Customer Reviews

Our Haunted Planet

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have collected and read books on UFO's for over 30 years. I currently have over 200 titles and OUR HAUNTED PLANET is one of the top ten. I actually have several copies of this book and loan it to friends who become interested in the UFO enigma. Keel was one of the first researchers who attempted to bring many of the unexplained paranormal phenomena under one umbrella of explanation. (I can think of only Charles Forte and Morris K. Jessup who preceded him.) The book is well researched and well-written. The concise three-page theory on the origin of man that incorporates all three popular theories (Devine creation, seeding, and evolution) is alone worth the price of admission. I'm glad this book is being republished and highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the paranormal--UFO's in particular.

This book-originally released in 1970,gives a general overview of the unusual engimas left behind by previous civilizations (the pyramids and other lesser known wonders),theories on the evolution of man,ufo's, missing persons,and other oddities and attempts to tie it all together in one general thesis. Very entertaining. Keel is an excellent writer who will keep you turning the page. Somewhat lighter than Keel's other books- which makes it a good intro to a reader new to the authors work. It does jump around a bit. Apperently many of the chapters were cobbled together from magazine articles. However it still is a fascinating book,well worth reading

I really recommend this book! For one, I couldn't put it down. There was a lot of information in this book that I have read from previous authors, such as Commander X and the like, but most interesting, was Keel included other stories regarding certain subjects. I really liked the part about "radio anomalies" for they were interesting...especially VLF (Very Low Frequency Waves). I really had to go back to the beginning of the book after the first chapter, and started highlighting things, because they were so interesting, I wanted to look them up later for more information or more books on the certain subjects. The whole book is practically highlighted! LOVED IT! And would probably definitely read it again, (which I normally don't ever do after reading a book once).

This astonishing book takes a close look into the history of humankind's interaction with "ultraterrestrial" or "UT's". From their mysterious worldwide penchant for gold (a virtually useless metal practically speaking), to their aerial-vehicles and gloomy end of the world prophesies. All of recorded history, from every culture of across the globe, reports of mysterious entities bent on manipulating human affairs have come down to us.

John Keel is an agnostic so naturalists may have a hard time coping with his suggestions. Mainly because he believes UT's are likely to be involved in the creation of the human race. He goes so far as to suggest the planet earth maybe one giant ranching project...Are we a race of cattle? Or maybe bread for gold mining? Haunted planet explores these ideas.

John Keel has a casual way of presenting the most shocking information. Contrary to what some die hard materialist skeptic reviewers have said, his books are painstakingly researched and by no means "debunked". I have double-checked his references on many occasions in particular the numerous articles. He presents the bizarre facts, along side of first hand experiences and proves the saying "the truth is stranger than fiction"

OK people, let's get real. I still have the original
paperback copy I bought in 1971, pages are flaking out
and whatnot, but I have read this book a dozen times,
and I have even more respect for the author now than in the
days of my shallow youth. It is important to remember
that John Keel was on the scene during the nascent
period of UFO and paranormal investigation, and
this book tries to reflect an honest and objective
query into the many unexplained phenomena that are
as prevalent now as they were in his time (50's-70's).
There is a disjointedness at times in a few chapters
of the book, but this only serves to underscore
Keel's attempt to get the documentation out there,
and actually gives the reader a here-and-now feeling
of spontaneity. Contrary to a previous reviewer's
assessment that

I happened upon this book looking for other titles. Scanning a few pages and looking at the chapter listing, I found that I could not put it down. Many of the findings challenge concepts of biological history as we know it. It presents many situations for which our sciences have no clear answer.

Though not an ancient history book, it does present some unexplained occurrences in our ancient history which fly in the face of current precepts.

Keel does an excellent job of presenting the findings without taking ill-informed leaps to radical conclusions. It runs the gamut of extradinary unexplained phenomena.

Guaranteed--once you start reading it, you can't put it down.

This is my second John Keel book and I must say I'm still impressed. Noone writes about the anomalies of this world quite like he does. It's fast paced reading at it's best. I would recommend this book to anybody who loves to read about the paranormal. I don't always agree with some of his theories but I do always enjoy reading what he has to say.

I've just finished reading it and my perspective has expanded quite a bit. As a Christian I found the approach to Genesis illuminating and was pleased that the author drew many conclusions which I feel are compatible with my faith. I could not bring myself to give the book five stars, however, because after so many pages of exciting reading the ending is a great dissappointment. After the near-constant flow of interesting ideas, in the last few pages we are given a typical 1970 "Age of Aquarius" panegyric, full of praise for the alleged moral superiority of the hedonistic youth of the time. Instantly the book becomes very dated, and then it ends. If this happened earlier in the book I could have just considered it as history but as an ending it's a great let-down. It's still a wonderful book. I imagine that when I read his other books I'll give them all five stars!

I'll not boire you with the content - that's simple enough to deduce. John A. Keel has penned a worthy addition to his other works. He says at the outset that he draws no conclusions - he simply throws up his ideas for discussion.

In fact that's a neat start but, by the end of the book, it's very obvious that he's blasted apart a load of myths, sunk the Lovers of Atlantis, and mystified the Men from Mars. And it was all done so neatly!

Keel is logical (I like that). He offers evidence of his observations (I like that). He shows the flaws in other theories (I like that). He's written a great book (I like that!).

Get it. Read it. You'll like it too.

I love John A. Keel's stuff. I've read The Mothman and Operation: Trojan Horse. I'd say to anyone who wants to have a look into the weirder side of existence, UFO's, ghost, lore, etc... these two books are must reads. Our Haunted Planet is good...I especially thought the part where Keel alludes to evidence of a pre-flood or pre-catastrophe civilization that existed on the earth before man was especially interesting. After that, Keel kinds of get philosophical about us possibly being part of a cosmic consciousness, not that he professes that as fact, but he alludes to as a big what if, and that kind of turned me off a little. I think maybe it was just the time (early 70ies) that the book was originally written maybe overwhelmed Keel a bit. This book is a good read, but read Mothman and then Trojan Horse first.