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UFOs and Alien Contact: Two Centuries of Mystery
The most detailed and comprehensive examination yet of 100 years of UFO reports, sighting waves, and abduction claims spanning two centuries, "UFO and Alien Contact" utilizes rare press reports and incorporates copious notes and documentation of stories to provide a gripping, humorous, and at times horrifying account.
- GenresNonfiction
410 pages, Hardcover
First published February 28, 1998
25 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 16, 2010
Almost every fall I go to the Bay area of Northern California to stay a couple of weeks with Tom and Mike Miley, former roommates in Chicago, at their respective homes. Every time with Michael I delve into his enormous library, a library distinctive for its many books about UFOs, revisionist archaeology, parapsychology, political conspiracies and other offbeat subjects. He may suggest, but I pick out the ones I want to read in order to keep up with his esoteric interests.
The point of this, beyond nurturing continuing engagement with an old friend dating back to high school, is in part sheer amusement, but there is a deeper connection, one that might be called "spiritual".
Michael had a peak experience in my bedroom while we were just starting college, an experience which radically relativized his sense of what is real and what is important. It was interpretable as a new way of looking at things. It was also interpretable as seeing another world entirely, another, much better and much more real world. Having had at least glimpses of what he saw myself on occasion, I have always tended to favor the perspectival interpretation while trying to appreciate his more ontological appropriation of such experiences. Reading his literature and talking about it with him is part of the business of both honoring such peak experiences and remaining open to them and their widest range of possible implication.
UFOs are not at the core of this, not if understood to be spacecraft from other planets. Neither of us long favored this interpretation. Both of us have been more interested in the sheer alienness of what many experiencers have reported throughout history, in the comparison between today's experiences interpreted in terms of technology in comparison to yesterday's experiences interpreted in terms of religion. Both of us have been interested in claims for the existence of other intelligences and their radically different perspectives and purposes. These claims are, in our own experience, supported by both the aforementioned peak experiences and those occasions of breaking through to other worlds under the influence of psychotropics--as well as by the quite ordinary memories we all have of the more or less odd events which we all associate with dreaming.
This particular book is a typically derivative one, summarizing others' accounts and trying to make some sense of the material.
The point of this, beyond nurturing continuing engagement with an old friend dating back to high school, is in part sheer amusement, but there is a deeper connection, one that might be called "spiritual".
Michael had a peak experience in my bedroom while we were just starting college, an experience which radically relativized his sense of what is real and what is important. It was interpretable as a new way of looking at things. It was also interpretable as seeing another world entirely, another, much better and much more real world. Having had at least glimpses of what he saw myself on occasion, I have always tended to favor the perspectival interpretation while trying to appreciate his more ontological appropriation of such experiences. Reading his literature and talking about it with him is part of the business of both honoring such peak experiences and remaining open to them and their widest range of possible implication.
UFOs are not at the core of this, not if understood to be spacecraft from other planets. Neither of us long favored this interpretation. Both of us have been more interested in the sheer alienness of what many experiencers have reported throughout history, in the comparison between today's experiences interpreted in terms of technology in comparison to yesterday's experiences interpreted in terms of religion. Both of us have been interested in claims for the existence of other intelligences and their radically different perspectives and purposes. These claims are, in our own experience, supported by both the aforementioned peak experiences and those occasions of breaking through to other worlds under the influence of psychotropics--as well as by the quite ordinary memories we all have of the more or less odd events which we all associate with dreaming.
This particular book is a typically derivative one, summarizing others' accounts and trying to make some sense of the material.
April 16, 2025
A SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF SUCH ‘CONTACTEES’
Authors George Bartholomew and George Howard wrote in the first chapter of this 1998 book, “During the last decade of the 19th century, a remarkable social delusion swept across the United States. Amid rumors that an American inventor had perfected the world’s first heavier-than-air flying machine, ‘airship fever’ gripped the country as tens of thousands of citizens reported seeing a nonexistent airship… The airship sightings took place between [1886 and 1887]… during which time it was seen in most states. During the 1890s, Americans were enchanted by literature on science and invention, which had become something of a national obsession. The sightings occurred during a period of great social and technological change that fostered the widespread belief that almost any invention was possible.” (Pg. 21-22)
Later, they add, “When we compare the events of the airship episode with contemporary UFO and flying saucer waves, the similarities are striking. Perhaps most conspicuous is the complete absence of flying saucers or tiny extraterrestrials with technology far in advance of our own.” (Pg. 63)
They continued, “While it was an era of great advancements in science and technology, there was also considerable uncertainty and anxiety. The airship sightings and reported encounters with occupants appear to have served a useful function as a reassuring symbol. Science fiction stories were predicting the day when flying vessels would drop bombs from above. It was comforting to believe that Americans were in control of this technology. Perhaps the most extraordinary aspect of the airship episode was the sheer volume of reported observations and encounters.” (Pg. 64)
They observe, “why spend hundreds of millions of dollars on radio telescopes for the SETI program… if the government already knows what’s out there? Important pieces of evidence for understanding what lies behind these crashed saucer stories can be garnered from history, folklore and psychology, for accounts of crashed UFOs and dead aliens have circulated since the 19th century.” (Pg. 201-202)
