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21 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
May the (black sun) force be with you, June 30, 2004
By A Customer
"Hitler's Flying Saucers" is probably one of the best books written on the subject. It's well up-to-date, packed with a good ammount of technical information, including numerous illustrations and photographs. Contributions range from austrian industrial musician Kadmon to the nazi-era scientists.
A-must-read for anyone who is interested in the secret weapons and technology of the 3rd Reich.
"The Black Sun is the most powerful force yet observed in our universe."
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10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Why not man-made flying saucers?, January 30, 2007
The National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC has in its collection an aircraft that is unique even beyond the so-called normal specialties of this famed treasure house of aviation artifacts. The Horten Ho-IX (often erroneously called Gotha Go 229 or even Ho 229 due to the identity of the chosen manufacturer of the aircraft; that being different than its designer) was a late-World War II prototype flying wing fighter/bomber, designed by Reimar and Walter Horten and built by Gothaer Waggonfabrik.
This flight-test version was nearing completion at the end of the Second World War. A team of aircraft intelligence experts brought the craft back to the United States where it was determined that some 15,000 man-hours of work would be needed to bring the craft to flying capability.
...to flying capability. Note that no one said the design would not work.
Move forward a few years to the Northrup YB-35 and YB-49 developmental flying wing bombers of the late 1940s and early 1950s, then leap ahead to the Northrup B-2 Spirit. This flying wing stealth bomber is simply a larger (admittedly more sophisticated) limited mass-production version of the 1945 Horten craft.
It is clear that the lead in jet aircraft in the Second World War by the Germans was likely not a fluke. Many other progarms were underway in all asepcts of military avionics and weapons resarrch and development. Thus, one must conjecture: is it possible that - amidst the R&D programs that spawned operational jet fightsers and bombers, infra-red fuses, cruise and ballistic missiles - a program was successful in harnessing unusual (but not impossible) technolgies for powering saucer-shaped aircraft?
Author Henry Stevens claims this to be the case and provides an enormous amount of information to validate his conclusion in Hitler's Flying Saucers: A Guide to German Flying Discs of the Second World War.
Stevens begins with a detailed investigation of the rumors and facts surrounding a multitude of incidents late in the Second World War in which Allied aircraft were approached by devices that were clearly unfamiliar to conventional aviations paradigms. While beginning from a "where there is smoke, there is fire," the author then begins to lay out his hypothesis with information relating to power plant development from the admitedly obscure and esoteric position of a agriculturalist interested in the potential as a power source of swirling water. This is followed with an analysis of the mutliple saucer design projects extant in Germany during the Second World War that ranged from small anti-aircraft weapons to manned versions that would supplant the already highly advanced jet aircraft designs like the Ju-287, He162, Ar-234 and Me-163!
Nor is this volume limited to mere narrative text. It also contains numerous images of documents, design plans and photographs that compell the reader to suspend his/her reliance on the implied truth and step into a bold and invigorating discourse on what is possible!
Henry Stevens should be commended for his efforts to present this information to the general public. On the other hand, when he and Joseph Farrell - an author of volumes quite similar to this - go off on linking all this to conspiracies that include killing JFK and covering up moon landings made prior to July 1969, you have to come away with the the feeling these these folks are really troubled minds.
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38 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Most complete distillation of the Nazi Flying Saucer legend, February 13, 2003
Poor grammar, many spelling errors, and a type face that looks like it came off an ancient IBM Selectric typewriter, and that is BEFORE you actually begin reading the material. The rest of the book is about how the Nazis built amazing saucer-shaped aircraft propelled by exotic power-plants based on obscure principles (except for "suction" or boundary layer control). He backs up the story with excerpts from ancient and deservedly obscure books like Lusar's German Secret Weapons of the Second World War II or Zundel's "UFOs: Nazi Secret Weapons?" All of this must be true because so many people say it is, right? Actually Mr. Stevens does a pretty good summing up and combining all the stories and legends and even adds a few new pictures. That is why he got 3 stars. Too bad the editing is so crummy. So why did a skeptic buy it? RPG material, believe it or not: NOW is the time to strike against the Antarctic Space Nazis and their masters, the evil Vril Lords from within the Hollow Earth! Nazis, dinosaurs, magic ("psionics"), and squared-jawed heroes with Tommy-guns: can you say fun? If you are really serious about this, get the Hunt for Zero Point by Nick Cook. Otherwise, this is probably the most complete distillation of the Nazi Flying Saucer legend.
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