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Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind: A Reporter's Notebook on Alien Abduction, UFOs, and the Conference at M.I.T. Paperback – June 1, 1996

by C. D. B. Bryan (Author)

4.4 24 ratings

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Recounts the cases presented at the conference on UFOs held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1992, in which ordinary men and women reported being taken aboard extraterrestrial spacecraft and examined by aliens. Reprint. 20,000 first printing.

Print length

496 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin Books
Publication date

June 1, 1996
Dimensions

5.16 x 0.92 x 7.78 inches
ISBN-10

0140195270
ISBN-13

978-0140195279
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Inspired perhaps by this summer's blockbuster film adaptation of Carl Sagan's Contact, a handful of nonfiction works have been reissued, all of which explore the possibility that we are not alone. C.D.B. Bryan's Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind--an engrossing work written for those skeptical about extraterrestrial visitors--is a compilation of testimonials and interviews about alien abductions. Bryan's sources, interviewed at a five-day academic conference held at M.I.T., include psychiatrists, researchers, science writers, "ufologists," and abductees, including John Mack, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard and author of Abduction: Human Encounters with Aliens. In addition, Close Encounters includes transcripts from hypnotherapy sessions with self-described "abductees." Bryan, journalist and author of Friendly Fire (1976), blends a reporter's objectivity with great compassion for the traumatized victims of these mysterious and horrific violations.

Review

If you read only one book about alien contact, choose this account of a 1992 conference organized by Ivy League academics. A credible, balanced overview. -- Entertainment Weekly

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books; Reprint edition (June 1, 1996)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 496 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0140195270
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0140195279
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.16 x 0.92 x 7.78 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,970,125 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,944 in UFOs (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 24 ratings

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4.4 out of 5

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Joe the Book worm

Good analysis about the subject matter.

Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2023

Verified Purchase

Item received undamaged. Even though, I've barely cracked the book, the author has done extensive research on this subject matter from what I've seen so far. Having known about this subject since the 80's, and familiar with the psychiatrists and other UFO researchers, I'm anxious to stick my teeth deep into this book.

Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2009

That's about all I can say about this book... it's interesting. But it leaves me no more convinced about the varacity, and if anything now I'm somewhat concerned that vulnerable, hurting people may be being misled into believing that past traumas have some sort of paranormal or occult explanation. The last chapter dealing with various theories on the phenomena is the only really worthwhile part of the book.

One person found this helpful

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Ethan H

Great Book On Close Encounters Of The Fourth Kind

Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2013

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I saw several programs on close encounters of the fourth kind, so I decided to purchase a book on the subject. I say the numerous positive reviews that many people left for this certain book, and I made the decision to buy it for myself. It took awfully long for the product to ship to my house, but the purchase was worth it once I began to examine the contents of the book as well as reading the first few pages. I was immediately drawn to the interview with Carol and Alice since they were abtuctees. There intriguing accounts were page turning and I finished with their account before I knew it. I then began to read about the conference that Bryan attended, and was astonished by the information that is contained in this man's notes. I have learned vastly on the subject, and this book is proudly being displayed on my bookshelf at this moment. Great Buy!

4 people found this helpful

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rich keener

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2014

Verified Purchase

very interesting but slow in some parts and reduntant

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timmy

Scared me so much I put it down

Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2014

Verified Purchase

Well I got to about halfway through the book, (which was excellent by the way), and put it down not continuing any further because for what ever reason, it scared the heck out of me. It was for that reason that I did not continue to read the rest of it. It really disturbed me. But if you can get through it and you're not a big baby like me, I think you will love the book. It's probably one of the best in dealing on this subject matter.

5 people found this helpful

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Napersky

Stories of Abductees at the MIT Conference

Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2017

Verified Purchase

The this book is if I remember correctly about the Alien Abduction Conference at MIT. I keep going back in my mind to the stories!

