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The Ufo Enigma: The Definitive Explanation of the Ufo Phenomenon by Donald H. Menzel
This is the book that proves that "flying saucers" are not extraterrestrial vehicles bringing little green men from outer space, but illusions produced by easily explainable meteorological and optical phenomena.Concentrating on the most widely publicized UFO sightings in this country from 1963 to 1975, Drs. Donald Menzel and Ernest Taves show in each case what really caused people to believe they were seeing flying saucers. A number were produced by atmospheric conditions, such as ice crystals or unusual lighting effects and clouds; others were the result of strange tricks played by radar; in a few instances UFO images were created by real spacecraft leaving or re-entering the atmosphere; and some sightings, of course, were pure hoaxes.Also included in this book are a brief history of man's fascination with celestial phenomena--from biblical times to the present; an evaluation of the theories of von Däniken and of the Bermuda Triangle mystery; and a discussion of why people so firmly resist rational explanations of what they believe to be "flying saucers."Scientific and completely up to date, this is the definitive study of the UFO phenomenon, with thought-provoking evidence for believers and skeptics alike.
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April 17, 2025
MENZEL’S SECOND UFO BOOK, PROVIDING ‘NATURALISTIC’ EXPLANATIONS OF UFOS
Astronomer Donald Howard Menzel (1901-1976) and psychiatrist Ernest Henry Taves (1916-2003) wrote in the first chapter of this 1977 book, “Flying saucers, whatever they are, are by no means a new phenomenon. Records throughout the ages have clearly shown that weird apparitions in the sky have frightened man since prehistoric times. The Bible contains dozens of references to such apparitions. And when man cannot understand what he is seeing, he will invent an explanation to satisfy his questions and, perhaps, to partially quell his fears…
“There is no question but that many of the UFO sightings are of the same variety that have frightened people throughout the ages. And, like our forebears, we have devised a mythology to explain the phenomena. In 1947, when the modern age of flying saucers began, we were only talking about space travel… Since then we have … set foot on the moon, have sent numerous vehicles to the planets, and have made space travel a reality. If we earthlings are … sending spacecraft to other planets, why should not the theoretical inhabitants of our other planets or the planets of other planetary systems be involved in space travel to the earth? This is a reasonable question…
“Many people, however, seem to think that, because such a question is reasonable, the answer must be in the affirmative. Why should the earth be the only inhabited planet?... in the innumerable other galaxies [some] of these stars must surely have planets. And if they do, why are not the inhabitants of at least some of these planets so much more advanced than we that they have overcome the problems of space travel… and have come to visit us? We shall concern ourselves with these questions in a later chapter.” (Pg. 2-3) They suggest, “The first thing to study in the investigation of any UFO report is the question whether some natural phenomenon, usual or unusual, could possibly be responsible for the sighting.” (Pg. 5)
They add, “The inexperienced and mystified Air Force investigating teams exchanged reports … in an atmosphere of hushed excitement and extreme security… The news media contributed substantially to the general confusion. UFO reports were big stories. The rational explanation of a sighting… drew practically no attention. The field was ripe for hack writers, who found profit for exploiting the public with sensational stories about ships from outer space… Flying-saucer societies were formed around the world, each with its own publication and run by a select few at the top who preyed upon the gullible public for years.” (Pg. 8)
Of a 1965 report (Case 52 in the Condon Report), they comment, “Though this sighting, to which the Condon report devoted nineteen pages of text and six photographs, is listed as unexplained, we believe that it was most likely a hoax… based upon the following… 1. The difficulty with the two-way radio occurred before the alleged UFO sighting, not during the encounter. 2. Major Hector Quintanilla … of Project Blue Book, made a public statement … to the effect that the Air Force had classified the case as a photographic hoax… 3. The Colorado investigators decided that the case was without value… 4. One of the Colorado investigators easily simulated three of the four photographs… 5. The clouds in one of the photographs were inconsistent with the known weather at the time of the alleged sighting. 6. There are numerous inconsistencies … related by the witness… Why, then, did the report not classify this case as at least a suspected hoax? Because ‘…it is not in general our purpose to make a judgment on that question. We are concerned only with establishing evidence as to whether or not there exist extraordinary flying objects.’” (Pg. 112)
