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Communion #5

Confirmation: the Hard Evidence of Aliens Among Us

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From the author of the multimillion copy bestseller Communion, comes a book with the first hard, physical evidence concerning alien presence on earthThis book is at once a journey of scientific discovery and the story of the personal struggle the author has fought since he had an apparent close encounter in 1985. He has been criticized for creating folklore, been called insane, and labelled a liar and a cult leader. Naturally, he wants to correct the record. But more than that, he has come to feel certain that something truly earthshaking is happening -- something far stranger, far more incredible than anyone suspected -- and that it is being seriously misunderstood and ignored, all of which has made mankind vulnerable.

To change all this, he has needed physical proof. Now he has it, and this book is the story of how he got it, and what it is.

"Ironically, even as it asks the best questions I have ever come up with, this book does provide some key answers, and they present an incredible picture indeed. What it all means, science must tell us. But if I am right about what it suggests, what is by far the most extraordinary event in history is unfolding right now....

So what is this evidence? Alien bodies, perhaps, or faster-than-light communications equipment? This is not a book of proof of alien presence, but of evidence that confirms that an unknown phenomenon is unfolding among us. This phenomenon emerges in three distinct areas:
-- the first is a dramatic growth in amateur video recording of strange things in the sky
-- the second is the unexpectedly huge body of close encouter testimony that is far, far different from anything that has thus far appeared in print
--the third is the unexplained objects that have been surgically removed from some close encounter witnesses, myself included, who claim to have been implanted with them during their encounters".

Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

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About the author

Whitley Strieber

152 books1,252 followers
American writer best known for his novels The Wolfen,The Hunger and Warday and for Communion, a non-fiction description of his experiences with apparent alien contact. He has recently made significant advances in understanding this phenomenon, and has published his new discoveries in Solving the Communion Enigma.

Strieber also co-authored The Coming Global Superstorm with Art Bell, which inspired the blockbuster film about sudden climate change, The Day After Tomorrow.

His book The Afterlife Revolution written with his deceased wife Anne, is a record of what is considered to be one of the most powerful instances of afterlife communication ever recorded.

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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
10.7k reviews34 followers
May 21, 2024
STRIEBER TURNS TO LOOKING AT PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE, ‘IMPLANTS,’ ETC.

Louis Whitley Strieber (born 1945) is an American writer originally known for his horror novels (e.g., ‘The Wolfen,’ ‘The Hunger’), but since his 1987 book ‘Communion,’ has become considered as a UFO ‘contactee.’ He continues to write both fiction and nonfiction.

He wrote in the Introduction to this 1998 book, “UFOs are nonsense and alien abduction is a fantasy---so says science and so says the press. But science also keeps the door open, as it has for the past fifty years, waiting for some sort of evidence what would make the subject worthy of study. Such evidence has been found and will be discussed in detail in this book… The evidence exists, and so do the tools. An organized effort can be made in three different major areas… this effort may well answer the key questions once and for all: Is somebody here? If so, what are they doing?... Over the course of this book, I will be suggesting specific directions for research in a number of areas… if it becomes apparent that aliens really are present, then a whole new area of cultural anthropology as well… Gone are the arguments that science has nothing to work with…

“The evidence, if it is properly addressed by science, has the power to change completely the way we deal with this issue… Some of the evidence that I will present is extremely provocative, even incendiary, and raises a concern that by denying the reality of the mystery, the press may actually have ended up spreading the very sort of false belief that it has been trying to prevent… It is also necessary to face the fact that the existence of the evidence means that there really may be aliens here---aliens who are creating an extraordinary theater in the sky while at the same time entering the personal lives of many people in extremely bizarre and secretive ways. Unless we deal in an organized and effective manner with the hard evidence that has come to light, we are going to remain passive to what could be… an intrusion into our world that may or may not be in our best interest.”

