Customer Reviews

Strange Secrets: Real Government Files on the Unknown

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

 

 

Redfern and Roberts have assembled a masterful
collection of what cryptozoological,ufological and
other mysterious material is to be found in
official intelligence files.

For general readers unaware of the interest that
the intelligence network has had in these unexplained
cases, this book is a revealing insightful look at that
topic. For those who are extremely knowledgeable
about a wide spectrum of the unexplained, they will
be disappointed if they set the yardstick on "newness"
- an objective that is not that of the authors.

The casual reader will be interested in the texture
of the material that actually intrigues the government,
and this book reviews the evidence that such, indeed,
has been a concern of spies, spooks, and bureaucrats.

The style, also, is easy to read.

I felt this book was worth the time spent reading for what was left out as much as what it contained. It dwells on the reams of unclassified files from American and British archives and the strange things studied by these governments. The authors go out of their way to say that they have not uncovered evidence of Bigfoot, the Greys, or psychic powers. Considering the subject area, these disavowals keep the overall tone of the book impartial and believable.

That is NOT to say that both the American and British governments were never interested in these and other subjects. The authors dwell on actual files discussing crop circles, the Mt. Ararat anomaly, UFOs, psychic phenomena, cattle mutilation, the Loch Ness monster, and spontaneous human combustion. There is extensive quotation from such documents throughout the book, which provides an insightful look at how our governments approached these issues. In a few places the authors put forth plausible theories behind certain events, but never do they cross the line into overblown speculation.

Our society's fascination with the paranormal is as important as paranormal events themselves. This book is a great resource for someone interested in how official investigations have tackled the subject.

Authors Redfern and Roberts have done a masterful job of compiling government files, both British and American, about everything from UFOs to Spontaneous Human Combustion, shedding much light on what there governments really know (at least, based on files that were released to the public). Though some mysteries are solved or, at least, given plausible explanations, others still remain up in the air (so to speak).

The book could have benefitted a little by being fleshed out with outside material. The chapter on Men in Black is intriguing, but ultimately leaves some nagging questions. And a few case histories from medical literature could have helped the chapter on spontaneous human combustion. The section on UFOs is well done, but those looking for insights into Roswell, MJ-12, or the Rendlesham/Bentwaters incident will find nothing here (though, in all fairness, each of those topics have been the subject of numerous books of their own).

Despite these caveats, and the fact that this book will be disappointing to the hardcore conspiracy buff (who will, no doubt, distrust just about anything the government says), this book is highly recommended for those looking for solid answers based on genuine research and solid reasoning.

Like the title says, nothing special about this book. It briefly touches on a few subjects, and I mean Very BRIEFLY, such as crop circles, Noah's ark, spontaneous combustion, flying saucers, the government black-baggers, Mind Science (Telekinesis, Telepathy), and the Loch Ness Monster.

This book is for someone who absolutely has never heard of any of this stuff, and is just looking to skim the surface on a few topics. Nothing more. The information in this book is not very detailed at all and hardly presents any useful information to someone actually studying these topics.

Personally this book did not keep my attention at really any point in time. Though, it didn't take me long to read because there's hardly any info on each page. It's almost as though they were just trying to fill a certain amount of pages.

To sum it all up, if you've ever caught some of the documentaries shown on the Discovery Channel or History Channel, where the entire show is dedicated to providing bias and non-biased so-called facts about phenomenon and by the end of the show, the narrator leaves you hanging with "Will we ever really know if blah blah blah really exists??!?!". Well, yeah, that's this book. But hey, it's only 99 cents on amazon. So if you're looking for a book to maybe fill one of those "waiting on the good book to arrive in the mail" weeks, then this is your book.

Strange Secrets is a very mysterious book and its found to be very surprising. You can't imagine how much this book makes you think and how intersted it keeps you. The intro itself is very catching because it starts explaining things about how our own U.S. government keeps things from us. There's so many things that you discover by reading this book. You learn about flying saucers called UFO's and The Loch Ness Monster. Also the book talks about weird crop designs.

The book is very surprising because it talks about things you don't see happening, and it makes so much sense. For example the UFO spottings are claimed to be cover-ups for government experiments for creating round objects that hover over the ground and carry atomic weapons in them. The author of the book says it makes sense because the U.S. is capable of technology like that. The U.S. has a Men in Black organization that wipes out people's memories of ever seeing the so called "UFO".

Another interesting thing that this book talks about is the Loch Ness Monster which is found to bug a lot of people's mind who wonder if this creature is actually real. This book talks about a British sea captain's diary. The captain wrote in his diary that on his journey on the water he came across a large creature that was estimated to be about 124 feet long and was as big as half his ship. Also there are photographs of this creature and there have been several spottings. The U.S. government never comments on this subject and they only say that people can think what they want to believe.

The crop designs are said to be a sign or landmark in which the government has reserved that area for classified reasons. People who live around those areas have lost some cattle and they believe it has to do with the government experiments. According to the book, the government covered up its a way to communicate with UFO's by saying it is the Air Force's new experiment with war planes. There's a lot of mystery behind what the U.S. government is really up to and what it is that they're already doing.

This book has really been thus far one of the most interesting books I've read. I learned a lot and have really been thinking about what could be true or false. I really recommend this book to anyone who is curious about UFO's and government secrets. The book is very catching just from the title quote it has "In the search for the truth, it's not what you know. It's what you're not supposed to know...

Lionel


Lionel is a student in my English class.

The book is a compilation of research into unexplained paranormal activity and events from crop circles to UFOs to spontaneous human combustion. (Yeah, no joke.)

It's got the usual governmental suspects denying everything but contradicting their own reports. Of course the juicy parts of the released reports are still blacked out.

Most of it is interesting but rather dry. Some of it, like the part on remote viewing, I wouldn't even consider "strange" or "secret" by today's standards. If you're in to the conspiracy theory stuff, add this one to your collection.

I heard the author talk on tv...he doesn't translate well in the written form....sorry BORED to DEATH

I learned a few things that I didn't know.It contained released government documents concerning ufo's which indicates that at least some of the ufo's are a creation of the military.

The official standpoint of the governments of England, the U.S. and former Soviet Union regarding the paranormal might not be very detailed. But appearances are deceptive. In fact, for a long time all three of did, and still do, actively investigate and document everything from the Loch Ness Monster, Men in Black, alien abductions, the alleged existence of Noah's ark, and much more.

Nick Redfern and Andy Roberts, two British ufologists, have collected a large amount of governmental documents from the three countries, and these documents clearly show how paranormal discussions and theories have been present at the highest levels of each government. And some of these documents reveal quite startling facts, such as the struggle of both East and West to find psychic spies, the interest in unexplained entities by the British government, and America's attempts to construct saucer-shaped aircraft.

Each chapter is jampacked with quotes and citations from previously classified documents, and from time to time the sheer amount of these reach such a level that the role played by the authors feel more or less redundant; in the sense that the reader gets the feeling the entire chapter is not really written but instead copied straight from the documents. This has a negative impact on the book, despite the interesting content, because official documents have a tendency to be monotonous and boring. Just because the content is exciting doesn't automatically result in exciting reading, a sad fact which most people with an interest in the paranormal are very well aware of.

All in all, the book isn't actually that sensational. Because nothing sensational is revealed, besides the fact that the world's leading governments have had, and still has, an interest in things that many people perhaps believed the governments cared nothing about. But if you're looking for a book about the unexplained and paranormal you're well advised to go look somewhere else.