Product Description
This was one of the first books published about the UFO phenomena. We are fortunate that it ended up in the public domain.
It is a template for much of what would follow: the paranoia, the government disinformation, the inescapable conclusion that the saucers are not of this earth. Keyhoe, with his spare, matter of fact writing style, which also conveys a profound sense of wonder, has to be the prototype for the deadpan Fox Mulder of the X-Files.
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Tags: deadpan, first books, flying saucers, fox mulder, inescapable conclusion, keyhoe, profound sense, sense of wonder, ufo phenomena, writing style
#1 by Efthimios on June 30, 2010 - 2:08 pm
This book is not fiction. The author researches REAL facts and sightings, and concludes that the saucers are interplanetary. Donald Keyhoe made a serious recearch, from an “inside” perspective , having some access to original military files. Before he started the research, he would not believe in the “visitors from space” answer. But checking thoroughly every other possible answer, he saw that they didn’t fit in the sightings and the reports.
This book is a *must* have to anyone who wants to know the truth about the UFO phenomenon. It contains everything, from the reports and reactions to the military cover up. The *visitors* were here even before we were born. Anyone with a clear mind will see this.
Rating: 5 / 5
#2 by Dennis S. Smith on June 30, 2010 - 3:32 pm
In the realm of UFOlogy, this book was not only one of the first, but also one of the best reports ever written on the subject. I first read it in the early 1950’s, and believe me, it is perhaps the one book that fueled my interest not only in UFO’s but in all forms of Fortean Phenonema, both past and present for the last fifty-three years. No fadism in the pages of this excellent tome – just cold, hard, and well researched facts about a subject that is now more popular than when this book was first published in 1950.
Rating: 5 / 5
#3 by J. O. Knox on June 30, 2010 - 3:45 pm
This is a wonderful book for anyone that wants to make sense of what has been going on for long around the world. Great research book.
Rating: 5 / 5
#4 by Laurie on June 30, 2010 - 4:07 pm
Oh, people! I’m about halfway through this book, and while the content is interesting, this edition of the book itself is an embarrassment. Every possible example of bad publishing is here, from no reference to the original date of publication (in fact, there is no copyright or publishing information at all), to misspellings, no or incorrect punctuation, wild margins and paragraph indentations, first letters of new sentences not it caps and the like. It makes it nearly unreadable. This is a topic that already lacks credibility, and when you publish a book that represents a classic piece of UFO literature in this amateurish form, it further degrades any evidence it has to offer. Bad, bad publishers!!!! Where are your proofreaders?! Where is your professional pride?!!!!! Amazon, my dependable friends, please take a look at this horror and remove this book from your offerings until the publishers clean up their act!
Rating: 2 / 5
#5 by Commander Adama on June 30, 2010 - 6:05 pm
Donald Keyhoe (1897-1988) is one of the most prominent figures in the early history and development of the UFO phenomenon in the United States. A reporter by trade, Keyhoe traveled with famed aviator Charles Lindbergh after he returned to the USA from his historic 1927 flight across the Atlantic; he wrote a bestselling book about his travels with Lindbergh. He also served in the Marine Corps and rose to the rank of Major. In 1949, in the wake of the first widely-publicized UFO sightings and incidents in the USA, “True” magazine, a respected publication at the time, hired Keyhoe to write an article about the UFO mystery. After talking with his extensive contacts in the U.S. government and military gained from his years as a reporter and military officer, Keyhoe came to the conclusion that the UFO phenomenon was real, that the “flying saucers” were alien spaceships exploring the Earth, and that the U.S. government knew this and were covering up the true story to prevent panic. In January 1950 “True” published Keyhoe’s article. Entitled “The Flying Saucers Are Real”, it created a media sensation. UFO historian Curtis Peebles described the article as one of “the most widely read and discussed magazine articles up to that time.” The fact that someone of Keyhoe’s credibility and government contacts had published such an article gave the UFO phenomenon credibility in the minds of many people. In June 1950 Keyhoe expanded the article into a book. Also entitled “The Flying Saucers Are Real”, the book sold over 500,000 copies and helped to establish many of the ideas and beliefs of the modern UFO phenomenon. Among the ideas Keyhoe helped develop were the notion that UFOs were spacecraft from an advanced alien civilization, that the aliens were simply exploring the Earth, and that the U.S. government knew this but was covering up the truth. Keyhoe’s insistence that there was a vast government conspiracy regarding UFOs would set a pattern that continues to motivate UFO “believers” even today. “The Flying Saucers Are Real” would establish Keyhoe as a leading figure in the UFO phenomenon, and over the next two decades he would be frequently interviewed on television and radio. In 1957 he became the leader of NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena), the largest and most influential civilian UFO research group of the 1950’s and 60’s. He remained NICAP’s leader until 1969.
If you are a UFO buff then this book is highly recommended. Keyhoe examines the most prominent UFO cases up to 1950 – the Kenneth Arnold sighting, the Mantell Crash, the Chiles-Whitted UFO sighting, and numerous others – and offers his views on the subject. A number of UFO skeptics, such as Curtis Peebles, have criticized the book for greatly exaggerating the government’s interest in UFOs, and for exaggerating the evidence indicating that UFOs were alien spacecraft and not merely hoaxes, misidentifications of natural phenomena, etc. Peebles also criticizes Keyhoe for imagining, fantasizing, and writing about a government conspiracy to cover-up UFO incidents rather than basing his assumptions of a conspiracy on solid facts. However, given the book’s importance in the history of UFOs in the United States, it is still well worth reading even today. Recommended!
Rating: 4 / 5