Gray Highway: An American UFO Journey [Paperback]

Matthew Holm (Author), Jonathan Follett (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 22, 2005

Lots of books promise to tell the truth about UFOs. To finally reveal whether or not humans are being tagged and studied like elk, if aliens are preparing for a final invasion, or if the government is lying to us to pursue a secret research agenda. This is not one of those books. In this book, two guys drive across the country to visit famous UFO sites and meet the people involved in historic events and present-day commercialism. For whatever the real explanation may be, it's easy to forget that the UFO phenomenon is a distinctly human one. For every sighting there is a witness, and for every abduction a victim or willing participant. And then there are the UFOlogists, the psychologists, psychiatrists, and hypnotists, the entrepreneurs, the reporters, the cranks, and the crazies. Mix well, salt to taste, and scatter across America. Mark where they land, see where they live, and draw a route to connect them all together. Then drive. This is the Gray Highway.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The authors make an excruciating country-wide odyssey (in 1996) to "visit popular UFO sites, talk to people who had witnessed or been abducted by spacecraft (sic), and discover for themselves what all the noise was about." They hit Roswell, Unarius, Murfreesboro, Pascagoula, Wright Patterson, and Boston (in search of Dr. Mack), and have endless adventures between, only a few of them related in any way to ufology. It's all great fun, hilariously sophomoric, and (as if by accident) a marvelously telling, tragi-comic, funhouse mirror image of not only the UFO scene, but panoramic America as well. A great read. -- Arcturus Book Service, 1999

What makes this book such a novel treat is that neither author is a self-styled expert or ufologist. Both are simply two intelligent outsiders, struck dumb by the wondrous spectacle of UFO commercialism and "credophilia." Their comments on the loons, leeches, and luminaries of ufology are priceless--and refreshingly candid. This is the real charm of the book: its emphasis on personality, rather than on the dryness of raw data. Imagine a cross-country UFO tour with Hunter Thompson as your guide, and you'll develop a sense of the kind of fun house you'll be entering. -- Peter Jordan, UFO Magazine, May 1999 --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Matthew Holm works in New York City as an Associate Editor in the Copy and Features department of Country Living Magazine.

Jonathan Follett works in Boston as a Graphic Designer and Editor for the Massachusetts Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission.

Gray Highway is their first book. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 172 pages
• Publisher: Toadspittle Hill (December 22, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966604423
• ISBN-13: 978-0966604429
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #636,724 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Matthew Holm is the co-creator of the award-winning BABYMOUSE series of graphic novels from Random House Children's Books, as well as the new graphic novel series, SQUISH! He is also a professional graphic designer and the Consulting Creative Director for Hot Knife Design, Inc., of Boston, Mass. Prior to working on Babymouse, Matt spent eight years writing about kitchens (among other topics) for Country Living Magazine. He currently lives in Portland, Ore., with his wife and dog.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very original take on an often abused subject!, August 10, 1999

By 

N. Berard "nixie" (Boston, Ma) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gray Highway: An American UFO Journey (Paperback)

While I love reading about the unexplained, supernatural, and otherwise curious, I'm about as skeptical as people come about the existence of "original" UFO books. It's all been covered about a million times, in a million different ways, right?

WRONG. Gray Highway approaches the American UFO mythology from a totally new angle: two friends embark on a roadtrip of famous UFO sites. From Roswell to New England, to the mesa vortex of Sedona, they scrounge the American landscape for signs of intelligent life...and often come up with the unexplicable. The co-authors recorded their experience vigilantly, and their back-and-forth narrative is the work of people unhampered by commercialism or preconceived notions of the subject matter. Which isn't to say they don't know what they're talking about!

Gray Highway is a light but literate exploration of how a collective mythology shapes the American landscape. Whether you believe in little green men or not, you will surely be taken in by this very original and entertaining book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Dull Gray, March 17, 2011

By 

Herb Green "Bud's brother" (Wyoming) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gray Highway: An American UFO Journey (Kindle Edition)

I found little engaging in this account of a couple of young, somewhat naive, Eastern college post grads on their road trip west in search of information about some well known occurrences of UFO sightings and personalities that surround them. In my estimation 'Gray Highway: An American UFO Journey' is not written in a manner that provokes contemplation about UFO's. Perhaps the author did not intend it to?
A considerable chunk of the volume frames topics unrelated to the implied theme, such as how these two inexperienced lads confront the 'Motel vs Tent?' dilemma.

Perhaps you are looking for an epigrammatic examination of some of the most famous UFO stories?
If you are there are some better reads:
' UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go On the Record' is one example. It is objective, extensively researched, and skillfully written.

I absolutely respect Nixies and the others positive reviews, but personally I failed to see how "Gray Highway approaches the American UFO mythology from a totally new angle....".
Quite the opposite.
To me it was another example of as Nixie says: "It's all been covered about a million times, in a million different ways....".

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Politically Incorrect View of UFOs, February 9, 2011

By 

Elliot Malach "The Unknown Surfer" (Galveston, Tx) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gray Highway: An American UFO Journey (Kindle Edition)

Animal House meets Ghostbusters meets Independence Day... an irreverent look at UFOs and alien phenomena you always wanted someone to articulate, but no one ever did until now.

Very entertaining. From the "close encounter" with a teen at a campsite in the Sand Dunes State Forest in Minnesota, to the meteor crater in AZ that charged $8 so you could stare at a hole in the ground that you could not even go into, to Leah Haley who was abducted but made them erase their tape because they wouldn't buy her and her husband dinner during the interview, to interrogating the cashier at Wright-Patterson AFB to see if she'd seen any grays.

The book just keeps getting better. Original and humorous.