Beginner's UFO reading list?

[lightningBugout]

Compared to most of the rest of this board, I know basically nothing about UFOs. Can someone advise on three substantial UFO books or so? Those aimed at reaching skeptics would be particularly helpful. Thanks in advance.

[monster]

The 12th planet by Zechariah Sitchin.

It's more along the lines of ancient astronauts - not modern UFOs - but it'll blow your mind.

(He continued to write a series of books after this one, but they suck... I couldn't make it through book two in the series... but The 12th Planet is a gem.)

Oh, and UFOs and The National Security State volumes one and two, by Richard Dolan. (My brother thought volume one was dry reading, but I enjoyed it.)

[barracuda]

Three(ish) obvious ones, for starters:

Richard M. Dolan, UFOs and the National Security State

Jacques Vallee, Revelations: Alien Contact and Human Deception and/or Messengers of Deception: UFO Contacts and Cults

Dr. Edward U. Condon, Final Report of the Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects (internet edition)

[barracuda]

By the way, LBO, you should know - this is the UFO ghetto down here. Not too much action, mostly monster and I. If you want a more varied response to your request, you might post in a more up-page forum where username foot-traffic obtains with some actual regularity. You can wait two weeks for thirty views in this hell-hole.

[lightningBugout]

Thanks for the heads-up but no worries - I trust you guys both to give me some good pointers. Yeah, I just found this little ghetto and actually had no idea you were into UFOs until I did.

[lightningBugout]

The 12th planet by Zechariah Sitchin.

It's more along the lines of ancient astronauts - not modern UFOs - but it'll blow your mind.

(He continued to write a series of books after this one, but they suck... I couldn't make it through book two in the series... but The 12th Planet is a gem.)

Oh, and UFOs and The National Security State volumes one and two, by Richard Dolan. (My brother thought volume one was dry reading, but I enjoyed it.)

Thanks Monster. I know only very vaguely about Sitchin but have been wanting to read him for some time. I actually saw the Fourth Kind last weekend. Not as bad as I thought it might be, but I can imagine any serious UFO enthusiast cringing for the duration. It did, however, also remind me that I need to read his work.

[barracuda]

Also, I highly recommend the source material on Wombaticus Rex' Brainsturbator Library Crop on UFOs and High Oddity thread. Great stuff.

[jingofever]

Want to understand UFOs?: Get to know UFOlogy's Founders.

Compared to most of the rest of this board, I know basically nothing about UFOs.

Nobody really knows anything about them. There's a lot of data out there of mostly varying shades of bad.

[Sepka]

Three books, eh? You ought first to know that there is a schism in ufologie between people who believe that these are aliens from space, and people who believe that they're the same thing that our ancestors called the Good People. I'm firmly in the second camp. With that caveat, I'd go with


"The UFO Controversy in America" by David Jacobs

It's not the most common book, but Amazon has it: http://www.amazon.com/Ufo-Controversy-A ... 0253190061 It's pricey, but worth it.

This isn't so much about UFOs as it is about the way the issue has been studied and treated in the popular media and academia from 1947 to 1975. It's a fascinating read, not at all dry or didactic, and it gives you a frame of reference for reading early accounts and theories of UFOs. It lets you understand the unspoken assumptions behind cases from the 50s and 60s (a period which fascinates me). Studiously neutral and fair-minded, the author reports but does not judge.



"Passport to Magonia" by Jacques Vallee

Again, pricey, but Amazon has it: http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Magonia- ... 0809237962

Ideally I'd say read this *and* "Messengers of Deception", by the same author, but if you're only reading one, go with this one. This one deals more with the nature of the phenomenon, less with its meaning. Vallee makes the argument (convincingly, IMHO) for viewing UFOs within the context of the supernatural.



"The Mothman Prophecies" by John Keel

Very common book, widely available.

Purists would argue that it isn't really a UFO book, and they'd be right. It deals with UFOs. monsters, Men in Black, giant birds, and some other things as well. Keel tends to write from memory, so his facts aren't always to be trusted as to exact particulars, but his overall narrative is reliable, and like Vallee, he treats UFOs as part of a larger phenomenon. He's also an excellent storyteller, and he had the advantage of being personally involved with the 1966-67 Mothman flap. A nice look at what investigating UFOs looks like from the inside.

[elfismiles]

Pretty much anything by Vallee or Keel.

Also...

For the record Keith Thompson's book Angels and Aliens is the shiznit!


http://www.amazon.com/Angels-Aliens-Kei ... 0449908372

http://www.rigorousintuition.ca/board2/ ... 10#p296710

Alien Discussions: Proceedings of the Abduction Study Conference Held at M.I.T. Cambridge, Ma.


UFOs & Abductions: Challenging the Borders of Knowledge