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Books...
The
Anomalist Book Awards
& Book List 2001
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| This year
was one of the best ever with regards to anomaly books. I cannot give
full reviews of all these books because time is just too pressing. But
I have organized this flood of books into categories and give you some
idea of which books I think are particularly worth your attention.
Thanks to Loren Coleman and Marcello Truzzi for list assistance. And
now without further adoo, here are my five Anomalist Book Award winners
for 2001. |
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Anomalies,
Forteana, and General Mysteries
Wake
Up Down There! The Excluded Middle Anthology
by Greg
Bishop (Editor).
Several monstrous--and monstrously good--anthologies helped make this a
banner year.
And this one is the best of them all, a wonderful collection of
the first nine issues of The
Exluded Middle, a magazine with
a close kinship to The
Anomalist, though with a little
more emphasis on psychedelics and conspriracy. The meaty interviews,
articles by top-notch contributors, as well as a bonus "Virtual Issue,"
and introduction by Kenn Thomas, make this a must buy. Highly
recommended.
Electronic
Projects from the Next Dimension: Paranormal Experiments for Hobbists
by Newton Braga.
I don’t know who Newton Braga is–the author bio
describes him as a well-known expert on hobbyist electronics--but
he’s produced one of my favorite books of the year. It
describes a number of electronic projects in the paranormal that you
can make yourself, including a UFO detector, a ghost finder, white
noise generators for instrumental transcommunication, random number
generators for psi experiments, biofeedback experiments, and more.
I’m not much of a hobbyist and I’m not into
electronics (this gets technical, as it should) but this book makes me
want to learn. Bravo, Braga!
Remarkable
Luminous Phenomena in Nature by
William Corliss.
This is a greatly expanded (almost double length) version of the first,
highly praised Sourcebook catalog. Don't miss this one. I really do not
need to describe the Sourcebook catalogs books. If you're familiar with
them, you know they are indispensable volumes of genuine scientific
anomalies (vs often questionable pseudoscientitific anomalies such as
UFOs). If you’re not familiar with them, well,
you’re just not a very serious anomalist, now are you? (Order
direct: Sourcebook Project, PO Box 107, Glen Arm, MD 21057)
The
Trickster and the Paranormal by
George Hansen.
Hansen worked on this book for nearly a decade, I believe, and I'm
pleased to say that the result is worth the wait. In this 550-page opus
he summarizes some often diffucult to understand but key concepts in
anthropology, sociology, folklore, semiotics and literary criticism and
applies them, often for the first time, to the fields of parapsychology
and UFOlogy. He uses these concepts, which include liminality,
anti-structure, and totemism to explain why these two fields are
marginalized and why psychic phenomna and UFOs are so problematical for
science. It's a wild roller coaster of a ride through thick and
slippery scholarly theories, via ritual clowns who eat exrement, saints
who levitate, and psychics who resort to trickery. In a shift from an
often abstract text, his chapter on government disinformation in the
UFO field names names and deals in nitty griddy details. So roll up
your sleeves, open your mind, and get ready to do some deep thinking
about why these fields hold the lowly positions they have in modern
society. For taking the discussion on the unknown into unknown
territory, Hansen is to be applauded.
Fortean
Studies Vol 7 by
Ian Simmons and Melanie Quin (editors).
Despite a few lightweigh pieces, most are in-depth explorations that
will shatter your beliefs about Nazi UFOs, pre-1930s Nessie sightings,
cultural influences on Kenneth Arnold's flying saucer sighting, among
other topics. Also contains interesting pieces on the role of hybrids
in cryptozoology, the possible identity of Jack the Ripper, and the
Bunians--those abducting entities of the Malay Penninsula. A delightful
fortean anthology. You should be able to order from Fortean Times,
but you can't!
The
Franklin Conspriracy by Jeffrey
Blair Latta.
Much has been written about the Royal Navy expedition that went in
search of the Northwest Passage in 1845 and was never seen again. Latta
manages to deduce some new information from some slim bits of recovered
evidence and is able to advance the story of just what happened. That's
an accomplishment in itself. It's also a riveting mystery
read—if you can keep your geography straight. He can't
believe that the British Royal Navy could have so bungled the rescue
operations sent to rescue the lost 1845 expedition and thinks there was
a conspiracy on the part of the Royal Navy. He sure presents some good
evidence for it. The question is what were they hiding? Latta makes
some intriguing—almost fortean—suggestions without
trying to wrap up all the lose ends into one tidy answer. Riveting.
