The UFO Experience: Evidence Behind Close Encounters, Project Blue Book, and the Search for Answers

Cited by The New York Review of Books as "the best brief for visitation," this classic study presents an analysis of UFO reports and concludes that many sightings cannot be easily dismissed. The case against UFOs and UAPs has not been put to rest. Although UFOs "officially" did not exist for decades according to the government, reports of sightings continue to be made, and the latest releases from the government and related hearings have surprised the world. Although the scientific world has put UFOs out to pasture, the evidence used to dismiss them is extremely scanty and unscientific. Dr. Hynek, a scientist himself, and the only government-paid ufologist in history, looks at the decisions made by officialdom in the early days of ufology, and how these have held us back--to the point that we are still naively talking about UFOs as we were talking about them in the 1950s. Has seventy years of research made no difference at all in our understanding? Dr. Hynek proves that there is a conspiracy afoot to hide the facts and that there are many cases that still need to be explained by mainstream science--not dismissed with facile jokes and stupid logic. Citing specific cases, Hynek challenges those in the ivory tower by raising questions that have still not been answered and refuting mainstream arguments that have yet to be proven. In The UFO Experience, a scientist of impeccable qualifications takes on his colleagues. Cited by the New York Review of Books as “the best brief for visitation,” this classic study presents an analysis of UFO reports and concludes that many sightings cannot be easily dismissed. The case against UFOs and unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) has not been put to rest. Although UFOs “officially” did not exist for decades according to the government, reports of sightings continue to be made, and the latest releases from the government and related hearings have surprised the world. While the scientific community has put UFOs out to pasture, the evidence used to dismiss them is rare and unscientific. Dr. Hynek, a scientist himself, and the only government-paid ufologist in history, looks at the decisions made by officialdom in the early days of ufology and how these decisions have held us back—to the point that we are still naively talking about UFOs as we were in the 1950s. Has seventy years of research made no difference at all in our understanding? Dr. Hynek proves that there is a conspiracy afoot to hide the facts and that there are many cases that still need to be explained by mainstream science—not dismissed with facile jokes and stupid logic. Citing specific cases, Hynek challenges those in the ivory tower by raising questions that have still not been answered and refuting mainstream arguments that have yet to be proven. Front cover Copyright Contents FOREWORD PREFACE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS PROLOGUE PART I The UFO Phenomenon CHAPTER 1 The Laughter of Science CHAPTER 2 The UFO Experienced CHAPTER 3 The UFO Reported CHAPTER 4 On the Strangeness of UFO Reports PART II The Data and the Problems CHAPTER 5 Nocturnal Lights CHAPTER 6 UFOs Seen in the Daytime—Daylight Discs CHAPTER 7 Radar-Visual UFO Reports CHAPTER 8 Close Encounters of the First Kind CHAPTER 9 Close Encounters of the Second Kind CHAPTER 10 Close Encounters of the Third Kind PART III Where Do We Go From Here? CHAPTER 11 The Air Force and the UFO—Pagesfrom the Blue Book CHAPTER 12 Science Is Not Always What Scientists Do CHAPTER 13 The Case Before Us EPILOGUE Beyond the Blue Book Horizon APPENDIX 1 Descriptions of Sightings Discussed in Text APPENDIX 2 Analysis of the Papua-Father Gill Caseby Donald H. Menzel APPENDIX 3 Letter of Resignation from Mary LouiseArmstrong to Doctor Edward Condon APPENDIX 4 Excerpt of a Letter from J. Allen Hynekto Colonel Raymond S. Sleeper CHAPTER NOTES About the Author Back cover