"Fifty Years of UFOs" by John and Anne Spencer.
Published by Boxtree, Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
25 Eccleston Place, London, England. SW1W 9NF
Priced at £18.99 (hardback)It's Ufologys anniversary year, and it couldn't pass without a plethora of UFO books being released. This is one of many, and comes from one of Britain's foremost researcher, John Spencer. It is co-authored by his wife, Anne. This book takes us through the post war years from 1947 to present day, and features all those cases that seasoned Ufologists know well. Very little is left out, including the tales told by the infamous George Adamski who claims to have met tall, beautiful Venusians in a desert near California back in 1952. We learn about the birth of modern Ufology, through the sighting of nine unusual objects sighted near Mount Rainier by one Kenneth Arnold (almost a household name now!), Nazi technology and the implications that many UFOs seen were not extraterrestrial at all, but the result of secret German circular aircraft design, are also presented. Misinformation, the Government UFO cover-up, UFO sightings by pilots, and ever so much more, are presented in an easy to read fashion.
What I also liked about this book, was the many photographs and illustrations that are peppered throughout. The painted artist's impressions were also nice to look at, (wouldn't mind some of them on my wall!). The book also goes into crop circles, mysterious triangular UFOs, and crashed saucer retrievals. Every case that I thought of, I could find here, and that's saying something. Roswell, Gulf Breeze, you name it, and I'm sure you'll find it in here. But are people tired of books like this? Can we continue to see books of this nature being released every few years? I would have to say that one would be hard pushed to find a better book of this nature. John and Anne have hit the nail on the head, and presented, what to this reviewer thinks, is an excellent study of work of this whole mysterious UFO business. I don't think we can ever tire of books of this nature.
This is not a slap-dash attempt to capitalize on a ufological anniversary, there is a lot of thought and effort that has gone into this book and it shines through. Ufology is slowly being recognized for the honest subject that it is, and books of this nature highlight how very serious this subject should be taken. A good book then, by two of Britain's most respected authors.