Customer Reviews

UFO Sightings: The Evidence

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

 

 

Robert Sheaffer's "UFO Sightings: The Evidence" has one major flaw: it tends only to look at the evidence which supports Sheaffer's anti-UFO conclusions. Sheaffer is a leading member of CSICOP, a hard-line debunking group. CSICOP was created in the 1970's to fight against "New Age" and "pseudoscientific" beliefs which, it claims, threaten the very existence of civilization. Among other things, CSICOP has complained about adults encouraging children to believe in Santa Claus, and it has publicly criticized the "X-Files" TV series for promoting disbelief in science! According to CSICOP and Sheaffer, one of the major "threats to science" are those people who believe that UFOs might represent something beyond the understanding of mainstream science. Although Sheaffer does do a credible job of proving that some of the UFO sightings in his book have a conventional explanation (such as the famous sighting that future President Jimmy Carter had in Georgia in the late sixties, which Sheaffer convincingly shows to have been Venus), some of his other "explanations" often ignore or twist the evidence to come to the conclusion Sheaffer wants. For example, Sheaffer describes in detail the famous UFO chase in Portage County, Ohio in 1966 in which a respected policeman, Dale Spaur, and his deputy chased an extremely large and bright object across the county and into Pennsylvania before the strange object "flew straight up" and vanished. Sheaffer argues that this UFO was clearly the planet Venus, and even uses a map to show that the path Spaur followed as he chased the UFO was actually the path he would have taken if he were following Venus setting on the eastern horizon. Unfortunately, he leaves out some important testimony which contradicts this claim, among them Spaur's assertion (and his deputy's) that the UFO flew directly overhead while they were standing outside their patrol car, the fact that the object was so bright that it lit up the highway in front of them "like high noon" (Venus certainly isn't that bright!) and that another policeman who observed the object watched the UFO fly directly overhead as he was sitting in his parked car (No star or planet can fly straight over a person's head while they're standing still, be as large as a "barn", or make the loud "humming" sounds that Spaur described). Sheaffer simply ignores this testimony - for the obvious reason that it contradicts his "explanation" of the sighting. And, unfortunately, this happens several times in the book. Sheaffer also has the CSICOP habit of unnecessarily insulting or ridiculing witnesses. He makes several negative comments about Spaur's life after he saw the UFO (Spaur lost his job, began having nightmares about the UFO, and his marriage ended after he violently shook his wife a few weeks after the UFO encounter). Sheaffer seems to be implying that since Spaur has so many personal problems he can't be trusted with his UFO report. What Sheaffer leaves out is that Spaur was a highly respected policeman before the UFO incident, his marriage was stable (his wife said that Spaur "just wasn't the same" after the sighting, which led to the end of the marriage) and that Spaur suffered enormous public ridicule because he had dared to report a UFO (Spaur later said that even if a UFO landed in his backyard he wouldn't report it for fear of ridicule). Even Spaur's boss, the Chief of Police, strongly defended him. And, not even the Air Force's "Project Blue Book" staff, who were notorious for debunking all UFO incidents, ever doubted Spaur's credibility or personal honesty, as Sheaffer does. The main problem I have with this book is that there is a real difference between being a "skeptic" (in which you approach UFOs with an objective open-mind and regard ALL beliefs about UFOs skeptically, including your own) and a "debunker" (in which you approach UFOs with a completely closed mind that examines every case with a prearranged agenda designed to "prove" that every UFO case is explainable, and you simply ignore or twist the actual evidence to prove your point). Bottom line: Sheaffer's "UFO Sightings: The Evidence" is worth reading for the correct explanations he gives to some UFO sightings. But the reader should always double-check Sheaffer's "explanations" for any evidence that has been ommitted or which contradicts Sheaffer's presumably airtight solutions. (I'd recommend reading Jerome Clark's "UFO Encyclopedia" for a more balanced account of the UFO cases which Sheaffer examines). A worthwhile book, but at times a misleading one too.

Reading Robert Sheaffer's barbed skepticism requires a little fortitude, for a subject as controversial as UFOlogy is bound to awaken a faint sympathy for the targets of his criticism. But, this is not a book just slamming the UFO movement out of spite or even a critique of the major players, but an examination of the EVIDENCE that we have been visited by extraterrestrials.

So this book dwells at great length on the facts, not theories, not speculation, but facts that surround some of the best known UFO contacts. And the result? Null, nada, nothing.

The extraordinary claim of extraterrestrial contact should be matched by extraordinary evidence. And the evidence is....anything but extraordinary. Judge for yourself. Covered is the UFO report of a certain Jimmy Carter, as well as the New Zealand UFO contact, Roswell (my word, has that non-story persisted for such a long time!) as well as certain other fairly well known UFO stories. Also covered: close encounters of the fairy kind, the physics of space travel and the fallibility of human perceptions and memories. Like most of us who take a good interest in astronomy, Robert is faintly disappointed that the evidence does not justify the extraordinary claim. Like most skeptics, he tends to be pendantic and to hammer a point home all too heavily.

But the question remains: Are we alone? Robert Sheaffer would say: We just don't know. And the "evidence" present by UFO fanatics today is so poor that you can only call it a religion, faith based on the unreliable and the unprovable.

Definitely worth reading.

Robert Scheaffer is not a proponent of UFOlogy. Instead, he is a skeptic who is trying to point out some of the irrationalities in the beliefs in UFOs and other related phenomenon.

Using different scientific laws and principles, like Occam's Razor, Schaeffer debunks the "proof" of UFOs in our world today. In each chapter, he walks through many of the classic UFO sightings and shows you how all the "facts" don't fit together or are changing as the story gets older.

At first, I read this as a believer who was calling for more rigid investigation so that we can focus our attention on what we believe to be actual unidentified flying objects. As you read, you will see that he feels that the believers, of whom he is not one, should adopt a more rigid standard in their investigations just as science does. In science, open forum is welcomed to search for truth whereas many UFO studies refuse to scrutinized and result to ad hominem attacks to protect their copyrighted property.

Scheaffer does bring in a strong argument. He does have a chapter on witchcraft in the Middle Ages to help support his argument. After reflection, it does help, but it is not immediately apparent in the writing.

If you are a believer or UFOlogist, you will not want to read this book. If you want to take a more balanced view of UFO phenomenon, this should be among the books you read.

When I checked our local library all the books on UFOs had one thing in common: they rejected non-mysterious solutions. Robert Sheaffer is concerned with nothing but the truth and he sets forth an examination of Ufology that looks at the subject's most cherished evidence and finds it wanting. 'Classic' cases are shown to be selectively reported and straightforward explanations are presented in this book. If there really was good evidence Sheaffer would be eager to learn of it and present it. Ufologists need this book to find out how strong the opposition is and the open-minded need it to see the other side from hysterical media hype. A very enjoyable and entertaining read!

While I think it would be fascinating if little green men landed on the white house lawn, and they haven't to my knowledge, all one can do regarding UFO's is sit back and do nothing. So there's really no point to this UFO business even if you are pro or con. If the only thing you wish to accomplish is the further destruction of the rain forest, thus the air you breathe, you can buy a copy of this boring book.

On a serious note, being the ex-UFO buff that I am, I was expecting a far more detailed book from one of ufology's top debunkers. Upon almost finishing this book I asked myself, "is that it"?

Basically, the main (and only) skeptic arguments of this book are that people (1) mistake astronomical objects for UFOs (2) Lie.

Any photographic or video evidence is barely mentioned in this filler-filled book. One short chapter is all that 60 years of pictures are relegated to. However, to be fair to the author, his book would require another 1000 pages if he wished to explain away every ufo sighting. But that's already been done before (the University of Colorado report, aka Condon Report).

The longest and most boring chapters don't even talk about UFOs, instead they talk about "jealous phenomenon" or some such blather. The author was apparently trying to convey the similarity between witchcraft and fairy sightings of yore, against modern ufo sigtings. However he misses the idea that UFOs are rooted in supposed technological phenomena, whereas fairies and witches are purely supernatural.

Here's an analogy of my own. Long ago, primitive man observed the moon in the sky. Having no idea that the world was round, he thought the moon was a ball of cheese flying above or something like that. It wasn't until science progressed enough that he learned it was another planet. The same could be said for UFOs and alien spaceships. (Note that my analogy doesn't require the existence of supernatural beings like witches and elves. UFOs are purely within the realm of technology, albeit highly advanced). I mean, who would've thought there would be the internet or cell phones? Surely not caveman! And caveman might be how we appear to any civilization advanced enough.

I don't really disagree with the author, but I think his writing is very dull - particulary chapters like the one when he lists failed UFO predictions from tabloid magazines. This chapter, and others like it, are the reason why I didn't enjoy the book.

Out of all the skeptical ufo books I've read, the one I recommend the most is "Watch The Skies" by Curtis Peebles. Peebles' book is a lot easier to read than Sheaffer's. Also, James Moseley's book "Shocking Close to the Truth" is a fun skeptic book worth reading.

These kind of guys hang together; they don't want to read the scientists that are considering the paranormal like Charles Tart The End of Materialism: How Evidence of the Paranormal Is Bringing Science and Spirit Together (co-published with the Institute of Noetic Sciences) (Ions / Nhp) , Russell Targ Limitless Mind: A Guide to Remote Viewing and Transformation of Consciousnessand others Mind-Reach: Scientists Look at Psychic Abilities (Studies in Consciousness)and Fundamentals of Quantum Electronics . They are stuck in the 3rd dimensional, materialistic,solely mathematical world view and you cannot learn anything about other dimensional things while being stuck in this one. There is enuf evidence out nowadays by authors like the "Intention Experiment" The Intention Experiment: Using Your Thoughts to Change Your Life and the World to make the average person realize they can choose their reality. The brain has left and right sides and you don't have to use the left side exclusively!!! Read Leslie Kean's latest New York Times bestseller UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go On the Record if you really want to know what all has been going on the past 6o years or so and who's been analyzing it, etc. She is a New York investigative reporter and has done a good job of listing the pioneers and people who've been looking at this topic and trying to tell us what has been going on behind the scenes. .