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| Flying Saucers and Science: A Scientist Investigates the Mysteries of UFOs: Interstellar Travel, Crashes, and Government Cover-Ups | 
 enlarge | Author: Stanton T. Friedman
Creators: Dr. Edgar Mitchell, Dr. Bruce Maccabee
Publisher: New Page Books
Category: Book
List Price: $16.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 36447
Media: Paperback
Edition: 0
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 0.7
ISBN: 1601630115
Dewey Decimal Number: 001.942
EAN: 9781601630117
ASIN: 1601630115
Publication Date: June 1, 2008
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Book Description
Flying Saucers and Science is a comprehensive look at the scientific data on the flying saucer phenomenon. Nuclear physicist and lecturer Stanton T. Friedman has distilled more than 40 years of research on UFOs, and shares his work on a wide variety of classified advanced nuclear and space systems. He answers a number of physics questions in layman's terms, and establishes that travel to nearby stars is within reach without violating the laws of physics.
Photographs of little known, far-out advanced propulsion systems, on some of which he worked, are included. Friedman also presents data demonstrating the ability to withstand high accelerations with some surprising results. He clearly shows that government policy on this subject has been to provide false, misleading claims and disinformation, and establishes that the subject truly represents a Cosmic Watergate.
Flying Saucers and Science presents intriguing data from a number of large-scale scientific UFO studies that almost no one, especially the noisy negativists, has discussed in detail. It deals with a host of "why" questions such, as reasons for the cover-up, reasons for aliens to come to Earth, and reasons for not landing on the White House lawn. Friedman unveils the SETI program, and details the antipathy of science-fiction writers to UFOs and other mysteries of the saucer conundrum. False notions about those who believe in the reality of alien visitors and the adequacy of coverage by the journalistic and scientific communities are reviewed.
In this book you'll discover:
*What type of energy and technologies could provide travel *between the stars.
*The most likely locations in the universe where aliens come from. *Why the aliens are here.
*Who believes in the flying saucer phenomenon.
*The government's motives to cover-up.
Readers of Flying Saucers and Science will never feel the same about UFOs again.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
Questions, answers and some gray areas June 12, 2008
24 out of 27 found this review helpful
The enthusiasm Stanton Friedman has for flying saucers comes through clearly in this book. His writing is lively and engaging. He takes no prisoners and skewers without mercy many as he develops his case for the existence and importance of flying saucers.
Stitching together many disparate topics he has investigated over a quite long career, he crafts a story that although not necessarily comprehensive and at times a bit repetitive, proceeds with reasonable continuity and coherence. He marshals the data and makes quite a number of solid points. Saving the best literally for last, his description of the "Majestic 12" documents in chapter 11 makes for some fascinating reading.
The greatest disappointment with Mr. Friedman's book is its complete lack of customary citations and attributions and a weak supporting index to the text. Despite being a tireless fact digger and a professional researcher who knows how a thesis is documented, this important aspect of his work was simply not up to his otherwise high standards. Although I am confident he is not attempting to mislead the reader, this omission is a great disservice to those wishing to assess the accuracy of assertions/interpretations or simply delve a bit deeper into the subject. For one who makes the case (repeatedly) that many of his critics and "debunkers" are uninformed about the facts and often neglect their homework, this is both a baffling oversight and the loss of golden opportunities to educate the public and let us do some homework of our own.
Also puzzling was the lack of a detailed outlining of the evidence in support of his remarkable identification of the zeta 1/2 Reticuli system as the origin for extraterrestrial entities visiting our planet. The star map recalled by Betty Hill is controversial, but virtually no information is provided that would let the reader gauge the relative merits of this hypothesis. Several stars in this constellation other than zeta 1 and 2 and much further away from earth have been noted to have large planets, but this situation was not addressed by Mr. Friedman. About the only tidbit we get is that SETI scanned these stars for a signal and found nothing.
Mr. Friedman works diligently to be factual, but many times it is impossible accept everything on offer. For example, his assertion (page 48) that Operation Morning Light to find and recover the Cosmos 954 satellite remnants after uncontrolled re-entry proved that the US government had access to teams that could immediately go into action and grab all items of interest. Yes, but in this case the government had months of advance notice, knew beforehand when the final hours had arrived and could track that satellite all the way until the end. If there is another Roswell crash that occurs without advance warning, I bet the MUFON team will get there first.
