]]]]]]]]]]] UFOs: THE PUBLIC DECEIVED [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[ by Philip J. Klass, 310 pages, hardb. $17.95, Prometheus Books (700 E. Amherst St., Buffalo, NY 14215). (July 1983) [I hope you have read the preceding story on UFO's in general -- floor 2 of this Science Lab.] Klass is senior editor at "Aviation Week & Space Technology," has been studying the subject for two decades, and is one of the founders of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (despite its long name, a very commendable institution, publishers of the "Skeptical Inquirer" at the address above). The book is just as good as you would expect from the author's qualifications: it will convince any truly unbiased observer of the lack of evidence for UFOs while it presents much evidence of hoaxes and errors. In par- ticular, it throws light on what is usually the most misleading type of evidence -- the truth but not the whole truth. Typically, it is quite true that the the names of persons who claim to have seen UFO's were deleted from public CIA reports. How- ever, this was not done to cover up the tracks, but as a matter of compliance with the Freedom of Information Act under which the reports were demanded by believers, entrepreneurs, paranoiacs, and possibly genuine researchers. In fact, the perversity of that act appears to dictate that the full name of the observer be given if he was a CIA or other government official ON DUTY, whereas it must be deleted if that same observer observed on his way home or otherwise on his own time. But why should the CIA be involved in Flying Saucers in the first place? It isn't any more, but there was a reason in the 1950's: the Soviets might possibly have taken advantage of a UFO panic (or even fomented it) to palm off real missiles as fictitious UFO's. The reason for the secrecy: if the idea hadn't yet occurred to the Soviets, the CIA wasn't going to give it to them. The UFO specialist will get a copious load of facts, readably presented. The student of political matters will find a heavy load of evidence what damage stupid secrecy can do. (If I were bent on starting the moon-orange cult, I would try to get the Pentagon to classify the preceding story, and the CIA to say "No comment" on every conceivable occasion.) To the UFO buff, of course, the book will only prove that Klass is a lackey of the CIA, paid to cover up the horrid truth: that the green men, in their fiendishness, have made the Flying Saucers and themselves unobservable... A minor shortcoming of the book is the absence of a bibliography (it does have an index), so that you do not easily get to know of other excellent books on this subject, in particular, Robert Sheaf- fer's THE UFO VERDICT: EXAMINING THE EVIDENCE, from the same pub- lishers (1981), and James Oberg's UFOs AND OTHER SPACE VEHICLES, $6.95, Donning Press, Norfolk, VA (toll-free tel. 800-446-8572). * * *
Return to the ground floor of this tower
Return to the Main Courtyard
Return to Fort Freedom's home page