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UFOs in Wartime: What They Didn't Want You To Know
Although often written off as myths, UFOs are found in Renaissance Art, on ancient coins, etched on cave walls-and even reported in the Bible. Even more surprising is when they are documented most: in times of war. These sightings are made by high ranking officials, soldiers, and newsreporters. Why do these sightings spike so drastically during wartime? Could it be mistaken aircraft? Or is someone-or something- looking in on us?
294 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 6, 2011
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72 people want to read
About the author
Mack Maloney
109 books161 followersMack Maloney is the author of numerous fiction series, including Wingman, ChopperOps, Starhawk, and Pirate Hunters, as well as UFOs in Wartime – What They Didn’t Want You to Know. A native Bostonian, Maloney received a bachelor of science degree in journalism at Suffolk University and a master of arts degree in film at Emerson College. He is the host of a national radio show, Mack Maloney’s Military X-Files. Visit him on Facebook and at www.mackmaloney.com.
Mack Maloney is the Pen name for BRIAN KELLEHER
Mack Maloney is the Pen name for BRIAN KELLEHER
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 27, 2020
This was a fun little UFO book, but I didn't get any real new information or new insights or ideas from it. There are strange lights in the sky, no one is quite sure what they are. There have always been strange lights in the sky, no one has ever been quite sure what they were... But that has never stopped people from making up theories or stories in an attempt to explain it. Without explaining who the titular "They" are, Maloney lists a number of strange aerial phenomena and recounts a number of inexplicable incidents, most with a military connection. I've read a fair number of UFO books and I'm familiar with the classic stories and, much like Fox Mulder, no one ever wanted to believe more than I. Unfortunately, I remain unconvinced... but I'll keep watching the skies, just in case.
May 14, 2017
Contrary to the rating here I am not unsympathetic to the idea of UFOs. I merely desire a harder set of evidence than I have seen. There are a lot of individual sightings in this book, and for the limited space here I cannot debunk them all. There is one in particular then that I will concentrate on because I've heard variations of it before and I think it is almost too fantastic to be believed.
On page 149 Mack Maloney introduces Private Francis Wall's encounter with a UFO during the Korean War. This private recounts that his unit (from later research Wall refers to this as the 25th Division 27th Infantry Division) was engaged with the communist forces near Chorwon, North Korea during the "early spring of 1951." Wall states that he saw what looked like a "jack o'lantern" travel down from the mountain and more incredibly survive a direct hit from air bursting artillery. After a while the object changed colors and traveled towards Wall's company in a threatening manner whereupon Private Wall secured permission from his commanding officer to fire on the object with an armor piercing round. The object then emitted a beam of light that burned the skin whenever it made contact with human flesh. Three days afterward his entire unit was evacuated for health reasons. Under medical examination all of his fellow soldiers bore unexplained elevated white blood cell counts.
In Wall's testament I found online (http://worldufophotosandnews.org/?p=6028) he goes into greater detail and therein the errors pile up.
He claims that he received permission from a Lieutenant Evans 'the commander of "E Company-Easy Company" at the time. Lieutenants don't command companies-Captains do. E Company was also apparently referred to as "Echo Company, not 'Easy' Company. (reference found under biographies of two company commanders of E Company both of whom were awarded the Medal of Honor http://www.victoryinstitute.net/blogs...) Furthermore this Company was near Osan, South Korea in the Spring of 1951 not near Chorwon. Indeed Chorwon wouldn't be near the front line of the UN forces until mid-spring 1951 and even then some twenty miles away.(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...)
Aside from Wall's account there are no corroborating details from anyone else in a Company of about 200 men, and most interesting there is no information on Private Francis P. Wall anywhere else-including no photographs or obituary which would be expected from someone whose health has been shaky since getting zapped by a UFO. Curiously the only information I can find specific to him is someone I can only assume to be related to Mr. Wall (or pretending to be) having requested more information on his service (http://www.koreanwar.org/html/bbs_arm...).
Since I cannot corroborate anything of this passage-but can prove a fair bit of it wrong- I can only conclude that it did not happen.
