Customer Reviews

Flying Saucers--Serious Business

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Flying Saucers - Serious Business is a fun and entertaining read, complete with pictures. Clear, concise reading that tackles specific incidents in history, such as the Brazil 1954 incident, power blackouts in the Southwest in 1965, etc. Interesting read!

First of all, what's wrong with trying to sell books by writing material of interest to the intended audience? That's what all authors do.

Second, this was one of many books written about UFOs during the sixties and certainly is one of the better ones. Edwards tends to just present the facts of the cases as he knows them and leaves out all the mystical mumbo jumbo present in many other author's UFO books.

It's up to the reader to decide whether he wants to accept any of the cases as possible genuine evidence of an extraterrestial presence, but in any case it's a fun read which allows for some moments of suspension of disbelief. Besides, how often do you get a chance to buy a book for one penney?

I found this book at a library sale for 10 cents. And, I was quite impressed with the book. Edwards presents the case for UFOs and he does it based on facts from the Air Force, newspapers, and eye witness accounts. He doesn't speculate as to what the UFOs are - he lets the facts speak for themselves as they are presented. As a result, his material appears to be well founded and his writing style is very readable. Certainly a thought provoking book!

The title "Flying Saucers - Serious business" is from an Air Force order issued to all Air Force personal on 12/24/1959. This is a very important book. The author Frank Edwards (a hugely popular journalist and radio personality) collected the information in this book until published in 1966. Here are the accounts early in the US Governments cover up with details on how UFO censorship changed over time. Many interesting cases are documented back to the 19th Century including many that are becoming forgotten today.

What stands out is how much UFO activity there has been in this century, especially since the 1940s. Some major cases today (Roswell and Kecksberg) are only mentioned in passing while other nearly forgotten cases are detailed. This book is a UFO research missing link because it was written so much closer in time to the major UFO events from the 1940s to the 1960s by a man that spent much of his life collecting the evidence.

Author wrote this book following his "Flying Saucers - Serious Business" stating new evidence and new photographs, that is, cases that occurred during 1966 and 1967. The attempt is to let the cases speak for themselves. I have read most if not all of his books, and this is one to add to those one collection. Mr. Frank Edwards' book all let me with the impression to continue our search for the evidence and facts in each one of his cases, whether it be related to Flying Saucers or strange people or worlds. The truth is out there!

Another book that brought bygone memories to me is this tome by Mr Frank Edwards about Flying Saucers. There is more speculation and dubious sources in these stories, but they are fun to read. Like his other books on strange events, Mr Edwards relied heavily on second and third hand reports and old newspaper clippings.

While many modern ufologists actually delve into the physical evidence and try to track down the sources, Mr Edwards would just report the incident in his book as is. There is a certain charm to this type of research even if it does get mocked now. The object was to sell books, and Mr Edwards did just that.

The book is another fun read (and was scary when I read it as a kid) when I read it from a different perspective now. Is the person reading this going to learn anything new about UFOs? No. Are they going to learn how to NOT do research? Absolutely. Are they going to have fun reading this book? Yes. The key is to not take this too seriously when reading it.

This does not mean I am stating all the cases stated in the book are either hoaxes or made up, but the way research was done left a lot to be desired. Still, Mr Edwards is one good writer about these subjects and he was having as much fun as we were reading them. It is hard to find books like this today.

Author Frank Allyn Edwards is someone most of us today have never heard of, though in a "Radio Daily" poll conducted in 1953, he was cited among the nation's top three broadcasters. The other two were Edward R. Murrow and Lowell Thomas, who, to this day, remain household names. Why has Edwards been forgotten?

This topic has interested me since 1961, for reasons I'm not yet ready to disclose. I've hidden from it most of my life, but in the past five years, I've read everything I could get my hands on, and interviewed many eyewitnesses to unexplained events. I stumbled upon "Flying Saucers, Serious Business" in a used bookshop, and bought it for a buck and a book in trade. I was not disappointed.

Edwards title for this book was taken directly from an official USAF training order issued on December 24, 1959 by the Inspector General, and distributed to every USAF Base Commander. In those days, flying saucers had become a menace. Many of them would appear suddenly in airspace occupied by planes, helicopters and jets. They often had no lights, and scared the bejeebers out of commercial and military pilots who were unaware not only of their existence, but their maneuverability and ability to avoid collusions. In a panic, these pilots often put their own aircraft at risk simply because they didn't know the saucers could do things impossible to their own understanding of the laws of physics.

The thing I find most fascinating about this book is not the factual retelling of events, which Edwards does well, but his indictment of the powers-that-be, which I will quote here, in his own words.

"As remarkable as were the sightings themselves during the July and August (1965) epidemic, equally as remarkable and fully as important was the sudden and dramatic awakening of many segments of the American press to what was going on...and to the realization that they had been systematically misled for years, by bogus pronouncements, as a matter of government policy." Edwards goes on to say something those in the Disclosure Movement started on May 9, 2001 by Dr. Steven Greer have been expecting, too. "under persistent pressure of this sort from this source (NICAP) the government must eventually open its classified files and secret cases to public scrutiny." This, unfortunately, has still not come to pass. Edwards further stated that the USAF "...lost their grip on the American press and news services. That segment of the population which had NOT been deceived by the meaningless 'explanations'--and which had been demanding more facts and less fiction from the Air Force--had gained some powerful new adherents."

The question I must ask, is, what happened? Joe American had had it by August 1965. He knew he was being lied to, and demanded the truth. Reporters in every media outlet were also fed up...so what changed? Why didn't it all come to a head? Why were we unable to force their hand?

There was an about-face. Something happened at around that time to change things. The astronauts became front-page news. Viet Nam was heating up, and demanding more attention. Programs explaining things according to the second law of thermodynamics came out. Hippies were dancing around. UFO Hoaxers popped up all over the place and were instantly discredited. Instead of taking any report seriously, it was turned into a joke. Anyone with a sighting, no matter how legitimate, was publicly ridiculed. The laughter was deafening. With all the "rocket science" put out by NASA, anything else was considered fantasy. You saw a saucer do what? Everyone knows that's impossible, so you are stupid! Nobody wants to be called an idiot. By 1969 Project Blue Book was closed for good. Why? Because "none of this is real"...and that tactic has bought them another forty years. I know many journalists and news reporters who today wouldn't send a film crew if an army of UFO's landed in their station parking lot.

Edwards was one of the few journalists who refused to sit down and believe these events were mass hallucinations, swamp gas, or weather phenomenon. He died in 1967. Does anyone have more information on his death, or know his family? I would really like to know more about this brave man who wasn't afraid to pronounce the emperor wore no clothes.

Anyone wishing more information on this subject is urged to watch (google) the full Disclosure Project press conference of May 9, 2001, see the History Channel's reenactment of events called Secret Access: UFOs On The Record or a Norwegian documentary called, "The Day After Disclosure" all of which may be available for purchase in book form or DVD's here on Amazon.

Years ago, I was fascinated by UFOs and devoted much time to reading books on the subject--and this was one of them. At the time I wanted to believe, and so became swept up in it all. But looking back on it, what this guy wrote, and what others have wrote, is complete bull. Either the guy wants to sell books, or he is overly naive and gullible. Whatever the case, these "sightings" are not real--they just aren't real.