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The Mammoth Book of Unexplained Phenomena: From bizarre biology to inexplicable astronomy
New mysteries, as well as variations on recurring ones, continue to surface on a weekly basis around the globe, from showers of frogs over Hungary to birds falling to earth in Arkansas. This compendious round-up of unexplained phenomena examines everything from the experiments being done with the Large Hadron Collider to classic maritime mysteries involving inexplicably missing crews, via UFOs, mediums, cryptozoology, panics, paranoia and a universe proving stranger in fact than we'd imagined.
609 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
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164 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 29, 2017
Not a bad overview of a huge array of unexplained phenomena. Bainton does a pretty nice job of making sure to mention the difference between which items have been thoroughly debunked and which ones are still not-quite-explained. He's also pretty open about his own biases in favor of or against various proposed explanations. He writes with a very conversational tone, rather like a blogger. He gives sources to find out more about each ghoulie and ghostie and long legged beastie. Reasonably entertaining.
October 19, 2017
2nd time i try this book. 2nd time I couldn't get into it at all. As much as I love the topic and talk of the supernatural and the paranormal, this book just didn't do it for me.
December 16, 2023
Recommended.
Mr. Bainton is obviously a very intelligent man. Just as important, if not more so, he is a rational man. He does not have an agenda; simply looking at the evidence and sharing it with the reader. His "voice" is tongue in cheek humor and conversational.
I have gone on the internet and found a few additional writings of his on other issues, in particular politics, because he impressed me enough that I wanted to know his perspective.
However, although the content covered is very wide ranging (from UFOs to Crystal Balls to the mystery of Edward Leedskalnin and everything in between) I would have preferred more conclusions from analysis, as he is very capable of doing, than just summarizing incidents. When he arrived at conclusions, based on data and facts, after analysis, whether I agreed with said conclusions, I found the reading satisfying. However, when he would just relay stories without offering deeper insight or thoughts, I was frustrated. I can find a list of unexplained phenomena almost anywhere.
I read these types of books for legitimate opinions, and when he did so it was great. I wish he had done so for everything.
Still, one of the better books I've read dealing with this subject matter.
Mr. Bainton is obviously a very intelligent man. Just as important, if not more so, he is a rational man. He does not have an agenda; simply looking at the evidence and sharing it with the reader. His "voice" is tongue in cheek humor and conversational.
I have gone on the internet and found a few additional writings of his on other issues, in particular politics, because he impressed me enough that I wanted to know his perspective.
However, although the content covered is very wide ranging (from UFOs to Crystal Balls to the mystery of Edward Leedskalnin and everything in between) I would have preferred more conclusions from analysis, as he is very capable of doing, than just summarizing incidents. When he arrived at conclusions, based on data and facts, after analysis, whether I agreed with said conclusions, I found the reading satisfying. However, when he would just relay stories without offering deeper insight or thoughts, I was frustrated. I can find a list of unexplained phenomena almost anywhere.
I read these types of books for legitimate opinions, and when he did so it was great. I wish he had done so for everything.
Still, one of the better books I've read dealing with this subject matter.
May 23, 2020
If you love all things spooky or unexplained then this book is for you. I still pick it up to read a section here and there. Very detailed and an easy read with a great simple style. READ THIS. I don't take all these stories TOO seriously but the author doesn't force you to, which I loved. Just enjoy the content and take your time reading it. You can easily skip to sections that interest you.
July 14, 2019
Contains a great deal of events attributed to paranormal phenomena and analyses them with clear-eyes and healthy skepticism.
Read
September 7, 2019This was a fun book to read.
Read
June 17, 20200
November 12, 2024
If you enjoy the genre, and want a readable book written from an open-minded but rational writer, this book is for you.
January 25, 2014
"Here it is - Make up your own mind" Charles Hoy Fort (1874 - 1932)
With these words in the introduction and used as a supporting voice for the contents of the book we are thrust into the world of 'Astonishing Anomalies, Unknown Dimensions, Panic and Paranoia' (as the cover says)
Upon reading the contents and starting to read the book itself I thought it was very specific and concentrated on the 'fan favourites' of phenomena. UFO's and spiritualism. Although these two subjects take up a good portion of the book there is (more than ample) space for the rest of the weird and wonderful (along with more than a little smattering of side stories).
For example. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (author of Sherlock Holmes and pro-spiritualist) and Harry Houdini (Escape Artist par excellance and debunker of spiritualism) were friends who both set foot in each others camp (for want of a better phrase) and although each one stuck to their own beliefs they also stuck to their friendship which I thought epitomized the definition of friendship (beliefs aside). There is more than one 'aside' when Mr.Bainton relates his stories of the weird and wonderful and with these asides it cements his 'storytelling' in our mind by giving it faces, voices and belief
There is also more than a handful of short chapters on miscellany and other 'facts' that are as yet unexplained.
