Flying Saucers and Science: A Scientist Investigates the Mysteries of UFOs: Interstellar Travel, Crashes, and Government Cover-Ups Books
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 Rating: - Superficial and uninformative
Readers looking for a scientific appraisal of the UFO phenomenon or even a coherent overview of the subject should look elsewhere. Friedman's rambling polemic achieves neither objective.

The author spends the first third of this rather slender volume rehashing a number of reports issued decades ago. He presents no new evidence and basically insists that a careful reading of these old documents will prove that some UFOs are alien spacecraft.

The remainder of the book is largely dedicated to claiming a government cover-up and rebutting his critics, many of whom are dead. Ironically, he denounces the critics for making unwarranted assumptions about the motivations of a reputed alien civilization, then proceeds to do exactly the same thing himself. For instance, he suggests that one reason the aliens don't reveal themselves is that they would want little direct contact with beings who spend vast amounts on armaments while permitting 30,000 children to starve to death each day. Moreover, they might avoid landing on the White House lawn because it is in a "no fly" zone and heavily defended.

Apart from its superficial content, the rambling and repetitive text has the feel of a compilation of dictated notes. For example, Friedman informs us at least five times that the stars Zeta 1 and Zeta 2 Reticuli are only 1/8 of a light year apart from each other, and he repeatedly notes that 300,000 documents in the Eisenhower Library are still classified. Numbered points that promise a concise examination of some issue frequently drift into petulant asides or long lists of irrelevant facts. Someone named Kara Reynolds is identified as the book's editor. She must have been on holiday when this book passed muster.

This is a poor effort, especially for someone who has spent a lifetime investigating the subject.

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