Evidence of the Extraordinary: Discoveries from the Series The Proof is Out There

by Miguel Sancho

An Atria Book. Atria Books has a great book for every reader.

Genres: Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

Published May 5, 2026

Reviews

[Kat Reads Skulls · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5⭐️

Loved: The bits of background around the experts that contribute to the show. This book does contain a lot of references to the History channel show The Proof is Out There, but as someone who hasn’t previously watched the show, it was still readable and interesting. The writing and storylines after the beginning introductions and explanations of experts and the overarching religious theory flowed well and gave a decent if brief overview of many well known unexplained cases in the paranormal world.

Didn’t enjoy: The author mentions two instances in which AI was used to investigate cases, once to combine differing Bigfoot footage in order to “make it clearer” for experts to examine and once consulting an AI firm to see how similar doppleganger faces are. The author later asserts his opinion that AI may one day assist those of average intelligence to think on a higher level the same way glasses help visually impaired people see. I do not support AI and was disappointed to see pro AI rhetoric here.

There were also several moments where the author deviated from his well written style to include slang such as “IMHO” and “Bigfootage” which was unpleasant to read. Additionally, he put quotation marks around the word subluxation when that is an accurate and relevant medical term for the situation he was describing. With these put together, I found myself pulled out of an otherwise well put together flow of story telling in an unpleasant manner.

Overall, while I enjoyed the actual discussions of unexplained phenomena, the writing style changes and pro AI stance made it difficult to get through. I don’t think I’ll be reading more from this author, but might look up the show itself.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the ARC! All opinions expressed are my own.

[Kos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Special thanks to the HCPL library system, as I wouldn't have been able to read this book otherwise. Support your local library!

I enjoyed this book for what it is. I've seen the series connected to this book -- The Proof is Out There -- and enjoy that for what it is as well. Well meaning, intellectual, but flawed. I'd say this book's flaws are much more noticeable, and far harder to tolerate. Most of the scenarios described in this book are ones I am already familiar with as a "skeptical enthusiast" of anomalous phenomena and "high strangeness." There are a handful that were new to me, which came as a pleasant surprise.

The writing is very casual, so much so that it might be off-putting to some readers. I didn't mind it so much. I got a chuckle from a moment where the author -- a producer on a History Channel show -- outright (and correctly) insulted fellow History show Ancient Aliens and its regular guest, Erich von Daniken. Anyone in the industry who is willing to openly belittle convicted fraud von Daniken (may he rest in piss) gets a lot of mileage from me.

THAT SAID... that mileage only goes so far, and I've got some criticisms that I feel genuinely undermine the intellectual and journalistic integrity of this book, even as entertainment. This isn't an exhaustive list, just a couple that I remembered to make a note of on the Kindle app while reading.

On page 248, Sancho describes the phenomena of the "Worldwide Hum" and foremost proponent, Steve Kohlhase. Sancho posits the hypothesis that sufferers of the "Worldwide Hum" may actually have a condition called 'hyperacusis', in which sufferers are so sensitive to certain frequencies it causes them genuine distress and in severe cases, physical pain. Kohlhase doesn't like this hypothesis and claims it "muddies the water" and "minimizes" the impact of his pet hypothesis, that it's caused by "vibrating gas lines." In Kohlhase's mind, it brushes his gas line hypothesis off and implies sufferers are 'imagining things' and "It’s all in your head. Deal with it." Why does this bother me? Hyperacusis is not a mental or psychological condition -- it is thought to be a physical disorder, possibly neurological (see Knipper, et al. in Progress in Neurobiology). I feel that the author failed in not noting this mischaracterization as it 1. provides clarifying information to the reader, and 2. shows Kohlhase's reticence to consider or respect other potential explanations to such a degree he would write off a potentially debilitating physical inner ear or neurological condition. This is especially ironic, given that theoretically, someone with hyperacusis could be sensitive to the frequency a gas line vibrates at.

The biggest criticism: the author gives way too much faith in generative AI processes, despite early on (page 18) criticizing them. To quote, "We’re well aware that CGI and deep fakes are all over the internet, an issue that will get worse, perhaps exponentially, as AI elevates the capabilities of digital manipulation to dizzying heights." Unfortunately, this sentiment is not reflected beyond this point of the book. On page 151, Sancho describes engineer Isaac Tian using AI and computer vision algorithms to "upscale" and "clarify" the infamous Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot film. This altered version of the film is taken at face value and described as now being "visible with unprecedented resolution." If you know anything about AI upscaling, you know that the process works by essentially "guessing" what should be in the unclear gaps and filling those pixels with approximated information. Even proponents of GenAI have noted that this makes GenAI upscaling unsuitable for archival works, or works that are for scientific usage. The upscaled 'Patty' having a metatarsal bend, or 'extremely detailed hair' means nothing when it could be simply the result of visual artifacts or the algorithm guessing what things SHOULD look like based on information in its dataset. For someone -- and a show -- that claim to care about truth and accuracy, this is a MASSIVE oversight when presenting information. A less obnoxious yet still odious occurrence is on page 272 when Sancho talks about Clearview AI's facial recognition software and how it was used for one of their episode subjects. Nothing is mentioned about how AI facial recognition (commonly used by law enforcement) is riddled with algorithmic bias, and notorious for resulting in wrongful arrests and imprisonment. A recent, post-publishing incident is when a Florida father was wrongfully arrested on the charge of attempting to lure a child. When officers fed the poor quality and illegible images to the AI, it arbitrarily decided the single father was the perpetrator and no officer questioned it. While this occurred after the book's release, this is far from the first of such cases in the time since this technology was deployed. Yet Clearview AI and their results are taken at face value with no analytical thought, just marveling at its technological advances.

