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27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Friedman Wastes No Time., January 24, 2009
This review is from: Flying Saucers and Science: A Scientist Investigates the Mysteries of UFOs: Interstellar Travel, Crashes, and Government Cover-Ups (Paperback)
Stanton Friedman doesn't waste any time with the usual academic nonsense. There are only a handful of easily read tables. The book is in the first person and active voice. Nothing about "the data were manipulated...." Bur rather, "I first learned of this through a phone call...." It's easy to read and understand.
My response to it was that of a behavioral scientist who's been involved in research for thirty years, though of a kind far removed from that of Friedman, who is a nuclear physicist.
He really and truly believes in his argument that flying saucers are not only real but that they may have been here before, seeding human life on earth, and that they come from some other planetary system, that the data are there to be systematically investigated, that they may have already been thoroughly examined by government agencies, and that the government is simply not telling us all it knows for a variety of reasons -- the stock market would crash (it hates uncertainty), good-bye auto industry if we adopt whatever propulsion system the UFOs are using, and let's not let our adversaries, current and future, know what we know.
In addition he takes on the "nasty negativists," the often famous debunkers, most of whom have not done their homework on the subject. That is, he's read their stuff before debates but they don't know his stuff, nor the stuff he cites as backup for his argument. He also takes on the press for being too lazy to report on this phenomenon accurately.
Well, the last point is indisputable in my view. The media are prone to accept explanations from sources on high without looking beyond the summaries and press releases. And government pronouncements are invariably soothing, sometimes adopting the tone a parent might use with a child who has just cut his finger. This tendency of official agencies to smooth things over isn't restricted to arguments about UFOs either.
Stanton provides convincing evidence of misrepresentations and outright lies. One statistic consistently propagated by the military is that an early comprehensive study of UFOs found only 3 percent to be unexplained. The table in the original study shows 21.5 percent. Yet it's the 3 percent figure that becomes the received wisdom because no one, inside or outside the media, have bothered to go to the original source.
He doesn't get into the Condon Report in any detail. (Other books have already done it. Viz., "What's Wrong With the Condon Report.") Edward Condon was a big name chosen by the USAF to organize a panel of "expert" investigators to wrap up what was known about UFOs in the late 1960s. Condon was a highly respected physicist at Colorado, known for his involvement in the invention of the atomic bomb. But, man, did he flub it in this case. Condon's Introduction claimed that UFOs weren't a threat and were not worth investigating further. He evidently hadn't even read the edited chapters written by his own investigators, who found a number of unexplainable incidents, one of which was described as "a genuine UFO." (It only takes one.)
I don't want to get into arguments with some of what I think may be weaknesses in Stanton's position. (Eg., he seems to take a theory-dependent view of interstellar travel, assuming that the speed of light can never be achieved and that there is no way of finessing it by means of black holes or whatever.) I think I'd be a little more cautious about my conclusions than Friedman is. We're still in the data-collection phase of the scientific method. The next step is analysis. We don't get to conclusions before we juggle the data around a bit more. Personally, I'm sure there's something out there that no one can yet explain because of something I saw years ago that defies explanation by the rules of physics we take for granted. And I feel forced to accept eyewitness accounts by commercial airline crews, police officers, and military pilots. What's the alternative? That the people we entrust with our lives and safety are crazy? Or willful liars?
At any rate, the book pretty much sums up Friedman's ideas about UFOs and the social context in which they're interpreted. Nobody else has quite the same data base stored in his head as this physicist from Linden, New Jersey -- at least not on this planet. He's an engaging speaker too, not at all boring. And I'm glad he put this summary of his beliefs and his struggles with the power brokers together. He's pretty old -- my age.
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25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Book of Answers: Skeptics Beware, June 3, 2008
This review is from: Flying Saucers and Science: A Scientist Investigates the Mysteries of UFOs: Interstellar Travel, Crashes, and Government Cover-Ups (Paperback)
Simply put: Flying Saucers and Science answers all the big questions pertaining to the subject of Unidentified Flying Objects. If you are skeptical of the subject of UFOs and the hypothesis of extraterrestrial origin, or find the very idea of such visitation to be irrational, this is a book for you.
UFO researcher/lecturer and former Nuclear physicist Stanton Friedman effectively establishes the reality of UFOs by referencing several large scale scientific studies and declassified government documents that point invariably to the likely hypothesis that some UFOs may indeed be extraterrestrial spacecraft. (As hard as that is to believe)
In addition, Mr. Friedman effectively demolishes dismissive arguments put forth by the skeptical community against UFO reality; from well respected scientists, such as the SETI specialists, to famous science fiction writers, such as Isaac Asimov, Ben Bova, and Arthur C. Clarke.
A common argument in Ufology is that you can't get here from there. That travel between stars is simply science fiction. Skeptics often argue:
"The distances between stars are simply too vast for interstellar travel to be a reality."
"The Voyager probe would take 70,000 years to reach the nearest star."
"Energy requirements for such a voyage would be astronomical."
"Even traveling to the nearest star at the speed of light would take more than 4 years." (A common misconception that is addressed)
Friedman thinks otherwise. An entire chapter is devoted to the feasibility of interstellar travel with a strict adherence to the laws of physics. Friedman effectively demonstrates, in layman's terms, that star travel is by no means science fiction, but a very real possibility -- without faster than light travel.
Another common misconception Friedman corrected is that of public opinion. It is often assumed that most people don't believe in UFOs, and most scientists certainly don't believe in them. Friedman shows that statistics garnered through public polls indicate a correlation to belief in UFOs and higher education and uses charts to help illustrate these results. Additionally, Friedman cites a poll taken by Industrial Research and Development Magazine, which was a controlled circulation monthly publication going to about 100,000 people involved in research and development activities, in 1971 and 1979 that shows equally startling results.
As alluded to earlier, a large volume of commonly asked questions are addressed throughout the book. From common technical questions such as, "Why do the flight characteristics of UFOs appear to violate the laws of physics?" (They don't), or "Why don't some UFOs produce a sonic boom while clearly traveling at supersonic speed?", or "How would aliens even find us?" to philosophical questions such as, "Why would alien visitors choose not to make contact?", "Why would aliens come to Earth?", and of course "Why the cover-up?"
If you have a question you need answered, there's a pretty good chance you will find it in this book.
Rounding out Flying Saucers and Science was a wonderful final chapter describing to the apathetic why the study of UFOs matters.
Negatives:
-- Although the bibliography is rather helpful, it would have been even more helpful if each chapter was footnoted. This would make it easier to verify particular statements as you go. However, Friedman does do a good job of providing website links and other references in parentheses as he goes along to help the curious verify claims or investigate further.
-- Very few individual cases are discussed, unlike most UFO books on the market. This may be a huge turn-off to many, so I am making it known right now. Friedman does, however, list several sources upon which you can find a collection of quality cases.
-- Those who have attended Friedman's lectures, read many of his articles, and/or frequented his website may find much of the material to be very familiar. However, Friedman does go into more detail in the book than he would be able to in a lecture (especially in the chapter on interstellar travel), not to mention the various rebuttals. There is little new evidential material here for people who have read much of the UFO literature, but it is still well worth the purchase for reference purposes, in my opinion.
(Despite these minor drawbacks, I did not feel that any were severe enough to warrant the deduction of a star from the overall rating of the book.)
**Highly recommended for the curious layperson (or scientist) as well as the open-minded skeptic. A book that belongs in every library!**
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25 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Sadly Disappointing..., August 5, 2008
This review is from: Flying Saucers and Science: A Scientist Investigates the Mysteries of UFOs: Interstellar Travel, Crashes, and Government Cover-Ups (Paperback)
Let me begin by saying that I have the utmost respect and admiration for Stanton Friedman and his pursuit of the truth regarding flying saucers. That is why I have entitled my review "Sadly disappointing"....because it is, indeed, sad that with this book what could and should have been Mr. Friedman's magnum opus, his life-time summation of the most direct and irrefutable evidence out there, we have - instead - a relatively slim volume coming out relatively fast on the heels of "Captured" (his wonderful book about Betty and Barney Hill, albeit co-authored)...almost as if it were done on-the-run and for reasons other than offering the public a supreme summation of the ongoing situation. Why do I say this? For one, if a reader knows little about UFOs, this book would merely confuse and baffle him. It hints at many things and skirts around several issues, but other than the still-dubious Majestic-12 controversy, goes into detail about very few. Instead, we are referred to other books if we want to know more - one of which is Mr. Friedman's own "Crash at Corona" which we are referred to several, several times throughout the text. Hint, hint: buy the other book! There is talk of UFOs shooting down aircraft - yet no instances are elaborated. There is no discussion of note regarding the Phoenix Lights sightings and the more recent flap in Texas. There is nothing about the daytime pilot sighting over the English Channel not so long ago. A variety of truly startling NASA footage that I have seen is not even discussed, nor is Astronaut Gordon Cooper's incredible admission in his autobiography that he personally knew people who had filmed a landed UFO and its occupants and that he - Cooper - had seen UFOs during his World War Two pilotting. Philip Corso - whether whistle-blower or fraud - is not addressed. Mention is made of two saucer crashes near Roswell - but no details are given. (And many of the witnesses to Roswell that Mr. Friedman still puts stock in have, in my estimation, been discredited rather convincingly elsewhere: among them, mortician Glenn Dennis and Barney Barnett.) What is offered are things most people already, sadly, know of: that the Government blacks out (or whites out) many, many documents released regarding UFOs; that interstellar space travel is possible (although faster-than-light travel or worm-holes or other dimensions are not given there due here as matters of comprehensive interest); the reasons why governments keep UFOs secrets; SETI's silliness, etc. These are issues that are of vast interest, yes, but there is no balancing these with powerful descriptions of the powerful evidence of UFOs!of We are told of soil samples where saucers have landed - but not of what they reveal. The most current and intense cases of UFO sightings are brushed over - and we are instead directed back to Project Blue Book and other investigations of the '50s and 60's that are, well, quite honestly old news. The abduction question is hardly addressed; no mention made of the work done on alien implants. There is no review of the best photographic evidence (except briefly for the old Trinidade pictures). And to be totally comprehensive and holisitic in an approach to flying saucers and alien visitation, some mention could and should have been made of the anomalies on the moon and Mars - even if they are just tricks of light. And, though mentioned in one sentence, the crop circle and cattle mutilation enigmas - which very well may have much to do with alien intelligence - are not discussed. No, this book attacks alot and attacks well - but it doesn't counterbalance the attacks with totally convincing arguments that some UFOs are, indeed, extraterrestrial in origin....which I believe! (I, myself, had a daytime sighting of a slow-moving cigar-shaped object several years back at a time when there were many people in my hometown seeing things in the night sky. I live in the Hudson Valley - and the famous flap of the '80s-'90s is also absent from this book.) But this book alone would not have convinced me as to the extraterrestrial reality of some UFOs. And, as I say, that is sad...because Mr. Friedman is a wonderful man with a brilliant mind whom I respect highly. I just wish this book had been equally brilliant. Perhaps, hopefully, this was just a primer for his multi-volume, magnum opus which I hope he will one day write.
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