Unconventional Flying Objects: A Scientific Analysis (Paperback)

by Paul R. Hill (Author), Robert M. Wood (Foreword) "Physical evidence exists that UFOs are real, solid, massive, machine-like vehicles, as evidenced, for example, by their retractable landing gear and the deep impressions made..." (more)
Key Phrases: propulsive field, saucer hum, bow shockwave, The Whole Story, Air Force, Flying Saucers (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Here is a book to intrigue both non-technical and more mechanically inclined UFO enthusiasts. Without making a case for the origins of UFOs, Hill argues that their functionality is feasible by applying established principles of physics to existing reports in which an amazingly consistent UFO behavior has been described. In language which is technically sound, but not so advanced that the layman could not understand, Hill works out several possible propulsion systems for these mysterious craft.

Review
"Paul Hill has done a masterful job ferreting out the basic science and technology behind the elusive UFO characteristics . . . Perhaps this book will help bring solid consideration for making all that is known about extraterrestrial craft publicly available." --Edgar Mitchell, Sc.D., Apollo 14 Astronaut

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Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing; 1st edition (December 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571740279
• ISBN-13: 978-1571740274
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #178,172 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique, and mandatory if you're interested in UFOs, September 13, 2002

By A Customer

This book doesn't really need another 5 star review. But it deserves one, so here I go. This book is utterly unique within the UFO literature in that it is the only pro-UFO book that actually does the math. The late author was a NASA engineer who saw enough evidence for UFOs (including personal observations) to take their existence as a given. So the books spends little time arguing for their reality but simply goes on to ask, "Okay, how do they work?" He makes a convincing case that the observed motion of UFOs, their lack of a sonic boom, and the fact that they experience bullet like accelerations without crushing their occupants, can all be explained in a parsimonious fashion if you assume one thing -- that they utilize a focused repulsive force that acts against all (not just charged) matter, i.e., some sort of "anti-gravity". He also shows that the observed color changes are consistent with the assumption that creating this force creates a plasma as a side effect.

Now it must be said that the author gives no convincing explanation of *how* such a repulsive force can be generated. And, contrary to what one review here says, scientists have not discovered any "fifth force" that is capable of creating anything equivalent to anti-gravity. It is the $64 billion question how such a force could be generated -- nothing in contemporary physics suggests it could be a practical possibility. For a hard core skeptic I suppose that's sufficient reason to ditch the whole book. But I can hardly criticize a NASA engineer for failing to discover some physical principal that has eluded Einstein, Bohr, Schroedinger, Dirac, Feynman, Weinberg, Witten, or brainiac-of-your-choice. The important thing about this book is that it shows that UFOs don't involve half a dozen inexplicable phenomena, rather the mysteries can be reduced to *one* inexplicable phenomenon. And since aliens might have evolved a million or 100 million years before ourselves, they've had plenty of time to discover some physics we don't know about. After all, the read head on my hard drive uses quantum mechanical phenomena that would have baffled the brightest minds of only 120 years ago.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Historical data is proven valuable yet again., July 26, 1999

By A Customer

Consider that many paleontologists find that the best place to go fossil hunting is in a museum. The reason is of course, that many field collectors from the past have stored incredible fossil finds in museum archives, while having little or no time to evaluate the data and draw conclusions. What could this possibly have to do with Paul Hill's fabulous book? Mr. Hill did what real sceintists should do...he sorted through historical UFO data (including his own sighting) and looked for mechanisms and the patterns inherent to that data. By applying his own form of "back engineering" to these UFO cases, he sought to determine the power source(s), electromagnetic byproducts of those sources and other important aerodynamic components intrinsic to UFO flight characteristics. The results of his back engineering provide incredible information from "seemingly" insignificant details, much in the same way that Sherlock Holmes deduced Watsons' whereabouts by the mud on his shoes. Other physical scientists take note: All that UFO researches have asked of you for years was to look at the data, much as the late Dr. Hynek suggested. Finally, Paul Hill has done it. I know there are other scientists (personally) who are continuing to investigate using the same stringent scientific methods used by Paul Hill. I applaud you, as do all meaningful UFO researchers. For Mr. Hill, I would say that it was too bad the climate of yellow journalism did not allow the release of this important work before his death. The press in this country is veneer. But, over time, veneer peels up to reveal the oak. Take heed, read Unconventional Flying Objects. Think.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just In Case, December 1, 1999

By A Customer

Paul Hill spent almost his entire career with NASA directing research projects. His credentials are impressive. NASA's official stance on UFOs was, "They don't exist." Hill says he saw one, reported it to his then boss, and was told to forget it and do his job. He did the latter but not the former. His book, written after he retired, reviews well-documented and investigated events from around the world. Since many of the people reporting the events are not hillbillys or crackpots but credible professionals, his approach is, "Assuming that these people are not loonies but are telling the truth about what they saw, how could these phenomena be explained using our present level of scientific knowledge?"

He takes one event at a time, and examining the reports and hard evidence where it exists, eliminates various suggested explanations if they don't fit. He doesn't answer all the possible questions that one can pose, but he does conclude that nothing the objects do violates any of our accepted scientific principles or the laws of physics. The propulsion system that he says fills the bill is a "focused force field". Although we admittedly haven't the foggiest notion of how to develop a focused force field, the scientific principle is sound. Gravity is a force field. We have electrical and magnetic force fields.

Hill also delves into advanced--but accepted--theoretical physics to explain how interstellar travel would be possible without exceeding the speed of light. The bulk of the book is written for a lay audience. Any normally intelligent, reasonably well educated person can follow it. He includes several appendices, however, which are crammed with mathematics far too arcane for me to digest.

It's a fascinating book, light enough to be enjoyed, but too heavy to skim. In the way that some people go to church "just in case", this work should be read, "just in case". I heartily recommend it.