On page 149 Mack Maloney introduces Private Francis Wall's encounter with a UFO during the Korean War. This private recounts that his unit (from later research Wall refers to this as the 25th Division 27th Infantry Division) was engaged with the communist forces near Chorwon, North Korea during the "early spring of 1951." Wall states that he saw what looked like a "jack o'lantern" travel down from the mountain and more incredibly survive a direct hit from air bursting artillery. After a while the object changed colors and traveled towards Wall's company in a threatening manner whereupon Private Wall secured permission from his commanding officer to fire on the object with an armor piercing round. The object then emitted a beam of light that burned the skin whenever it made contact with human flesh. Three days afterward his entire unit was evacuated for health reasons. Under medical examination all of his fellow soldiers bore unexplained elevated white blood cell counts.
In Wall's testament I found online (http://worldufophotosandnews.org/?p=6028) he goes into greater detail and therein the errors pile up.
He claims that he received permission from a Lieutenant Evans 'the commander of "E Company-Easy Company" at the time. Lieutenants don't command companies-Captains do. E Company was also apparently referred to as "Echo Company, not 'Easy' Company. (reference found under biographies of two company commanders of E Company both of whom were awarded the Medal of Honor http://www.victoryinstitute.net/blogs...) Furthermore this Company was near Osan, South Korea in the Spring of 1951 not near Chorwon. Indeed Chorwon wouldn't be near the front line of the UN forces until mid-spring 1951 and even then some twenty miles away.(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...)
Aside from Wall's account there are no corroborating details from anyone else in a Company of about 200 men, and most interesting there is no information on Private Francis P. Wall anywhere else-including no photographs or obituary which would be expected from someone whose health has been shaky since getting zapped by a UFO. Curiously the only information I can find specific to him is someone I can only assume to be related to Mr. Wall (or pretending to be) having requested more information on his service (http://www.koreanwar.org/html/bbs_arm...).
Since I cannot corroborate anything of this passage-but can prove a fair bit of it wrong- I can only conclude that it did not happen.
August 9, 2024
Looking at this book from a literary perspective, it's not really a book per se, but more of a compilation. A compilation of UFO encounters throughout history with the majority of them being during wartime. Whenever anyone hears the term UFO, they automatically think of something extra-terrestrial or "alien", but what many overlook is what the acronym stands for. Unidentified Flying Object. That could be something as easily explained away as an unknown bird species or some airborne vehicle that you can't easily identify immediately.
That aside, as said before, this was essentially a compilation; and a compilation of reports that are some of the more common ones. I'm not quite sure I garnered any new information from this, but it was a fun read, and I was able to remember a few things I may have forgotten about.
That aside, as said before, this was essentially a compilation; and a compilation of reports that are some of the more common ones. I'm not quite sure I garnered any new information from this, but it was a fun read, and I was able to remember a few things I may have forgotten about.
August 6, 2019
Good Read. Lots of great military related esp pilot UFO stories.
did-not-finish-or-start
July 14, 2021DNS 6/14/2021
April 20, 2022
Boring
June 28, 2012
Cliché time: there is nothing new under the sun, especially where it concerns UFO research. Mack Maloney’s (pseudonym I believe) “UFOS in Wartime- What they didn’t Want you to Know”, is well written and fun. Nonetheless the question needs to be asked, did it really need to be written at all?
I enjoyed the book despite my harsh criticism. It is a wonderful cataloguing of mysterious aerial phenomenon from the turn of the 20th century focusing on the major conflicts such as the foo fighter incidents of the Second World War and the ICBM flaps during the Cold War. That’s all it is, a catalogue. That may be Maloney’s contribution.
Most of the stries will already be familiar to the UFO enthusiast. Some are reasonably well documented, but most of his sources are other UFO researchers. This is all hearsay and distorted in some cases. Some are simply stories he found referenced on the internet. “According to the internet” is not a credible citation. Referencing a story reported in the National Enquirer is not credible either.
As research the book fails. As journalism or investigative reporting…it fails. That is if journalism or research is even what Maloney was trying to do. I suspect the author just wanted to write a book and his publisher thought they could sell enough copies to make it worthwhile. I am witness number one.
UFOs in Wartime does succeed in being a faithful chronological account of UFO sightings. If you are interested in the folklore or a history of folklore this is a nice compact volume that should be on your bookshelf.
Maloney also refrains from idle speculation about what the events and sightings actually mean. UFO’s in Wartime is remarkable for its concise language and lack of hyperbole. Many UFO writers don’t demonstrate that level of restraint.
