UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record

I disagree with the first reviewer, but it may be based on that reviewer's ongoing level of interest. I am interested in the subject from all the way back in my pre-teen years, but don't read every bit of new literature. So for me the book was very informative and well written.

On the negative side, I had to work to keep my attention on the audiobook. I found myself being put to sleep by the narration. That aside, I'd still recommend.

I'm one of those people who believe that 99.999% of all 'UFO' sightings are easily explainable as natural phenomena, hoaxes, schizophrenia, or misidentified aircraft. However, there is that .001% that defies explanation...

This book approaches the subject of UFO's in that same light, using ONLY the most credible reports from people who have nothing to gain.

Leslie Kean takes an investigative journalist's approach to the UFO phenomenon as it has presented itself over the past 50-60 years. You will NOT find accounts of alien abduction, mind control or anal probes here. Rather, Kean focuses exclusively on documented accounts and supporting evidence from the most reliable sources--as the title states, "generals, pilots and government officials," all identified by name, title and experience. She rejects the automatic conflation of the UFO phenomenon with extraterrestrials, but does not rule out the possibility as a potential explanation for the fact of the existence of UFOs--remember, all the acronym means is that such objects are unidentified.

She presents a cogent case for the focused, open investigation of such entities in the U.S. (as apparently is the case in countries such as France and Brazil) in order to investigate what should be investigated and to cull out the more outlandish tales. By allowing the latter to discredit the former only leads to citizens being suspicious of their government and encourages the burgeoning fantasies that that surround the topic today.

My only criticism is that the book has a rather redundant format--first, Kean tells you what the primary source will say and then presents the source's statement, a format which may work better in print. Nevertheless, it's quite an informative listen--especially for those of us who are generally skeptical but still are reluctant to the dismiss ALL UFO reports as resulting from mistake, mass hysteria, fraud or delusional behavior

If you are not aware of the history of UFO and its beginings, this book is excellent for you. If your'e a UFO follower as I am, this book is redundant in its information. UFO followers this book is not for you, Its a definitive repeat -in which most of this can be read or seen on YOUTUBE, it is very well written filled with lots of information and excellent in its research, she did her home work, this is for the lay person. Well it was good listening and I was more drawn into this information and the reality of our New reality....we are, and have been, and are being visited....a fact that cannot be denied. And I like to add I witnessed a UFO in 10/2004. I am a believer.........

This one is for the reader who wants documentation and verification of reports with names, dates and specifics. It's not a "story" book at all, but an excellent recounting of reports submitted by notable people, verified and testified to by other people involved in the incidents at the time. Ms. Kean is a thorough research reporter and leaves little doubt that we should not be so quick to dismiss odd occurrences simply because they are inexplicable. If I recall correctly, most of the witnesses simply indicate they do not know and cannot explain what it was they saw or experienced, only that the reported incidents did occur and were inexplicable by our current state of knowledge.

Not light reading, but well worth the time spent doing so.

I did not read the print version so I have no idea if it is better than the print version.

The author presented convincing cases of evidence that there is something flying around in our atmosphere that we have yet to identify. There is also substantial evidence to show that the US government is one of the least responsive governments in the world when it comes to UFO's. The majority of the book came off as an unbiased presentation of information. However, the last few chapters heavily leaned towards the belief that there are UFO's out there that are not of this planet, which there is no evidence of as presented in this book. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone interested in the subject. The author clearly has done decades of research before writing the book and it is well worth listening to.

The narrator was hard to follow at times during some of the interviews because there was no change in tone, pitch or tamber for the different persons quoted in the book.

There is sooo much garbage out there on the topic of UFO's, written by nutty ufologists or by arrogant debunkers. It was nice to get a book that looked at the subject from a logical, reasonable perspective. Credible witnesses presented with thoughtful analysis by the author, and no nutty claims one way or the other.

I really enjoyed the account of the Iranian Air Force pilot who played cat and mouse with a UFO back in the 70's (Iran was a close friend of the US back then). And I especially enjoyed the thoughtful analysis of our government's position on UFO's by two respected university political science professors.

Keep your mind open. Listen, like a juror would listen to testimony. You make the call. This is a book for peoplke who like to think through things, not make knee-jerk reactions based upon a mind that is already made up.

The most credible account of UFOs that I have ever read...

I wish there were more books like this one.

Like many people, I have an interest in UFOs, SETI etc. but have steered clear of books on the subject for many years because because most exhibit the less-than-objective hallmarks of authors who have clearly 'swallowed the red pill' (to quote the Matrix) and surrendered their credibility to the world of conspiracy theorists.

Kean's refreshing work documents several incidents that aren't widely known and, most interesting to me, discusses the surprisingly extensive investigations that nations other than the U.S. have conducted into various sightings. Her sources are, for the most part, identified by name and possess good credentials; much of the book is actually their verbatim testimonials rather than Kean's editorial. Most reports and discussion were precise and specific, with counter arguments considered and rebutted.

I don't think that every argument was rock solid but, generally speaking, the quality was far better than any other book or documentary that I'm aware of. As a military pilot, I can say that she does a pretty good job of representing the technical aspects of many reports, though she does seem to be rather easily impressed by the "Top Secret" security clearance credentials that at least one of her interviewees possessed (these clearances are so common as to be almost taken for granted among Air Force pilots and in certain other military career fields as well).

I'm not going to completely revise my worldview based on this book, but I would say that it re-opened my eyes to the subject of UFOs to the point that I'll at least critically evaluate such reports rather than casually dismissing them as conspiracy babble.

Regarding the narration: rather than the simple expedient of using two narrators, a female and a male, to read the author's discussion and the eyewitness reports respectively, the producers employed a single, relatively monotone female voice. As a result, it's often quite difficult to distinguish between the author's discussion and the eyewitness narratives, to the point that it actually does detract from one's comprehension of the book.

I place this book (The hard copy) high on my list of books I would recommend to a friend.

I found Leslie’s work to be a truly objective piece of journalism. She presents accurate information from credible sources and stays on topic. Fanciful tales of alien abduction, little gray men and unfortunate farm animals are left at east gate where they belong.

I would absolutely not recommend Heather Henderson as a narrator for any book. I found that I was forcing myself to listen to her through out the performance. Her voice seems to have no character and any feeling or emotion felt forced and fake. Only my interest in the topic at hand allowed me to make it through the entire book. This did not make for a pleasant listening experience. I am very grateful her voice is not used for aircraft aural warning systems. I have no doubt that flight crews would surely tune it out.

This subject can be discussed seriously and remain fascinating, with out the input of gold diggers and fame seekers.

Best Book so far on the subject. For any one truly interested in the topic I would recommend this book, but be warned the narrator takes some of the fun out of it.
For the great work Leslie, thank you. Thanks also to Audible for presenting this work. Sorry about he narration.