Of a tape of a UFO from the Bosques de las Lomas suburb in Mexico City from August 1997 that he showed to a physicist, he comments, “[he] was intrigued and disappointed at the same time… There is a reasonable likelihood that the tape is authentic, and if it is, then it is the clearest image of a UFO in operation that has ever been made. The disappointment came from the fact that there is no ‘clincher’ in the tape. The object performs no maneuver that would be completely impossible for a radio-controlled model.” (Pg. 35)

Of a 1994 film made by a female witness in Metepec in Mexico in a cornfield behind her house, he acknowledges, “was this a practical joke at her expense, or was it real? The tape is analog, not a digital composite, so if it was a prank, then it was played by constructing a figure, perhaps out of paper maché and a light… with the operator guiding it from under the blanket. It would be a simple effect to accomplish, dan the poor quality of the video makes it impossible to distinguish enough detail to determine this.” (Pg. 41)

Of conspiratorial theories of a ‘secret war’ between aliens and the government, he notes, “What if there is a secret war being fought against an alien presence? One thing is certain: It has to be the least visible war in history and the least dangerous to civilians… I would be astonished if the United States had gotten itself tangled up in some sort of a secret war with aliens. Even given the effectiveness of the national system of secrecy, it is hard to see how a multibillion-dollar effort like this could be completely concealed for generations.” (Pg. 70-71)

He points out, “There is a popular notion that the motive power of UFOs must be a magnetic field that opposes the magnetic field of the Earth. This cannot be true, because Earth’s magnetic field is parallel to the planet only at the equator… UFOs would have to maneuver at increasingly extreme angels s they left the area of the equator, and this is not seen to happen. In fact, by the time they reached the arctic circles, they would slide down the angle of Earth’s magnetic field and hit the ground unless they greatly increased the power of their internal magnetic field. But this, in turn, would drive the object toward the pole, where it would eventually come to rest.” (Pg. 85-86)

He says of the surgeries by podiatrist Dr. Roger Leir and another doctor seeking to find ‘alien implants,’ “Dr. Leir and his colleague, a general surgeon, were aware of how controversial these surgeries might turn out to be and were concerned with creating a very high-quality record of the proceedings… the excised objects were also photographed at the moment of removal… The general surgeon who was present and did all above-the-ankle procedures and the witnesses will not be named in this discussion. The surgeon doesn’t want to expose himself to the danger of license-related attacks such as those that have occurred against other professionals who have expressed a public interest in this subject, including Dr. Leir himself and, of course, Harvard professor Dr. John Mack, whose book ‘Abduction: Human Encounters with Aliens,’ brought him challenges both to his professional credentials and his tenure.” (Pg. 205)

Of an individual whose possible implant had been removed in 1989, he comments, “Talking to Jesse, I got a very positive impression of his sincerity. But I also know that sincere belief may support false memories.” (Pg. 222)

Of one proposed ‘implant,’ he records, “There was no reason, at this point, to believe that this was not exactly what it appeared to be---a glass shard, completely trivial. However, as the electron microscope looked more closely, some unusual details began to emerge: ‘The narrow tip contained a carbonaceous inclusion, dark and globular in form…’ This material appeared to be a tiny quantity of dried blood that had been forced into this well-defined indentation in the tip of the object. Could the tip of this thing be structured? Were we looking at accident or design? More work needs to be done to determine this. What can be said at present is that if did not appear like the irregular tip of an ordinary glass shard… it seemed possible that one edge of the object’s surface had been sharpened and then melted in order to smooth rough edges. But these were just initial observations.” (Pg. 236)

Of Strieber’s operation to remove his own suspected ‘implant,’ he recounts, “What we had were two small samples. One was almost certainly ordinary cartilage, but the other might have been a piece of the object. They were taken to Southwest Research, where they were observed under a microscope. The first sample was indeed cartilage. The second appeared to be collagen, possibly of an unusual structure, but this was uncertain because the cutting involved in removing it could have caused its appearance. However, it contained crystals a few microns in size that appeared similar to Jesse Long’s much larger object.” (Pg. 253)

He comments, “I tell this story in such detail because I think that a great many people who have strange objects in their bodies are going to have the experience of getting the objects removed and then being unable to tell for certain what they are… Although I can say that this has not affected my health in any negative way, it is not an easy thing to live with. I am haunted by implants. What do they do? Howe might they be affecting my work? Above all, are the objects in my brain and ear even implants? There are credible natural explanations for both of them… at least, on the surface.” (Pg. 256-257)

