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The U.F.O. Report
A hard-hitting report of the REAL FACTS on Unidentified Flying Objects--with latest eyewitness testimony on what the Flying Saucers are, why they are here, what they want. Hush-hush government bureaus say YOU must not be told--but it's all here!
- GenresNonfiction
141 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
6 people want to read
About the author
Irving A. Greenfield
83 books8 followersIrving Greenfield was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was a youthful runaway, a merchant seaman, and a soldier during the Korean War, afer which his writing talent burst into print. His novel, The Ancient of Days, was a best-seller for six weeks and Tagget was made into a film for TV. his work has appeared in a variety of media, but, of all his works, Only the Dead Speak Russian is his masterpiece.
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August 13, 2018
We traveled to Gulfport, Mississippi earlier this summer on what was ostensibly a beach vacation, though we really didn’t do much in the way of beaching. Gulfport was a fun town to meander around, though, and I managed to pick up a tip on a good used book store from a waitress that served us a delicious breakfast in an old-time drugstore one morning. Walking into that book store was like walking into a dream….racks and racks of paperbacks and hardbacks loosely categorized and organized. Books in bags…..books on tables….books piled high on the floor….books EVERYWHERE. I could have spent a whole day in that place, but as it was I managed to clean out their paranormal section almost completely. This store had a lot of volumes that I haven’t seen in ages, plus a few that I never even knew existed. Between that and the science-fiction section……but I digress.
One of the gems I found was a book titled “The U.F.O. Report” by an author named Irving A. Greenfield. I had never heard of nor seen this book in print at any point in time, and this particular volume screamed “New Revised 1969 Edition” right there on the front cover. Of course I snatched it up. Those familiar with my reviews know that I have an undying interest in strange phenomena. UFOs have been a fascination of mine since I was a youngster, enthralled by the possibilities of contact with whatever might be OUT THERE!
USELESS INFORMATION INTERRUPTION ALERT: Gulfport is a known UFO hotspot, a fact I reminded my family of numerous times while we were there. I made a point of scanning the skies constantly and doing my best to signal the aliens that I just KNEW were there waiting to be contacted. I was kind of hoping for an abduction. I’m a cancer patient, a little more probing isn’t going to faze me. Alas, all was for naught, though I did manage to freak out a few of the other folks staying at the hotel. That’s always good for a laugh.
It turns out that Irving A. Greenfield is a noted author and a decorated Professor of Humanities with over 300 titles to his credit. His best known works are “Ancient of Days” and “Only The Dead Speak Russian.” I’m not sure how or why Mr. Greenfield wrote a book about UFOs, but it certainly explains why the book is a cut above the average sensationalist fare that one usually expects when reading about the subject.
DISCLAIMER ALERT: I approach the question of UFOs and other paranormal phenomena from a perspective of skeptical scientific rationalism. Which is not to say that I completely discount what people report or experience. Obviously a large number of citizens are seeing SOMETHING in the skies, I just think that there are sound, valid explanations for the vast majority of sightings. But the beautiful thing about science is that it is always open to new data. If a spaceship lands in Times Square tomorrow, then science will have to adapt to a fresh set of information. Jacques Vallee, a noted scientist and UFO researcher, wrote a book called “Passport to Magonia.” In this book, Vallee posits that ALL paranormal events fall into the same essential category. In this sense, UFOs and Bigfoot and ghosts are all part of a congruous set of experiences. In earlier days these same sightings would have been interpreted as angels or leprechauns. This mirrors my own mindset. Something is happening, yes. Science cannot as yet fully explain it, and in fact, it may be beyond science’s ABILITY to explain it. We are left then with questions. And questions are always fun.