COMPLETELY A NITPICK BUT I'M STILL ANNOYED: Page 280, Sancho references a secondhand anecdote of G. Gordon Liddy saying the secret to putting your hand over a flame without pain is "not to mind it." It has been pretty obvious to most who have seen the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia, which predates the Liddy anecdote by almost a decade, that someone was cribbing from it. In an early scene, the titular Lawrence explains to a fellow military man his secret for putting out a match with his fingers: "The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts."

All in all, do I recommend this book? I genuinely don't know. I don't feel it was a complete waste of time, but I'd have a hard time recommending it to someone who might not know the intricacies of GenAI enough to hit that doubt button when reading those passages. I'd say you're better off just watching the show The Proof is Out There. At least in that case, you get to see host Tony Harris' incredulity at obvious bullshit like the rubber ducky UFO.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advance copy of this new book based on the files of a show on the HISTORY Channel, that looks at the world of the unexplained, from the darkest reaches of space to the bottom of the seas, with analysis, evidence, debunking, and in some cases even a bit of well that doesn't make sense.

When I was young I used to constantly take books out of my library that were written by the author Daniel Cohen. Before Time-Life had Mysteries of the Unexplained, Daniel Cohen was writing, for young readers about all the cool things in the world. Loch Ness Monster, Big Foot, witches, UFO's, ghosts and other things. I read these books constantly, and soon haunted tag and book sales looking for other books like these. I am still not sure why I enjoyed these tales of the paranormal and the unexplained. I wasn't afraid of them. I wanted to see them all, ghosts aliens, demons, witches, and find out. Maybe like Fox Mulder I wanted something to believe in. Living in these United States so much of what I took for granted as collapsed, good governance, my trust in people to do things right, even my unalienable rights have been stripped away. More people than ever, even people in scientific circles and government are starting to say, you know there is something here. Even the television shows have gone from look at the weirdos looking at the stars to having people say, you know I don't know what this is. And there is plenty of that in this fascinating and well-researched book, based on a show for the HISTORY Channel, The Proof Is Out There®. Evidence of the Extraordinary: Discoveries from the Series The Proof is Out There is written by the show's executive producer Miguel Sancho, and tells of some of the most popular, most debated, tales of the unexplainable from cryptids to aliens, with experts trying to determine what the truth could be, no matter how out of this world.

The book begins with Sancho explaining his career in journalism and how he takes a very skeptic view to many things. As most journalists should. People can believe lies just as easily as the do the truth, and a story could be framed by their own beliefs. Sancho gives a look behind the scenes of the show the book is based on, The Proof Is Out There®, and how the experts they use to look at segments were chosen, and what expertise they bring to the show. From there the book is broken into chapters dealing with UFO's, Big Foot, Loch Ness, and other famous stories of the unexplained. What is unique is that there is alot of present day inclusions, Senate meetings on Aliens ships, and a lot of stories I was aware of, but had not known they had been debunked, or that more evidence had come out. Not just a primer or an episode guide to a show, but a real look at some unexplained phenomena, with a lot of explanations of what people could have seen, or might have missed.

I had thought this would be more about the show, a show to be frank I have never seen. While there are mentions, this book really is about a lot of what people have seen, experienced and wondered about. The book ranges from early cases, doing real journalism to get a deeper sense of the story, real debunking in many ways. And even in a few spots going, well we really don't know. We need more to know what happened,. The writing is very good, though some of the jokes are a little clunky. I get it though as the subject matter can get a little the truth is out there into conspiracy thinking. What was also interesting was the peak into how the show was set up, getting people who have seen say sea creatures to talk on camera. Finding experts, and the lives of experts who say they think there might be a Bigfoot, and what might happen to their careers. Little things that show that being a believer in something that people find cute, or funny or weird sometimes has a cost.