They recount, “A different twist on .. social delusions involves rumors of cattle mutilations reported across the midwestern United States between 1969 and 1980. Hundreds of dead cattle were found with one or more parts missing, most commonly the sex organs, ears, and mouth. Rumors flew that Satan worshippers or extraterrestrials were responsible. The belief in extraterrestrial visitors was common in the United States during this period, with several popular books and television programs suggesting an association between the mutilations and either cultists or extraterrestrials….According to sociologist James Stewart, the ‘mutilations’ were caused by small nocturnal predators that are able to easily penetrate cattle hides and gravitate to the most exposed and softest parts, their sharp side teeth giving the impression of surgical incisions. And the lack of blood in many of the animals still gave credence to blood-cult rumors, despite veterinarians who cautioned that the blood in dead animals coagulates in several days, making it look as if the carcass were drained.” (Pg. 217)
They summarize, “We are all frightened of the possibilities of a catastrophic future for our world. If humans are to take effective actions to forestall such horrors, someone must first identify the horrific possibilities. Our problem is that articulating anticipated catastrophes is a difficult task for many people. Perhaps having God speak through a prophet or an alien speak through an abductee represents a psychologically easier way to address future nuclear or ecological horrors. The messages of modern UFO abductees and contactees mirror the anxieties prevalent in the societies of their times.” (Pg. 267-268)
They add in the last chapter, “The normal/abnormal distinction has often served as the vantage point from which mental health professionals tried to understand the puzzling reports of abduction or contact by aliens. Since these people report an experience that society believes could not possibly have occurred, they possess psychopathological symptoms. Thus it is definitionally true that they can be categorized as pathological individuals. However, they also are (in all likelihood) fantasy-prone personalities. In putting such individuals in two conceptual groups we now provide an additional degree of freedom for understanding or therapeutic intervention. Fantasy is an important human characteristic. Seeing UFO abductees and contactees as otherwise normal people who happen to be overactive fantasizers will be socially and therapeutically beneficial to the UFO witnesses.” (Pg. 274-275)
This book may appeal to those seeking social scientific interpretations of UFOs and related phenomena.
Authors George Bartholomew and George Howard wrote in the first chapter of this 1998 book, “During the last decade of the 19th century, a remarkable social delusion swept across the United States. Amid rumors that an American inventor had perfected the world’s first heavier-than-air flying machine, ‘airship fever’ gripped the country as tens of thousands of citizens reported seeing a nonexistent airship… The airship sightings took place between [1886 and 1887]… during which time it was seen in most states. During the 1890s, Americans were enchanted by literature on science and invention, which had become something of a national obsession. The sightings occurred during a period of great social and technological change that fostered the widespread belief that almost any invention was possible.” (Pg. 21-22)
Later, they add, “When we compare the events of the airship episode with contemporary UFO and flying saucer waves, the similarities are striking. Perhaps most conspicuous is the complete absence of flying saucers or tiny extraterrestrials with technology far in advance of our own.” (Pg. 63)
They continued, “While it was an era of great advancements in science and technology, there was also considerable uncertainty and anxiety. The airship sightings and reported encounters with occupants appear to have served a useful function as a reassuring symbol. Science fiction stories were predicting the day when flying vessels would drop bombs from above. It was comforting to believe that Americans were in control of this technology. Perhaps the most extraordinary aspect of the airship episode was the sheer volume of reported observations and encounters.” (Pg. 64)
They observe, “why spend hundreds of millions of dollars on radio telescopes for the SETI program… if the government already knows what’s out there? Important pieces of evidence for understanding what lies behind these crashed saucer stories can be garnered from history, folklore and psychology, for accounts of crashed UFOs and dead aliens have circulated since the 19th century.” (Pg. 201-202)
They recount, “A different twist on .. social delusions involves rumors of cattle mutilations reported across the midwestern United States between 1969 and 1980. Hundreds of dead cattle were found with one or more parts missing, most commonly the sex organs, ears, and mouth. Rumors flew that Satan worshippers or extraterrestrials were responsible. The belief in extraterrestrial visitors was common in the United States during this period, with several popular books and television programs suggesting an association between the mutilations and either cultists or extraterrestrials….According to sociologist James Stewart, the ‘mutilations’ were caused by small nocturnal predators that are able to easily penetrate cattle hides and gravitate to the most exposed and softest parts, their sharp side teeth giving the impression of surgical incisions. And the lack of blood in many of the animals still gave credence to blood-cult rumors, despite veterinarians who cautioned that the blood in dead animals coagulates in several days, making it look as if the carcass were drained.” (Pg. 217)
They summarize, “We are all frightened of the possibilities of a catastrophic future for our world. If humans are to take effective actions to forestall such horrors, someone must first identify the horrific possibilities. Our problem is that articulating anticipated catastrophes is a difficult task for many people. Perhaps having God speak through a prophet or an alien speak through an abductee represents a psychologically easier way to address future nuclear or ecological horrors. The messages of modern UFO abductees and contactees mirror the anxieties prevalent in the societies of their times.” (Pg. 267-268)
They add in the last chapter, “The normal/abnormal distinction has often served as the vantage point from which mental health professionals tried to understand the puzzling reports of abduction or contact by aliens. Since these people report an experience that society believes could not possibly have occurred, they possess psychopathological symptoms. Thus it is definitionally true that they can be categorized as pathological individuals. However, they also are (in all likelihood) fantasy-prone personalities. In putting such individuals in two conceptual groups we now provide an additional degree of freedom for understanding or therapeutic intervention. Fantasy is an important human characteristic. Seeing UFO abductees and contactees as otherwise normal people who happen to be overactive fantasizers will be socially and therapeutically beneficial to the UFO witnesses.” (Pg. 274-275)
This book may appeal to those seeking social scientific interpretations of UFOs and related phenomena.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews