Saturday, October 26, 2019

UFO book















Originally published in 1966, Flying Saucers Serious Business was the first UFO book I read. I got it  nearly 50 years ago, in November 1970, at a book sale in the Illing Jr High school library in Manchester CT. Prior to reading the book, I was on the fence about UFOs, or even skeptical. When I disparaged UFO books at the sale, a kid surnamed Meier gave me good advice. In effect he urged me to keep an open mind, read the book and then judge and decide. So I bought the tome, and it changed my outlook completely.
The book converted me from an ignorant skeptic to a informed believer. The UFO subject seemed so  unreasonably marginalized. I don't know what shocked me more, the incredible nature of the reports in the book, or the indifference of society considering their potential significance. Repeatedly, strange flying craft had been observed landing and humanoid creatures emerging from them. If just one of the reports were true, it would be the most important event in human history. Yet I seldom if ever read such reports in the newspaper. They was mostly new to me because they had been swept under the rug.
Interestingly, Flying Saucers Serious Business included an account of the Roswell incident. This was in 1966, over a decade before the case was reopened (1978-80). The author's version of Roswell differs markedly from the one established by researchers later. No doubt that reflected the paucity of information available in the '60s. As Edwards noted, people weren't talking. Despite the erroneous account, the book did a service by establishing that Roswell was real and considered ET many years before Marcel sr spoke openly about the case.