Riding
the Wild Orb by
Roger Jewel.
No doubt about it, former forester Roger Jewel has some good ideas.
This book starts out strong by explaining rather convincingly just how
some planetary positions affect the Earth's climate. The book then goes
into the topic of knowledge held by ancient civilizations and ends with
a discussion of Earth changes of the magnetic kind—touching
on other topics along the way. In sum, this book is overly ambitious.
And why he decides to consult a channel, who does little more than
confirm his insights, is beyond me. It certainly diminishes any chance
that the work will get the scientific attention the author seeks.
(Order from Jewel Histories, 79 Ski Run Trail, Fairfield, PA 17320)
New
Age Encyclopedia by J. Gordon
Melton, Jerome Clark, and Aidian A. Kelly
Science
or Pseudoscience: Magnetic Healing, Psychic Phenomena, and Other
Heterodoxies by Henry H. Bauer
Mysterious
America: The Revised Edition by Loren
Coleman
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Contemporary
Legend
Little
Green Men, Meowing Nuns and Headhunting Panics : A Study of Mass
Psychogenic Illnesses and Social Delusion
by Robert E. Bartholomew.
If the title doesn't grab you, then Bartholomew's richly detailed
telling of the Mad Gasser of Mattoon story, the vanishing penis
epidemics of southeast Asia, contagious school and workplace panics,
the ghost rockets scare, and the "sickening" Pokemon TV episode, among
others, certainly should. As expected from a sociologist who is the
expert in mass hysteria, Bartholomew examines the effect of the
widespread reporting of weird and anomalous events. The result is a
great fortean book.
Aliens,
Ghosts, and Cults: Legends We Live
by Bill Ellis
Angels, ghosts, aliens, and other expereinces from the point of view of
folklorist Ellis, an expert on urban legends. This worthwhile
collection of academic writings highlights the dramatic role of the
teller of these stories.
You
Are Being Lied To: The Disinformation Guide To Media Distortion,
Historical Whitewashes & Cultural Myths
by Russ Kick
(Editor)
Another one of the year's massive anthologies. This large-format,
400-page anthology is subtitlted "The Disinformation Guide to Media
Distortion, Historical Whitewashes and Cultural Myths." If you are
familiar with the disinformation.com search engine, you know what to
expect. And yes, it's a little off track as far as anomalous subjects
are concerned, veering more toward the political and conspiratorial,
but it does apply a healthy dose of fortean doubt toward orthodox
subjects and includes some good sections on religion and science
Food
for the Dead : On the Trail of New England's Vampires by Michael E. Bell
The London Monster: A Sanguinary Tale by Jan Bondeson
Skeptical Odysseys: Personal Accounts by the
World's Leading Paranormal Inquirers by Paul
Kurtz (editor)
The Lure of the Sinister: The Unnatural
History of Satanism by Gareth Medway
Final Seance: The Strange Friendship Between
Houdini and Conan Coyle by Massimo Polidoro
The Borderlands of Science: Where Sense
Meets Nonsense by Michael Shermer
American Exorcism: Expelling Demons in the
Land of Plenty by Michael Cuneo
Quantum Leaps in the Wrong Direction: Where
Real Science Ends. . . and Pseudoscience Begins
by Charles Wynn and Arthur Wiggins
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Cryptozoology
In
Search of Ogopogo: Sacred Creature of the Okanagan Waters by
Arlene Gaal..
This is the author's third book on the mystery monster in Okanagan Lake
in BC, Canada. Gaal does a good job of covering the sightings, of
course, but also all the publicity that has surrounded it. Gaal is an
expert at this as she has been the media contact for information on
this creature for more than three decades. The book has an excellent
section of photos, many in color.
The
Hunt for the Buru
by
Ralph Izzard
This story of the
search for a large unknown monitor lizard known as the Buru in a remote
valley in northern India is full of adventure, which makes for a great
read. The perils of such an expedition are described in vivid detail.