Another assertion that is just too far out appears on page 135, in which Mr. Friedman suggests Earth was a penal colony in which the "bad boys and girls" were left behind to fend for themselves and that explains why humans are so nasty to each other. This conveniently ignores the fact that humans are genetically and biochemically related to the multitudes of other life forms indigenous to Earth. Although maybe along with the bad boys came an entire cadre of convict criminal chimpanzees, gorillas, all other extant primates, lemurs ...etc. By such logic Australia would be one of the most dangerous places in our world by far.
Friedman pounds the SETI program and its major scientists without mercy and unfairly at times. Dismissive of its potential (page 140) and critical of their methods, he questions whether the SETI effort represents real science (page 143). But, although it is certainly valid to question assumptions, the SETI program has established falsifiable hypotheses that ultimately the data they gather may or may not support - the scientific method. For me, the recognition of a true signal by SETI, whether it is 1 or 1,000 light years distant would be an enormous discovery.
And just how concerned should any local civilizations be about this violent planet earth? (page 166). It looks like it will take a while for us to even recognize where our interstellar neighbors reside let alone make trips of many light years duration to menace them with our inferior technology. Hard to believe the word about us has been put out.
This entire field is racked with acrimony and Mr. Friedman is (in my opinion) sometimes too quick to disparage with whom he disagrees or elect to interpret data differently than he as liars. Perhaps relentless criticism has driven him to this, but it detracts from his effort.
An underlying credibility problem with the flying saucer phenomenon is that much of the information comes as personal testimony. Mr. Friedman addresses this issue head-on (page 32) noting that the "entire legal system is based on testimony" that many times cannot be corroborated with objective techniques such as DNA matching. True enough, but in light of the many instances of unreliable witness testimony that have now been uncovered through DNA testing performed under the auspices of the Innocence Project, this issue will continue to plague UFO investigators.
In fairness to Mr. Friedman, this subject area is vast and he is courageous to take it on. Although sometimes straying off course, he is attempting to focus on hard facts, insisting on thorough research to uncover facts and is willing to critique misguided believers and hoaxers. Whatever ultimate truths underlie the UFO phenomenon will be uncovered by such efforts.
 Book of Answers: Skeptics Beware June 4, 2008
15 out of 17 found this review helpful
Simply put: Flying Saucers and Science answers all the big questions pertaining to the subject of Unidentified Flying Objects. If you are skeptical of the subject of UFOs and the hypothesis of extraterrestrial origin, or find the very idea of such visitation to be irrational, this is a book for you.
UFO researcher/lecturer and former Nuclear physicist Stanton Friedman effectively establishes the reality of UFOs by referencing several large scale scientific studies and declassified government documents that point invariably to the likely hypothesis that some UFOs may indeed be extraterrestrial spacecraft. (As hard as that is to believe)
In addition, Mr. Friedman effectively demolishes dismissive arguments put forth by the skeptical community against UFO reality; from well respected scientists, such as the SETI specialists, to famous science fiction writers, such as Isaac Asimov, Ben Bova, and Arthur C. Clarke.
A common argument in Ufology is that you can't get here from there. That travel between stars is simply science fiction. Skeptics often argue:
"The distances between stars are simply too vast for interstellar travel to be a reality."
"The Voyager probe would take 70,000 years to reach the nearest star."
"Energy requirements for such a voyage would be astronomical."
"Even traveling to the nearest star at the speed of light would take more than 4 years." (A common misconception that is addressed)
Friedman thinks otherwise. An entire chapter is devoted to the feasibility of interstellar travel with a strict adherence to the laws of physics. Friedman effectively demonstrates, in layman's terms, that star travel is by no means science fiction, but a very real possibility -- without faster than light travel.
Another common misconception Friedman corrected is that of public opinion. It is often assumed that most people don't believe in UFOs, and most scientists certainly don't believe in them. Friedman shows that statistics garnered through public polls indicate a correlation to belief in UFOs and higher education and uses charts to help illustrate these results. Additionally, Friedman cites a poll taken by Industrial Research and Development Magazine, which was a controlled circulation monthly publication going to about 100,000 people involved in research and development activities, in 1971 and 1979 that shows equally startling results.