My apologies. On to Greenfield’s book. First released in 1967, I managed to get my hands on the 1969 revision, which adds a section on the notorious Condon Report. It’s obvious early on that Greenfield is not the typical UFO researcher. He holes up in a Sag Harbor motel for the first few chapters and interviews the locals, providing us with some of his personal reflections on the subject of UFOs along the way. Irving Greenfield is a rationalist in his own sense, well versed and comfortable when speaking on matters of actual science. But he is also well aware that a lot of folks keep seeing SOMETHING, and these SOMETHINGS are not just spotted by Joe and Joan Average. Military and police personnel see things they can’t explain….airline pilots...astronauts...weathermen….all of these reputable and seemingly reliable witnesses keep coming forward and telling their stories. The general public is definitely concerned, but the Air Force, which has been charged by the federal government to investigate the sightings, keeps pulling the wool over the entire issue and claiming that pretty much every incident can be explained by natural events. Greenfield provides a brief history of the Air Force’s investigative efforts from Project Twinkle to Project Grudge and then on to Project Blue Book. He ends the text with an exhaustive criticism of the Condon Report, the infamous University of Colorado program that was meant to close the public record on UFOs once and for all.
Project Blue Book and the Condon Report of course did nothing to allay public fears where UFOs were concerned. The reader must remember that this book was written and released in the latter part of the 1960s, when UFOs were a topic of possible national defense and were considered by some to be a legitimate security threat. Greenfield captures the criticisms of the Condon Report accurately. As scientific studies go, the Condon Committee was anything BUT scientific and rigorous. Personal biases were documented and muddied the waters. There was no attempt to do any sort of in-depth investigation of ANY of the reports that the Committee was charged with. In short, it was a complete waste of $300,000 of the taxpayer’s money.
Greenfield keeps the text lively and entertaining. He spends some time describing various reports of saucer sightings, but he doesn’t get bogged down in rote detail of the incidents. It’s interesting to read this book and understand that here are the beginnings of what would eventually morph into the conspiracy-theory laden landscape that passes for UFO “research” in today’s world. The Air Force is seen as both the bumbling cop AND the sinister gatekeeper of forbidden knowledge. In 1969 there was still an aura of complete mystery surrounding UFOs. There were still real scientists trying to tackle the phenomenon, but then, as now, the truth is elusive. Scientists realized long ago that the UFO question could not be answered through strict adherence to the scientific method, and most reputable scientists abandoned any research efforts. This is what has kept the UFO question firmly in the realm of the paranormal instead of as a serious question for science to answer. But it was interesting to look backward through the lens of time and realize that the investigative landscape for UFOs looked very different in 1969 then it does today.
“The U.F.O Report” is a short and fast read at 176 pages. There was no photo section, which I found a bit disappointing. For a book that was written by an “amateur” investigator, though, it was thorough and entertaining, I’m definitely glad that I wandered into that Gulfport bookstore and wormed my way back through the dusty racks to dig out this little-known addition to my paranormal library. I still get a visceral thrill when I crack open the pages and thrill to the tales of strange objects in the sky. Well worth seeking out if you want a trip back in time to a slightly simpler era when people still had a bit of wonder in their eyes when they looked at the stars.
One of the gems I found was a book titled “The U.F.O. Report” by an author named Irving A. Greenfield. I had never heard of nor seen this book in print at any point in time, and this particular volume screamed “New Revised 1969 Edition” right there on the front cover. Of course I snatched it up. Those familiar with my reviews know that I have an undying interest in strange phenomena. UFOs have been a fascination of mine since I was a youngster, enthralled by the possibilities of contact with whatever might be OUT THERE!
USELESS INFORMATION INTERRUPTION ALERT: Gulfport is a known UFO hotspot, a fact I reminded my family of numerous times while we were there. I made a point of scanning the skies constantly and doing my best to signal the aliens that I just KNEW were there waiting to be contacted. I was kind of hoping for an abduction. I’m a cancer patient, a little more probing isn’t going to faze me. Alas, all was for naught, though I did manage to freak out a few of the other folks staying at the hotel. That’s always good for a laugh.
It turns out that Irving A. Greenfield is a noted author and a decorated Professor of Humanities with over 300 titles to his credit. His best known works are “Ancient of Days” and “Only The Dead Speak Russian.” I’m not sure how or why Mr. Greenfield wrote a book about UFOs, but it certainly explains why the book is a cut above the average sensationalist fare that one usually expects when reading about the subject.