He continues, “I would never rule out the possibility of a human connection in the close encounter experience…. There is a whole subgroup whose entire abduction experience involve only people, mostly in military uniforms… I don’t think that any thoughtful American can assume that the intelligence community can be trusted not to engage secretly in mind control research…. In fact, the truth is quite shocking, because not only has there been a great deal of research, the American intelligence community has mounted a shameful series of attempts to develop outright mind control, engaging in the process in some of the most horrific experiments ever undertaken by man.” (Pg. 257-258)

He recounts meeting Col. Philip Corso (author of ‘The Day After Roswell’), and wrote, “Colonel Corso entered military intelligence during World War II and so he would have signed a draconian secrecy agreement that made the release of any classified material at all an act of treason. I asked him if he had violated such an agreement to write his book, and he replied that he had waited until his commanding officer had died, out of loyalty to him. It was an indirect reply and suggested to me either that he did not violate his oath because the book isn’t true, or that he was released from it to write the book and was not able to reveal that.” (Pg. 279-280)

This book is a refreshing change from the subjectivity of Strieber’s previous ‘visitor’ books, and will be of great interest to those studying UFOs, alien abductions, and related matters
Profile Image for Robert.
1,146 reviews59 followers
November 20, 2012
This is a decent look at an unexplained, at this time, phenomena that needs to have a real scientific examination to either prove or disprove it. And that is what Strieber is asking for in this book. He presents several cases of odd U.F.O. related material but does not categorically state that it is real or unreal. The sad part of the whole enchilada is that science has already "debunked" the whole U.F.O. thing and anyone who does look into is quickly discredited as a whack job. Oh well maybe someday one of these scientists will get an alien anal probe and that might wake them up. Till then....
Profile Image for Josh.
3 reviews
January 18, 2012
I read this way way back as a kid. It kind of scared my 15 year old mind as I wasn't as skeptical back then. Looking at it now, the claims are kind of silly. Regardless, it was entertaining to me at the time.

I would recommend checking this book out if you're looking for a somewhat creepy read. But be careful about taking it too seriously though.

"Be open minded, but not so much that your brain falls out."

I'd give it 3 stars for entertainment, but Whitley Strieber is a nut and it bothers me how he calls this content "hard evidence."

