SCIENCE FICTION SECRETS: From Government Files and the Paranormal (Paperback)

~ Nick Redfern (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

ALL THE INGREDIENTS FOR A HIGH STRANGENESS STEW Mix two parts science fiction with one part high-level government secrecy. Add a liberal helping of the paranormal. Then let Nick Redfern heat and serve. The result is far, far stranger than anything that you could ever begin to imagine. SCIENCE FICTION SECRETS presents some mind-bending answers to a number of highly intriguing and thought-provoking questions, including: -- Did the U.S. Government secretly assist Steven Spielberg in the production of his groundbreaking science fiction movies "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial"? -- Why were special agents of the FBI so deeply interested in the life, career, and activities of science fiction author Philip K. Dick (of "Blade Runner" fame)? -- How did "The X-Files" spin-off series "The Lone Gunmen" anticipate months in advance the terrible tragedy of 9-11? -- Why was the top brass of the U.S. Air Force so secretly interested in, and concerned by, the UFO-related tales of a relatively anonymous 1950s science fiction movie-maker who died in poverty in the early 1980s? -- Did a nightmarish scenario presented in one of H.G. Wells' novels prompt Soviet Premier Josef Stalin to clandestinely embark upon a secret and diabolical experiment designed to create a super race of monstrous, half-human half-ape soldiers? -- Has the military managed to successfully perfect human teleportation of the type that was most graphically and famously shown in "Star Trek" and "The Fly"?

Product Details

• Paperback: 266 pages
• Publisher: Anomalist Books (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933665408
• ISBN-13: 978-1933665405
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #223,394 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Science Fiction Secrets that will Short-circuit Your Mind, October 17, 2009

By	Micah A. Hanks "Micah A. Hanks" (NC, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have to start by saying how immensely I enjoyed this book. Having skipped out of town for a "last ditch" retreat to the Isle of Palms off the coast of sunny South Carolina, I enjoyed this book in between jogs on the beach and the occasional swim. Cuba Libre' and cigar in hand, I lounged by the pool under a palm tree as I enjoyed this page-turner; and let me be frank, there's no better way to describe this book.

Nick Redfern's Science Fiction Secrets From Government Files and the Paranormal is one of my favorite new offerings from Britain's finest Gonzo journalist of paranormalia. From strange FBI tales involving the apparent paranoia of Sci-Fi writers like Phillip K. Dick, to weird parallels he draws between the terrorist attacks of 9-11 and television programs that predicted the disaster before it happened, this book is a mind bender in the first degree, and will leave you wondering how soon Anomalist Books will be asking for "round two."

One of my favorite chapters deals with Ray Palmer, a fascinating little dwarf who published the Sci-Fi pulp magazine Amazing Stories back in the late '30s and into the '40's. Palmer was perhaps known best for his publication of the long running and controversial "Shaver Mystery" stories, based on accounts (allegedly true in some capacity) related by a machine welder turned "psychic" named Richard S. Shaver. Palmer's support of the truth of Shaver's stories, which dealt with notions that the world is controlled subversively by wicket, inbred inhabitants of the hollow earth called Deros, was controversial in the science fiction community. Many felt Palmer published the stories because of the literal "shock value", although readers soon flooded the mailbox of Amazing Stories after the initial publication of Shaver's offerings, spinning their own yarns of assault and capture by real-life Deros from underground worlds.

Redfern brilliantly unveils a variety of parallels regarding Palmer's involvement in lapsing the realms of Sci Fi and reality, as well as the likes of Issac Assimov, and Arthur C. Clark. Rocket scientist Jack Parsons comes into question, as well as the infamous Roswell UFO crash of 1947. The old adage "truth is stranger than fiction" comes to mind often when reading this gem, and if you ever doubted it, this will be the manuscript that will finally change that perception. Read it, enjoy it, and be prepared to never see the world around you quite the same way you once did.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed bag, October 10, 2009

By	hanyi ishtouk (Budapest, Hungary) - See all my reviews

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of rehashed materials (1) and more or less well-known topics being reconsidered (2). The former (1) includes themes like the Ray Palmer - Kenneth Arnold - Fred Crisman (of Maury Island UFO and JFK assassination fame) triangle; L. Ron Hubbard - Jack Parsons - A. Crowley (oddly enough, the author has nothing to say about the alleged Mossad infiltration/takeover of the Church of Scientology); pgs. 132-3: a classroom study of A. Huxley's "Brave New World" which drew the attention of the FBI (quite unfairly to the reader, the writer fails to mention the fact that he has copied an entire passage from a pretty recent book of his, entitled "Celebrity Secrets," pp. 229-30, 2007); the authenticity of the "Report from the Iron Mountain," whose authorship N. Redfern attributes to some leftie gatekeepers with too much time on their hands; President Reagan's speeches -- in cahoots w/ his fellow puppet buddy, Soviet Premier Gorbachev -- concerning a possible alien threat that would unite mankind...under the NWO banner, I reckon; et cetera.

From the other group of articles (2) we can learn about: the Navy's narrative regarding the Philadelphia experiment; the Rendelsham Forrest incident of 1980 that might have involved the USAF testing ball-lightning for military purpose; Project A119 from the late 1950s which was about detonating a nuclear bomb on the dark side of the Moon (as a reminder, NASA's Luna-colliding probe has been scheduled to impact on 9 October, 2009); the Serpo documents and their ties to a British-born female intel agent, in all likelihood, working for the CIA.

While the author alludes to the possibility of the SF genre being used as a tool to influence public perception, he steers clear of delving into the issue of predictive programming and/or 'revelation of the method,' whatever that might be. A minor correction with respect to Philip K. Dick's year of birth: it's 1928, not 1938 (p. 161), a fact that Mr. Redfern is well aware of, since he writes (p. 168) PKD "died of a stroke in 1982 at the age of fifty-three" (54?) -- it should be chalked up to a momentary lapse of attention, I suppose.