Unexplained! Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena 3rd Edition

by Jerome Clark

In an updated and expanded edition of this popular work, wide range of phenomena is explored, documenting the evidence and hearing the witnesses out. The 200 mysteries and hoaxes are thoroughly examined, including cattle mutilations, crop circles, spontaneous human combustion, Martian lore, Roswell, Loch Ness, the Old Hag, weather phenomena, faeries, Bigfoot, the Bermuda Triangle, living dinosaurs, ghosts, pterodactyl sightings, flying humanoids, hollow earth, and other absorbing puzzles. Along the way readers will learn of hoaxes and witness the creation of various modern myths.

Genres: Nonfiction, Paranormal, Cryptozoology, Reference, Monsters, History, Mystery

459 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

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.

Reviews

[Shane Simmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an entertaining read, covering diverse strange topics as hairy hominids, black dogs, green fireballs (UFOs), teleportation stories, mermaids, as well as a few famous hoaxes.

Clark writes with a surprisingly skeptical viewpoint (but not excessively so) for a cryptozoologist. Many of the phenomena discussed in the book he critiques as having too little evidence to support a belief in. However, he doesn't bash the given phenomena either.

In short I'd recommend this book to any student of anomalous phenomena.

[MeatAndPotatoes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book. Covers cryptids, phenomena, and other unexplained things as the title suggest. I felt as if some of the sections went on for too long while others were cut to short. There was a noticeable bias that pointed into the author believing in these things were true, but at the end of each section, he included research or theories that were done to disprove the mystery so it tends to balance out.

As I said, this book is quite extensive. It featured many new cryptids I wasn't aware of so it's worth a read if you're into this kind of stuff.

[Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid reference material of weird. Does a good job of presenting multiple theories and is not afraid to say when something is completely implausible. Very readable, especially well suited to short reads as the entries don't tend to be more than two or three pages each.

[Sae-chan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much word, not enough pictures.

[BibliofiendLM · Rating 2 out of 5]

Based on the fun topic, I thought this would be more interesting. I think teens would be curious to read it, but the black and white pictures and such make it pretty boring. Disappointed.

[Christopher Carrolli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a great source for the paranormal and the unexplained. I look forward to the new edition. This book does an excellent job in recounting eyewitness testimony and debunking those incidents that were deemed most likely to be a hoax. The section on the Men in Black will chill your spine, and it also has great articles regarding Mermaids, Bigfoot, Mothman, and UFO's. It is a MUST for those of you interested in the unexplained or the paranormal. This book has given me great research ideas...

[Drew Perron · Rating 5 out of 5]

The really interesting thing about this book is that it holds everything up to the light of critical thinking. It points out when a legend is based on inadequate data and hearsay... and when skepticism becomes an excuse to dismiss the experiences of hundreds of people. It gives you the data and lets you decide. Highly recommended.

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is fun

[Joshua Vine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some very interesting stuff. Some of the more unbelievable could have been left out.

[Cm2dude · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite Interesting Read...

[David Reynoso · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was kinda long but good overall

[Molly Trammell · Rating 3 out of 5]

*This is a review of the third edition. I have not read the first and second.*

If possible I would’ve given this book 2.5 stars. It’s not bad at all and the material was, I believe, meticulously researched. It reads almost like an encyclopedia and less like a “sit-down-and-read-through” kind of book, which isn’t what I was expecting. The author relates first-hand accounts honestly to the point that they become somewhat redundant (how many times can I read about specific yet similar sea serpent stories?... I want the author’s explanation of these phenomenon more than a dozen similar retellings). I also thought the formatting was weird. Certain subjects had their own chapters while others were put in as separate little blurbs in chapters, but often had nothing to do with the chapters they were placed in (like Ringing Rocks within a chapter on Merbeings). It could be because I read it as an ebook and it was designed to be read in print, so maybe the formatting didn’t translate. It just made for choppy reading.

This may have to do with the edition I read (third), but most of the stories were cryptozoological and less what I think of as “unexplained mysteries.” There were some like what I expected, such as chapters on UFOs and Green Children etc., but not much and it feels like less energy was devoted to these subjects than the cryptozoological ones. If you’re interested in cryptozoology (particularly ape-men and water-beings) then this book is absolutely for you, it’s just not what I was looking for.

I did really appreciate how the author approaches the subjects. He appears to be of the mind that things can both exist and not exist based on individual perception. That is refreshing to read and I enjoyed his perspective on the stories he relates.

Overall this is a decent book and it’s well written, I just expected different subject matter and the formatting was grating in places.

[Boris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This a farrago of myth, 'rural legends' and folk lore which much of which makes for tedious reading. There's a major focus on cryptozoology, a subject of which I have no interest. Over ten per cent of the book alone is devoted to a monotonous recitation of "hairy bipeds" and "merbeings" (mermaid/mermen) anecdotes. I also found the convoluted prose of the author annoying and distracting.

The obviously false "snakes in the stomach" chapter is not unexplained; it was 19th century newspaper hoaxes which was typical and common for the era. Topics like this belong in books on folklore and urban myths and legends.

