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Weapons of the Gods
In 1945, the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki became the first and last victims of the atom bomb, the most destructive man-made force our planet has ever known.Or were they just the latest in a long line of Armageddon-level events? Is it possible that our civilization is, in reality, just one of many? Did previous cultures blossom, develop, and thrive, only to destroy themselves, tens or hundreds of thousands of years ago, with the same atomic technology?These are the controversial and thought-provoking questions at the heart of Nick Redfern’s Weapons of the Gods, which argues that many ancient civilizations cracked the secrets of the atom, only to become the victims of its awesome, terrifying power. Still others may have been destroyed by hostile aliens with their own nuclear arsenals.Where is the evidence? The answer is shockingly it’s everywhere. It’s just a matter of knowing where to look for it, from the biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the ancient Pakistani culture of Mohenjo-daro, Pakistan, to the Lonar Crater in India and the revelations in the Ramayana and Mahabharata, two ancient Sanskrit texts that describe nuclear warfare thousands of years ago.
258 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 25, 2016
5 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
About the author
Nick Redfern
137 books224 followersNick Redfern is a British best-selling author, Ufologist and Cryptozoologist who has been an active advocate of official disclosure, and has worked to uncover thousands of pages of previously-classified Royal Air Force, Air Ministry and Ministry of Defence files on UFOs dating from the Second World War from the Public Record Office.
He has has appeared on a variety of television programmes in the UK and works on the lecture circuit, both in the UK and overseas, and has appeared in internationally syndicated shows discussing the UFO phenomenon. He is also a regular on the History Channel programs Monster Quest and UFO Hunters as well as National Geographic Channels's Paranormal and the SyFY channel's Proof Positive.
Redfern now lives in Texas and is currently working as a full-time author and journalist specializing in a wide range of unsolved mysteries, including Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, UFO sightings, government conspiracies, alien abductions and paranormal phenomena, and also works as a feature writer and contributing editor for Phenomena magazine and writes regularly for other magazines and websites.
In 2007 Universal Studios bought the rights to Redfern's book: "Three Men Seeking Monsters: Six Weeks in Pursuit of Werewolves, Lake Monster, Giant Cats, Ghostly Devil Dogs and Ape-Men" in the hopes of making a movie from it.
He has has appeared on a variety of television programmes in the UK and works on the lecture circuit, both in the UK and overseas, and has appeared in internationally syndicated shows discussing the UFO phenomenon. He is also a regular on the History Channel programs Monster Quest and UFO Hunters as well as National Geographic Channels's Paranormal and the SyFY channel's Proof Positive.
Redfern now lives in Texas and is currently working as a full-time author and journalist specializing in a wide range of unsolved mysteries, including Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, UFO sightings, government conspiracies, alien abductions and paranormal phenomena, and also works as a feature writer and contributing editor for Phenomena magazine and writes regularly for other magazines and websites.
In 2007 Universal Studios bought the rights to Redfern's book: "Three Men Seeking Monsters: Six Weeks in Pursuit of Werewolves, Lake Monster, Giant Cats, Ghostly Devil Dogs and Ape-Men" in the hopes of making a movie from it.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 15, 2021
Quirky. I was hooked in by the cover: a UFO flying straight out of a temple. Hmm... What was that that it could've been doing in there?
Q:
— A look at the scenario that suggests nuclear war in the distant past may not have been fought solely by highly advanced, visiting extraterrestrials who had little or no regard for us—beyond using us as a slave race—and whose violent atomic activities forever scarred the planet. We are talking about legendary ancient humans using—and maybe even “inheriting” from ETs—atomic weapons on battlefields. Or, perhaps, we’re talking about advanced ETs and humans doing battle against each other, ones whose paths crossed in violent, Armageddon-like style. (c) Hmmm... Sounds enticing. Blockbuster-style.
Q:
— A look at the scenario that suggests nuclear war in the distant past may not have been fought solely by highly advanced, visiting extraterrestrials who had little or no regard for us—beyond using us as a slave race—and whose violent atomic activities forever scarred the planet. We are talking about legendary ancient humans using—and maybe even “inheriting” from ETs—atomic weapons on battlefields. Or, perhaps, we’re talking about advanced ETs and humans doing battle against each other, ones whose paths crossed in violent, Armageddon-like style. (c) Hmmm... Sounds enticing. Blockbuster-style.
December 7, 2019
It may not be a bad book per se, I'm just having hard time figuring out why it was written. A typical chapter opens with a brief story of a massive killing or destruction that took place in the history of the mankind (for example, Sodom and Gomorrah), then comes an overview of a source (most often it's Zecharia Sitchin or the TV series "Ancient Aliens") saying that this destruction could have been a result of extra-terrestrial intervention, followed by the part where the author ponders on whether it was really the case. So far so good. The annoying part is that Mr. Redfern never really tells us what his personal opinion is on the matter, so even if it is implied that he is inclined to debunk the ET hypothesis, he still ends the chapter with something like a non-committing "but who knows, right?".
Some chapters are better than others. For example, I found the one dedicated to the 10 plagues of Egypt bordering on the ridiculous, but the one on the city of Mohenjo Daro was okay. Overall, the narration is very uneven. At some point you have a feeling that here, the author is finally going to come to some exciting or definitive conclusion, but--alas--it never happens.
I think the notion of the book is best expressed by the author himself in the Conclusion: "We have to look at both sides and recognize that, whether we like it or not, there are two sides of the story. .<...> We need to highlight not just the supportive material, but the undeniably flawed data, too. Only by doing so can we determine if atomic weapons, built and deployed by alien visitors, were used on our planet long ago. Or were not." This is fine, albeit commonplace. Still, even using this balanced approach principle, the author achieves nothing in determining anything.
Some chapters are better than others. For example, I found the one dedicated to the 10 plagues of Egypt bordering on the ridiculous, but the one on the city of Mohenjo Daro was okay. Overall, the narration is very uneven. At some point you have a feeling that here, the author is finally going to come to some exciting or definitive conclusion, but--alas--it never happens.
I think the notion of the book is best expressed by the author himself in the Conclusion: "We have to look at both sides and recognize that, whether we like it or not, there are two sides of the story. .<...> We need to highlight not just the supportive material, but the undeniably flawed data, too. Only by doing so can we determine if atomic weapons, built and deployed by alien visitors, were used on our planet long ago. Or were not." This is fine, albeit commonplace. Still, even using this balanced approach principle, the author achieves nothing in determining anything.
February 19, 2025
Rehashed mix of science, conjecture, archaeology and ETs.
The subtitle: “Weapons of the Gods: How Ancient Alien Civilizations Almost Destroyed the Earth” is a misnomer as during the whole book, Nick Redfern is discounting that written records in historical or religious texts that speak of atomic-sounding disasters were anything but. He goes into possible causes being natural disasters e.g. volcanoes, heat phenomena and comet strikes, but not the ‘weapons of the gods’. Just when I thought he was going to live up to the title of the book, he explained away the accounts as being anything but alien technology – but he provides no scientific fact.
The book is full of repetitions of the glass formed by high temperatures. Nick Redfern cites the History channel many times over, as well as the authors mentioned in my review of another of his books. We can read those ourselves. However, the author has published this book sitting by his computer without any new or groundbreaking information or even analysis. Total waste of time. I’ve enjoyed other Nick Redfern's books more, but this one was an unsatisfying read as if was full of conjecture and little fact.
This book review also appears in https://thereadersvault.blogspot.com/....
The subtitle: “Weapons of the Gods: How Ancient Alien Civilizations Almost Destroyed the Earth” is a misnomer as during the whole book, Nick Redfern is discounting that written records in historical or religious texts that speak of atomic-sounding disasters were anything but. He goes into possible causes being natural disasters e.g. volcanoes, heat phenomena and comet strikes, but not the ‘weapons of the gods’. Just when I thought he was going to live up to the title of the book, he explained away the accounts as being anything but alien technology – but he provides no scientific fact.
