4 June 2020

IT'S RAINING UFOS

Jason Gleaves, The Ufology Umbrella: Close Encounters Are Not Enough, Flying Disk Press, 2019.

Using Dr. J. Allen Hynek’s classification system, Jason Gleaves expands it to include four further categories. These are Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind, that feature abductions or out-of-the-body experiences; Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind, mental/telepathic communication with extra-terrestrials; 🔽
Close Encounters of the Sixth Kind, death caused by UFO vehicles or aliens; Close Encounters of the Seventh Kind, sexual intercourse with an extraterrestrial to produce a hybrid being.

Jason admits not everyone agrees with these extra categories and that a variety of sub-headings and add-ons have been put forward to account for every twist and turn of UFO reports and experiences.

The rest of the book loosely looks at cases that fit under the different close encounter categories. He also includes everything from angel hair, men in black, ancient aliens, mutilations and crash cases that you would expect in a UFO book, along with weirder reports of melting PVC tiles in a Polish apartment and my favourite chapter ‘Could Extra-Terrestrial Races be Mining Precious Metals from Volcanoes here on Earth...?’ Quick answer to that is no, if you think otherwise you’ve obviously been brainwashed by the likes of Zecharia Sitchin’s dubious ancient alien theories. As an aside, what happened to sightings of angel hair? They seem to have disappeared from ufology like the car stoppage cases of old. Perhaps the ETs have perfected their propulsion systems to stop shedding angel hair and interfering with internal combustion engines. [Probably to comply with EU regulations - JR]




Photographic evidence and analysis, along with cases involving physical evidence is given plenty of space but their providence is of varying quality. As an example the author devotes a chapter to the Dalnegorsk UFO crash in Eastern Russia that was witnessed by hundreds of people in 1986. Fragments of alloy were found at the site where this spherical object presumably crashed, and it is claimed it was so strong only a diamond cutter could cut into it. If the alloy was so strong how come it fragmented into so many pieces? Most likely it was a meteor or crashed rocket but that would spoil the mystery. Like the rest of the book alternative and more mundane theories are brushed off or ignored completely.

This would be a good introduction to the subject but it is more of a scrapbook that lurches from one topic to another in a confusing fashion. Gleaves obviously thinks the UFO phenomenon is of ET origin, and one of the first chapters tells us about ‘Understanding Space Flight and the Theory of Hyperspace Dimensional Travel.’ He asserts that God and the gods of old are actually flesh and blood humanoids who are on a higher level and can manipulate the real creative forces of the Universe. So they have long perfected light-speed and hyperspace craft to visit our planet and torment us with their magical presence.

Jason mixes physical ‘evidence’ with mysticism. This is underlined by his guide to skywatching at the end of the book, that features handy tips on meditating and coherent thought sequencing, which he explains is ‘sequenced mental visualisation projected after reaching a state of expanded consciousness.’ Bring back Arthur Shuttlewood all is forgiven! – Nigel Watson.

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