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Alien Encounters

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True life stories of Aliens, UFO’s and other Extra-terrestrial phenomena.

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 12, 2007

21 people are currently reading
112 people want to read

About the author

Rupert Matthews

370 books41 followers

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5 stars
25 (21%)
4 stars
31 (26%)
3 stars
41 (34%)
2 stars
18 (15%)
1 star
4 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
Profile Image for Mandi.
68 reviews20 followers
October 12, 2023
This book was fun. There are a lot of times where the writing feels rushed and clumped together, and where some of the stories don't necessarily need to be told; but entertaining nonetheless, especially if you're into alien lore in general.
Profile Image for Josh Bokor.
94 reviews
September 6, 2024
2.5/5
Although a little repetitive when reading about repeated extra-terrestrial encounters and sightings, this book was an entertaining and interesting read. This makes me want to read, watch, and listen to even more encounters from people. Aliens are real, folks.
Profile Image for Stasia.
1,030 reviews10 followers
September 17, 2023
I'd say 3.5 stars. This definitely holds your attention and gives you lots to think about , but man, it needed a lot of editing.
39 reviews1 follower
November 22, 2023
Entertaining if you like the subject. Nothing new here and no actual evidence or conclusions. Just stories, many of which have been collected and told before. No mention of the Travis Walton abduction or of the Lakenheath-Bentwaters incident. A fun read, but there are better books on the topic.
Profile Image for K.
969 reviews
November 4, 2023
It’s a nice book but it’s nothing we all haven’t read before. It had a few spelling errors and the constant photo shopped pictures from shutter stock were jarring.
Profile Image for Erik Graff.
5,169 reviews1,462 followers
August 13, 2025
The author employs Hynek's schematological distinction between 'close encounters' of the first through fifth kinds in structuring his overview of the phenomena and his concluding chapter is a fair summary of the prevailing hypotheses of explanation. The book as a whole, however, does not evince intelligent editing. Most egregiously, author Matthews recounts events involving the navy of Paraguay. The island named is actually off the coast of Mexico and Paraguay, a land-locked state, has no navy. This error is repeated in the index provided.
230 reviews5 followers
February 13, 2024
I very good read in my opinion. Not a book making a case that aliens from another planet, or dimension or anything really exist, just facts given from reports. It gives the idea, that this could be a possibility, but not a fact, and offers other possible explanations as well. The only reason I gave it a 3 instead of 4 was because I wish they could have kept it more chronological, instead of bouncing back and forth between years and decades.
Profile Image for Peter.
4,079 reviews808 followers
December 22, 2024
This was a very exciting read, almost like having an alien encounter by yourself: the UFOs arrive, encounter casebooks 1 to 10, out of this world, the UFOs land, the aliens emerge, alien encounters, alien contacts, alien abductions, what is out there?. The author underlines each chapter with numerous photos and illustrations. Reading this book makes you ready for your personal alien encounter. Couldn't put this one down and can highly recommend it!
Profile Image for C.C. Bruno.
Author 4 books13 followers
May 11, 2023
I'm usually all over Alien encounter books, but this one just didn't excite me like others do.
Profile Image for Lisa PITTS.
31 reviews
July 25, 2024
I’ve read this book a million times and I still love it
Profile Image for Justin.
Author 28 books260 followers
September 20, 2024
This book was absolutely amazing. As someone who believes in UFOs and aliens, this book was right up my alley and a must-read for me. The book starts off by talking about what the definition of a UFO is is why they us to this day. The book is then mostly casebook files of encounters that people have had with either UFOs, aliens, or both. In one chapter, it discusses the different types of encounters(close encounters of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd kinds are the most relevant with debates after the 3rd). In another chapter, it breaks down the several different types of aliens people have encountered over the years since the 40s. I didn't know there were so many different types and described with great detail from numerous reports.

