UFOs, Chemtrails, and Aliens

What Science Says

De: Donald R. Prothero, Timothy D. Callahan

Narrado por: Gary Roelofs

UFOs. Aliens. Strange crop circles. Giant figures scratched in the desert surface along the coast of Peru. The amazing alignment of the pyramids. Strange lines of clouds in the sky. The paranormal is alive and well in the American cultural landscape. In UFOs, Chemtrails, and Aliens, Donald R. Prothero and Tim Callahan explore why such demonstrably false beliefs thrive despite decades of education and scientific debunking. Employing the ground rules of science and the standards of scientific evidence, Prothero and Callahan discuss a wide range of topics including the reliability of eyewitness testimony, psychological research into why people want to believe in aliens and UFOs, and the role conspiratorial thinking plays in UFO culture. They examine a variety of UFO sightings and describe the standards of evidence used to determine whether UFOs are actual alien spacecraft. Finally, they consider our views of aliens and the strong cultural signals that provide the shapes and behaviors of these beings.

While their approach is firmly based in science, Prothero and Callahan also share their personal experiences of Area 51, Roswell, and other legendary sites, creating a narrative that is sure to engross both skeptics and believers.

©2017 Donald R. Prothero, Timothy D. Callahan (P)2019 Redwood Audiobooks

Good book

Good book. Introduces much material on the debunking of popular UFO and Ancient Alien myths. I’m not a believer, but I can detect a little bias in the authors tone. References to “space aliens” through out the book is a definite dig at people who claim to have seen ETs. A lot of material is repeated and the author did not speculate much on advanced technology that ETs may posses that enables their presence on Earth. In the chapter where he talks about interstellar travel he did claims “vast distances” make it nearly impossible for advanced civilizations to visit earth. This assumes FTL travel is impossible or that ETs might be extra-dimensional. Also, the parts on evolution and how “space aliens” would never produce beings that looks similar to humans. This negates the idea that we may be related on an evolutionary scale to various alien civilizations. He also negates the fact that advanced civilizations may have cloaking devices that make detecting them nearly impossible. Like I said, I’m not a believer but I’m being skeptical of the skeptics for discounting technologies that may exist.

Skeptical and entertaining

There are a lot of paranormal books on audible, I find the topic fascinating, but I'm not a fan of credulous speculation. This is a great study of the popular UFO legends from a much more rational point of view than often put forward.

I liked it

I liked it. It was a great job all around, but I particularly enjoyed the detailed debunking of the ancient aliens people. Good job.