Did they get the Buru? If you have to ask, you should read the book.
Includes an introduction by Loren Coleman. A welcome reprint of a
cryptozoological classic.
Platypus: The Extraordinary Story of How a
Curious Creature Baffled the World by Ann Moyal
Beyond the Last Valley: A Journey of
Discovery in Asia's Forbidden Wilderness by Alan Rabinowitz
In
The Big Thicket: On the Trail of the Wild Man
by Rob Riggs
The
Hidden Powers of Animals
by Karl Shuker
A
Gap in Nature: Discovering the World's Extinct Animals by Tim F. Flannery
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Forbidden
Archaeology and Ancient Civilizations
Ancient
Structures : Remarkable Pyramids, Forts, Towers, Stone Chambers,
Cities, Complexes
by William R. Corliss.
One of the reasons I consider this a banner year is that we have not
one but two new volumes by William Corliss to grace our shelves and
enlighten our minds. The all new Ancient
Structures discusses a variety
of remarkable anomalous structures-- pyramids, forts, towers, cities
and complexes--almost all based on reports published in the scientific
literature. Highly recommended.(Order direct: Sourcebook Project, PO
Box 107, Glen Arm, MD 21057)
Sacred
Place: The Ancient Origin of Holy and Mystical Sites
by Paul Devereux
Another gorgeous coffee table book on sacred geography by Devereux who
in our book can do no wrong. Nice one!
From
the Ashes of Anbgels: The Forbidden Legacy of a Fallen Race
by Andrew Collins.
An entertaining detective tale, based on a few
what-if-this-is-literaraly-true assumptions, tracing "angels" back to a
flesh-and-blood race who lived in Egypt and built the Sphinx and other
monuments. Moving to eastern Turkey during the last Ice Age, these
"angels" were eventually responsible for the foundations of Western
Civilization. Best of this genre.
Mound
Builders: Edgar Cayce's Forgotten Record of Anicent America
by Gregory Little and John Van Auken
The
Mummy Congress : Science, Obsession, and the Everlasting Dead
by Heather Pringle
The Atlantis Blueprint: Unlocking the Ancient Mysteries of a Long-Lost
Civilization
by Colin Wilson, Rand Flem-Ath
The Tutankhamun Prophecies: The Sacred
Secret of the Maya, Egyptians, and Freemasons by Maurice Cotterell |
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Maverick
Anthropology
Out
of the Dark : The Complete Guide to Beings from Beyond
by Brad Steiger.
Steiger is an old pro. He can churn books like this one in his sleep.
Take a few classic cases, add a few similar cases he's learned about
through his own extensive correspondence, and toss in a little
speculation—then go on to the next subject. That's what he
does here for ghosts, Bigfoot, lake monsters, vampires, aliens, etc.
Unfortunately, given the length of time he's been in the field, I would
expect a little more personal reflection on these subjects. He knows a
lot more than he's saying here—and it's no conspiracy. Maybe
the next book.
Monsters:
An Investigator's Guide to Magical Beings by John Michael Greer
Strange
Creations: Aberrant Ideas of Human Origins from Ancient Astronauts to
Aquatic Apes
by Donna Kossy
At
the Bottom of the Garden: A Dark History of Fairies, Hobgoblins,
Nymphs, and Other Troublesome Things
by Diane Purkiss
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Strange
Talents
New
Daughters of the Oracle: The Return of Female Prophetic Power in Our
Time
by Virginia Adair.
A whirlwind tour of female psychics and healers around the world. The
quick portraits, encounters, and interviews are breezy and personal.
I'm not sure one can get an understanding of how psi works by asking
psychics how they do it, any more than you can get an understanding of
how science works by asking scientists how they do it, but given a
general lack of scientific interest in psi--which the author, a portait
painter, bemoans--it's a good start. I'm not charmed by the book's
exclusive female focus, however.
Shamans
Through Time: 500 Years on the Path to Knowledge
by Jeremy Narby (editor).
