Customer Reviews

The Great UFO Hoax: The Final Solution to the UFO Mystery

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

...When *UFO Magazine received this book, I looked forward to reviewing it. When someone claims to have solved the UFO mystery, I always await with anticipation their "solution." After all, since 1947 there have been a lot of people who have come up with an answer, so who knows? Maybe this one is it . . . . or *not.
I suspected that author Kanon might *possibly be on to something in the foreword of the book. He began by mentioning the Clifford Irving, Anastasia and Hitler Diaries scams that took in huge numbers of people. I was approaching this with an open mind, that is until I hit page 18, when the whole book fell apart for me. On that page I quickly *knew Kanon didn't know a damn thing about the UFO subject because he relayed the "story" of Mel Noel . . . . or should I say the Mel Noel HOAX.
In Vol. 7, No. 3 of *UFO Magazine, published in May of 1992, I laid out the story and expose of hoaxer-scammer Mel Noel, also known as Guy Kirkwood. Kirkwood is one of the hoaxers that pops up on the periphery of UFOdom now and then, and has been around for over 35 years. Over those years, several exposes have been done on Kirkwood, and he's even admitted on TV that his stories about being an Air Force fighter jock and commercial pilot are bunk. Author Kanon, however, seems to be sorely lacking in the research area, because he lays out Noel/Kirkwood's story as if it were fact--and to give this story more authority, he states that his information comes from Timothy Good's research. It is apparent he never spoke to Good, the author of *Above Top Secret and *Alien Liaison, because I'm sure Good now regrets having used Noel. And I'm sure Kanon will regret not having done his own research, instead of what must have been a seek-and-grab from every book ever written on the subject.
The bottom line is that Kanon is trying to make the entire UFO subject a vast, overwhelming U.S. military and Intelligence operation that's been running since the early days of World War II. Roswell, of course, is "explained" away as some kind of secret black operation that went awry. Kanon even charges the "Great Los Angeles Air Raid" of 1942 with being a black-bag U.S. Army "test."
Later in this sorry example of UFO reporting, he talks about the Tehran, Iran UFO encounter with Iranian F-4 Phantom jets. He must not have been too sure about the time frame; he just states it took place in the late 1970s--around the time that Muslim fundamentalists took our embassy people hostage. Actually, the UFO event took place in 1976, and the embassy hostage crisis took place starting in 1979, over three years later. Whew! by page 35 I realized this was pure bunk and Kanon has some kind of axe to grind. In a sour moment, I began to suspect he might have once been in the service and was forced to stand before his drill sergeant, saying , "This is my rifle and THIS is my gun . . . this one is for shooting and the other is for fun!" Or something like that.
At any rate, I found this book a complete waste of time and paper. If I had to surmise, I would say that the author went to the library and checked out every book he could find on flying saucers. He took a weekend off reading them, and then decided to come up with an "explanation" for the mystery of UFOs-- and thereby get the goods on the army and the CIA and mind control and . . . and GEE! Maybe I can make a buck or so.
Well thank heaven this was a review copy. Save your [money] and save your time. My God, save the trees! *UFO Magazine says it better and usually says it first.
-Don Ecker

Several years ago, as I was browsing in a bookstore, I picked up this title, quickly scanned it and put it back, thinking it just another UFO debunking book.
Recently, I found a copy in a book closeout sale and bought it. Now that I've read it, I realize my initial impression was wrong. This is a very well written, solidly researched book which is thought provoking and troubling; it should be read anyone interested in the UFO phenomenon, be they 'true believer' or open-minded skeptic.
As I read the book, reflections of past curiosities I've noted over the years came flooding back: The many reports of UFOs sighted near military installatios; Ronald Reagan's repeated public comments about "aliens from space" threatening the world; Douglas MacArthur's warnings about future wars with aliens; the suspicious Rendlesham Forest UFO incident (with all reports coming from the military); the increase in sightings of triangular shaped objects with Stealth-like appearance; 'abductees'reporting military personnel alongside 'aliens'during the abduction, and the well-documented reality of government directed disinformation efforts regarding UFOs.
While I had always felt that many UFO sightings were super-secret 'black ops' projects, I was not prepared for the author's conclusions: UFOs are real, and are the product of the U.S. military. They are being used for the grandest psyc ops program imaginable, to create the ILLUSION of an alien invasion. As to why, the author provides a sobering and very feasible reason. It is but a series of illusory 'wars' designed to maintain an engorged military-industrial complex, and to develop a perceived "need for the permanent presence of the military in the internal affairs of the United States." The author offers some very convincing reasons to support this chilling scenario.
This is an excellent read. For me, however, it falls short in offering a "final solution to the UFO mystery." Mr. Kanton really does not address how such tremendously advanced technology came into the military's possession, other than to suggest it was derived from Nazi saucer technology captured at the end of WW11. He dismisses reports of UFOs prior to 1947 (the "modern era") as "lacking in scientific authenticity" and being "most likely misidentifications of astronomical and terrestrial phenomena..." The problem here is that there are numerous, unchallenged photos of UFOs dating back decades before Kenneth Arnold's sighting, not to mention detailed depictions of odd craft in historical paintings (mostly religious themes), ancient texts describing them and cave paintings of (apparent) UFOs dating back to antiquity. UFOs did not just show up in 1947. Kanon also suggests that Hollywood movies and the popular media have been duplicitous in fostering the idea of an alien invasion, depicting aliens as evil. He ignores such blockbusters as 'ET' and 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind', which cast aliens in a benign light. Morever, the idea of invasion by space aliens goes back at least as far as H.G. Wells' 'War of the Worlds', and probably a lot earlier.
No, 'The Great UFO Hoax' does not give "the final solution to the UFO mystery." Nonetheless, this is a serious and important book that should be read by a broader range than just UFO buffs.
While many UFOs may well be from a non-earthly origin, this does not rule out what the author proposes as being true. We should, as he states it, "watch our backs."

This is a must-read for those who won't buy into the two theories the world's intelligence services would have you believe: A) UFO's are from outer space B) UFO's are explainable, natural phenomenon and/or known aircraft. The author lays out what real UFO's are: physical vehicles, powered by extremely advanced propulsion systems, used by intelligence services for psychological warfare purposes. Don't you ever wonder why the "alien" hypothesis is the ONLY one ever put forward by Hollywood? Why there are no books or movies promulgating the idea that these are advanced government aircraft, classified far above Top Secret SCI, used by the CIA for mind-control experiments on unsuspecting citizens who are in the wrong isolated place at the wrong time? This book will open the eyes of men of reason everywhere.

Absolutely incredible book. Kanon has finally laid to rest the endless debate of "flying saucers" and alien abduction - none of it is what we think it is. There are no little greys taking people for rides in their space ships, there was no big crash at Roswell 50 year ago, and the answer behind all of these is startling and much more scary than visitors from space... An excellent read, and a must-read for all of you believers out there.