-winning
biographer risked his career to investigate the phenomenon of human
encounters with aliens and to give credibility to the stupefying
tales shared by people who were utterly convinced they had
happened. Nothing in Mack's four decades of psychiatry had prepared
him for the otherworldly accounts of a cross section of humanity
including young children who reported being taken against their
wills by alien beings. Over the course of his career his interest
in alien abduction grew from curiosity to wonder, ultimately
developing into a limitless, unwavering passion. Based on exclusive
access to Mack's archives, journals, and psychiatric notes and
interviews with his family and closest associates, The Believer
reveals the life and work of a man who explored the deepest of
scientific conundrums and further leads us to the hidden dimensions
and alternate realities that captivated Mack until the end of his
life.
Beginning in the 1950s, alleged sightings of unidentified flying
objects in Canadian skies bred tension between the state and its
citizens. While the public demanded to know more about the
phenomenon, government officials appeared unconcerned and
unresponsive. Suspicion of government deepened among certain
sectors of Canadian society in the decades that followed, leading
to demands for greater public transparency and a new kind of
citizen activism. In Search for the Unknown Matthew Hayes uncovers
the history of the Canadian government's investigations into
reports of UFOs, revealing how these reports were handled,
deflected, and defended from 1950 to the 1990s. During this period
Canadians filed more than 5,000 reports of UFO sightings - many
with striking descriptions and illustrations - with branches of
government and law enforcement. Although the government conducted
some exploratory studies, officials were unable to solve the
mystery of UFOs or provide satisfactory answers about their alleged
existence, and they soon declared the matter closed. Dissatisfied
citizens responded by taking matters into their own hands, starting
UFO clubs and civilian investigation groups, and accusing the
government of a cover-up. A mutual mistrust developed between
citizens who were suspicious of their government and officials who
dismissed their fears and anxieties. This provided fertile ground
for anti-authoritarian attitudes and the cultivation of conspiracy
theories. In an era of political division, and amid heightened
awareness of states' responsibilities for their citizens, Search
for the Unknown reveals the challenges that governments face in
responding to public anxieties and preserving trust in public
institutions.
Discover the most legendary story ever told in the SUNDAY TIMES
bestseller TROY, Stephen Fry's most epic book yet 'An inimitable
retelling of the siege of Troy . . . Fry's narrative, artfully
humorous and rich in detail, breathes life and contemporary
relevance into these ancient tales' OBSERVER 'An amiable meander
through the myth of Troy' TIMES 'Troy. The most marvellous kingdom
in all the world. The Jewel of the Aegean. Glittering Ilion, the
city that rose and fell not once but twice . . .' _______ The story
of Troy speaks to all of us. It is the kidnapping of Helen, a queen
celebrated for her beauty, which sees the Greeks launch a thousand
ships against that great city, to which they will lay siege for ten
whole and very bloody years. It is Zeus, the king of the gods, who
triggers war when he asks the Trojan prince Paris to judge the
fairest goddess of them all. Aphrodite bribes Paris with the heart
of Helen, wife of King Menelaus of the Greeks, and nature takes its
course. It is a terrible, brutal war with casualties on all sides.
The Greeks cannot defeat the Trojans - since Achilles, the Greek's
boldest warrior, is consumed with jealousy over an ally's choice of
lover and will not fight . . . The stage is set for the oldest and
greatest story ever told, where monstrous passions meet the highest
ideals and the lowest cunning. In Troy you will find heroism and
hatred, revenge and regret, desire and despair. It is these human
passions, written bloodily in the sands of a distant shore, that
still speak to us today. Troy is a myth in which we seek the truth
about ourselves, which Stephen Fry brings breathtakingly to life
for our modern age. *** NOW COMES WITH A PROTECTIVE DUST JACKET ***
_______ 'Fry's knowledge of the world - ancient and modern - bursts
through at the seams . . . The reader will find themselves on a fun
romp through the world's greatest story' DAILY TELEGRAPH PRAISE FOR
MYTHOS AND HEROES: 'A romp through the lives of ancient Greek gods.
Fry is at his story-telling best . . . the gods will be pleased'
Times 'A head-spinning marathon of legends' Guardian 'An Olympian
feat. The gods seem to be smiling on Fry - his myths are definitely
a hit' Evening Standard 'An odyssey through Greek mythology.
Brilliant . . . all hail Stephen Fry' Daily Mail 'A rollicking good
read' Independent
With a history as rich, yet bloody, as Northumberland has, it comes
as little surprise that the county is widely regarded as being one
of the most haunted in Britain. In 'Paranormal Northumberland',
local author Rob Kirkup draws on contemporary and historical
sources to investigate some of the famous and lesser-known haunted
locations in the county today. This compilation includes ghostly
monks that walk the grounds of Blanchland Abbey after being killed
by bandits and the Pink Lady of Bamburgh Castle who is seen
eternally falling from the castle to the rocks below. He also
explores Chillingham Castle, regarded as one of the scariest places
in the country, if not the world, where the torturer John Sage
lurks in its ancient dungeons to this day. Illustrated throughout,
this book will be of interest to anyone who wants to discover more
about the county's haunted and hidden heritage.
