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5.0 out of 5 stars
A truly compelling book!, Dec 2 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Unsolved UFO Mysteries: The World's Most Compelling Cases of Alien Encounter (Mass Market Paperback)
The book Unsolved UFO Mysteries, by William Birnes and Harold Burt, is a terrific read for anybody out there with an interest in UFO's. I have read dozens of books on UFO's and alien encounters over the years, but this book is special in many ways. Unlike other such works this book uses language that is scientific enough to show real legitimacy, but is simple enough for anybody to understand. Each chapter is a different story about an amazing UFO encounter that has yet to be explained. These events are not as well known as Roswell, but in many ways they are even more compelling. The book looks in to some of the strangest cases such as the Bentwaters incident, the mass sightings of a boomerang shaped craft twice the size of a football field over Phoenix, Arizona, and the bazaar encounters of a man and his wife in Gulf Breeze, Florida. The characters in this book are not the conspiracy-theory crackpots that other books mention. These are real people that range from high-ranking government officials in the Pentagon, to everyday citizens with no prior knowledge of UFOs. The authors also do a wonderful job portraying the emotions involved with people who have experienced such fantastic events.
What makes this book truly stand out is its overall believability. It is written so flawlessly that a kid in grade-school and a highly qualified scientist could pick up this book and read it without being overwhelmed. Needless to say, there are some depictions in this book that I am very skeptical about. Things like the moon being a hollowed out base for aliens and the president actually meeting with them is a little too "out there." However, the book, in general, give terrific accounts with very compelling evidence in all cases. It is truly universal in a sense that it actually goes in to the viewpoints of both the skeptics and the believers. This helps the reader form his or her own opinion about UFOs in the end. This book even goes as far to mention many compelling quotes from historical figures including one very special quote said by former President Harry Truman on April 4th, 1950 saying "I can assure you that flying saucers, given that they exist, are not constructed by any power on Earth," (page 77). I have always been a believer in the UFO phenomena and this book only strengthens my beliefs. I would highly recommend this book to anybody out there with an interest in UFOs, Aliens, or other life beyond our planet. In the end this book makes it clear that we are not alone.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
A good overview of famous alien encounters., July 26 2002
This review is from: Unsolved UFO Mysteries: The World's Most Compelling Cases of Alien Encounter (Mass Market Paperback)
This book is divided into ten chapters, each addressing a different aspect of the alien phenomena. All of the best-known cases from the past 25 years or so are here, from the Gulf Breeze UFO sitings to the Rendlesham Forest incident in Great Britian to alien abductions. As another reviewer mentioned, the authors do rely largely on second-hand and anecdotal information--for example, they frequently refer to well-known books by other authors. But the purpose of this book is not to offer a lot of technical and scientific evidence; rather, it is to provide a broad overview for readers with a beginning interest in ufology. Assuming that this book sustains your interest and raises your curiousity--as it did for me--you may then want to move on to reading some of the more research-based, detailed works which are available, but this book remains an excellent introduction to ufology.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
Misleading, Jan 12 2002
This review is from: Unsolved UFO Mysteries: The World's Most Compelling Cases of Alien Encounter (Mass Market Paperback)
Flimsy evidence, not to mention half of the cases mentioned in this book are already solved. Waste of time, sorry.
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