Our views of the shaman, those who claim to communicate with spirits in
order to learn about life and healing, has changed dramatically over
the past 500 years.This anthology of excerpts from published works
shows how western descriptions of shamans have evolved from shamans as
devil worshipers to psychotics, to master technicians of ectascy. A
good pocket reader on the shaman.
Muddy Tracks: Exploring an Unsuspected
Reality by Frank DeMarco
The influencial books, people, and experiences in DeMarco's life, who
is chairman of the board of Hampton Roads Publishing. Focused mainly
around his Monroe Institute experiences, this book is a detailed
personal journey that sees through the "mud" into another "more
positive" reality.
Psychic Detectives: The Mysterious Use of Paranormal Phenomena in
Solving True Crimes
by Jenny Randles, Peter A.
Hough
Hanussen: Hitler's Jewish Clairvoyant by Mel Gordon
The Psychic and the Rabbi: A Remarkable Correspondence by Uri Geller and Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
The Secret of the Soul: Using Out-Of-Body
Experiences to Understand Our True Nature by
William Buhlman
An Experiment With Time by J. W.
Dunne
How to Test and Develop Your Esp by
Paul Huson
Mental Radio by Upton Sinclair
The Queen's Conjuror: The Science and Magic
of Dr. John Dee by Benjamin Woolley
Secrets of Nature: Astrology and Alchemy in
Early Modern Europe by William R. Newman,
Anthony Grafton (eds)
Dreaming the Future: The Fantastic Story of
Prediction by Clifford A. Pickover
The Notorious Astrological Physician of
London: Works and Days of Simon Norman by
Barbara Howard Traister
Shamanism by Piers Vitebsky |
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I would like to commend Hampton
Roads Publishing for
their new book series, Classics
in Consciousness. The
goal of this series is to bring back into print some of the twentieth
century's best texts on the scientific study of consciousness. "Their
insights into human consciousness and its dynamics are still valuable
and vital," says publisher Frank DeMarco. Indeed, they are. The first
foour volumes, An Experiment with Time by J.W.
Dunne with a preface by Russell
Targ, Mental Radio by Upton Sincliar with
a preface by Albert
Einstein, Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily
Death by F.W. H. Myers with an Interpretive
Introduction by Jefrey Mishlove, and Mind to Mind by Rene Warcollier
with an Introduction by
Ingo Swann are all very worthwhile, quite attractively produced trade
paperbacks. Hats off to DeMarco, and series co-creators Ruseell Targ
and Jane Katra, for this fine publishing venture!
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The
Other Side
DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor's
Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical
Experiences by Rick
Strassman.
The opening scenes of this volume on a psychiatrist’s
research into the biology of near-death and mystical experiences are
some of the most exciting your are likely to read this
year–it’s heart-pounding, out-on-the-edge
scientific research. The book then settles down to explain
Strassman’s troubles in getting the DEA to approve his
proposed research into DMT, a plant-derived psychedelic that is also
manufactured by the human brain. Strassman believes this chemical is the
"spirit molecule." While I’m not convinced by
Strassman’s hypothesis–everyone seems to promote
their own favorite molecule or drug–it’s what
happens in the midst of his research that’s truly
eye-popping. During their brief DMT experiences, many of his subjects
reported the appearance of beings that resemble the "aliens" of UFO
abduction lore. These fascinating reports make Straasman quite
uncomfortable, and he doesn’t quite know how to deal with
them. But to his great credit, he doesn’t shove the reports
under the carpet either. This book is one of the highlights of the year.
Hauntings and Poltergeists :
Multidisciplinary Perspectives by James
Houran and Rense Lange (eds).
This large format anthology features an unusual mix of contributions
from parapsychologists and skeptics. They seem to agree on at least two
issues: (1) many hauntings and poltergeists cases have
“normal” explanations, and (2) beliefs have an
impact on what people report seeing. The contribution by Lange and
Houran, in particular, does a good job of showing that haunts and
poltergeists are often the product of an attempt to by an individual to
come to grips with an ambiguous stimulus by labeling the experiences as
paranormal in order to allay their fears of the unknown. The
book’s chapters are grouped into three perspectives-
-sociocultural, psychological, and physical and physiological. The
later contain some of the more worthwhile contributions, in particular
the lengthy Roll and Persinger chapter which concludes that haunts can
be understood as a known process but should not be ignored as they may
indicate high EM levels. (The subsequent Persinger and Koren
contribution elaborates on this idea.) But poltergeists, according to
Roll and Persinger, seem to be some type of “psychoenergetic
force that interacts with known forces but is not to be reduced to any
of them.” If you are looking for confirmation of the
existence of spirits of the dead in these types of experiences,
you’ll be disappointed. What you’ll find here is
much more interesting.
