Captured by Aliens: The Search for Life and Truth in a Very Large Universe [Bargain Price] [Hardcover]

Joel Achenbach (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 1999

The great minds of the human race, employing ever more fabulous technology have peered into the depths of space and discovered that we exist on a tiny speck in a universe that is vast beyond comprehension. But there is one thing we have yet to discover: a single scrap of extraterrestrial life. We have heard no signals, found no alien picnic trash. The aliens who allegedly abduct people in the middle of the night have a strange way of evaporating in the harsh glare of scientific scrutiny. And so at the turn of the millennium we are in an intellectual fix: we know the universe only through its structure, its physical properties, its chemistry. Of its biology we can only guess. Are there creatures out there like us, with big brains and restless spirits? Or are we, for all intents and purposes, alone? If aliens exist -- if there really are intelligent creatures zooming around the galaxy -- then where in tar-nation are they?

"Washington Post" reporter Joel Achenbach -- the author of "Why Things Are" and a commentator for National Public Radio -- puts the ET debate into the context of the space program, discoveries in astronomy, and the hunger for meaning and spiritual nourishment in an era when science often doesn't provide the answers that people desire. He finds that the topic of extraterrestrial life is poisoned by wishful thinking, by the natural human yearning to make contact with our brothers and sisters in space.

But ha also finds some fascinating, admirable, and maddening characters who have pursued the truth about extraterrestrial life: Cad Sagan, the brilliant astronomer who brought the cosmos to the masses; Dan Goldin the cantankerous head of NASA who still believes inthe dream of the Space Age; Henry Harris, a former Las Vegas lounge singer who is assigned the job of figuring out how to get a spaceship to Alpha Centauri; and various and sundry ufologists, experiencers, spiritualists, and channelers for whom the aliens are an ever-present reality.

In this fascinating, funny, and spirited book, Achenbach discovers that the search for life elsewhere leads us on a looping road back to the fundamental questions about life on Earth. To think coherently about extraterrestrial life, we first must come to terms with who we are, why we exist, and what it means to carry around in our cells an evolutionary history that took tour billion years to unfold Achenbach's message is that it is a wonderful and thrilling thing to be a sentient human being -- a creature capable of foolish romanticism -- in a universe that is mostly rocks and gas and dust and empty space.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Joel Achenbach (Why Things Are) describes Captured by Aliens as a travelogue, a record of his strange journey into "alien country." With Carl Sagan as a sort of totem animal on this spirit quest (in fact, one of the author's first stops is Sagan's living room), Achenbach plots an eccentric course through the land of UFOs and the search for extraterrestrial life, going from NASA headquarters in Washington, DC to local MUFON meetings, from an asteroid-blasted quarry in Belize to a Las Vegas hotel room in which he's hypnotized by an alien abductee. He even visits the set of the X-Files. (Achenbach reveals Gillian Anderson's very un-Scully-like take on alien beings: "[T]hey operate, vibrate--this is going to make me sound like a complete nut--they vibrate on a different energy level than we do.")

With the investigative skill of a seasoned reporter (which Achenbach is, for the Washington Post) and the wit and charm of an NPR commentator (which he also is), Achenbach turns out to be the perfect companion for such a cosmic road trip. This curious, earnest, and frequently hilarious writer proves equally at ease with legit figures like Sagan and NASA administrator Dan Goldin as he is with self-described "Starseeds" (aliens in human bodies) and technophiles like Mars-booster Bob Zubrin. Achenbach knows his science, but he always brooks just the right amount of nonsense. --Paul Hughes --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

In energetic, engaging prose, Washington Post staff reporter Achenbach (Why Things Are) introduces readers to an eclectic mix of scientists, millennialists, channelers, UFOlogists, debunkers and true believers who have been captivated, if not captured, by the notion of extraterrestrial life. The central figures are Carl Sagan ("a visionary, a poet of science, a quote machine for reporters on deadline") and Frank Drake, who promulgated a famous equation to predict N, the number of intelligent, communicating civilizations likely to exist in a galaxy like ours. In 1975, Drake estimated N to be 10,000; Sagan guessed a million. Urged on by Sagan and Drake, scientists have tried to eavesdrop on cosmic chat. Nearly 25 years later, the scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence has continued to reveal nothing, in Achenbach's view, beyond static and the optimism of its advocates. In addition to respected scientists, Achenbach travels to a UFO convention, where he meets a man convinced that the aliens have the medical technology to cure his aching back and that President Clinton traveled by spaceship from Arkansas to New York (it took 15 minutes). ET is here, say many of those Achenbach interviewed, but we don't believe the evidence because of government deception and coverups. Achenbach's book can be appreciated for its assortment of characters and for its witty style. Whether N is one or one million, and whether intelligence is the result of deliberate creation or natural evolution, he concludes, we are privileged to be members of a species able to wonder about it. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• ISBN-10: 0684848562
• ASIN: B0000C37EE
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,700,368 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Here's my book website:

