Parallels: Ancient Insights into Modern UFO Phenomena

by Richard L. Thompson

For decades, researchers have exhaustively documented modern UFO phenomena, but questions remain about the origins of these strange objects and the intentions of the beings associated with them. In Parallels, Richard L. Thompson shows that answers may lie in the records of ancient civilizations claiming thousands of years of contact with races appearing to have an unearthly origin. Startling parallels between modern UFO accounts and events described in the ancient Sanskrit writings of India offer fresh insight into the nature of exotic incidents reported throughout human history.

PUBLISHER’S This book was originally published as Alien Ancient Insights into Modern UFO Phenomena. The new title, Parallels, was the author’s original choice.

Genres: Mystery

464 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 20, 2018

About the author

Richard Leslie Thompson, also known as Sadaputa Dasa (February 4, 1947 – September 18, 2008), was an American mathematician, author and Gaudiya Vaishnava religious figure, known principally for his promotion of Vedic creationism and as the co-author (with Michael Cremo) of Forbidden Archeology: The Hidden History of the Human Race (1993), which has been widely criticised by the scientific community. Thompson also published several books and articles on religion and science, Hindu cosmology and astronomy. He was a member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (popularly known as the Hare Krishna movement or ISKCON) and a founding member of the Bhaktivedanta Institute, the branch of ISKCON dedicated to examining the relationship of modern scientific theories to the Vaishnava worldview. In the 'science and religion' community he was known for his articulation of ISKCON's view of science. Danish historian of religion Mikael Rothstein described Thompson as "the single dominating writer on science" in ISKCON whom ISKCON has chosen to "cover the field of science more or less on his own". C. Mackenzie Brown, professor of religion at Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas, described him as "the leading figure" in ISKCON's critique of modern science.
Thompson died on September 18, 2008. His body was found at the bottom of his swimming pool at his home in Alachua, Florida, USA. He had suffered a heart attack, a condition there has been some history of in his family.

Reviews

[Fredrick Woodard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Psychologically evaluated UFO experiences from physical, biological, psychosocial, and spiritual aspects. He discussed both physical and psychic aspects of UFO encounters. He surveys UFO literature with a transcultural and historical analysis, and then talks about Vedic world view as a way of working on parallels between the UFO experiences and spiritual phenomena. Certainly, some valuable insights.

[Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a great admirer of Richard L Thompson's work in general, and of "Alien Identities," in particular. At the time it was published, it offered a unique perspective on the possible nature of UFO's and related phenomena. So, when the re-titled, eBook edition of the book became available, I was eager to acquire it. On the positive side, most of the content has been preserved, and is, of course, easily searchable electronically. But much to my dismay, I discovered that a sizable section of the 1994 print edition has been excised, starting with what used to be on page 176. The sub-chapter, "The Complete Contactee," has been eliminated. With it, the following sections are gone: "Movies and Photographs," "Landing Tracks," "Corroborating Stories," "Assorted Discrepancies," and "Biblical Extraterrestrials." In addition, the subsequent sub-chapter of the print edition, "The Alien Deception Hypothesis," has also been eliminated. It should be noted that this is not just a matter of the relabeling of the sections of the book. When searching the book electronically, one will find that references to a number of personalities and episodes are indeed absent from the eBook.