Reminds me of this: http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/31...
Profile Image for Melissa Lynn.
223 reviews5 followers
December 7, 2023
The beginning was slow for me but about 1/4 of the way in it picked up. It shares new stories and from other people too which was interesting. I'm working my way through all of his books in this series, and this is still worth the read. There is always something new I learn. It's old, yes. But just today I read a quote in it that I heard about on a current podcast I'm also listening to also. So it checks out which is cool.
Profile Image for Kirsten Corby.
Author 4 books37 followers
April 26, 2022
I'm working my way through Whitley Strieber's oeuvre. I was thinking of skipping this book, because of its age, but I'm glad I didn't. It's not just about implants. There is so much more information in here, a lot of things I had never heard and considered before. Very eye-opening. If you're serious about studying the Phenomenon, it's worthwhile.
26 reviews4 followers
February 4, 2024
This book began by describing just how many alien close encounters there have probably been. Many people would never talk about these encounters for fear of ridicule so the number is probably far greater than those that have been shared. Many encounters were witnessed by multiple people at the same time and some of the encounters are very similar. The second part of the book talks about objects that have been implanted into various people. This has happened many, many times. There are a few doctors who have been willing to remove and study these objects but, again, many don't want to be involved for fear of the stigma around this type of investigation. In the last part of the book, Strieber describes programs that have been executed by our government through the CIA involving mind control. MK-ULTRA lasted for years and involved thousands of involuntary participants. At one point, the CIA ordered 100 million tabs of LSD for use through MK-ULTRA. While Congress held investigations of this program, most of the documents were kept classified or were destroyed. Strieber acknowledges, even when the evidence was strong, that some of the cases are unproveable. He does state, however, if a large organization or the government, got involved, rather than denying the existence of UFO's, that perhaps these encounters could teach us. He presents an hypothesis at the end of the book as to why the UFO's are selective in presenting their presence. He says that perhaps they think we will just go after their knowledge and stop developing technologically on our own. "The reason would be that there is such a great knowledge gap between us and them that they fear - or know - that our culture could be disempowered if we were exposed to theirs."
Profile Image for Ryan Young.
864 reviews13 followers
March 15, 2024
in this installment of what i like to call 'what other people take seriously but i simply can't,' the author poses as a skeptic who is overwhelmed by the evidence. between sightings, abduction stories, and recovered implants (which are always explicable in more prosaic terms), he simply cannot deny the reality. as always though, i'm perplexed. this guy doesn't seem stupid, nor can i come up with any reason why he'd make it all up ex nihilo. so what's going on here? my mom made me read a book called 'liar lord or lunatic' once which explored the only possibilities behind the claim that jesus was the son of the abrahamic god. at least with that, we could assume that our imperfect knowledge of the actual events was responsible for the false trichotomy. here we have a man who lived (lives) in almsot modern times. is he insane? a liar? or truly in contact with ALIENS!? a healthy combo of the first two is my guess but that's just because i'm a closed minded moron.
Profile Image for James.
110 reviews
May 14, 2021
The first half of this book was interesting; the second half was incredibly dry, overly scientific and just a chore to finish. I came upon this book sitting in a "book exchange box" at my office. I took it thinking it was Communion. Several years later when I decided to read it, I realized it was not Communion. So not wanting to read the sequel before the original, I purchased Communion, then read this immediately after. Neither book hit a home run with me but were still with enough merit for me to finish each, the first being the superior tome.
Profile Image for Sean.
281 reviews11 followers
April 11, 2019
The frustration of the author at not being able to identify substantial evidence to support his convictions permeates this book. Interesting but ultimately unsatisfying book.
Profile Image for Darren.
77 reviews1 follower
August 20, 2022
This was my favourite of all of Whitleys books that I have read, including Communion. A fantastic book.
Profile Image for Jim Huinink.
202 reviews2 followers
July 24, 2025
a bit dated now but has some interesting stories in it. doesn't deliver so much on the title.
Profile Image for MrFuckTheSystem.
178 reviews3 followers
December 20, 2018
Another book to add to the list of well put together books by Whitley. This book presents some different types of evidence for the case of the ufo presence ! Not all of which I had heard of before so yes I even learned some stuff !
Profile Image for Hayla.
707 reviews63 followers
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March 23, 2025
I started this book after the disappointing election of 2024 as something scarier to distract me (Whitley Strieber is one of my go-to authors for pee-your-pants scares) and I have to say that while I enjoyed reading this book, it’s probably the least scary of Strieber’s books I’ve read.
This is very scientifically minded and rational and relies less on witness statements than hard evidence. My favorite part was the appendix interview with the Roman Catholic Exorcist, though - it was absolutely fascinating to read an opinion of aliens through the lens of religious influence.
Profile Image for Claudia.
190 reviews
December 17, 2011
This book is divided into three parts.

The first part is an account of a recent and spectacular UFO sighting in August 1997 over Mexico City.

Part two examines what happens when a person comes into involuntary contact with an alien. These people face ridicule, are ostracized and many lose their careers. Just imagine telling your boss that you were whisked up to a spaceship last night and the aliens examined your body and put something up your nose. there is so much antagonism, probably born of fear that we immediately shun or seek to set ourselves apart from someone claiming they were abducted by aliens. No sane person would risk this level of censure.

The third part deals with the dearth of proof that would conclusively prove that aliens have interacted with people for many years. As Carl Sagan pointed out that there is not one artifact left behind after all these sightings and testimonies, not even a transistor of an alien craft...unless the government is covering it up, has them secreted on a secret military base or are in cahoots with the aliens. As for implants...There has been some investigations by a sympathetic surgeon who has removed implants from abductees, but analysis has not shown them to be definitively of extraterrestrial origin. However, while made of common elements and were similar in theory to current devices, they could not be proven to be terrestrial either.

The author concludes by pleading with the scientific establishment to see these numerous stories as worthy of rigorous scientific study so an answer based in reason can be found.
29 reviews
August 12, 2011
If I had any doubts regading the existence of aliens before reading this book they've only been reinforced. The only confirmation I got with this book is the fact that I'm glad I didn't pay full price when it was first released. Not quite as boring as reading a chemistry textbook but not quite as exciting as reading the ceral box each morning.
Profile Image for Ty Bedell.
117 reviews
August 1, 2016
I had very different expectations for this book. I found it tedious and unconvincing.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews

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