As alluded to earlier, a large volume of commonly asked questions are addressed throughout the book. From common technical questions such as, "Why do the flight characteristics of UFOs appear to violate the laws of physics?" (They don't), or "Why don't some UFOs produce a sonic boom while clearly traveling at supersonic speed?", or "How would aliens even find us?" to philosophical questions such as, "Why would alien visitors choose not to make contact?", "Why would aliens come to Earth?", and of course "Why the cover-up?"
If you have a question you need answered, there's a pretty good chance you will find it in this book.
Rounding out Flying Saucers and Science was a wonderful final chapter describing to the apathetic why the study of UFOs matters.
Negatives:
-- Although the bibliography is rather helpful, it would have been even more helpful if each chapter was footnoted. This would make it easier to verify particular statements as you go. However, Friedman does do a good job of providing website links and other references in parentheses as he goes along to help the curious verify claims or investigate further.
-- Very few individual cases are discussed, unlike most UFO books on the market. This may be a huge turn-off to many, so I am making it known right now. Friedman does, however, list several sources upon which you can find a collection of quality cases.
-- Those who have attended Friedman's lectures, read many of his articles, and/or frequented his website may find much of the material to be very familiar. However, Friedman does go into more detail in the book than he would be able to in a lecture (especially in the chapter on interstellar travel), not to mention the various rebuttals. There is little new evidential material here for people who have read much of the UFO literature, but it is still well worth the purchase for reference purposes, in my opinion.
(Despite these minor drawbacks, I did not feel that any were severe enough to warrant the deduction of a star from the overall rating of the book.)
**Highly recommended for the curious layperson (or scientist) as well as the open-minded skeptic. A book that belongs in every library!**
Been waitin' on this one June 20, 2008
11 out of 15 found this review helpful
Friedman is as engaging a writer as he is a "Talking Head". Always interesting and humorous.
His comments on Roswell and its' constantly upgraded (?) explanations are tantalizing to our Science Fiction intellect *and* our rational mind. He goes into much detail and provides some nice, clean photo reproductions of some of the "fallout".
Particularly fascinating are his thoughts on interstellar travel and how noted Scientists can sometimes not see the big picture, by thinking only in terms of conventional propulsion systems.
At times, however, his writing is very difficult to absorb, as his Scientific descriptions will be more understandeable to those who have formally studied these subjects.
He gets into some material covered in his MJ-12 book and provides some very convincing arguments that the relevant "Eyes Only" report/study was indeed not a hoax.
It's refreshing when a real Physicist can say that he's really only interested in that tiny percentage of unexplainable other-worldly phenomena.
Maybe "explainable"?
Right to the point June 5, 2008
6 out of 10 found this review helpful
Mr. Stanton was the first scientist to defy and challenge SETI. Mr. Stanton is an established scientist who worked for major corporations in America in various capacities. His academic and on the job knowledge of science, and his direct rapport with the ufology community gave him an extra edge of deeper insight and privileged information. His current book is the product of such vast expertise. The book is the results of years of research and investigation. It is useful for the scientit, the apprentice and the serious inquirer. Mr. Stanton elaborated on various scientific theories that a priori explain the possibility of interstellar travel to the end of the universe. His arguments are convincing because he based his opinions on scientific facts and data.
A Good Overview June 30, 2008
6 out of 10 found this review helpful
This book assumes the reader is already quite knowledgeable about Roswell/MJ-12 etc. It refers broadly to primary source material such as "project blue book special report #14" that purportedly describes many documented "physical trace" UFO sightings but does not provide specific examples therefrom, which would have been helpful.
Deliciously enjoyed was Friedman's ruthless lampooning of the over-hyped "Cult of SETI" and his analysis of why major news outlets, such as the Washington Post, are content not to treat the UFO topic seriously.
Crop circles and animal mutilation cases are specifically excluded from coverage in this book. While not for the novice, Flying Saucers and Science is a stimulating and informative read. The bibliography is a bit terse, however.
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