A lot of fun, and very interesting. Enough so that I feel I have missed quite a lot not watching the show, something I might have to amend. Well written, well argued, and when it can be well explained. A good introduction to a new way of looking at the world, and one that people will learn quite a bit from. I look forward to more investigations from this team and this writer

[Michelle Brewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptionally well written book. Miguel Sancho's prose is really enjoyable, well done and very witty. He discusses some of the major extraordinary events in the hit TV show, and provides the back stories for some, the personalities and the facts. He explains the 'experts' views of each and whether the extraordinary event was false, true or a real unknown. What I liked is that he presented EVIDENCE, factual, knowledge. He explained where there were grey areas in the knowledge, as well as where there were hoaxes and how they knew it was. He also explained where the extraordinary event had no evidence of a hoax, and the experts could not explain the event with our current science.

The introduction to the stories includes the 'theory of the God Shaped hole,' and how humans want to fill it. Very philosophical and psychological discussions consider, 'how do you know?" He speaks of Kant, Pascal's Wager, the scientific method, the legal truth, journalistic truth and the proof of method.

Sancho writes: [For Pascal] "who made a a point in his second most famous concept, "God shaped vacuum" which is later articulated in the Pensees:

"There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ."

I'm not religious, but I do believe that in the face of overwhelming evidence, people will believe what their devotion to religion or spirit tells them in the face of conflicting facts. Sociobiologist E.O. Wilson argued in his "On Human Nature" that societies in which a measure of altruism is established as a cultural norm have a reproductive advantage. So regardless of how misguided some of this can be, people are propelled or programmed genetically to hearts with 'God-shaped holes"

And that may be why some of us just love reading, watching and learning about extraordinary events.

The book covers a lot! It includes UFOs, the cosmos, conspiracy theories (VERY FUNNY SECTION BTW), Bigfoot, sea monsters of all kinds, strange structures, phreaks of physics, sonic mysteries like hums, HAARP, and Havana syndrome, spirits and ghosts and superhumans. It ends fittingly with "jet pack man." So so cool!

It you like "phenomena" of any kind and non-fiction, this is the book for you.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was in the mood for a lighter read and found this among the new releases at my library. I’ve never watched any episodes of the TV show on which this book is based and I’m definitely on the skeptical side of issues such as spirits, UFO’s and cryptozoology. I appreciated the expert scientific debunking brought to many of the spectacular claims investigated throughout this book. I also appreciated that if rational explanations weren’t readily apparent claims were considered unproven, not factual. The author made some excellent points about the limits of science, especially when dealing with issues such hypothetical universe simulations. I found the book quite interesting overall and was impressed by the variety of topics covered.

[Heather M · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was an unexpected treat. I had never seen the show, but I picked this up at the library on a whim. I did watch one episode of the show on Hulu to get some context, but I think I learned more from the book than I could have from watching the show. You not only get a narrative of anomalous events and their eventual explanations in a nice, storytelling fashion, but the author includes some philosophies on what it is to believe in unexplained things. There is a lot of commentary on human nature and it was a lot of food for thought. It was also really easy to read and hard to put down. Plus, superficial, but there are a lot of color photos of some of the things talked about in the book. I got a lot of recommendations of other things to read by reading this book.

[Alise · Rating 2 out of 5]

(1.5 rounded up) On the surface, this book is a collection of so many things I love reading about. In execution, it was one of the most boring books on the paranormal I have read. Unfortunately the writing just felt dry, and unengaging. It read like a book of someone explaining how someone is explaining something.

I was really disappointed as I was so excited to read this one. I've seen a few of the things the writer has produced and they were pretty interesting, but it didn't come out in the writing at all.

Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher. No review was required and all opinions are my own.

[Charles Reimler · Rating 3 out of 5]

🟦NEUTRAL 3-Star Interesting Collection MIXTURE Of Subjects! Writing Style TAD Off! Unusual Stories Never Prior Heard Of Had Value. Depends On The Reader, OVERALL OK 👌

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved that this book included audio anomalies! It's a good look into (mostly) non-cyptozoologocal mysteries, which is a welcome, refreshing change to someone who loves that stuff.

[Janalyn, the blind reviewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evidence of the extraordinary by Miguel Sancho from the series the proof is out there was a book I couldn’t wait to read I love anything from the mysterious alternative worlds and when it’s nonfiction it gives me goosebumps. My biggest pet peeve when reading a book like this however is for the author to constantly reiterate how he himself doesn’t think it’s True doesn’t believe it doesn’t buy the evidence and that was the theme throughout this book. There was some really good stories from the early days to the current day and most of them I must admit we’re new to me. I didn’t enjoy the behind the scenes stuff we got for the podcast like people who wouldn’t come on because I thought he was a government agent to what I thought about those who did come on and all I know it was a pretty good book as I said my only negative was that he kept saying over and over again how he doesn’t believe the proof or does not enough proof. I would still recommend this book because the stories were good I didn’t want to do effort at any time which is a good sign and so yeah if you’re in to UFOs aliens firsthand accounts then you definitely need to give this book a read. cause my dislikes might not be yours and it doesn’t take away from the book that much. #NetGalley, #TheBlindReviewer, #MyHonestReview,