Customer Reviews

On the Trail of the Saucer Spies: UFOs and Government Surveillance

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Nick Redfern is the one authority on UFOs and government cover-ups that wins my total trust. His meticulous research, smooth style, and occasional well-placed wit make for books that simply cannot be argued against as he proposes that the governments and military agencies of many a nation have long been interested in keeping a spying eye on UFO witnesses, researchers and investigators.

"On The Trail of the Saucer Spies" documents the below-the-radar interest of the U.S. and British official agencies in all things ufological, focusing on clandestine investigations carried out on the parts of the CIA, FBI, Air Force, NSA and British MoD, since 1947. In many cases, the sinister spying has served to undermine legitimate UFO research, and even the researchers themselves, as thousands of classified documents show.

Redfern lays out the blow by blow agendas of these mysterious agencies, along with many eye-witness reports and anecdotes from those who've been spied on (including himself!). As a researcher, Redfern does his best to unturn every stone, with a sense of objectivity and a strong curiosity that propels him to boldly go where few researchers have gone before, even if it means getting his own butt tailed by the Feds. He covers everything from the bizarre Men In Black to Area 51 and the alleged crashes at Roswell and Bentwaters, and a whole lot of stuff you may never have heard of, but should know about, some courtesy of his underground source known only as "The Sandman."

The story of Paul Bennewitz is most chilling. Paul was a physicist who, in the late 1970's, began digging into Air Force and NSA secret projects, and soon found his life unravelling at the hands of sinister forces bent on preventing him from getting too close to the truth. Other chilling stories include one about an abductee who "came out" of an abduction to see actual humans in black fatigues in her room. They even apologized before they hustled away in their black helicopter!

"On The Trail of the Saucer Spies" is great late-night, page-turning reading that will no doubt have you looking over your shoulder, especially in this day of domestic spying. If you are a UFO buff, all the more reason to read up, and be prepared for anything.
MARIE JONES, Book Reviewer, Curled Up With A Good Book

It would seem fair to say that at least for the last year, Nick Redfern has been the hottest topic around when it comes to UFO related books. Back in June 2005 we had Body Snatchers, the story about what really happened at Roswell, and now we have Saucer Spies, the history of American and British Intelligence agency observation of Ufologists.

Now when you read that last sentence it makes a kind of natural sense. After all, you would think, of course the Intelligence agencies are going to watch Ufologists and they are going to smack them sharply on the nose like a naughty puppy if any of them get too close to any kind of truth.

Except that's not how it was. It seems that the spooks couldn't care less what researchers found out about UFOs, which isn't very nice of them. Their interest it appears was more to do with the concern that some Ufologists might be using an interest in the subject as a cover for less patriotic activities. Like for instance spying for a foreign power, and so on.

And Nick Redfern should know as he himself was watched by the UK's Special Branch for a number of years. You see, Nick kept company with very bad men. Matthew Williams, Matthew Bevan and Robin Cole were all dastardly villains because they too were Ufologists and rather than just sitting lamely back and fiddling with their widgets, they got off their backsides and either broke into restricted government buildings to get answers or hacked into the Pentagon's computer system, or, as in Robin's case, had the temerity to actually write a pamphlet on what the GCHQ (UK equivalent of the NSA) knew about UFOs.

But not satisfied with just consorting with these grave threats to the security of the realm, Nick further compounded his attraction to Special branch by standing outside Porton Down, the UK government's centre for biological warfare research, and noting down the car registration numbers of people driving in and out of the base. Why would a Ufologist want to do that for God's sake? I'm afraid the answer is in the book.

Nick covers Adamski, Newton/Scully/Gebauer, Van Tassel, Albert Bender, Men in Black, the real story behind some alien abductions, APEN - a mysterious group of UK individuals from the political far right, the Berwyn Mountain incident, Jenny Randles meeting with "Robert", animal mutilations, the escapades of Matthew Williams, Matthew Bevan's hacking into the Pentagon, the Provost and Security Services, direct approaches to Ufologists by AFOSI, and much, much more. In particular, Nick has the assistance of a former Special Branch detective who he calls The Sandman who, years after the events described in Nick's book, is quite happy to confirm and clear up and explain what was going on and why.

This is an excellently researched and well written and informative book that casts Ufology in another perspective. It is a perspective that some may feel uncomfortable with but you need to remember that this is a Nick Redfern book and Nick isn't in to tucking us up all safe and snug at night. What this is is a further clarification of the UFO Reality and that reality isn't exactly what a lot of Ufologists currently believe it to be. Prepare to be disturbed.

Nick Redfern has produced a factual recitation of the many and varied agencies who spied on anyone anywhere connected with UFOs. Welcome to a house of mirrors as you read about the FBI attending lectures by 'UFO contactees' that the agency believes are KGB 'plants'. Unless they were CIA 'useful idiots' giving lectures trying to convince the public that 'UFO contactees' were all nutcases. Peer over the shoulder of commonplace people who, after seeing something in the night sky, are visited by agents from parts unknown. Could the MIB have been merely play-acting CIA agents intimidating innocent folk? Even the FBI wasn't sure. The illustrations included in this book of actual de-classified documents makes it abundantly clear that a lot of time and effort went into keeping tabs on anyone, or any group, connected with UFOs. Most often they are heavily censored, with handwriting corrections and notes, but the detail they go into is astounding. Included in all this are the famous, and the unknown, names you'll instantly recognize, and people you've never heard of. The only connecting thread is UFOs. At times gripping, and other times mundane, this a great mixed bag of a book for either UFO believers or sceptics, because it never delves into the question(s) of where the saucers came from, or who flew them, just the government antics that ocurred afterwards ...

If you are looking for a book that is specifically about the "men in black" phenomena, I would suggest not purchasing this. The author goes on and on about specific government agencies that did surveillance on many UFO researchers but fails to connect many of them to MIB or is meeley suggesting that agencies like the CIA and FBI are the MIB. It's probably my fault for not researching the book fully or just reading the title...haha... before purchasing, but I found it ultimately disappointing. This is based solely on the fact that I wanted to learn more about the otherworldly theories about MIB and not how government agencies spied on UFO researchers. Unless you have been living in a cave for your entire life, you already know that the government keeps tabs on anything dealing with national security including UFO's! If this is the topic you wish to learn more about then this book does a good job.

Dallas-based - of all places - Briton Nick Redfern [...], who happens to be an expert on ufo, crypto-zoology, declassified files, and other fringe areas, has compiled a well-structured, compelling volume. To name just a few among the various threads pursued: elusive MIBs; human agency related ufo abduction; the sad fate and downfall of physicist Paul Bennewitz due to having been exposed to USAF cointelpro (Project Beta); FBI surveillance of con-man G. Adamski, who claimed "that Russia would one day dominate the world and that any visiting aliens were most likely communist in nature!" (p. 275); their British counterparts monitoring researchers, such as the author himself, not because of ETs but for rather mundane reasons involving sensitive military locations (Matthew Williams sneaking into the underground system at RAF Rudloe Manor), misconstrued fear of possible connections with extreme-right groups and the IRA, or the Royal Marines - under the guise of tracking down some mysterious big cat in the countryside - keeping an eye on the late princess Diana's liaisons with Major James Hewitt, etc.
The reader can also get wised up on Matthew Bevan's hacking into Hangar 18 computers of AFB Wright-Patterson, who stumbled upon documents pertaining to anti-gravity propulsion system, and his subsequent harassment by authorities on both shores of the Atlantic. A bit less than a decade later, in 2005, his compatriot Gary McKinnon (check him out on the net, if you may) incurred the wrath of similar agencies in what is still an on-going case, I recall, when he revealed to newspaper Guardian having come across "a list of (...) names under the heading of Non-Terrestrial Officers. It doesn't mean little green man. What (...) it means is not Earth-based. I found a list of 'fleet-to-fleet transfers,' and a list of ship names (...) They weren't U.S. Navy ships. What I saw made me believe they have some kind of spaceship, off-planet." (p. 273) Wow! Furthermore, the author utilizes not only a handful of out-of-print, hard-to-get books on the subject but information obtained under FOIA and interviews with investigators, informants et al.

Nick Redfern's "On the Trail of the Saucer Spies" takes a revealing look at the behavior of the British and American governments in relation to their observation of and interaction with prominent figures throughout the history of modern ufology. The book draws upon an excellent and well referenced combination of declassified documents and first hand interview material to shed new light on historically secretive government operations in these areas.

The book is well paced, enjoyable, and exceeds at balancing intrigue and information. The text proceeds roughly chronologically, taking us first to the Federal Bureau of Investigation as it monitors UFO believers in the midst of communist tensions. As the chapters progress, we find ourselves crossing the pond and being introduced to the British analogues of our own American government agencies and facilities, spending significant amounts of time discussing the operations of MI5, RAF Rudloe Manor, and Porton Down, among others. A random sampling of the topics covered as we criss-cross the Atlantic include Project Beta, the sad story of Paul Bennewitz, hacking Hanger 18 and Wright Patterson Air Force Base, the destruction of NICAP, and the long and twisting tale of the organization known as APEN. The book also includes several black and white photographs, as well as duplicated documents intermingled within the chapters.

Part way through the reading we meet the "Sandman" who quickly becomes a linchpin character in the novel. This otherwise nameless figure is supposedly an ex-member of England's Metropolitan Police Special Branch who has chosen (or been chosen) to reveal information regarding the British government's historical "watching of the watchers." Sandman's frequent direct quotations throughout the latter half of the book serve extensively to validate and confirm various theories our author and his associates have put forth based on prior research. The Sandman is truly one of those "too good to be true" types when it comes to his apparently uncanny ability to put the puzzle pieces in place. In fact, he seems to have a hand in just about every European incident Redfern discusses. Regardless, for those readers who manage to suspend paranoia and suspicion long enough, his claims make for some highly engaging and revealing reading.

When it comes to following the UFO phenomenon, straight answers are a virtual impossibility. Everyone chooses their own particular degree of paranoia, and credulity is something often in short supply. The fantastic thing about "Saucer Spies" is that its contents, if they are to be believed, give many answers regarding government activity surrounding UFOs in a spectacularly elegant and cohesive package. First hand accounts are corroborated to the "T" by recently uncovered documents, government informants, and Redfern's "Sandman" contact. Of course, as the author is quick to point out in the closing of the novel, nothing is guaranteed. In the end, we still don't know if some UFOs are extraterrestrial, we don't know who or what some men in black may be, and we certainly don't know just how open and truthful our respective governments are really being. That said, if you can bring yourself to withhold distrust and paranoia long enough to read through these pages, I highly recommend it. Nick Redfern has done the UFO community a great service with this book, which would appear to be as revealing and honest as it is fascinating.

Rating: 5/5

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Matt LaPlante
2/28/2008

Redfern, you are quite the researcher. I think in twenty years UFOlogists will be quoting Nick Redfern on the internet and harping back to the good old days when researchers like him were doing the best work. This was a very interesting read.

Jess

Redfern's latest book is so amazing it's completely mind-blowing. I don't want to give any the truly astounding evidence he has unearthed but let's just say I'll be forever thankful for Redfern's sleuthing skills. I, myself, had a very close encounter with a big, black flat triangle, preceded by spheres of light, each a different color, doing inexpliable manuevers on the horizon. So Redfern had been kind enough to respond to an enquiry I emailed him and he mentioned some evidence to me and then this new book gave the details on what he had mentioned.

Holy cow! Redfern has played a truly crucial role in the conditioning feedback that Jacque Vallee talked about -- how there appears to be this huge psy-op agenda that is increasingly guiding the masses, through mass media, to a deeper level of conspiracy.

Basically a rehash of old news in story format. Nothing new, would not recoment the purchase.