Miracles in the Storm: Talking to the Other
Side with the New Technology of Spiritual Contact by Mark Macy.
Instrumental Transcommunication (IT), or contact with the dead via
electronics, is what this book is all about. It takes many forms, from
barely audible voices in radio static, to messages from the departed
appearing mysteriously on computers and fax machines, to direct phone
calls from the dead! Supposedly some people on the other side are
working as hard to communicate with the living, as some of the people
in this field are working to contact the other side. Macy recounts the
discoveries made in this field during the 1990s (the 'miracles" in the
title), as well as his own role in trying to get IT researchers from
around the world to cooperate and publicize their efforts (the "storm"
in the title). An interesting book that stretches one's beliefs to the
limit.
Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily
Death by F.W. H. Myers
Physics of the Soul: The Quantum Book of
Living, Dying, Reincarnation and Immortality
by Goswami Amit.
Crossing Over by John Edward
The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts: A Riveting
Investigation Into Channeling and Spirit Guides by Joe Fisher
The Haunted Northwoods by Tom
Hollatz and Seal Dwyer
Contact the Other Side: Seven Methods for
Afterlife Communication by Konstantinos
Grave's End: A True Ghost Story by
Elaine Mercado
Haunted Houses and Family Ghosts of Kentucky by William Lynwood Montell
Ghost: Investigating the Other Side
by Katherine Ramsland
Haunted Wisconsin by Beth Scott and
Michael Norman
The Daisy Sutra by Helen Weaver
Fast Lane to Heaven: Clestial Encoutners
that Changed My Life by Ned Dougherty |
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UFOs, Aliens and
Abductions
The
UFO Evidence:
Volume 2 by
Richard Hall.
Volume 1 of The UFO Evidence,
originally published by NICAP in 1964, may have been one of the most
influencial (scientific as welll as political) UFO publications ever.
Like the first volume, this one is a well-organized look at the UFO
phenomenon over the past 30 years. A lot has happened in the UFO field
since 1964 and Hall does a good job trying to put it all between the
pages of this almost 700-page book. Though I don't always agree with
Hall's slant on the current controversy, I think this book is
indispensible for the true UFO reseracher. A major work..
The
Missing Times
by Terry Hansen.
Although journalist Hansen does a pretty good job of arguing that
influencial news organizations have willingly suppressed their coverage
of the UFO phenomenon for national security reasons, he leaves me
unconvinced. For one reason, I was there, within one of those news
organizations, dealing with one of the UFO episodes he talks about and
I know better.(I discuss this in my own book Swamp
Gas Times.) While I'm willing to
conceed that news organizartion may--on very rare occasions--have
suppressed UFO information for national security reasons, Hansen is
flat our wrong in jumping to the conclusion that the reason UFOs are a
national security issue is that they are extraterrestrial.
If
in Doubt, Blame the Aliens : A New Scientific Analysis of Ufo
Sightings, Alleged Alien Abductions, Animal Mutilations and Crop Circles
by Leslie Howarth
Author Howarth, who was trained as a chemist, uses Kepner-Tregoe
Problem Analysis to try to solve the UFO problem. His statistical
analysis is quite intriguing. He even dares to tackle UFO-associated
issues like crop circles and animal mutilation. I don’t agree
with his contention that the signal will emerge from the noise in this
kind of analysis of UFO data, but you’ll be surprised with
his findings. I was. Unlike any UFO book you are likely to read, if
reading is what you do in a book so chock full of tables.
Dark
Object: The World's Only Government Documented Ufo Crash
by Don Ledger, Chris Styles.
In 1967 something crashed into the bay at Shag Harbor, Canada. Call it
the Canadian Roswell, if you will. A good attempt to get at the bottom
of the story by the two authors. An exciting read.
