Customer Reviews

Scientific Ufology: Roswell and Beyond--How Scientific Methodology Can Prove the Reality of Ufos

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I read Kevin Randle's book several years ago, and I found it to be far more serious-minded and thoughtful than most UFO books, whether pro-or-con. Randle is no wild-eyed UFO "nut" who believes that every UFO sighting is "proof" of alien visitation (he is actually highly skeptical of all UFO "abduction" reports). But Randle does believe that the testimony of thousands of competent, often well-trained eyewitnesses (such as pilots, military officials, scientists, etc.) cannot simply be ignored. And, as a reply to the gentleman below, I thought I would make the following observation: 1) "Ufology" IS a legitimate word, and is included as such in the "American Heritage Dictionary". Only someone who has never bothered to read a dictionary would fail to realize this fact. 2) UFOs ARE a mystery precisely because we don't know what they are...which is the very definition of a mystery! To claim that UFOs are simply ordinary objects which haven't been identified yet is simply absurd...as anyone who has actually read Randle's books (or those of other credible UFO researchers) soon discover. When the US Air Force was in the business of investigating UFOs in the 1940's and 1950's, they discovered that the more impressive the witness and the longer the sighting, the more likely the "UFO" was to remain UNIDENTIFIED. If all UFOs were merely ordinary objects which were/are misindentified, then logically the more time you have to view the object - and the more qualified the eyewitness - then the more likely it is that the person would be able to "identify" the UFO as something ordinary. Instead, the Air Force found that the precise opposite was true. Hmmmm...I wonder if the critics of most pro-UFO books actually bother to read them?

Unlike many self-proclaimed "ufologists", Dr. Kevin Randle (along with a few others such as Jerome Clark and Richard Hall) is a true UFO researcher with the credentials and background to be taken seriously. His latest work, "Scientific Ufology" is one of his best books. Using extensive on-site research and displaying an objective stance that is often rare in this field of study, he reviews a number of famous UFO sightings such as the 1957 Levelland sightings in Texas and the Trent photographs taken in Oregon in 1950. He makes a strong case that these incidents cannot be written off as hoaxes or misinterpretations of normal phenomena such as ball lightning or weather balloons. He also offers a strong rebuttal of UFO debunkers such as Phil Klass and Curtis Peebles. Although the book is not as in-depth as some of his other UFO works, this book by Randle is an excellent place for a beginner or general reader to get a well-written and serious look at some of the most famous UFO sightings of the last fifty years.

There are writers who want to believe everthing they hear, and there are writers who give the facts that can be proven, even when it goes against their desires. Mr Randle has written a book that gives a double blind test to the stories presented. He does not shrink from saying there is not enough credible evidence to support a story,even though it makes good reading. This book is unlike others in that while Mr Randle believes in UFO's he does not try to make the reader take on his beliefs. He stresses asking questions of the reported facts, to determine what holds up under scrutiny, and what plays out as anecdotal. Other writers on this,and other paranormal subjects are to quick to accept a story as truth when good investigation can quickly place it into the urban legend catagory. Disproving a good story is not as enjoyable proving it, but there is no room for sentiment in research. Mr Randle has presented a tool for investigating that is much bigger than the narrow subject.

Scientific Ufology by Kevin D. Randle, Ph.D.

Are UFO's real? Are photographs of UFO's hoaxes? Are movies of UFO's hoaxes? How can you have a scientific outlook on UFO's? Dr. Randle explains all of this in his book, "Scientific Ufology." I picked up this book wondering what science has to do with UFO's. Well, I found out that science and the extra-terrestrial don't have a whole lot in common, but science is the study of proving things. Dr. Randle takes us into the world of Project Blue Book (USAF UFO research) and other independent skeptics and believers to find out the truth about UFO's.

All cases in this book (there's probably about 12 to 16 of them) were all investigated by Project Blue Book, and then also investigated by others. They all take place around the 1950's, when technology (i.e., computer graphics equipment, etc.) was nothing like it is today, making the faking of a photograph or movie harder to do.

A lot of the investigating I read ticked me off, since I would like to be a believer (hence the reason why I picked up this book, why a non-believer would, I don't know). Hoaxes have many inconsistencies, but the investigations in this book have a lot more!! Constantly not asking the right person for an interview, not asking the right questions, interviewing people who just saw an echo on radar and not the person standing next to him who flew up in a fighter jet and actually saw the object. It makes me realize just how much the military does want to hide the fact the extra-terrestrial craft exist.

There's also a photo section in this book so that you can make the decision for yourself. Honestly, one of the photos in here that "they" say is authentic looks pretty fake to me, but you be the judge. It's all in the scientfic methodology that Dr. Randle uses in his interviews with witnesses, checking the light and shadows on objects in photographs, background checks with friends and foes to find out if the witnesses would have any reason to lie, if the witnesses received any money or publicity for the events (one guy's photos didn't get returned to him by a magazine for EIGHTEEN YEARS!!), and so on.

Dr. Randle makes many quotes throughout the book, referencing each one. This is something that I think makes the book even better, so that I can go out and try to find these books of people who are being stupid throughout the interviews; and to find the books of people I may become large fans of!

I give this book 5 stars, as it digs through a lot of truth and fiction, trying to get to the bottom of things. Dr. Randle is obviously a believer, but I would have rather read a book by a neutral-minded doctor. He does make his points, and as with the military coming up with their answers to satisfy themselves and skeptics, Dr. Randle satisfies himself and us, the believers!!

Sightings in this book include:
Levelland, TX (November 2, 1957); The Washington Nationals (July 19, 1952); Bentwaters (August 13, 1956); Minot, ND (October 24, 1968); Great Falls, MT (August 15, 1950); Tremonton, UT (July 2, 1952); McMinnville, OR (May 11, 1950); Trindade Island (January 16, 1958); Socorro, NM (April 24, 1964); Delphos, KS (November 2, 1971); Alabama and Georgia (July 24, 1948); Utah and Nevada (April 18, 1962); Tennessee and Indiana (March 3, 1968)

Lt Col Kevin Randle (USAR-Ret) wrote this book to show there is enough evidence to make a serious scientific study of UFOs. The author is a serious researcher in the subject who is not afraid to tell it like it is. But there are a good number of cases where the evidence is very strong supporting further study.

A famous case in Texas in which cars were stopped by the craft; pilots witnessing some close-up looks at what appear to be strange craft; and others make up much of this book. Lt Col Randle also looks at some cases which have some probable answers for them.

Added in the book are some of the older, more famous photographic evidence of some UFOs which still stand up to the best of scrutiny.

A paperback book with small type is filled with surprisingly a lot of information. This is a good reference book and fun read for the collector.

Randle's "Scientific Ufology" is a sober, well-argued volume that challenges widespread dismissal of UFO evidence. By citing well-documented visual sightings, credible photographs, radar traces and physical effects, "Scientific Ufology" effectively proves that UFOs (whatever they are) are quite real and pose a legitimate "challenge to science," to borrow a phrase from Jacques Vallee. Randle takes issue with skeptics who attribute witness reports to aberrant psychology, and makes a compelling case for careful, methodical study of the phenomenon.

1) There is no such word as "ufology" nor could there ever be. Only someone with the most execrable taste and no understanding
of language or logic whatsoever could proffer such a monstrosity.

2) "U.F.O" stands for "Unidentified Flying Object". Do U.F.O.'s exist? Until the flying objects in question are identified, of course. There is no mystery here. (A large percentage turn out not to be flying objects at all, so it might have been better to call them "unidentified sky phenomena", but at this point we're pretty much stuck with "unidentified flying objects". Oh, well.)