These reviews have most often first appeared in Bufo's ANOMALIT (short for Anomalous Literature) Review, a generally monthly free e-mailing. For more information about it, see http://www.egroups.com/group/anomalit.

One other note here: all rights are reserved. I find that there is quite a bit of mythology out there about what the copyright laws are. Whenever you see something on the Internet, my opinion is that you should assume that it belongs to someone and make an effort to obtain permission to use it, before you do so, particularly for any commercial purpose. This seems only ethical. While artists will undoubtedly continue to create even if others do not compensate them for benefits they derive from their efforts, it hardly seems fair.

(The following review originally appeared in BAR volume 3, #3, May-June 2000)
Alien Agenda: Investigating the Extraterrestrial Presence Among Us (hardback)
Alien Agenda : Investigating the Extraterrestrial Presence Among Us (paperback)
Alien Agenda: Investigating the Extraterrestrial Presence Among Us (paperback) (UK)
Subtitle: INVESTIGATING THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL PRESENCE AMONG US by Jim Marrs
656 pages: central photograph and illustrations section, extensive sources reference, bibliography
Paperback, August 1998

"Only those persons whose outlook prevents them from dealing honestly with the massive amount of documentation and reports collected over the past five decades still cling to the idea that nothing soars in the skies of Earth but man’s imagination." Jim Marrs, ALIEN AGENDA

Jim Marrs is well known as the author of CROSSFIRE, the book on which Oliver Stone based J.F.K. He turns his investigative skills to the question of UFOs and aliens being real. Well, it’s a bit had to call it a question, the way Marrs looks at it. No more than two sentences into the Introduction, Marrs proclaims, "UFOs are real." In a way it’s sort of nice to dispense with any debate and plunge right into the well-written survey of the "evidence".

The book is broken into 12 chapters, plus the Introduction and Appendix and an Epilogue. There are extensive quotations from prime sources in such areas of interest as crop circles, remote viewing, and the Face on Mars. It’s a good survey of the material, and even widely-read individuals will benefit from the clear citing of dates and other facts involved.

One of the main themes of the book is that of government conspiracies. The presentation of sources seems sometimes skewed in that direction. For instance, Ivan Sanderson, a celebrity naturalist (with best-selling books and national tv appearances), leading investigator of weird happenings (especially cryptozoology with a noted emphasis on hairy bipeds like Bigfoot and the Abominable Snowman), is listed simply as a "Former British Naval Intelligence officer". While it is possible that Marrs simply took the reference provided by Alan Landsburg, Landsburg himself is cited as producing THE UNDERSEA WORLD OF JACQUES COUSTEAU and THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SERIES, it isn’t mentioned that he produced the IN SEARCH OF… series. It seems unlikely that Marrs was unaware of that when he is referencing a book based on that show. Generally, sources are presented as mainstream and when possible, government-connected. While it all seems to be true, there does seem ironically to be a hidden truth left unspoken.

There is also an examination of spiritual issues that seems somewhat incongruous with the emphasis on facts in the beginning. Still, I can unreservedly recommend it to people who want a good read and accurate reporting. Just like with anything else, I’d simply caution not to see it as the whole story.

(The following review originally appeared in BAR volume 3, #3, May-June 2000)
The Little Giant Encyclopedia of UFOs (paperback)
by Jenny Randles
511 (small) pages, Index, Illustrations Paperback (small format), April 2000

Randles is one of the most prolific writers on UFOs (as well as some other mysteries). She has a thorough knowledge of the topic, in particular from a European perspective. She shares it freely in the book. While a lot of topics are covered in this book, each one is done in a fairly surface manner. This is what we used to call a popcorn book when I was a bookstore manager: there’s nothing to slow you down, you can run right through it with very little substance. But who doesn’t like popcorn?

I suppose most people don’t pick up a "seed catalog" like this and read it from cover to cover. That’s the way I typically approach them. It would make a great bathroom book for people who want to just skip around here and there. There are definite sections to it. Part one is a chronology of UFO events (although most cases or incidents only get a paragraph or so). Part two is devoted to definitions and a look at the evidence, with examples of each type. Part three looks at seventeen different countries and the UFO experience in them. A nice touch is the contact information for investigators in those countries. The fourth part list UFO investigators and organizations, often including contact information for them as well The several appendices are short articles on such topics as reporting UFOs and recognizing some common causes of mistaken UFO reports.