They argue, “apparent motions are absolutely characteristic of ice-crystal phenomena. [In the] Salt Lake sighting … the pilot tried to catch the UFO, only to see it vanish, at tremendous speed, into the distance; he did not realize that the disappearance occurred because he had flown out of the cloud of ice crystals. We could multiply such instances by the dozens. No doubt our conclusions would be questioned by die-hard ufologists, who are unable to accept obvious scientific explanations because of the near-religious need to believe in the ETH (extra-terrestrial hypothesis).” (Pg. 142)
They report, “observers of the Zond IV provided THAT fireball with windows, or portholes, that it did not… have. The fact is that any observer of an unexpected, startling, or dramatic event is likely to misinterpret it in a way that brings the stimulus into the realm of the familiar and the understood.” (Pg. 171)
They assert, “We submit that the media in general, and television in particular, have been, in their relation to the UFO phenomena, enormously irresponsible.” (Pg. 186)
They explain, “One of the earliest fake UFO photographs appeared in [George] Adamski’s ‘Flying Saucers Have landed.’ The alleged UFO in the photograph is clearly identifiable as the top of an ordinary chicken brooder. What Adamski alleged to be the landing gear of the craft are clearly identifiable as three infrared bulbs, meant to supply heat to chicks in the brooder. The photograph was not in focus, the string or wire used to suspend the object in midair could not be
seen.” (Pg. 192)
They comment on a cult run by Marshall Herff Applewhite and Bonnie Lu Trousdale Nettles [‘Bo’ and ‘Peep‘]: “It is perhaps not irrelevant to mention that two years ago both Bo and Peep were in jail in Texas---Bo on a charge of auto theft and Peep for credit-card misuse. In any case, rational explanation of the Bo and Peep operation seems easier to come by than a rational explanation of the gullibility of those wishing to be taken aboard the celestial spacecraft. What can we believe except that… the average person will believe ANYTHING?” (Pg. 235) [Note that this is being written 20 years before the 1997 'Heaven’s Gate' suicide of 39 members of the cult.]
They look at the incident of Betty and Barney Hill: “Our suggestion is that the alleged abduction is based upon externalized dreams and fantasies of Betty Hill. As they were driving home … the Hills had what is a quite common experience: they saw… a bright star or planet… such objects have many, many times been misidentified as UFOs… The Hills stopped the car, got out, watched the object, and were afraid---as have been many people… in the same situation. They drove on, and the object appeared to follow them… Eventually the got home safely, and went to bed. In their recollection of their experience the next morning there was no memory of abduction aboard an alien spacecraft. The abduction came into being some days later---in the dreams of Betty Hill. She discussed these dreams with her husband and with others. Some of the content brushed off on Barney. Later, reliving their experience under hypnosis, Betty’s recollection of the ‘abduction’ was filled with detail, whereas Barney could remember very little. Both of them had become unable to distinguish between dream and reality.” (Pg. 248-249)
Although it certainly is not the ‘Definitive Explanation,’ this book (though nearly 50 years old) will be of keen interest to those who are skeptical about UFOs.
Astronomer Donald Howard Menzel (1901-1976) and psychiatrist Ernest Henry Taves (1916-2003) wrote in the first chapter of this 1977 book, “Flying saucers, whatever they are, are by no means a new phenomenon. Records throughout the ages have clearly shown that weird apparitions in the sky have frightened man since prehistoric times. The Bible contains dozens of references to such apparitions. And when man cannot understand what he is seeing, he will invent an explanation to satisfy his questions and, perhaps, to partially quell his fears…
“There is no question but that many of the UFO sightings are of the same variety that have frightened people throughout the ages. And, like our forebears, we have devised a mythology to explain the phenomena. In 1947, when the modern age of flying saucers began, we were only talking about space travel… Since then we have … set foot on the moon, have sent numerous vehicles to the planets, and have made space travel a reality. If we earthlings are … sending spacecraft to other planets, why should not the theoretical inhabitants of our other planets or the planets of other planetary systems be involved in space travel to the earth? This is a reasonable question…
“Many people, however, seem to think that, because such a question is reasonable, the answer must be in the affirmative. Why should the earth be the only inhabited planet?... in the innumerable other galaxies [some] of these stars must surely have planets. And if they do, why are not the inhabitants of at least some of these planets so much more advanced than we that they have overcome the problems of space travel… and have come to visit us? We shall concern ourselves with these questions in a later chapter.” (Pg. 2-3) They suggest, “The first thing to study in the investigation of any UFO report is the question whether some natural phenomenon, usual or unusual, could possibly be responsible for the sighting.” (Pg. 5)
