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Captured By Aliens: The Search for Life and Truth in a Very Large Universe

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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.

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.

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.

Or, more accurately, how our collective imagination has been captured by the idea of aliens. Achenbach is a science writer for the Washington Post, and many of these chapters had their origin as columns; the resulting book is a breezy and pleasant as one would expect. The first third, the most interesting, deals with scientists' efforts to find extraterrestrial life; Achenbach clearly has affection and admiration for those who are engaged in what seems to be such an impossible task. The second third covers the tabloid-style conspiracy theorists, who believe that aliens are among us. This section starts off well, leaving the reader in wonder at how deluded people can be, but over time it becomes rather depressing. The looniness of Achenbach's subjects is in the end drearily monotonous, and there's a limit to how much of this insanity I can take. The final third is Achenbach's own personal journey, as he comes to see obsession with aliens, by both kinds of people, as a projection of personal issues onto a cosmic scale. This section seems somewhat unfocused; I sense that Achenbach is not entirely clear what he has gotten out of his quest. In the end, the first half of the book is superb; although it loses momentum rapidly through the second half, the author is still engaging enough that I was glad I went on this journey with him, even if it didn't really go anywhere.

This lively, amusing book touches on many ways that people relate to the cosmos, from astrophysicists to the Heavens Gate cult. That is a virtue, in the sense of providing the reader with a wide variety of material. It also is a weakness, in that highly reputable scientists are implicitly equated with flakes. The author should have drawn a sharper distinction between those he took seriously and those he found ridiculous. The net effect is to introduce a giggle factor into our views of anyone who finds the external universe fascinating and relevant to our future.

Achenbach is a bit too worshipful toward Carl Sagan and former NASA Administrator Dan Goldin. In particular, he glosses over the fact that Goldin's faster, better, cheaper policy led to three major mission failures in the late 1990's.

In his peripatetic career, Achenbach has always delivered quirky, amusing takes on a wide range of subject matter--from 'genius grants' to the odd, magical symbiosis between John Lennon and Paul McCartney, from Thomas Harris's horrific gifts to the bittersweet joys of fatherhood. But until now, Achenbach has contented himself with small subjects. With "Captured by Aliens," though, Achenbach has transformed himself from one of the very best newspaper writers in the country into an author of the first rank--a writer with a startling command of grand themes and complicated theories and a sense of wonder (and humor) that never fails. Plus, he's a real smart guy who treats language with delicacy and respect. Whether writing about quantum physics or nutcases in the desert, Achenbach conveys a sense of the majesty and absurdity of life. This book is an absolute delight.

Captured by Aliens is a brilliant, hilarious tour of the UFO subculture--the eccentric club of scientists, mystics, visionaries and lunatics who have devoted their lives to the question "Is anyone out there?" It's also a tour of the mind of Joel Achenbach, which--fortunately for the reader--is one of the quirkier, more interesting spots in the known universe. You'll meet a woman who's convinced that she is a "walk-in" from the Pleiades; a man who singlehandedly put interplanetary exploration back at the top of NASA's agenda; a writer whose book about extraterrestrial life has a blurb from God Himself; the scientists who convinced Bill Clinton that they had found fossilized Cheeto-shaped worms in a Martian rock. Along the way, you'll get Achenbach's provocative, funny, and articulate musings about God, truth, space exploration, evolutionary biology, and the meaning of life itself.

Joel Achenbach has brought a large measure of good humor to a number of important topics in this volume. Th search for extraterrestrial life is used as a fine starting point to explore a number of cosmic topics: what is life, how did it begin and why do we seem to crave alien companionship in a huge, cold cosmos ? This is fascinating stuff for any thinking person. The style is clear, thorough and fun. I wish all writing on science topics could be this accessible.

If you'd like to read more about Carl Sagan or NASA administrator Dan Goldin, or UFO outfits like the Unarius Academy of Science or the Raelians, then this may be your book.

If you want to learn something about alien abductions, then I suggest works by John Mack, David Jacobs or Budd Hopkins. Despite the title, this book does not take an intensive look at this phenomenon.

If you want to learn about the serious side of UFO research, then I suggest Leslie Kean's recent NY Times best-seller, UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go On the Record. This consists of reports exclusively by military men, pilots, government officials, etc. with commentary by Leslie Kean. The book is probably the only UFO book recommended by theoretical physicist Michio Kaku. Kean stays away from the kinds of sources Joel Achenbach chooses to focus on in his book - which is like a TV anchor's wink writ large, rather than a serious look at the subject.

Achenbach appears to have read a good deal about UFO's, but there is no bibliography and scarcely a mention of serious UFO research or the many credible reports and sightings. Hence we don't know if he has never come across such research or reports (unlikely) or doesn't want to list such works and then have people ask - well, why didn't you discuss them? Has he really never heard of, say, the Twining memorandum? That document by itself, makes the denials by Sagan, Stephen J. ("no data") Gould and others seem totally inappropriate. No data indeed. There is a wealth of credible data, if one chooses to examine it. COMETA, documents released by government/military agencies in France, Brazil, Belgium, UK, Australia and other countries. Not to mention the many US military and government documents - see the Black Vault FOIA files.

Both moving and laugh out loud funny, this book addresses the UFO abduction phenomenon, the psychology behind our need to believe in the fantastic, and the often over-looked miracle that is life on earth. The author may call himself the "Invalidater" but he views even his most far- out interviewees with a suprising compassion. A truly amazing book that everyone should read.