UFO DOWN?

Andy Roberts. UFO Down: the Berwyn Mountain UFO Crash. Fortean Words, 2010.-- Reviewed by John Rimmer

This slim volume must be just about the perfect example of how mysteries can be explained by careful study of documentation and careful interviewing of people who were in a position to know what happened, even years after the events themselves.
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HIDDEN REALMS

Jerome Clark. Hidden Realms, Lost Civilizations, and Beings from Other Worlds. Visible Ink, 2010.

In compiling his various encyclopaedias Jerome Clark must have read more UFO and UFO-related books and magazines, and other general weirdness, than anyone on Earth, with the possible exception of Hilary Evans. This latest book is further evidence of that achievement.

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SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALITY

Bernard Haisch. The Purpose-Guided Universe: Believing in Einstein, Darwin, and God. New Page Books. 2010

Although it is written for the general reader, this book is not an easy read. At first glance, it seems to be an attempt to reconcile science and religion, but the author soon makes it clear that most organised religion is part of the problem and that "... the reconciliation of science and spirituality is a different matter. That is not only possible, it is essential".
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DARK FAIRIES

Bob Curran. Dark Fairies, (illustrated by Ian Daniels). Career Press/New Page Books, 2010.

Most people in the contemporary western world have a highly romanticised view of fairies, derived in no small part from Disney schmaltz. Fairyland/Magonia is seen as, to use the famous expression of Jacques Vallee, "a place where gentle folks and graceful fairies dance, and lament the coarse world below." However. as we in Magonia have often argued, and this new book by Ulster folklorist and story teller Dr Bob Curran emphasises, the original fairy beliefs were very different.
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ALIEN CONVERSATIONS

Chris Impey (ed.) Talking About Life: Conversations on Astrobiology, Cambridge University Press, 2010.

This book comprises interviews with 37 people associated with various aspects of the search for extraterrestrial life and intelligence, dealing with topics ranging from the search for life on Mars, the chemistry of various solar system bodies, the development of life and mind on earth, the search for extrasolar planets, and the nature of extraterrestrial intelligence. 

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POWER OF UNREASON

In a posting over on the ufologyinuk discussion group UFO researcher/archivist Isaac Koi points out that ufologists are often quite unaware of the academic literature on conspiracy theories, even though they form such an important part of the ufological narrative.
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