Abduction
In My Life: A Novel of Alien Encounters
by Bruce Maccabee.
The controversial physicist best known for his analyses of UFO photos
and videos stretches out--way out--this time into the realm of fiction,
with a non-ficion book woven into the tale. I wonder if he's ever tried
bungee-jumping?
Roswell:
Inconvenient Facts and the Will to Believe
by Karl T. Pflock.
This is no doubt the most definitive study of Roswell to date but
probably not the last nail in its coffin. For the pro-crashed saucer
camp, it will be a great disappointment and not easily rebutted. Those
who have tried to rebut it point out that Pflock tends to dismiss
things that don't fit his conclusion. Of course, the pro-crashed saucer
faction uses the same tactic all the time. In fact, that's one of the
pitfalls of writing history, a pitfall that becomes glaringly obvious
in dealing with a subject like UFOs. Truth is hard to come by, but this
is as close as you're likely to get on Roswell.
The
Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters: A Definitive A-Z Guide to
All Things Alien
by Ronald Story.
My original copy of Ronald Story's UFO encyclopedia , published in
1980, is completely worn out from use, so I was glad to hear that he
was putting out a new version. But the new volume, which he calls The
Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters,
is really mistitled as this 650-page volume is far more anti-alien than
alien with Story showing his skeptical bent far more strongly in this
volume than the earlier one. Many entries have not been updated and
many were written by others and are self-serving (like the one I wrote
for The Anomalist!).
But all in all it's a very enjoyable volume, a little like the potato
chip commercial (bet you can't just read one entry), with the real meat
provided by the many excellent long entries contributed by Martin
Kottmeyer.
Invasion Washington: UFOs Over the Capitol by Kevin D. Randle
Well done review of the 1952 UFO flap, with particular emphasis on the
Washington National sightings--the 50th anniversary of which occurs in
2002. Nothing really new presented, however, and a hasty ET conclusion
at the end.
The Lure Of the Edge: Scientific Passions,
Religious Beliefs, And the Pursuit Of UFOs by
Brenda Denzler.
A well done academic overview of the "UFO movement," its problematic
links to science and religion, and how it manages to straddle both
worlds, however uncomforably. With
more books like this one, UFOlogy might one day become respectable!
Disclosure : Military and Government
Witnesses Reveal the Greatest Secrets in Modern History by Steven M. Greer
It's a big book, but the heft is deceiving. There is a lot of padding
here, which is unfortunate, because the book really shines when it
sticks to presenting some truly extraordinary UFO
experience testimony from
military and government witnesses. Properly edited, this would make for
an explosive book, but I'm afraid those for whom it was intended will
get bogged down in their reading and move on to something else.
UFO Politics at the White House: Citizens
Rally 'round Jimmy Carter's Promise by Larry
W. Bryant
Jimmy Carter was the only president to admit to seeing a UFO and the
only one to make a campaign promise to release the government's UFO
findings to the public. As expected, once Carter became president, he
received a flood of mail from the public asking him to make good on
that promise. Author and UFO activist Bryant has obtained some of this
Carter UFO mail, selected the best of them, and in presenting them in
this book, makes some astute comments along the way. Many of the
letters are cursory, saying essentially "what are you going to do about
your promise?" Others are cranky, but some are genuinely probing or
informative. While the letters to Carter on UFOs tend to be repetitive,
the Air Force generated replies are even more so, but Bryant thankfully
spares us that torture for the most part, only citing their replies
when it strays from the routine. In the end, Bryant's book shows that
when it comes to UFOs, the White House played--and continues to
play--politics.
Extraterrestrial Visitations: True Accounts
of Contact by Preston Dennett
Almanac of Alien Encounters by Eric Elfman
(Children's book)
Diary of an Abduction: A Scientist Probes the Enigma of Her Alien
Contact by Angela Thompson Smith
Extraterrestrial Sex Fetish by Supervert
[fiction]
AVROCAR: Canada's Flying Saucer by
Bill Zuk
UFO Mysteries by Curt Sutherly
Swamp Gas Times: My Two Decades on the UFO
Beat by Patrick Huyghe
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