Sit down and have fun with this one. Some of it you just have to take her word for…there are quite a few statistics thrown in, without an explanation of how they were derived. Still, I found it well worth the money. If you are looking for a more in depth book, consider the trade (large-size) book THE UFO BOOK (paperback) by Jerry Clark.

(The following review originally appeared in BAR volume 3, #2, March-April 2000)
MYSTERIESOF PLANET EARTH (paperback)
Subtitle: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE INEXPLICABLE by Dr. Karl P. N. Shuker
192 pages: Profusely illustrated, index, bibliography

"What have you got to top that one?"
H. Wells, announcer, in THE AMAZING COLLOSAL MAN, screenplay by Bert I. Gordon and Mark Hanna

"Our planet is a realm still replete with mystery, an island of inexplicabilia drifting passively upon the ever-trembling currents of time that emanate from the greatest undivined secret of all, which we call the universe for want of a better name or definition, and it is sheer folly to profess otherwise." Dr. Karl P.N. Shuker, MYSTERIES OF PLANET EARTH

This remarkable coffee-table style tome seeks to show those people who have leapt beyond the mundane to land precariously in a zone of belief in such things as UFOs and Bigfoot that they have merely attained the first rung of a ladder of constantly-escalating-paradigm revisions.

Ah, now he’s got me doing it! Just kidding…I love the somewhat high-flown writing style of Dr. Shuker in this book. His point, well-made in the introduction, is that most books on anomalistics repeat the same stories over and over again. The good doctor (who isa well-known motorcycle-riding, leather-jacketed zoologist who has focused on cryptozoology) seeks to provide an alternative by deliberately covering lesser-known mysteries.

While that might make you concerned that the subjects covered would be less well-documented and lacking in evidence, that isn’t the case. How many readers are aware of the Hand of Fire? This is a phenomenon in which books are scorched by what appears to have been a burning-hot hand. This is a case, somewhat like crop circles, where it is the evidence that is predominant in the story. Shuker fairly reports the work of Skeptic Joe Nickell in debunking several of these stories. Is it the debunking that has kept this from being a "classic" mystery in the popular books? Unlikely, since the debunking came fairly recently (1993, Looking for a Miracle (paperback)). Maybe it’s the religious nature of the mystery (which was believed to be caused by the hand of a soul in purgatory). Religion is one area into which this book delves, and it has sometimes been a delicate area of crossover for authors, although embraced by others who sought to "explain" religious beliefs as being caused by UFOs or others.

In addition to the religious mysteries (which, according to the book’s organization, fall into the supernatural), there are a total of five other sections: the partner for the religious in the supernatural section is filled with truly odd happenings, such as reputedly real appearances by centaurs, misty monsters and blood-dripping invisible ones, and discoveries inspired by dreams; the natural world has two sections, one on land animals like blue tigers, and another on the sea and sky, including light wheels in the ocean (although UFOs are essentially not covered); and another two sections for the ancient world, including some unusual crystal skulls.

While one might argue a bit about what gets placed where, the book flows nicely. The pictures, as has become a hallmark of Dr. Shuker’s books, are striking and very well reproduced. The publisher, Carlton, can be commended for the excellent production values.

While intended for an audience already-informed about the major mysteries, it would be an eye-opening introduction for those just wondering what is out there as well. Shuker shows what happens when a good writer turns his attention to fresh mysteries, and leaves the bounds of the "known unknown". It makes for a thoroughly entertaining trip that makes us wonder why certain things get a following and become part of the "unconventional wisdom", and why others don’t.

(The following review originally appeared in BAR volume 3, #2, March-April 2000)
Where Heavens Meet (paperback)
Where Heavens Meet (paperback) (UK)

by K.T. (Frankovich)

288 pages, no index, illustrations and photographs

"I know you don’t understand pain, Pete. You’ve hardened yourself to it, like a lot of people, by pretending it doesn’t exist. So you convinced everybody you’re a real tough guy, a strong man, real independent. And you gave up some of your humanity, too. Well, I won’t play that game. I’ll cling to my humanity, and fight for it if I must. I loved once, really loved. And now I hurt. And I won’t deny either of those things, or pretend they mean any less to me than they do." Keith/"…FOR A SINGLE YESTERDAY" written by George R. R. Martin

What makes a life extraordinary? For some, it is a single moment different from the rest, a sudden opening and shutting again of a door into a deeper reality. For others, the fabric of their lives is woven from a different cloth. What seems normal to most of us, like running and trusting and being isolated in our own being is strange. WHERE HEAVENS MEET is the autobiography of such a life.

