Strange and Unexplained Phenomena

by Jerome Clark, Nancy Pear

This book is a fun overview of strange phenomena. It covers a wide range of topics such as UFOs, Bigfoot, fairies, bizarre rainfalls, crop circles, ghost lights and cattle mutilations. The book is logically divided up by types of phenomena. Chapter Titles give an idea of the topics Chapter 1- the Twentieth Century Mystery; Chapter 2-Ancient ETs and Their Calling Cards; Chapter 3-Unexpected Guests and Interplanetary Communications; Chapter 4-Other Worlds; Chapter 5-Government Cover-Ups; Chapter 6-Vanishing Acts; Chapter7-Light Shows; Chapter 8-Strange Everything but Cats and Dogs; Chapter 9-More Weird Weather; Chapter 10-Cryptozology; Chapter 11-Misplaced Animals; Chapter 12-Shaggy, Two-Footed Creatres in North America; Chapter 13-Shaggy, Two-footed Creatures Abroad; Chapter 14-Extinction Reconsidered; Chapter 15-Other Fantastic Creatures; Chapter 16-Monsters of the Deep; Chapter 17-Freshwater Monsters; Chapter 18-Folklore in the Flesh; Chapter 19-Other Strange Events. As you can probably deduce from a couple of the chapter titles, the book is written with a sense of humor about the phenomena it covers, but it does not belittle those who are reporting and experiencing the various phenomena. Each topic is briefly covered giving examples and references in case you'd like to read more about the subject. There are numerous sidebar biographies on people studying the particular phenomena. Black and white photos, illustrations, and very amusing cartoons illustrate each chapter. I enjoyed this book, and found it a fun and light read

Genres: Nonfiction

476 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1995

About the author

Jerome Clark is an American researcher and writer, specializing in unidentified flying objects and other anomalous phenomena; he is also a songwriter of some note.

Clark is one of the most prominent UFO historians and researchers active today. Although Clark's works have sometimes generated spirited debate, he is widely regarded as one of the most reputable writers in the field, and he has earned the praise of many skeptics. Clark's works have been cited in multiple articles in the debunking-oriented Skeptical Inquirer. Despite the fact that most contributors to the British periodical Magonia disagree with Clark's endorsement of the extraterrestrial hypothesis, they have nonetheless consulted his books for their articles, and have described his works as "invaluable" and described him as one of "ufology's finest" and as "highly-respected." The skeptical RRGroup describes Clark as a rare "Bona fide UFO researcher." In his Saucer Smear, longtime ufologist James W. Moseley writes that Clark "is acknowledged ... as the UFO Field's leading historian."[

Clark is also a prominently featured talking head on made-for-television UFO documentaries, most notably the 2005 prime-time U.S. television special Peter Jennings Reporting: UFOs — Seeing Is Believing, discussing the early history of the U.S. Military's UFO investigations (see also Project Sign and Project Grudge.) In addition to the Peter Jennings special, Clark has also appeared on episodes of NBC's Unsolved Mysteries television series and on the syndicated television series Sightings. In 1997 he was prominently featured on the A&E Network's documentary "Where Are All the UFOs?", which examined the history of the UFO phenomenon.