There are some interesting facts and tidbits that are food for thought but the 'wheat to chaff' ratio is low. To the author's credit he raises some interesting points.

I'd rate the book 2 1/2 stars but rounded up to 3 stars.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gosh, what a nail biting read. Inside you'll read about every phenomenon you ever heard of or not. Cosmic enigmas, shapes in the sky, Area 51, Roswell, falls from the sky, earth mysteries, crop circles, Nazca lines, cryptozoo, Kraken, lake monsters, living dinosaurs, incredible entities, Mothman, Springheel Jack, things that are not, the Bermuda Triangle, hollow earth theories, spontaneous human combustion... many great black and white photos will scare the living daylights out of you. Am into stuff like that since being a kid. This is one of the biggest volume on controversial phenomenons I ever read. Highly recommended!

[Chris Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining look at a variety of unexplained incidents, objects, animals etc. (in alphabetical order)

The book tries to present the evidence as collected from original sources, without passing judgement on the material, and I found it quite unique in that regard.

Bears a read by anyone interested in such things.

[RumBelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read a lot of books like this, and for the most part they are very much alike. I read them to learn about topics I previously knew little or nothing about. This book was, I would say 60-40 in terms of mysteries I had heard of vs those I didn't. In my view though, a lot of the ones I hadn't heard of were rather dull. Not the best, or worst of these books I have read.

[Clayton Rumley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A massive trove of Fortean phenomena of all types, Clark's book is a joy to read from end to end. Well sourced and well written, his research into so many of these topics (including debunking many of them) makes this my go-to reference for the history of the world's weirdness.

[P.S. Winn · Rating 4 out of 5]

200 strange mysteries, hoaxes and mind puzzling events. Do you believe? This is an interesting read and hard to put down.

[Piyush Sakorikar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly repetitive and creature based comments.

[Rosa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gave it one star because I was not able to give it No stars.

[Differengenera · Rating 5 out of 5]

my favourite one here was always the surviving Brontosaurus in the Congo. one of the more endearing contemporary delusions are 'cryptozoologists' belief in places in the word which aren't subsumed

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this a tough read and lost interest. I didn't finish the book. I gave it away.

[Jonathan Blanchet · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5

[Brendan]

The unknown or Unexplained is something that people always wonder about. See what I did there? Anyway people are always curious or afraid of what they don't understand or know. People tell storeis and make rumors abiut some of histories most famous places, monsters, and events. But how do we know if it's true? Well only time will tel but for now we have thins book.

The book, Unexplained: Strnge sightings, Incredible Occurences & Puzziling Physical Phenomena, by Jerome Clark is a book that tells about the mysteries of Earth and it's universe. The book tells the reader of UFO sightings and so called "moster sightings, along with consparicies about the government of everday life. This allows the reader to set the mind and gears into motion. I literally stopped in my tracks after reading many of the sections to look up some more info on the events. The book tells the story of the Roswell incident, to the myth about the Jersey Devil. A monster that lives out in the woods of New Jersey. Many people have claimed to have seen it, but there has been no proof what so ever. So is this a hoax or real? This really is Unexplained!

Now for those that love books about the mysterious and unknown of Earth's surface, would love this book. It has so many things to choose from when it comes down to topics. There are tells about monsters and religon practices that would seem messed up to be a part of. But the book captures the reader with all of these accounts of the unknown and unexplained! This book is for those who might like horror or sci-fi, but this book is also not for the faint of heart. There were pictures of dead animals such as cows, goats, and even a dog. I'd say check it out if you can look past that. In the words of Joe Bob, "FOUR STARS! CHECK IT OUT!"

[Kai-Te Lin · Rating 5 out of 5]

應該是看過最好的神秘生物學的科普書，不像其他相關書籍亂塞一些網路上未經查證的事件（卻是劉寶傑、徐晃榮、眭澔平之流很愛在節目上拿來說嘴的東西），作者Jerome Clark是美國專門研究UFO、神秘生物學的作家，他在裡頭介紹了什麼是神秘生物學，它的科學沿革演變是什麼。作者用他考察的歷史文件，包括書籍、當地報紙、雜誌期刊、警方報案紀錄，他會判讀這些事情不太可能是真的（這在一本講述神秘生物很難得的事），他傾向梳理這些歷史文件，來看這件事的真假，用較為科學的方式解讀。

本書分成幾章，「神秘動物」是講科學上可能存在的生物（例如世界各地皆有的大型猿人傳聞）、「遊走生物」則是我們已知的生物錯置在牠們本不該出現的區域（像是美國出現袋鼠）、「奇幻生物」則是在一般判斷上生物演化不太可能出現的生物（例如精靈、人魚）以及「神秘無解事件」則是列舉幾個謎團的歷史事件（例如明尼蘇達冰人事件）。

然後我要吐槽台版的翻譯書名完全偏離作者寫作的科學性（哪有「破解」之說），封面插畫也把它包裝得過於廉價，甚至還加上「真實圖像版」，請問書裡哪裡有？