This was an extraordinary book of an extraordinary life. I wouldn’t say it was the best writing technically I’ve ever read: it was often more like a conversation than a book. However, there is, in some way, a genuineness that comes across. You know that much of what this gentle person is telling you is true. Why would you put in that you had polio as a child if you didn’t…it would be so easily disproved. Much of it, such as meeting with Christ and Abraham and aliens and for that matter, Sterling Holloway (the voice of Winnie the Pooh) and Ricou Browning (the Creature from the Black Lagoon), seems impossible…and yet the same voice that tells you one is telling you the other.

K.T. often appears on radio shows. Her life is made up of so many different facets that only one face is usually shown. She may be appearing as a survivor of Hurricane Andrew, a psychic, a nature photographer, or an observer of aliens (including what she takes to be the pet of one). This book is like a trip into the looking glass, only when you look around, you can’t tell which side of the glass you occupy. It is told in a very unusual way…not scientific, not New Age, but simply a case of "this is what happened to me."

I can’t tell you that you will enjoy the book: parts of it are unsettling. I can’t tell you that you will believe the book: some parts of it will be outside anyone's ken. I can tell you that you are likely to find it fascinating.

(The following review originally appeared in BAR volume 3, #1, January-February 2000)
Faces of the Visitors (paperback)
Faces of the Visitors (paperback) (UK)
Subtitle: An Illustrated Reference to Alien Contact by Kevin Randle and Russ Estes
320 pages: glossary; index; extensive references; profusely illustrated; photographs

"All sorts of people come here at times—gentlemen as well as actors. I didn’t know which you was, sir, for the moment." Horace Wyndham writing in THE FLARE OF THE FOOTLIGHTS

Kevin Randle first came to wide-spread public attention as one of the authorsof UFOCRASH AT ROSWELL (paperback) in 1991, the book that, while not the first, was the one that "broke the story" with the general reading public. Randle has since continued to write a variety of books, and to be embroiled in controversy. His willingness to make his own opinions known, regardless of the unpopularity of them, is one of the things that has distinguished his work.

This book, while certainly an extensive and valuable illustrated reference to the different descriptions of alleged aliens, is also notable for the clearly and admittedly subjective "credibility rating" for sightings. Those already familiar with the cases will be most intrigued. Zeros, meaning least reliable, are the most common number given. Some of these go to well-known cases, including "Roswell mortician", Glenn Dennis. On the other hand, nines, eights, and sevens are tied for the least often given, and one of the nines goes to another group of Roswell witnesses. In case you are guessing that it is Randle’s position versus that of others, both cases cite his own books.

Speaking of the citations, they are extensive. It is often in ufological books that documentation is lacking. That is certainly not the case here, and the publishers are to be lauded for including an index as well as a bibliography and a glossary. The book is also well-served by the "database" sections in the back, which look at two famous "waves" of sightings, those of 1954 and 1973.

As to the cases, each one is typically given a couple of pages. This includes an evocative illustration by Russ Estes, some basic facts, and a narrative. They are presented in three sections (Visitors, Contactees, and Abductees),with a fourth one for photographs of aliens. Each section is also given an overview article. The photographic cases are interesting, although the article indicates that "…we found nothing to suggest that any of the following pictures are authentic". Despite this statement, one picture (the Police Chief Greenhaw case) is given a reliability rating of 5, which is higher than the average for the non-photographic cases.

Despite one astonishing gaffe (a Close Encounter of the Second Kind is defined in the Visitors overview as meaning that "…the craft had landed near the witness" when it is correctly defined in the glossary as referring to a case with "physical traces"), this book is a great browsing book for those new to the topic, and a handy reference and conversation piece for those more knowledgeable of it.