They add, “The inexperienced and mystified Air Force investigating teams exchanged reports … in an atmosphere of hushed excitement and extreme security… The news media contributed substantially to the general confusion. UFO reports were big stories. The rational explanation of a sighting… drew practically no attention. The field was ripe for hack writers, who found profit for exploiting the public with sensational stories about ships from outer space… Flying-saucer societies were formed around the world, each with its own publication and run by a select few at the top who preyed upon the gullible public for years.” (Pg. 8)
Of a 1965 report (Case 52 in the Condon Report), they comment, “Though this sighting, to which the Condon report devoted nineteen pages of text and six photographs, is listed as unexplained, we believe that it was most likely a hoax… based upon the following… 1. The difficulty with the two-way radio occurred before the alleged UFO sighting, not during the encounter. 2. Major Hector Quintanilla … of Project Blue Book, made a public statement … to the effect that the Air Force had classified the case as a photographic hoax… 3. The Colorado investigators decided that the case was without value… 4. One of the Colorado investigators easily simulated three of the four photographs… 5. The clouds in one of the photographs were inconsistent with the known weather at the time of the alleged sighting. 6. There are numerous inconsistencies … related by the witness… Why, then, did the report not classify this case as at least a suspected hoax? Because ‘…it is not in general our purpose to make a judgment on that question. We are concerned only with establishing evidence as to whether or not there exist extraordinary flying objects.’” (Pg. 112)
They argue, “apparent motions are absolutely characteristic of ice-crystal phenomena. [In the] Salt Lake sighting … the pilot tried to catch the UFO, only to see it vanish, at tremendous speed, into the distance; he did not realize that the disappearance occurred because he had flown out of the cloud of ice crystals. We could multiply such instances by the dozens. No doubt our conclusions would be questioned by die-hard ufologists, who are unable to accept obvious scientific explanations because of the near-religious need to believe in the ETH (extra-terrestrial hypothesis).” (Pg. 142)
They report, “observers of the Zond IV provided THAT fireball with windows, or portholes, that it did not… have. The fact is that any observer of an unexpected, startling, or dramatic event is likely to misinterpret it in a way that brings the stimulus into the realm of the familiar and the understood.” (Pg. 171)
They assert, “We submit that the media in general, and television in particular, have been, in their relation to the UFO phenomena, enormously irresponsible.” (Pg. 186)
They explain, “One of the earliest fake UFO photographs appeared in [George] Adamski’s ‘Flying Saucers Have landed.’ The alleged UFO in the photograph is clearly identifiable as the top of an ordinary chicken brooder. What Adamski alleged to be the landing gear of the craft are clearly identifiable as three infrared bulbs, meant to supply heat to chicks in the brooder. The photograph was not in focus, the string or wire used to suspend the object in midair could not be
seen.” (Pg. 192)
They comment on a cult run by Marshall Herff Applewhite and Bonnie Lu Trousdale Nettles [‘Bo’ and ‘Peep‘]: “It is perhaps not irrelevant to mention that two years ago both Bo and Peep were in jail in Texas---Bo on a charge of auto theft and Peep for credit-card misuse. In any case, rational explanation of the Bo and Peep operation seems easier to come by than a rational explanation of the gullibility of those wishing to be taken aboard the celestial spacecraft. What can we believe except that… the average person will believe ANYTHING?” (Pg. 235) [Note that this is being written 20 years before the 1997 'Heaven’s Gate' suicide of 39 members of the cult.]
They look at the incident of Betty and Barney Hill: “Our suggestion is that the alleged abduction is based upon externalized dreams and fantasies of Betty Hill. As they were driving home … the Hills had what is a quite common experience: they saw… a bright star or planet… such objects have many, many times been misidentified as UFOs… The Hills stopped the car, got out, watched the object, and were afraid---as have been many people… in the same situation. They drove on, and the object appeared to follow them… Eventually the got home safely, and went to bed. In their recollection of their experience the next morning there was no memory of abduction aboard an alien spacecraft. The abduction came into being some days later---in the dreams of Betty Hill. She discussed these dreams with her husband and with others. Some of the content brushed off on Barney. Later, reliving their experience under hypnosis, Betty’s recollection of the ‘abduction’ was filled with detail, whereas Barney could remember very little. Both of them had become unable to distinguish between dream and reality.” (Pg. 248-249)
Although it certainly is not the ‘Definitive Explanation,’ this book (though nearly 50 years old) will be of keen interest to those who are skeptical about UFOs.
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