DISCLAIMER ALERT: I approach the question of UFOs and other paranormal phenomena from a perspective of skeptical scientific rationalism. Which is not to say that I completely discount what people report or experience. Obviously a large number of citizens are seeing SOMETHING in the skies, I just think that there are sound, valid explanations for the vast majority of sightings. But the beautiful thing about science is that it is always open to new data. If a spaceship lands in Times Square tomorrow, then science will have to adapt to a fresh set of information. Jacques Vallee, a noted scientist and UFO researcher, wrote a book called “Passport to Magonia.” In this book, Vallee posits that ALL paranormal events fall into the same essential category. In this sense, UFOs and Bigfoot and ghosts are all part of a congruous set of experiences. In earlier days these same sightings would have been interpreted as angels or leprechauns. This mirrors my own mindset. Something is happening, yes. Science cannot as yet fully explain it, and in fact, it may be beyond science’s ABILITY to explain it. We are left then with questions. And questions are always fun.
My apologies. On to Greenfield’s book. First released in 1967, I managed to get my hands on the 1969 revision, which adds a section on the notorious Condon Report. It’s obvious early on that Greenfield is not the typical UFO researcher. He holes up in a Sag Harbor motel for the first few chapters and interviews the locals, providing us with some of his personal reflections on the subject of UFOs along the way. Irving Greenfield is a rationalist in his own sense, well versed and comfortable when speaking on matters of actual science. But he is also well aware that a lot of folks keep seeing SOMETHING, and these SOMETHINGS are not just spotted by Joe and Joan Average. Military and police personnel see things they can’t explain….airline pilots...astronauts...weathermen….all of these reputable and seemingly reliable witnesses keep coming forward and telling their stories. The general public is definitely concerned, but the Air Force, which has been charged by the federal government to investigate the sightings, keeps pulling the wool over the entire issue and claiming that pretty much every incident can be explained by natural events. Greenfield provides a brief history of the Air Force’s investigative efforts from Project Twinkle to Project Grudge and then on to Project Blue Book. He ends the text with an exhaustive criticism of the Condon Report, the infamous University of Colorado program that was meant to close the public record on UFOs once and for all.
Project Blue Book and the Condon Report of course did nothing to allay public fears where UFOs were concerned. The reader must remember that this book was written and released in the latter part of the 1960s, when UFOs were a topic of possible national defense and were considered by some to be a legitimate security threat. Greenfield captures the criticisms of the Condon Report accurately. As scientific studies go, the Condon Committee was anything BUT scientific and rigorous. Personal biases were documented and muddied the waters. There was no attempt to do any sort of in-depth investigation of ANY of the reports that the Committee was charged with. In short, it was a complete waste of $300,000 of the taxpayer’s money.
Greenfield keeps the text lively and entertaining. He spends some time describing various reports of saucer sightings, but he doesn’t get bogged down in rote detail of the incidents. It’s interesting to read this book and understand that here are the beginnings of what would eventually morph into the conspiracy-theory laden landscape that passes for UFO “research” in today’s world. The Air Force is seen as both the bumbling cop AND the sinister gatekeeper of forbidden knowledge. In 1969 there was still an aura of complete mystery surrounding UFOs. There were still real scientists trying to tackle the phenomenon, but then, as now, the truth is elusive. Scientists realized long ago that the UFO question could not be answered through strict adherence to the scientific method, and most reputable scientists abandoned any research efforts. This is what has kept the UFO question firmly in the realm of the paranormal instead of as a serious question for science to answer. But it was interesting to look backward through the lens of time and realize that the investigative landscape for UFOs looked very different in 1969 then it does today.
“The U.F.O Report” is a short and fast read at 176 pages. There was no photo section, which I found a bit disappointing. For a book that was written by an “amateur” investigator, though, it was thorough and entertaining, I’m definitely glad that I wandered into that Gulfport bookstore and wormed my way back through the dusty racks to dig out this little-known addition to my paranormal library. I still get a visceral thrill when I crack open the pages and thrill to the tales of strange objects in the sky. Well worth seeking out if you want a trip back in time to a slightly simpler era when people still had a bit of wonder in their eyes when they looked at the stars.
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