(The following review originally appeared in BAR volume 3, #1, January-February 2000)
The Chinese Roswell (paperback)
The Chinese Roswell (paperback) (UK)
Subtitle: UFO Encounters in the Far East from Ancient Times to the Present by Hartwig Hausdorf August 1998
275 pages: source notes, index, map

"As I make my slow pilgrimage through the world, a certain sense of beautiful mystery seems to gather and grow." -A. C. Benson

At times I think that there is a chauvinistic sense with some Americans that UFOs are "our mystery". That we think it is appropriate that this space age conundrum exploded out of the state named after our first President. This perception has been seen by others: from the Soviets "blaming" us for them to C. G. Jung saying, "What is worse, most of these stories come from America, the land of superlatives and science fiction." (FLYING SAUCERS, AMODERN MYTH OF THINGS SEEN IN THE SKY).

Of course, anyone even casually aware of the literature knows that this isn’t true. UFO sightings, both ancient andof a variety very much like those in the US, have been recorded from many parts of the world. In recent months, a spate of sightings in China has made the international news.

What Hartwig Hausdorf does in this book is give us more than just transplanted observances. He strives to give us a Chinese sense of it. The "Roswell" oft he title, a UFO crash, didn’t occur a mere fifty years ago, but 12,000 years ago. The survivors were not taken for autopsy or brought into treaties, but effectively colonized the area. This book is not about Daylight Discs and radar/visual cases, but about Material Immortality and White Pyramids.

That’s not to say that it is all philosophy: there are even some modern cases thrown in. But the paradigm of the Chinese, especially the ancient Chinese, is not that of modern Americans. This is a common error in looking at other cultures reports of the paranormal, and one that Hartwig manages to mostly avoid. For instance, the issue of whether or not a particular tribe thought Bigfoot was a "real" animal ignores the fact that they had a very different sense of what real meant.

I definitely found the book interesting, but one shouldn’t expect it to be neatly broken down into cases that will help fill in the ufological databases on the Internet. In gives, instead, a much-needed different look at what might not be what we think it is…or even what we think it isn’t.

(The following review originally appeared in BAR volume 2, October 1999)
The Great New England Sea Serpent (paperback)
The Great New England Sea Serpent (paperback) (UK)
Subtitle: An Account of Unknown Creatures Sighted by Many Respectable Persons Between 1638 and the Present Day
by J.P. O’Neill
August 1999
256 pages
Sightings table (with page references), bibliography and website directory, illustrated, some photos, NO index

Right from the beginning, people who sighted sea serpents were ridiculed. While seeing Elvis has taken the number one spot on the debunkers "guilt by association" hit parade, sea serpents are still towards the top. If you want to tarnish a subject as the product of gullible overcredulity , you can toss in, "Oh, and I’m sure it was riding on a sea serpent" to bursts of derisive snickering.

Why should this be so? As J.P. O’Neill ably documents in this volume, there are plenty of sober sightings by reliable individuals. What many of them report does not seem unreasonable. O’Neill has made a point of reproducing the original stories in most cases, often with little commentary.

She focuses on the reports that have come from the Gulf of Maine, which runs essentially from Massachusetts up to Nova Scotia. These include the ones in the area of Cape Ann and Gloucester, which made national news, particularly in 1817.

The book is straight-forward, respectful, and not sensational. It is, in a sense, very New England. It says that "this is what it is" and brooks no nonsense about it.

O’Neill’s research (and that of others, whom she graciously and properly acknowledges) goes far beyond the observations of hardworking fisherfolk and land-dwellers. She does an excellent job in setting the scene, and showing us the people and the politics that were involved. As with many of the best books on these topics, it is ultimately not about "his Snakeship", but about our reactions to him.

The quibble factor here is so low it’s not even worth bringing up. Even the lack of an index is ameliorated by the sightings table. The book is an excellent read, even for people not generally interested in these things. For people who want to see wild speculations or extensive analysis, it may not be enough. However, the vast majority will enjoy this well-written accounting of what has been called "the Great Mystery".

(The following review originally appeared in BAR volume 2, September 1999)
Unexplained Mysteries of the 20th Century (paperback)
Unexplained Mysteries of the 20th Century (paperback) (UK)
by Janet and Colin Bord
1989
432 pages, generously illustrated (primarily with photographs), case listings, notes, bibliography, index

There are some books that never seem to get properly filed back on the shelf. While admittedly, my shelves are overflowing, I do make an effort to keep them in some order. Books that get consulted often, however, don’t always get back to where they belong.