I loved reading about all the encounters as well as the different types and some stories and accounts are a bit farfetched to believe but are told so well that you can't help but hope there's even the slightest bit of truth in it. There are a lot of cases that most people don't know about in this book but then there's your famous cases like Air Force pilot Kenneth Arnold seeing the first reported UFO in 1947, The Roswell case, The disappearance of Fredrick Valentich, and of course Betty and Barney Hill. I was fascinated by the accounts that people gave of the aliens and I asked at one point is this why we think aliens look the way they look and the answer is yes. Most of our depictions of aliens today in movies and TV shows as well as anything else are known as the Greys. These types are what most people who claimed to see aliens in the 80s and 90s saw which is why they are the most commonly known.

When it got to the alien abductions it was really the first time where I was highly skeptical, or at least more than I was at any other point in the book. Some of the abduction stories sound fabricated and beyond made up but again some had subtlety to them which made them somewhat convincing. I won't spoil it but the book ends with a great last story the author recounts that happened to NASA in the 80s. Overall, this book was an extraordinary read and it really helped me learn more about UFOs and aliens and appreciate a topic that many are either totally into or not at all. It also helped me want to become a ufologist all the more. If you are into UFOs, aliens, and you question whether or not we are alone in this universe than this is definitely a book you must read. 5 Flying Saucers!
Profile Image for Abigail Souza.
20 reviews
May 19, 2025
My boyfriend got me this book because I love space, and I love aliens. I usually sit on the more fictional side of things, movies and shows that depict aliens and the vast range of space, rather than indulging in the conspiracy theories on whether aliens are actually real. I don't think they're not real, they absolutely could be, and if they were, I'd love to say hi to them at some point in my life.
This was a silly book, I don't know why, but I wish that there was maybe a bit more commentary than just the endless list of ufo/alien encounters. It almost made the book a drag to read, but hey I read it and that's something I guess I should be proud of!
I don't think any of the cases really made me truly believe that aliens are real, but it really makes you ask several questions about aliens in general! Like all these people couldn't be lying, that's just cruel and I honestly refuse to believe that.
Either way, really loved it!
Profile Image for Aspen Golden.
93 reviews
May 28, 2024
This book may have been "rigorously researched," but it utterly failed to cite its sources, even when particular phrasings or spellings made it clear that the author was either directly quoting or closely paraphrasing the words of the people whose stories were being told. It was also sprinkled with typos and grammatical errors, and the segways between anecdotes were anything but graceful.

It was, however, exactly what I expected it to be, and I only paid 4 dollars at a bargain store for the privilege. I was particularly enamored by the story of the man who reported a loss of taste as a symptom of an alien abduction... in September of 2020. Pretty sure COVID was the reason you couldn't taste your coffee or peanut butter that morning, my friend.
Profile Image for Julia Connor.
76 reviews3 followers
July 13, 2022
This book started off quite promisjng but the majority of the stories of experiences were the same. I know this isnt Rupert Matthews fault as he can only work with what is recorded but abit more background knowledge on what has been covered up, by who, where and why. This was touched on a few times but I feel it would of made the book alot more interesting.
Profile Image for Favio Escalon.
16 reviews
September 16, 2023
It's okay, I guess you could treat it as short stories. This book is mostly a compilation of short alien stories of different kinds. Very few of them are actually worth reading. If the book was shorter I would find it a lot more entertaining than what it currently is but I could say most of it is just filler stories.
Profile Image for Debbie Mcclelland.
143 reviews9 followers
November 11, 2016
A good read!

A lot of reports I had not seen before. Intelligently written and a relatively easy read although the editors could have insisted on a few (actually, a lot more) line spaces between the stories!
Profile Image for Brian.
58 reviews
October 16, 2009
Typical UFO read. Does have a few really interesting ET contacts and facts.
Profile Image for Annie.
292 reviews1 follower
December 29, 2023
Editing wasn't top notch (but not horrible either), it included several cases I'd never heard of, *and* it was only $5 so I'll say 4⭐
Profile Image for Mikayla.
181 reviews
April 4, 2024
I don’t know why I read this but it was stupidly entertaining
My favorite part was the when some guy said he saw an alien making pancakes lol 😭
Profile Image for Jave Astrid.
5 reviews
March 9, 2013
I for one find the facts about aliens and etc. very interesting.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews

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