http://www.aholeatthebottomofthesea.com/


Here's my boilerplate bio:

Joel Achenbach has been a staff writer for The Washington Post since 1990, started the newsroom's first online column in 1999 and the paper's first blog, Achenblog, in 2005. His seventh book, "A Hole at the Bottom of the Sea," an account of the Deepwater Horizon disaster and its aftermath, will be [whoa, make that WAS] published in April 2011 by Simon & Schuster. His syndicated column Why Things Are (1988-1996), which he began when he worked at The Miami Herald, appeared in 50 newspapers and three collections of the column were published by Ballantine Books. He has been a regular contributor to National Geographic since 1998, writing stories on such topics as dinosaurs, particle physics, earthquakes, extraterrestrial life, megafauna extinction and the electrical grid. Now assigned to the Post's national desk, he writes on science and politics and helped cover the Deepwater Horizon story. A 1982 graduate of Princeton University, he has taught journalism at Princeton and Georgetown University. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Mary Stapp, and three daughters.

In case that's too confusing, here's the basic point: I'm something that used to be known as "a newspaper reporter."

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I wish I had written this book. It needed to be written. December 1, 1999

By Keith Cowing, SpaceRef.com

Format:Hardcover

Joel Achenbach is on a quest - "a search for life and truth in a very large universe" as the book is subtitled. As is the case with many a personal quest, Joel isn't always exactly sure where he's going, or often where he's been, but that's part of the mystery - and the fun.

Achenbach wants to know where we (life) came from, how we operate, if we have neighbors, and how to find (and perhaps visit) them. Finding a bit of underlying cosmic purpose along the way would also be useful.

As he mounts his quest, Achenbach manages to talk with people involved in all aspects of cosmology, astrobiology, space exploration, and the popularization of science. He also devotes a hefty amount of attention to "non traditional" resources. In so doing, he applies honest inquisitiveness and a satirist's wit with equal measure upon all he meets.

This book often resembles a curious cross between Hunter Thompson's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" and Robert Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". That is, it is part satire, part fact, and part introspection. As Achenbach makes his way, he finds himself advised by the likes of Carl Sagan, Dan Goldin, Bob Zubrin as well as UFO abductees undergoing hypnotic regression in a Las Vegas motel room, UFO believer Joe Firmage making his billions in Silicon Valley, and a plethora of others from science and society.

Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of this book is how Achenbach manages to weave this book of personal wanderings in with a retrospective on Carl Sagan's life. Sagan was clearly fading when Achenbach wrote the book. As he faded (at least as captured by Achenbach from their conversations) he seemed to do so in a fashion that gracefully framed both his accomplishments as an individual and as a deft public communicator of wonder and awe.

Just as Sagan was leaving this life, new and more fascinating questions about life and the universe began to supplant older ones that had been answered during his career. He left just as curious - perhaps more so - than he lived it. While Achenbach ends his written account all the better for having made the journey, he also remains just as mystified (perhaps more) as did Sagan by the question of life in a very large universe than when he started. That's fine - since all of us, whether we care to admit it or not, have to confront this sooner or later.

A note about style: I have lost count of the books on space I have read over the years. This book had a freshness in approach that I had not encountered before - with the exception, perhaps, of the fictional "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe" and some of Timothy Ferris' writings. Sagan's lofty phrases ("we are made of star stuff") not withstanding, books about space and astrobiology all tend to be a little too serious - and take their topic and its practitioners a bit too seriously at times. These books also tend to draw an artificial line between the science as seen by its practitioners - and the perception of that science, and the universe around us, by the remaining 99.99% of humanity. Achenbach is not afraid to rattle some cages, make some jokes, and prod people to examine corners of topics they'd otherwise ignore.

While many (including myself) think that UFOs, alien abductions, and Big Foot are nonsense, a substantial portion of the rational public are not as ready to dismiss such ideas out of hand. While it is, I suppose, the responsibility of scientists to educate the public about the facts, they need to appreciate that the "humanity" they often see spreading across the stars may well want to do so for reasons not altogether factual or rooted in "science".

I am not suggesting that all books on this topic need to devote attention to these matters. But I do think it would help a number of authors to re-examine their view on things from the perspective of your average Star Trek or X-Files fan - as well as from the viewpoint of the soccer moms and the members of Generations X and Y.

Regardless of whether we use the scientific method or TV Guide as a means to understand life in the universe, there is a rather pervasive, collective desire by humanity to go "out there" and see what we can find. Only when we can come to fully understand the many facets of this collective desire will we be truly ready to go and actually explore the universe. This seems to be foremost in Achenbach's thoughts as he makes his way.

With this approach in mind, and a congenital case of practiced irreverence and impishness, Achenbach gets inside the heads of the people he encounters. In so doing, you get a chance to understand a bit more about the people who actually do the science - and why they do it. Moreover you get an idea of what the person sitting across from you on the bus might think about all of this.

I encountered Achenbach a large number of times over several years as he wrote this book and was at a number of events depicted in this book. I also know many of the individuals he encountered and the projects they work on. His portrayal of both the serious and the silly, and of the profound and mundane rings true with my own experiences. As such, I can honestly say that I wish I had written this book. It needed to be written.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Drawing room wit applied to lab and seance. November 20, 1999

By appell8

Format:Hardcover

The writing's the thing. I, apparently, am among the small minority of Americans not captivated by the "Are They Out There?" questions. Doesn't matter. I am captivated by Achenbach's prose, which is wry and droll, sometimes bordering on the wiseass, and very funny. Yet, perhaps unususal in a reporter, he attempts to maintain respect for each of the persons he interviews across a broad continuum of thought, even though he can't quite manage it for some of their thoughts. The phrases are so good, I found myself annotating my hardback. Buy it for the style.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Lively accounting of fringe and mainstream views on ET February 22, 2001

By Kevin W. Parker VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Joel Achenbach, a reporter for the Washington Post, covers current thinking about life in the universe in this lively and very personal account.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part could be considered to reflect the "establishment" view, giving the perspective from mainstream science and personages including Carl Sagan and NASA administrator Dan Goldin. Even within the mainstream, though, there are controversies: the well-known one about whether meteorite ALH84001 contains life and the lesser-known issue over whether the Viking landers really did find signs of life, as one of the investigators on that mission continues to claim. Achenbach covers these as well as an overview of the Drake Equation, a profile of Dan Goldin, and other such relevant items.

Part Two takes a very different tack, covering the fringe: those who believe the aliens are here already, including those who think they themselves are the aliens (from the Pleiades, as I recall). Achenbach tries to be sympathetic to these, though not with complete success. As he concludes, "It is not the evidence of extraterrestrial creatures but, rather, the idea of the Alien that makes ufology such a powerful faith." As he makes clear, almost everyone would be delighted to find life elsewhere in the universe. The skeptics, however, require evidence before they will give in to their hopes.

All of the parts are rather loosely organized, jumping from subject to subject, but Part Three is the loosest of all, seemingly only tied together by the concept of "what might happen." Here he jumps from possible new technologies ("Zero Point Fields") that might get us to the stars, reports on a conference of Robert Zubrin's Mars Society, spends a chapter on the Mars Face, revisits what's going on now with SETI, and more.

He concludes with a celebration of Carl Sagan's enthusiasm tempered with skepticism: "A scientist needs evidence. Faith is not part of the game. ... Sagan's greatest professional achievement may have been his ability to stick to science and resist the incredible allure of sentimental thinking." The last paragraphs cover his funeral.

All in all, the book is comparatively lightweight but is easy reading and hard to put down. Those interested in a hard-science approach to astrobiology should consider books such as Rare Earth and Is Anyone Out There? But for an overview of both the mainstream and fringe viewpoints, this is an excellent book.