Written in the late 1950s at the height of popular fascination with
UFO's, Flying Saucers is the great psychologist's brilliantly
prescient meditation on the phenomenon that gripped the world. A
self-confessed sceptic in such matters, Jung was nevertheless
intrigued, not so much by their reality or unreality, but by their
psychic aspect. He saw flying saucers as a modern myth in the
making, to be passed down the generations just as we have received
such myths from our ancestors. In this wonderful and enlightening
book Jung sees UFO's as 'visionary rumours', the centre of a
quasi-religious cult and carriers of our technological and
salvationist fantasies. 40 years later, with entire religions based
on the writings of science fiction authors, it is remarkable to see
just how right he has proved to be.
Too many cases of "accidental" alien contact...UFO cults praying to
the skies...secret "psychotronic" weapons for bending the human
mind. The evidence Jacques Vallee reveals, after many years of
scientific investigation, adds up to something more menacing than
monsters from outer space. Messengers of Deception documents the
growing effect of UFO contact claims on our lives and of the belief
systems prevalent in our society. It explores the hidden realities
of the cults, the contactees, the murky political intrigues and the
motivations of the investigators. "As suspenseful as a Hitchcock
Thriller, brilliantly argued . . . a smashing achievement." -
Robert Anton Wilson
The Believer is the weird and chilling true story of Dr. John Mack.
This eminent Harvard psychiatrist and Pulitzer Prize-winning
biographer risked his career to investigate the phenomenon of human
encounters with aliens and to give credibility to the stupefying
tales shared by people who were utterly convinced they had
happened. Nothing in Mack's four decades of psychiatry had prepared
him for the otherworldly accounts of a cross-section of humanity
including young children who reported being taken against their
wills by alien beings. Over the course of his career his interest
in alien abduction grew from curiosity to wonder, ultimately
developing into a limitless, unwavering passion. Based on exclusive
access to Mack's archives, journals, and psychiatric notes and
interviews with his family and closest associates, The Believer
reveals the life and work of a man who explored the deepest of
scientific conundrums and further leads us to the hidden dimensions
and alternate realities that captivated Mack until the end of his
life.
Bigfoot sightings have been reported in every state except Hawaii.
Interest in this creature, which many believe to be as mythical as
a leprechaun, is as strong today as ever, with the wildly popular
show Finding Bigfoot persisting on the Animal Planet network and
references to bigfoot appearing throughout popular culture. What is
it about bigfoot that causes some people to devote a chunk of their
lives to finding one? In Monster Trek, Joe Gisondi brings to life
the celebrities in bigfoot culture: people such as Matt Moneymaker,
Jeff Meldrum, and Cliff Barackman, who explore remote wooded areas
of the country for weeks at a time and spend thousands of dollars
on infrared imagers, cameras, and high-end camping equipment.
Pursuing the answer to why these seekers of bigfoot do what they
do, Gisondi brings to the reader their most interesting-and in many
cases, harrowing-expeditions. Gisondi travels to eight locations
across the country, trekking into swamps, mountains, state parks,
and remote woods with people in search of bigfoot as well as fame,
fortune, adventure, and shared camaraderie. Many of the people who
look for bigfoot, however, go counter to stereotypes and include
teachers, engineers, and bankers. Some are private and guarded
about their explorations, seeking solitude during a deeply personal
quest. While there are those who might arguably be labeled "crazy,"
Gisondi discovers that the bigfoot research network is far bigger
and more diverse than he ever imagined.
Painting a vivid portrayal of life beyond the grave, "A Land
Unknown" is an astonishing true story of one man's incredible
journey to hell and back--a must-read for those curious about the
near-death experience written from the Christian perspective.
Fun-filled sequel to one of our best-selling ghost story books is
designed to read aloud in a crowd, with group sound effects,
movements and other hijinx. Your next wilderness outing with
friends or family will not be complete w/o this edition.
The 37th Parallel tells the true story of a computer programmer
whose investigations into alien activity lead him deep into a vast
conspiracy stretching 3000 miles across America. Chuck Zukowski is
obsessed with tracking down UFO reports, but this innocent hobby
takes on a sinister urgency when he makes a horrifying discovery.
As he traces a series of incidents across Utah, Colorado and
Kansas, a pattern emerges: a horizontal line of unexplained
activity stretching right across America, a line some are calling
the 'UFO Highway' or the '37th Parallel'. His extraordinary journey
takes him from El Paso to the Pentagon, into secret underground
military caverns and Indian sacred sites. This terrifying account
will keep you awake at night, pondering some of the biggest and
most inescapable questions humanity faces: are we really alone in
this vast universe? And if not, who are our neighbours?
Shrouded in the mists of history and legend, the province of
Newfoundland and Labrador is a land of mysteries. Its waters are a
graveyard for countless wrecked ships. Its lore is full of tales
about treachery and murder. And it was once the haunt of pirates.
Haunt, indeed
Newfoundland and Labrador has tales of the supernatural that
date back centuries, to a time before Canada even existed as a
nation. Here the ghosts not only lurk in old houses and forlorn
cemeteries, they come up out of the sea to walk the decks of ships
before the eyes of terrified crewmen. They lament out on the ice
where seventy-seven men perished in the Newfoundland Sealing
Disaster of 1914. And in St. Johns the courthouse is said to be
haunted by the ghost of Catherine Snow, who was hanged in 1834 for
the murder of her husband.
Here we find tales, both personal and historical, of ghostly
haunting and unexplained happenings; from the Old Hag to headless
ghosts. So read on if you dare
The West End of London has long been popular with theatre-goers and
tourists to the capital, but this historic area is also home to a
multitude of terrifying ghosts. From the theatre where a female
spectre cradles a severed head in her lap and the haunted house
where two people have died of fright, to the ghostly voices of
children heard in a modern office block built over a plague pit,
this spine-chilling collection of tales is guaranteed to make your
blood run cold. Richly illustrated, Haunted West End is sure to
appeal to everyone interested in the paranormal and the history of
London. Read on -- if you dare
More than half of American adults and more than seventy-five
percent of young Americans believe in intelligent extraterrestrial
life. This level of belief rivals that of belief in God. American
Cosmic examines the mechanisms at work behind the thriving belief
system in extraterrestrial life, a system that is changing and even
supplanting traditional religions. Over the course of a six-year
ethnographic study, D.W. Pasulka interviewed successful and
influential scientists, professionals, and Silicon Valley
entrepreneurs who believe in extraterrestrial intelligence, thereby
disproving the common misconception that only fringe members of
society believe in UFOs. She argues that widespread belief in
aliens is due to a number of factors including their ubiquity in
modern media like The X-Files, which can influence memory, and the
believability lent to that media by the search for planets that
might support life. American Cosmic explores the intriguing
question of how people interpret unexplainable experiences, and
argues that the media is replacing religion as a cultural authority
that offers believers answers about non-human intelligent life.
Crimes never solved, eerie sightings never explained and paranormal
events that stretch the limits of the mind -- read about the
mysteries that continue to baffle British Columbians to this day.
Chatham is a town steeped in history and strange folklore, but much
of its ghostly past, and present, remains unwritten. For the first
time ever the spectral secrets of this place are uncovered as we
delve into ghost stories obscure and well known. The book features
an array of haunted houses and shops, and sheds new light on
classic local legends at locations like Chatham Dockyard and Fort
Amherst. Many stories appear for the first time in print, with
information gained first-hand from witnesses who've experienced the
phenomena. Richly illustrated, Haunted Chatham is your guide to one
of Kent's most supernatural places.
This fascinating book, enriched by archive photographs from private
collections, contains a terrifying assortment of true-life tales
from Hertford and its surrounding villages. Featuring stories of
unexplained phenomena, phantoms and poltergeists - including a
blood-soaked policewoman seen in a mirror, the numerous ghosts of
Haileybury College, and spectral Cromwellian soldiers - discover
what lurks in the shadows of this historically rich county town.
Drawing on historical and contemporary sources, and accounts which
have never before been published, Haunted Hertford is sure to
enthral everyone interested in the supernatural history of the
area.
There are few factual books written about poltergeist phenomena,
John's Fraser's Poltergeist! A New Investigation Into Destructive
Haunting fills that void, advancing and updating Colin Wilson's
work Poltergeist!, this study's namesake from over 38 years ago.
Fraser takes readers on a journey from the Borley Rectory to the
Isle of Man, and grounds his readers in an historical overview of
'Poltergeist phenomena'. He examines where such events overlap with
other paranormal investigations of 'apparitional' ghosts. What do
they have in common, what do they differ? To answer this, Fraser
looks to new research on paranormal events, never before published
in book form. Fraser contends, perhaps controversially, that ghost
sightings are and always will be ambiguous and near-impossible to
prove, that only Poltergeist phenomena can be empirically verified.
New Hampshire couple Betty and Barney Hill provided Americans with
what is essentially the original alien abduction story. Since their
story became public in the early 1960s, many thousands of Americans
have likewise come forward with similar stories of traumatic
experiences. Sometimes the abductee has little conscious
recollection of these events, but through nightmares, dreams,
flashbacks and hypnosis they eventually learn more. Sometimes the
participants are bewildered. To get a better understanding of the
opposing viewpoints of skeptic and believer, the Betty and Barney
Hill case is used to examine the wider context of such encounters,
their historical origins, media influences and the latest
extraterrestrial, psychological, paranormal, conspiracy and
sociological theories that surround them.
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