The reports from the Vietnam era up through the ousting of Saddam Hussein are vague, sketchy and read like poorly executed horror or science fiction. Drug use including LSD was rampant during the Vietnam conflict and those reports ought to be viewed with suspicion. Giant aliens saving a US soldiers and naked bat women sound like bad drug trips or battlefield induced mental delusions.
The gulf war stories are the least credible in the whole book. I do particularly like the rumor that aliens bioengineered giant scorpions to protect Saddam’s most secret military base and that late dictator was a gracious host to these otherworldly beings.
While such stories are entertaining it does little to promote credibility in a field that is filled with more delusional personalities then it is with legitimate scientists and researchers, a problem that will continue to plague Ufology until such time real tangible evidence is finally produced that can push back the veil of silliness and poorly executed thinking. Fortunately, Mack Maloney’s book is not guilty of any of this.
Final summation: I enjoyed. Read it if you are a diehard fan like me. But, the rest of you can probably skip it.
I enjoyed the book despite my harsh criticism. It is a wonderful cataloguing of mysterious aerial phenomenon from the turn of the 20th century focusing on the major conflicts such as the foo fighter incidents of the Second World War and the ICBM flaps during the Cold War. That’s all it is, a catalogue. That may be Maloney’s contribution.
Most of the stries will already be familiar to the UFO enthusiast. Some are reasonably well documented, but most of his sources are other UFO researchers. This is all hearsay and distorted in some cases. Some are simply stories he found referenced on the internet. “According to the internet” is not a credible citation. Referencing a story reported in the National Enquirer is not credible either.
As research the book fails. As journalism or investigative reporting…it fails. That is if journalism or research is even what Maloney was trying to do. I suspect the author just wanted to write a book and his publisher thought they could sell enough copies to make it worthwhile. I am witness number one.
UFOs in Wartime does succeed in being a faithful chronological account of UFO sightings. If you are interested in the folklore or a history of folklore this is a nice compact volume that should be on your bookshelf.
Maloney also refrains from idle speculation about what the events and sightings actually mean. UFO’s in Wartime is remarkable for its concise language and lack of hyperbole. Many UFO writers don’t demonstrate that level of restraint.
The reports from the Vietnam era up through the ousting of Saddam Hussein are vague, sketchy and read like poorly executed horror or science fiction. Drug use including LSD was rampant during the Vietnam conflict and those reports ought to be viewed with suspicion. Giant aliens saving a US soldiers and naked bat women sound like bad drug trips or battlefield induced mental delusions.
The gulf war stories are the least credible in the whole book. I do particularly like the rumor that aliens bioengineered giant scorpions to protect Saddam’s most secret military base and that late dictator was a gracious host to these otherworldly beings.
While such stories are entertaining it does little to promote credibility in a field that is filled with more delusional personalities then it is with legitimate scientists and researchers, a problem that will continue to plague Ufology until such time real tangible evidence is finally produced that can push back the veil of silliness and poorly executed thinking. Fortunately, Mack Maloney’s book is not guilty of any of this.
Final summation: I enjoyed. Read it if you are a diehard fan like me. But, the rest of you can probably skip it.
September 23, 2012
I liked this book very much, and was surprised, because I had a preconceived idea it was going to be boring. I don't know why I assumed that; probably because I'm not a military or aviation buff. But I literally read this book in one day; I couldn't put it down. There were familiar cases as well as ones I had never heard of. The latter was interesting of course, but the former was as well. Even though the familiar cases were not new ones to me, what Maloney brought to these cases was new. And throughout the book, Maloney weaves a compelling time line of events -- of facts -- that leaves no doubt in anyone's mind something unexplainable has been occurring for a long time. What that something is remains a mystery but it's either chillingly human caused (meaning sinister and nefarious) or alien. Or both.
January 8, 2012
I really enjoyed this book. Although this is one of my favorite topics and I read everything I can get my hands on, it was really interesting to read about the subject from the viewpoint of military people, as well as professional pilots. It also seems strange how even after reporting sightings to the appropriate people< they get hushed up, or told to forget about it. It makes one wonder just what is it that these people are seeing, and why doesn't anyone want to talk about it? What are Foo Fighters? What are the disks and triangles that some claim to have encountered? I don't know we'll ever find out, but someone, somewhere must know something about these topics, and more...
January 25, 2013
This book provided good UPO stories and I learned a lot about UFO's and their history in modern times. I found that this book needed to be read in parts, because if you do read it in one big chunk, some of the stories become monotonous.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews