Speiser's Most Recommended UFO Books

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Speiser's Most Recommended UFO Books

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(reprinted from FIDO UFO Echo 7/10/89)

OVERVIEW - HISTORY

Jacobs, David M.      "The UFO Controversy in America"  Univ. of Chicago

        All bookshelves should start with this one.

OVERVIEW - SYNOPSIS/THEORIES

Hall, Richard            "Uninvited Guests"     Aurora

        Best overall primer, a must for the skeptic.

OVERVIEW - DEBATE

Sagan, C. and Page, T., Eds. "UFOS: A Scientific Debate"

        If you thought Sagan was always a skeptic, think again. Contains

        papers contributed to an AIAA symposium on UFOs, including ones by

        Hynek and Menzel. Pay special attention to the paper by Dr. Robert M.

        L. Baker.

OVERVIEW - SKEPTICAL

Klass, Philip J.        "UFOs: Explained"       McGraw-Hill

                        "UFOs: Identified"      McGraw-Hill

                        "UFOs: The Public Deceived"     Prometheus

        Perhaps the most important works in the field. (Surprise!) It

        was these three that convinced me that UFOs are a legitimate,

        bona fide mystery, unanswered by even the world's best debunker.

Shaeffer, Robert       "The UFO Verdict"       Prometheus

        Shaeffer is a Klass Klone to some degree, but does a credible

        job on many investigations of his own, most notably Jimmy

        Carter's sighting when he was Governor of Georgia (it was Venus,

        Jimmy!)

SCIENCE AND INVESTIGATION

Hynek, Dr. J. Allen     "The UFO Experience"    Regnery

        First attempt at collating and digesting the massive amounts of

        data, and suggesting methods of study for the budding

        proto-science. Gave rise to the term "Close Encounters"

" ", Imbrogno, P., and Pratt, R. "Night Siege"  Ballantine

        A look at the very most impressive case on record, the Hudson

        Valley Boomerang. 9000 sightings through 1987, videotape,

        stills, sightings at nuclear reactors, hints of cover-up,

        possible abductions....this one's got it all.

Story, Ronald J.        "UFOs and the Limits of Science"

        Story is known for debunking Von Daniken, and has written for

        the Skeptical Inquirer. But when it comes to UFOs, ah, that's

        another "Story"!

CRASHED SAUCERS

Moore, W. and Berlitz, C. "The Roswell Incident"        Random House

        Say what you will about MJ-12, MIBs, and Moore's latest

        bombshell. This is STILL the best documented, best researched

        incident on record. Honorable mention to Stan Friedman, since

        the publisher saw fit not to recognize his contribution.

GOVERNMENT COVER-UP

Fawcett, L. and Greenwood, B. "Clear Intent"

        The authors make a very credible and as-yet unanswered case for

        the Cosmic Watergate. Contains reproduced documents obtained

        under the Freedom of Information Act, many of them acquired by

        Citizens Against UFO Secrecy. Watch out! These guys can back up

        just about everything they say!

Keyhoe, Maj. Donald E.  "Flying Saucers: Top Secret"    Holt

        Honorable mention - Good glimpse of the early days of the

        cover-up, and NICAP's thwarted attempts to "blow the lid."

ABDUCTIONS

Streiber, Whitley       "Communion"             Morrow/Beech Tree

        The largest selling of all UFO books. Regardless of what you

        think of Streiber and his strange tale, make no mistake: HE

        believes it. He is over-rated as a writer, however.

Hopkins, Budd           "Intruders"             Random House

        Much more readable than Communion, and downright scary in its

        implications. Hopkins does his best to make a case for genetic

        experimentation, but has come under fire for his unscientific

        methodology. Not bad for an artist, though.

ABDUCTIONS - SKEPTICAL

Klass, Philip J.        "UFO Abductions: A Dangerous Game"  Prometheus

        As with his previous books, important only for its failure to

        convince. Klass argues that the 1975 TV-Movie "The UFO Incident"

        is the genesis for the present spate of abduction-itis.

EXTRA CREDIT

        Hungry for more? Itching to get your hands dirty on the real

        nitty-gritty? OK, boys and girls, let's get down, let's get

        funky...

Bullard, Dr. Thomas E.  "UFO Abductions: The Measure of the Mystery"

                                                Fund for UFO Research

        A monumental two-volume, 673 page work by a folklorist who set

        out to show that abductions were nothing more than 20th century

        fairy tales. He admits he failed. Anyone who says we're not

        trying to take an empirical look at this subject should get a

        load of this. If its too much for you...

                       "On Stolen Time"         Fund for UFO Research

        Summary of the above work. A much more convenient (and

        inexpensive) 34 pages.

Swords, Dr. Michael, Ed. "Journal of UFO Studies"       CUFOS

        Ufology's very own refereed science journal. Includes articles

        on the Delphos Landing Trace Case (no, friends, it's NOT a

        "fairy ring"), the ET possibility, and  a very revealing round-table

        debate on abductions.