This is such a book. There are many books that serve as encyclopedias of the unexplained. This one has the special benefit of being written by two of the most knowledgeable, original, and nice people in the field. It’s not a series of short entries, but seventeen chapters averaging more than fifteen pages apiece. They cover the spectrum, from out of place animals to UFOs to spontaneous human combustion. Each chapter provides a sampling of stories, told in the amusing but accurate Bordian style.

This would be enough to make the book worthwhile. However, the Bords go beyond, and provide a ninety-page "Gazetteer of Strange Events";, arranged geographically from around the world. While these can be tantalizingly brief, they are fascinating. They fit in very nicely with what I was doing with the National Events by Area Registry of the Unexplained (NEARU) some years back. They show that weird stuff happens everywhere, even near where you live.

If that wasn’t enough, the photographs are extraordinary. The Bords are justifiably well-known for their Fortean Picture Library, and it’s well utilized here. There’s something about a photograph of a smiling Drew Carey type in a plaid shirt and glasses holding a dead coatimundi (killed in Nebraska in 1968). It just puts a whole different perspective on the story...and the world.

A highly-recommended book, both as a reference and a good read.

(The following review originally appeared in BAR volume 2, #8, August1999)

Enter the Valley (paperback)

Enter the Valley (paperback) (UK)
Subtitle: UFOs, Religious Miracles, Cattle Mutilations, and Other Unexplained 
Phenomena in the San Luis Valley
by Christopher O’Brien
February 1999
Paperback, 339 pages, foreword (by David Perkins), map, photographs, notes, 
bibliography, index

"I think of them like sleepy tigers, Glenn, that occasionally -- perhaps when a man gets a hint of them --open their eyes to the full and stalk in his direction. When a man becomes ripe for them, when he’s produced the possibility of them, and then when he’s closed his ears to the protective mechanically-augmented chatter of humanity, they make themselves known to him." FRANZ KINZMAN in A BIT OF THE DARK WORLD written by Fritz Leiber

Are there places in the world where the extraordinary is more ordinary than normal? Where the solidity of consensus reality seems to slip and slide, making us grip the steering wheel more tightly or risk letting go altogether?

Reading ENTER THE VALLEY by Christopher O’Brien, a continuation of his work in The Mysterious Valley (paperback), would lead many people to think that there are. After all, O’Brien reports that in this one valley in Colorado and New Mexico, there are: UFO sightings of an astonishing variety and regularity; cattle, horse, and other animal mutilations; haunted houses; witches; cannibalism; possible underground bases; appearances of the Devil himself; and more, including "uncategorizables", like floating, glowing things called "prairie dragons".

There is no question that all of this is weird. The question is, to what extent is the valley responsible, and to what extent are the people (most importantly, O’Brien himself) responsible? That’s not to say that these things are untrue. When I used to do NEARU (the National Events by Area Registry of the Unexplained, currently dormant), my point was that these things happen everywhere, all the time. My feeling is that the presence of a sympathetic journalist is the most significant factor in an area becoming known. In many regions, dedicated, on-the-spot investigators bring reports out that would otherwise not stray beyond late night conversations with family and friends.

What O’Brien does in remarkable, and highly creditable. He gets his neighbors to open up. Trust is rare in today’s world, and writers like Arlene Gaal (Ogopogo), Constance Whyte (the Loch Ness Monster) and O’Brien show us what trust can achieve. To earn that trust, of course, they must be gentle with their confidantes. Don’t expect any hard-hitting questions or in-depth analysis. Look at O’Brien, and not the valley, as a gateway into the paranormal lives of people.

Like other "resident investigators", O’Brien has also done considerable research into the history of the area. This book ranges far beyond The Mysterious Valley (paperback). This is both a strength and a weakness. While frontier tales of bizarre human behavior, and hunts for lost treasure are interesting, they seem a bit of a stretch. Part of O’Brien’s point seems to be that we can’t know what is relevant, but the diffusion of attention makes the topic more difficult to grasp.

We also get more about O’Brien himself. He has had his share of strange experiences, and that always is a bit of a risk for a writer to admit. The stories here are interesting, but again set us wondering about the connections.

Even though the writing can be a tad rough at times, with some tendency to mix past and present tenses, that adds to its flavor. This is not an outsider writing about the odd quirks of a strange valley. It is a rare chance to experience the interactions of people with the unaccepted.