It's wow...better than fiction

One person found this helpful

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Trang Michaels

Bryan modifies his initially skeptical stance and confronts the heart of the matter

Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2010

Yale-educated C. D. B. Bryan was a prize-winning novelist (for "Friendly Fire" in 1976 later made into a successful film), accomplished journalist, professional academic writer and ex-military intelligence officer who died of cancer in December 2009 at age 73. This thoughtful book, published in 1995, is an account of his attendance at the 5-day academic conference on the alien abduction phenomenon held at MIT in the summer of 1992 which was co-chaired by Professor John Mack of Harvard University Medical School and MIT molecular-physics Professor David Pritchard.

10% of the conference attendees were journalists, on the whole a skeptical bunch out for a good story and intrigued by the high-calibre academic credentials of the conference organisers and speakers in this most prestigious of venues (MIT was and is seen as the foremost academic scientific university in the USA if not the world), on this most unusual subject-matter.

Right off the bat in the first chapter, Bryan writes:

"One might expect that a `scientific conference' on such a subject ...ought to be dismissed out of hand...but for the credentials of those chairing it, the site of the conference...and disturbing credibility of the hundreds of individuals who, uncontaminated by exposure to any previous UFO lore or to each other, have so hesitantly, reluctantly, timidly come forward with their utterly incredible accounts of having been abducted and examined by spindly-limbed, 3½ -4½-foot-tall telepathic gray creatures with outsized foreheads dominated by huge, compelling, tear-shaped black eyes...it is in the similarities of these abductees' stories and the consistency of their details that the true mystery lies...as John Mack would ask at the Conference, `if what these abductees say is happening to them isn't happening, then what is?' "

Presenters at the conference included John Mack, David Pritchard, Budd Hopkins, Professor David Jacobs of Temple University, the folklorist and writer Dr. Tom Bullard of Indiana University, Stuart Appelle of NY State University, Jenny Randles, abduction researchers John Carpenter and Yvonne Smith, Professor Mark Rodeghier of the University of Illinois, John Miller and many others. Bryan listens to the presentations, interviews and socialises with researchers and abductees, reads the data and gets to know the subject. From his understandably initial skeptical position, he becomes gradually convinced that this odd phenomenon is something real and important, and starts to pay serious attention.

The book is quite long at 450 pages. A seven-page chapter introducing the conference and the subject matter is followed by a chapter devoted to each of the five days of the conference proceedings, occupying in total the first 200 pages of the book. The second half of the book comprises 13 separate chapters of post-conference interviews and focuses in particular on the long and complex story of two abductees with IDs disguised as "Carol" and "Alice." These two are also known as Beth Collings and Anna Jamerson, who later co-wrote and published a book "Connections" about their multiple and interconnected experiences with this phenomenon and which, for the serious student, is worth reading as an informative (if somewhat paradigm-stretching) contribution to the subject.

This close-up focus on specific individuals and their experiences is of course a standard journalistic device to "personalise" the narrative. Though interesting to a point (some of the details are downright weird, but supported by pretty compelling evidence), Bryan does spend a lot of pages on this case and it must be said the first half of the book makes for better reading.

In the concluding chapter, the author examines "Various Theories" about what the abduction phenomenon might be. He concludes not as a "believer", but convinced there is a real phenomenon here; he admits the academics at the conference are not pursuing delusions and acknowledges their courageous stance about the issue which, at some level, is real and needs to be understood.

Bryan was a thoughtful and intelligent journalist. It is to his credit that such a successful and well-known writer from the mainstream should investigate this subject impartially and thoroughly and devote a great deal of his time to understanding it. CE4 is one of the better (of more than 60 so far published) books on the abduction phenomenon because of the author's analytical and non-partisan approach and his high "mainstream" credentials. It's well written and well organised.

A criticism might be the lack of photos or illustrations: the book is 450 pages of solid text. The original hardcover had a substantial print-run of 50,000 copies excluding overseas printings in a number of languages and you can still find a few brand new copies here and there. It's definitely worth reading.

The full 1992 MIT Conference proceedings were also published in a large, 600-page double-columned volume titled "Alien Discussions" which is hard to find, sought-after and expensive, but well worth investing in if you can find a good copy - and afford it.

10 people found this helpful

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Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind: A Reporter's Notebook on Alien Abduction, UFOs, and the Conference at M.I.T. Paperback – June 1, 1996

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