An excellent overview

"The Complete Book of UFOs" by Jenny Randles and Peter Hough is an excellent overview of the UFO phenomenon from its modern beginnings in the late 19th century to 1994, when the book was published. People who already have a working knowledge of the UFO scene will probably find little new in this paperback, but it's great fun nevertheless!

Ghost rockets, foo fighters, Kenneth Arnold, the Condon Committee, George Adamski and the contactee movement, the Men in Black, Barney and Betty Hill, Whitley Strieber, MJ-12, the crop circles...

At first I didn't see anything about Roswell, suspected a gigantic Illuminati cover-up, but...sure, Roswell is here too, but only as one small part of the vast jigsaw puzzle.

When it comes to explanations, Randles and her co-author have a major problem. UFOs seem to be drawn to planet Earth like bees to honey, and yet, after over a century of regular observations, nobody knows what in the world is going on. Even the nuts-and-bolts physical evidence seems to be lacking. Yet, Randles seems to reject the religious explanation out of hand, even implying that Adamski and other contactees might have been tools for the CIA. Considering the large amount of pretty weird observations (some with religious overtones) Randles *do* take seriously in her books, this is somewhat strange. Randles mocks the Aetherius Society for their contradictory view of aliens (are they immaterial angels or physical beings in actual vehicles?), but this contradiction is surely part of the warp and woof of the UFO phenomenon itself. I mean, what are UFOs? Nuts-and-bolts space craft? Or some kind of spiritual entities? It's easy to find observations which confirm both theories...sometimes both at once!

Can ufology as we know it really continue for another 50 years, with no change in the game plan? Somehow, I doubt it. That being said, I nevertheless recommend "The complete book of UFOs" to both newbies and veterans alike. Five stars.