The book is full of repetitions of the glass formed by high temperatures. Nick Redfern cites the History channel many times over, as well as the authors mentioned in my review of another of his books. We can read those ourselves. However, the author has published this book sitting by his computer without any new or groundbreaking information or even analysis. Total waste of time. I’ve enjoyed other Nick Redfern's books more, but this one was an unsatisfying read as if was full of conjecture and little fact.
This book review also appears in https://thereadersvault.blogspot.com/....
September 11, 2024
I listened to this book solely for the chapter on Sodom and Gomorrah but the whole book is very good. In "Weapons of the Gods", Redfern discusses the theories of ancient aliens being the "gods" of old and being responsible for meddling in human affairs with war and the passing on of technology to humanity.
Redfern is not necessarily a proponent of any of these theories but simply looks at different perspectives and research that has gone into the phenomena. In many places, he provides possibilities of how seemingly supernatural events could be explained but neither is he shy about possibility of the opposite. If you are interested in the Ancient Alien Theory, like to read about extraordinary events and phenomena, and would like to have a levelheaded guide to take you on the journey, this would be a good book for you!
Once again, since this is an audiobook, there are no references to research provided but I'm willing to guess that the physical copy might. Redfern is held in repute by many people as an admirable researcher and author so I would hope the physical copy has references to further your own research.
Redfern is not necessarily a proponent of any of these theories but simply looks at different perspectives and research that has gone into the phenomena. In many places, he provides possibilities of how seemingly supernatural events could be explained but neither is he shy about possibility of the opposite. If you are interested in the Ancient Alien Theory, like to read about extraordinary events and phenomena, and would like to have a levelheaded guide to take you on the journey, this would be a good book for you!
Once again, since this is an audiobook, there are no references to research provided but I'm willing to guess that the physical copy might. Redfern is held in repute by many people as an admirable researcher and author so I would hope the physical copy has references to further your own research.
September 15, 2023
I found this one based on the author who has written a few other books I really like. This one seemed like it would be interesting but I just could not get into it. The writing was great but the content ended up being something that I am now for sure not interested in.
July 19, 2016
Amazingly Balanced
Most unusual for a ancient alien book, Redfern goes over the evidence cited in most books and traces it to its source. In some cases it turns out to be quite wobbly but in other cases there is firm support for the possibility of a ancient atomic war. Again the author takes time to present the current academic explanation as contrasted with the various other theories floating around. He also reviews the "proof" for these viewpoints citing current archaeological discoveries, some that I was not aware of. Was especially surprised by the vitrified Scottish forts which had walls of fused stone. Ancient texts are examined and the consistency of a heavenly war being fought by God's, Angels or Kings is a thread that weaves through many ancient people's religious books. A fine work of research and a valuable addition to the ancient civilization destroyed, possibly by aliens, history theory.
Most unusual for a ancient alien book, Redfern goes over the evidence cited in most books and traces it to its source. In some cases it turns out to be quite wobbly but in other cases there is firm support for the possibility of a ancient atomic war. Again the author takes time to present the current academic explanation as contrasted with the various other theories floating around. He also reviews the "proof" for these viewpoints citing current archaeological discoveries, some that I was not aware of. Was especially surprised by the vitrified Scottish forts which had walls of fused stone. Ancient texts are examined and the consistency of a heavenly war being fought by God's, Angels or Kings is a thread that weaves through many ancient people's religious books. A fine work of research and a valuable addition to the ancient civilization destroyed, possibly by aliens, history theory.
January 18, 2017
okay, but jumps around
the author displayed a very good knowledge of the subject, but had a difficult time staying on topic during some chapters.
the author displayed a very good knowledge of the subject, but had a difficult time staying on topic during some chapters.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews