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DARK FILES: A Pictorial History of Lost Forgotten and Obscure UFO Encounters
This fully illustrated book details 20 historical UFO cases, which were secured from multiple research centers around the United States. Many of which have never been seen before. In addition, this publication also highlights multiple foreign UFO encounters (many with beings reported). A few of the cases covered in this book The Mystery Airship wave of 1897, USS F.D.R encounter 1958, The Father Gill case June 26, 1959, The Socorro landing April 24, 1964, The famous Westall High School case of April 6, 1966, "Glass Bubble" UFO over the Canary Islands, June 22, 1976, Flying "Orange Juicer", September 10, 1976, JAL Flight 1628, November 17, 1986, Triangular "Water Pumper" UFO 2012.
- GenresParanormal
74 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 16, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 31, 2023
Amazing illustrations.
April 24, 2026
Michael Schratt has created a masterpiece of 62 little-known UFO sightings, made all the more interesting with illustrations for each event. The illustrations and artwork in Schratt's book are by Tom Bogan, Michael Schratt, John MacNeill and Rudy Garder. I can't say enough about how useful and well-done the illustrations are, and most are in color, and also include diagrams, maps and photographs. All have captions to explain what each illustration is. Together, they really bring the UFO events to life and make this book a most unique and compelling UFO nonfiction read.
Schratt has organized the book chronologically starting in 1796 and ending in 2012. Most of the events are little known (vis-a-vis other UFO books or conferences) or unknown until now. In the book's foreward, Paul Hynek says, "In Dark Files, he has done for UFOlogy what Ansel Adams did for Yosemite-- he has brought it to life." I totally agree! NOTE: Paul Hynek is the youngest son of the late Dr. J. Allen Hynek, the renowned astronomer and scientific advisor to the U.S. Air Force's Project Blue Book. Paul is active in discussing his father’s legacy regarding UFOlogy.
Schratt begins his landmark book with the Bay of Fundy, October 12, 1796. I found this fascinating since I have walked in that Bay when the tide was out. He includes the sighting in Niagara Falls, November 13, 1833, also fascinating as I have had several trips there over the years. Also fascinating to me are the two in Catalina Island, that I also visited.
He includes a few more events from the 1800's including the fascinating 1897 mystery airship wave, which may be one that is well-known by UFO-enthusiasts. One other one in the book that readers of UFO nonfiction may know about is the UFO event in April-May 2001 at O'Hare Airport, Chicago. Otherwise, most UFO events he provides are unusual and little mentioned anywhere (if at all) in UFOlogy.
The book includes many sightings from all over the world, including events in Cuba, off Guantanamo Bay, near Japan, Papua, New Guinea, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Australia, Manitoba, Canada, Reunion Island, Vietnam, Finland, Canary Islands, and several in Italy, Venezuela and England, as well as MANY in the United States. He also includes a few undersea UFO encounters where the UFO emerges from the ocean or flies directly into the ocean with no crash or debris, as it appeared to operate seamlessly between the air and water.
Schratt also includes several UFO events at miliary installations, like the failed intercept, 1951 at West German airbase, the missile test interrupted June 4, 1949 at White Sands Missile Range, the event caught on film in 1957 at Edwards Air Force Base, CA, and the UFO encounter by the U.S. Army Reserve helicopter in Mansfield OH in 1973.
Schratt found interesting features and patterns of UFO events over decades from observers with no knowledge of prior sightings and widely disparate geographic locations. They are fascinating to read and give more evidence for patterns and systems of UFO events that are rarely acknowledged. These include UFO with tubes, pipes, cylinders and rivets which would lead you to believe the government is back-engineering top secret craft. There was even an event with a witness observing a man in US miliary gear trying to repair a downed vehicle.
Other patterns involved the "Michelin-man space suits" sighted in UFO vehicles, first July 31, 1968 at Reunion Island, and then again on June 22, 1976 in the Canary Islands, along with a being in a biohazard suit similarly clothed in Tucson AZ and described as 'sighting of inflatable being in capsule.' There are a few sightings where the UFO was siphoning water, had low frequency humming noises, and strange protrusions on the vehicles as well as lights and rotating parts of the ship. The beings sighted often had tight fitting space suits, helmets that extended to their shoulders, and cone shaped hands. Schratt notes that some investigations of the UFO event found radioactivity where the UFOs landed. This speaks to the veracity of the witnesses and events.
Schratt's UFO events include several where the being in the vehicle often responded to witnesses' gestures by waving back. Other sightings include some where the witnesses had significant time and proximity to the UFO to see some astonishing details inside the vehicles. A few had very insightful commentary by the witnesses too. Most witnesses did not want their full names used either, so that speaks to the fact they are not publicity-seeking individuals making things up. All truly very odd first-person evidence.
Schratt cites his sources including Otto Binder's weekly column, "Our Space Age" from 1965 to 1969 published in 25 states and foreign newspapers. Schratt included 10 of Otto's case files in this book and Otto's columns included drawings by artist Carl Pfeufer. Schratt's other sources come from UFO eyewitness reports, video tape interviews, drawings, sketches, from David Marler's historical files and many from the CUFOS Library/archive (e.g. Center for UFO Studies, founded by J. Allen Hynek is a non-profit organization).
Schratt has organized the book chronologically starting in 1796 and ending in 2012. Most of the events are little known (vis-a-vis other UFO books or conferences) or unknown until now. In the book's foreward, Paul Hynek says, "In Dark Files, he has done for UFOlogy what Ansel Adams did for Yosemite-- he has brought it to life." I totally agree! NOTE: Paul Hynek is the youngest son of the late Dr. J. Allen Hynek, the renowned astronomer and scientific advisor to the U.S. Air Force's Project Blue Book. Paul is active in discussing his father’s legacy regarding UFOlogy.
Schratt begins his landmark book with the Bay of Fundy, October 12, 1796. I found this fascinating since I have walked in that Bay when the tide was out. He includes the sighting in Niagara Falls, November 13, 1833, also fascinating as I have had several trips there over the years. Also fascinating to me are the two in Catalina Island, that I also visited.
He includes a few more events from the 1800's including the fascinating 1897 mystery airship wave, which may be one that is well-known by UFO-enthusiasts. One other one in the book that readers of UFO nonfiction may know about is the UFO event in April-May 2001 at O'Hare Airport, Chicago. Otherwise, most UFO events he provides are unusual and little mentioned anywhere (if at all) in UFOlogy.
The book includes many sightings from all over the world, including events in Cuba, off Guantanamo Bay, near Japan, Papua, New Guinea, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Australia, Manitoba, Canada, Reunion Island, Vietnam, Finland, Canary Islands, and several in Italy, Venezuela and England, as well as MANY in the United States. He also includes a few undersea UFO encounters where the UFO emerges from the ocean or flies directly into the ocean with no crash or debris, as it appeared to operate seamlessly between the air and water.
Schratt also includes several UFO events at miliary installations, like the failed intercept, 1951 at West German airbase, the missile test interrupted June 4, 1949 at White Sands Missile Range, the event caught on film in 1957 at Edwards Air Force Base, CA, and the UFO encounter by the U.S. Army Reserve helicopter in Mansfield OH in 1973.
Schratt found interesting features and patterns of UFO events over decades from observers with no knowledge of prior sightings and widely disparate geographic locations. They are fascinating to read and give more evidence for patterns and systems of UFO events that are rarely acknowledged. These include UFO with tubes, pipes, cylinders and rivets which would lead you to believe the government is back-engineering top secret craft. There was even an event with a witness observing a man in US miliary gear trying to repair a downed vehicle.
Other patterns involved the "Michelin-man space suits" sighted in UFO vehicles, first July 31, 1968 at Reunion Island, and then again on June 22, 1976 in the Canary Islands, along with a being in a biohazard suit similarly clothed in Tucson AZ and described as 'sighting of inflatable being in capsule.' There are a few sightings where the UFO was siphoning water, had low frequency humming noises, and strange protrusions on the vehicles as well as lights and rotating parts of the ship. The beings sighted often had tight fitting space suits, helmets that extended to their shoulders, and cone shaped hands. Schratt notes that some investigations of the UFO event found radioactivity where the UFOs landed. This speaks to the veracity of the witnesses and events.
Schratt's UFO events include several where the being in the vehicle often responded to witnesses' gestures by waving back. Other sightings include some where the witnesses had significant time and proximity to the UFO to see some astonishing details inside the vehicles. A few had very insightful commentary by the witnesses too. Most witnesses did not want their full names used either, so that speaks to the fact they are not publicity-seeking individuals making things up. All truly very odd first-person evidence.
Schratt cites his sources including Otto Binder's weekly column, "Our Space Age" from 1965 to 1969 published in 25 states and foreign newspapers. Schratt included 10 of Otto's case files in this book and Otto's columns included drawings by artist Carl Pfeufer. Schratt's other sources come from UFO eyewitness reports, video tape interviews, drawings, sketches, from David Marler's historical files and many from the CUFOS Library/archive (e.g. Center for UFO Studies, founded by J. Allen Hynek is a non-profit organization).
July 17, 2020
Excellent collection and illustrations
An excellent collection of UFO stories. And the illustrations are beautiful. Only problem is they rely on eyewitness accounts and accuracy. Measurements, details, all these matter and we know eyewitness testimony is often faulty. Regardless, there's a lot in here that suggests something very interesting going on in the skies should any of it be true.
An excellent collection of UFO stories. And the illustrations are beautiful. Only problem is they rely on eyewitness accounts and accuracy. Measurements, details, all these matter and we know eyewitness testimony is often faulty. Regardless, there's a lot in here that suggests something very interesting going on in the skies should any of it be true.
November 1, 2020
Excellent
I'm glad these cases are being preserved with artwork. A picture is worth a thousand words. Nice to hear the stories and similarities between them.
I'm glad these cases are being preserved with artwork. A picture is worth a thousand words. Nice to hear the stories and similarities between them.
October 17, 2025
Great quick read very informative and the illustrations are excellent and really help to paint the picture of the eye witness testimony. I would highly reccomend!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews