Customer Reviews

Watch the Skies!: A Chronicle of the Flying Saucer Myth

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
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"Watch the Skies" is simply one of the best books by a UFO skeptic that I've read. Unlike debunkers such as Philip Klass and Robert Sheaffer, who unnecessarily ridicule witnesses and often ignore evidence which contradicts their "explanations" (which, of course, is a failing of many "believers" as well) Peebles is fair to both sides. What makes this book especially appealing, to believer and skeptic alike, is that it is one of the few "historical" works on UFOs - it treats UFOs as a historical phenomenon and not simply a random series of sightings and photographs. The only other book to do this, to my knowledge, is David Jacob's "The UFO Controversy in America" which was published a quarter-century ago. My only complaint with this book is that Peebles' "explanations" for most UFO sightings lack depth and often are of the "armchair investigator" variety. Anyone who has read a great deal about the sightings he describes will find plenty to argue with. However, as a synopsis of the skeptic's viewpoint (that all UFO sightings can be explained as weather balloons, birds, mirages, stars, ball lightning, and, failing all else, hoaxes), this book is as about as good as it gets. Recommended.

Peebles' book is a refreshing alternative to the fevered productions of the UFO industry. He brings historical research and a healthy skepticism to a field overgrown with mass-market pop-culture faith and credulity. His "rational" explanations are sometimes pat and unconvincing, or he doesn't offer any. But of course this book will never sell as well as the alienist popular media, because the alien myth is so entertaining and for some, religiously fulfilling. As Peeble amply documents, belief in the alien origins of UFOs is a matter of faith, and a product of the human hunger for transcendence.

Peebles is one of the few UFO authors who gives and suggests scientific and anecdotal explanations to the major events in the UFO world that have infiltrated into pop culture and the UFO religion as a whole. This is the only book that gives the full explanation and circumstances surrounding many famous UFO events, not just the part or version of the whole story that supports the suggestion that alien spacecraft and beings are among us. Although not written using strict scientific method, Peebles' book nonetheless debunks many popular UFO stories by merely providing information related to those events that always seems to be forgotten by many hardcore UFO followers. An excellent and thought-provoking read, also very well resarched and reasoned.

Curtis Peebles is a noted aviation journalist and historian. In "Watch the Skies" he presents one of the best historical accounts of the UFO phenomenon that I've ever read. The book begins in 1946 with the sighting of mysterious "Ghost Rockets" over Northern Europe and then follows the creation of what Peebles calls the "Flying Saucer Myth" in the USA. In June 1947 a successful businessman and private pilot named Kenneth Arnold spotted nine strange "flying disks" speeding over Mt. Rainier in Washington State. A baffled Arnold clocked the object's speed at over 1200 MPH - far faster than any human aircraft could fly at the time. His story made headlines around the nation, and soon the "flying saucer era" was born. Peebles methodically traces the UFO phenomenon from the "glory days" of the forties and early fifties - a period when even the US military thought there might be something to the UFO mystery and took it seriously - to what he calls the "darker myths" of the modern era, with its emphasis on alien abductions, government coverups and conspiracies, and the like. A confirmed UFO skeptic, Peebles at least states he's a skeptic at the beginning of the book, and unlike many UFO debunkers (such as Philip Klass, Robert Sheaffer, and other CSICOP-style critics), he is fair and sympathetic to UFO witnesses and UFO researchers. However, he does tend to explain away many baffling sightings and incidents without looking at all the evidence (like many UFO skeptics, he sometimes falls into the "armchair investigator", or "toilet-seat thinker" categories). Peebles believes that just as witches and fairies represented the "myths" of earlier historical eras, so UFOs are a "modern myth", and he treats the UFO phenomenon as a present-day "mythology-in-progress". Peebles covers all aspects of the UFO mystery over the past 56 years: the most famous UFO cases, the government investigations and coverups, UFO crashes (such as Roswell), the efforts of leading "ufologists" and UFO research groups to gain recognition and respectability, the leading debunkers, the "contactees" and other con artists who have tried to get money and publicity from the UFO phenomenon, the growth of the alien abduction and cattle mutilation mysteries, etc. As someone who has read many UFO books (both pro-and-con), I believe that "Watch the Skies" is one of the best books on the subject that I've ever read. If you're interested in the history of UFO sightings and cases, but are wary of reading books with dubious stories of alien abductions, cattle mutilations, "contactees", and the like, then this book will be a delight. It's serious-minded, well-written, and (mostly) well-researched - albeit from a very skeptical point of view. Recommended!

Is Peebles a government stooge? Is this book an attempt at disinformation to throw of the scent? If you believe that, you'll believe anything.

Apparently some people do.

This book is a fine attempt to show how the crackpot theories and people gain prominence through fraud, misunderstanding, or desperately wanting to believe that something other than us is out there. Sceptics will love it, believers will hate it, but only because they are shown to be the fools that they are. Peebles shows that there is no proof of UFOs, EBEs or secret governments. The UFO industry has too much invested for people to believe in anything else.

Forgive me for being brief, but if you have only one book on UFOs, this should be it. A through examination of the history of UFOs.

Like many debunkers, this book is highly selective in case material, presenting those which favor the skeptical argument, while ignoring much of the evidence that cannot be convincingly explained away. Like other reviewers, I found that he merely skimmed the surface of such cases. Overall, this book adds little of value to the debate.

This book is a very well written history of the UFO in American society. Not only does it document the history of the UFO subculture itself, it also documents the relationship of that subculture with the broader American community. The UFO idea at various times commanded the attention of the military, intelligence, scientific, political, and entertainment complexes of the United States.

All the famous and not so famous personalities which shaped this subculture over the decades are present - Palmer, Keyhoe, Adamski, Hynek, MacDonald, and others. Of course, the various important sightings are all there - the 1947 "classics" (no, not Roswell), the "invasion" of Washington, the Hill "adduction", etc.

Author Peebles makes it clear from the start that he is skeptical of the reality of UFOs. Some might be put off by this. But this is a book about the development of the phenomenon itself. The objective reality of any sighting is secondary here. Only the effect on the course of the UFO movement is important.

The book is well documented. And I encourage any reader to skim the notes at the back. There are any number of interesting nuggets there.

The only downside to the book is that it is somewhat dated. Being published in 1994 the developments of the last 15 years are not included.

With that caveat, I cannot recommend this book, whether to skeptic or believer, highly enough.

The book has some good history and background information, but as a pro-explorationist, I found it was not well-reasoned skepticism.

Although Curtis Peebles takes the view that the UFO phenomenon is mostly due to the "power of suggestion," he fails to convincingly show the psychology behind this. He also fails to deal with the statistics of witness responses, picking mostly anecdotes and cases that back his belief. Anecdotes, as you know, can be custom selected to prove or disprove anything.

How educated, experienced witnesses who can land planes safely and cross busy intersections be so influenced by "the power of suggestion" is quite amazing to many in the public. Many want proof that this is actually what is going on in good UFO cases before they drop their natural curiosity; but Peebles does not provide these answers, only pet theories that lean toward Freud.

Peebles also seems to place the burden of proof on the witnesses. The real question is whether the subject deserves more exploration. Exploration comes before proof, not after. This is a common fallacy of many skeptics, including Peebles.

A common theme that Peebles unintentionally documents is that the urge to protect reputation and prestige appears to be much more powerful and better documented than any "power of suggestion" to see saucers. The internal politics generated by the UFO controversy is one of the few delights of this book, although it is slanted by Peebles' admitted skepticism.

I also found it annoying how Peebles lumps respectable witnesses into the same category as the nutballs and con artists. Nutballs exist in ALL professions and topics; why use them to only pick on UFO research?

Peebles is a good fact collector, but supplies no scientific tools to weigh these facts. If you are looking for raw facts, you may find this work useful. If you want to understand an amazing mystery, Peebles will not help.

[review of paperback version]