Along with more than enough of the odd charlatan that crops up here and there. Does anyone remember Doris Stokes? How about Derek Acorah from the 'Most Haunted' series. Both of these people (and others) are painted in a less than convincing light by witness testimony and fact checking.
The author also goes out of his way to let you know that there are still some things he genuinely believes in. He never quite goes out of his way to become a full fledged 100% cynic of all things unknown. As he quotes by Fort in the intro, all he does is present the facts, it is up to the reader to draw their own conclusions. He does make himself abundantly clear with what he believes and what he doesn't, but even so you cant help but feel that he presents himself as a true author and justly states the facts for all to see, so regardless of what he personally believes, he doesn't try to influence or coerce the reader into believing one thing over another.
A very balanced view with a sprinkling of input from Mr.Bainton's own stable of life experience. I cant recommend this book enough.
Only downside I can think of (and I really have to think about this!!) is that there is a lot of space devoted to UFO's and Spiritualism with not enough devoted to things like Maritime Mysteries or even Bizarre Creatures. This sounds like a large criticism and to be fair, it isn't. He takes the space he has and inundates you with facts and stories that would probably take up a few nights if he was an olde tavern storyteller.
So pull your tankard of mead closer, listen to the wind whistling against the shutters as the storm vents its fury outside. Whilst inside the crackling of the fireplace reassures you that you are still ground in reality. As Roy Bainton sits down next to the fire and beguiles you with his stories of the fantastic
Overall a very good book that I think I will be coming back to time and time again
With these words in the introduction and used as a supporting voice for the contents of the book we are thrust into the world of 'Astonishing Anomalies, Unknown Dimensions, Panic and Paranoia' (as the cover says)
Upon reading the contents and starting to read the book itself I thought it was very specific and concentrated on the 'fan favourites' of phenomena. UFO's and spiritualism. Although these two subjects take up a good portion of the book there is (more than ample) space for the rest of the weird and wonderful (along with more than a little smattering of side stories).
For example. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (author of Sherlock Holmes and pro-spiritualist) and Harry Houdini (Escape Artist par excellance and debunker of spiritualism) were friends who both set foot in each others camp (for want of a better phrase) and although each one stuck to their own beliefs they also stuck to their friendship which I thought epitomized the definition of friendship (beliefs aside). There is more than one 'aside' when Mr.Bainton relates his stories of the weird and wonderful and with these asides it cements his 'storytelling' in our mind by giving it faces, voices and belief
There is also more than a handful of short chapters on miscellany and other 'facts' that are as yet unexplained.
Along with more than enough of the odd charlatan that crops up here and there. Does anyone remember Doris Stokes? How about Derek Acorah from the 'Most Haunted' series. Both of these people (and others) are painted in a less than convincing light by witness testimony and fact checking.
The author also goes out of his way to let you know that there are still some things he genuinely believes in. He never quite goes out of his way to become a full fledged 100% cynic of all things unknown. As he quotes by Fort in the intro, all he does is present the facts, it is up to the reader to draw their own conclusions. He does make himself abundantly clear with what he believes and what he doesn't, but even so you cant help but feel that he presents himself as a true author and justly states the facts for all to see, so regardless of what he personally believes, he doesn't try to influence or coerce the reader into believing one thing over another.
A very balanced view with a sprinkling of input from Mr.Bainton's own stable of life experience. I cant recommend this book enough.
Only downside I can think of (and I really have to think about this!!) is that there is a lot of space devoted to UFO's and Spiritualism with not enough devoted to things like Maritime Mysteries or even Bizarre Creatures. This sounds like a large criticism and to be fair, it isn't. He takes the space he has and inundates you with facts and stories that would probably take up a few nights if he was an olde tavern storyteller.
So pull your tankard of mead closer, listen to the wind whistling against the shutters as the storm vents its fury outside. Whilst inside the crackling of the fireplace reassures you that you are still ground in reality. As Roy Bainton sits down next to the fire and beguiles you with his stories of the fantastic
Overall a very good book that I think I will be coming back to time and time again
April 26, 2013
If anything, I'm a skeptic. But, that doesn't preclude me from enjoying stories of some of the most absolutely bonkers stuff the world has ever seen--or at least claimed to have seen. Heck, my three biggest loves in genre are monsters, ghosts, and robots, and I pretty much get a heaping helping of all three in this book (replacing robots with UFOs, anyway).
This Mammoth Book tackles a myriad of subjects all relating to paranormal events, whether they be UFO sightings, hauntings, and even the Loss Ness Monster. While I have heard of quite a few of the stories touched upon in Bainton's exhaustive book, there was an equal number of tales that I have never heard about. For that, the book offers itself up as a near indispensable launch pad for casual fans of the unexplained. And all with Bainton's keen eye as a skeptic, himself.
After an introduction that catalogs humanity's apparent predisposition to believe in some truly outlandish things, the book dives into one of its meatiest topics: UFOs. In almost chronological segments, Bainton relays the history of that craze from almost the very inception of flying objects, which dates back much farther than I originally thought. From there, he moves on to other topics, including but not limited to: the afterlife, space observation and exploration, and cryptzoology. Various cases and mysteries are summarized, with plenty of sources cited in case curiosity gets the better of you, and you feel compelled to dig deeper on a specific subject.
Something I found astonishing was the statistics cited in the early chapters of the book on just how many Americans truly believe in the paranormal. A 2005 Gallop poll asked people whether they believed in any of ten paranormal elements. Those were: 1) extra sensory perception; 2) ghosts; 3) haunted houses; 4) telepathy; 5) clairvoyance; 6) astrology; 7) communication with the dead; 8) reincarnation; 9) channeling spirits; and even 10) witches. Nearly three-quarters of those polled believed in at least one of those ten things. That's absolutely astounding to me, as I would have guessed half--at best--before reading this book. Then again, America is a country where one in five were found to believe Barrack Obama is a secret Muslim, so maybe I was naive.
While few sections go beyond a couple pages in their accounts, Bainton does offer a buffet of trivia that should whet the appetite of readers. Bite-sized retellings of now infamous urban legends in the realm of the supernatural abound in this book, and I had a great time pouring over it from cover to cover. It may not be the definitive work on any of the topics covered, but what Bainton gives readers is more than enough ammunition should you choose to type in a few terms in Google to see what more you can come up with one your own.
With a smattering of dry wit, the book neatly avoids textbookery, and seems like the kind of book that would be great as ammunition on a living room's coffee table to spark a conversation, should the subject of seances or the Shroud of Turin come up.
This Mammoth Book tackles a myriad of subjects all relating to paranormal events, whether they be UFO sightings, hauntings, and even the Loss Ness Monster. While I have heard of quite a few of the stories touched upon in Bainton's exhaustive book, there was an equal number of tales that I have never heard about. For that, the book offers itself up as a near indispensable launch pad for casual fans of the unexplained. And all with Bainton's keen eye as a skeptic, himself.
After an introduction that catalogs humanity's apparent predisposition to believe in some truly outlandish things, the book dives into one of its meatiest topics: UFOs. In almost chronological segments, Bainton relays the history of that craze from almost the very inception of flying objects, which dates back much farther than I originally thought. From there, he moves on to other topics, including but not limited to: the afterlife, space observation and exploration, and cryptzoology. Various cases and mysteries are summarized, with plenty of sources cited in case curiosity gets the better of you, and you feel compelled to dig deeper on a specific subject.
Something I found astonishing was the statistics cited in the early chapters of the book on just how many Americans truly believe in the paranormal. A 2005 Gallop poll asked people whether they believed in any of ten paranormal elements. Those were: 1) extra sensory perception; 2) ghosts; 3) haunted houses; 4) telepathy; 5) clairvoyance; 6) astrology; 7) communication with the dead; 8) reincarnation; 9) channeling spirits; and even 10) witches. Nearly three-quarters of those polled believed in at least one of those ten things. That's absolutely astounding to me, as I would have guessed half--at best--before reading this book. Then again, America is a country where one in five were found to believe Barrack Obama is a secret Muslim, so maybe I was naive.
While few sections go beyond a couple pages in their accounts, Bainton does offer a buffet of trivia that should whet the appetite of readers. Bite-sized retellings of now infamous urban legends in the realm of the supernatural abound in this book, and I had a great time pouring over it from cover to cover. It may not be the definitive work on any of the topics covered, but what Bainton gives readers is more than enough ammunition should you choose to type in a few terms in Google to see what more you can come up with one your own.
With a smattering of dry wit, the book neatly avoids textbookery, and seems like the kind of book that would be great as ammunition on a living room's coffee table to spark a conversation, should the subject of seances or the Shroud of Turin come up.
May 27, 2013
Not really what I was expecting. A lot of great facts, but not the kind that I am really interested in. Very well written, but I just could not get into this one.
September 4, 2014
Encyclopedia of paranormal incidents with a bit a author sarcasm which made it fun.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews