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Summary: Awaking from "Single vision and Newton's sleep..."
Review: 'Alien Identities' is an amazing book which falls into two parts. In the first part we are taken, step-by-step, through a detailed overview, fully documented and with a rich selection of illustrative examples, of the modern UFO phenomenon. Richard Thompson is an intelligent, fair-minded, and thoroughly objective scholar, and gifted with a logical and incisive mind. At each step he takes great care to analyze in detail every conceivable argument the skeptic might employ against the impressive array of empirical evidence he has assembled. But despite Thompson having allowed for all reasonable objections, at the end of each step we are left with an inexplicable residue of fact. Many hypotheses have been put forward in attempts to explain (or explain away) these discomfiting facts, but it is clear that the West has consistently failed to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of the UFO phenomenon, a phenomenon which violates common sense, the known 'laws of physics,' and our entire world picture. We are left feeling that nobody really understands what is going on. It is at this point, halfway through the book, that Thompson suddenly floods the scene with light. Unlike many who have studied the UFO problem, Thompson is no narrow specialist. Besides being a mathematician and scientist with twenty years of solid research behind him in mathematical biology, etc., he is also - amazingly - a Sanskritist of no mean competence who has deeply studied, in the original language, the cosmological literature of the ancient Indian Vedic culture. Drawing upon his intimate knowledge of Indian astronomical and scientific treatises such as the Surya-siddhanta, Vimanika-Shastra, etc., and of ancient epic and religious texts such as the Mahabharata, Ramayana, Srimad Bhagavatam, Vishnu Purana, etc., Thompson, who quotes many fascinating examples from these texts, succeeds in providing us with a whole new way of looking at both the modern UFO phenomenon and the ancient and highly civilized Vedic culture. What we learn is that, not only did ancient India have a cosmology, metaphysics, and science which offered a comprehensive understanding of the total UFO phenomenon, but that airplanes, flying saucers, mother-ships, space stations, guided missiles, human-like races of many kinds with supernormal powers, multiple dimensions, parallel universes, imaginal realms, interplanetary and trans-dimensional travel, genetic manipulation, mind control, time dilation, etc., were everyday facts of life for the ancient Indian, who would not have been surprised by them at all. In other words, there is an impressive and more than coincidental overlap between ancient and modern UFO accounts, and these two sets of experiences can serve to complement and throw light on each other. The reported seemingly miraculous powers of contemporary EBEs (Extraterrestrial Biological Entities, i.e. aliens) for example, powers such as levitation, mind control, seeing at a distance, teleportation, and invisibility, were well-known to the Indians as 'siddhis,' and all had been classified, analyzed, and named (p.205). The Indian texts provide us with many detailed descriptions of human-like beings and their powers, and of their interaction with humans, and also of various aircraft and spacecraft, vehicles known to the Indians as 'vimana' (pp.243-70). On reading Thompson's brilliant study it becomes abundantly clear that the ancients, presumably because of their greater openness to life, moved freely through a rich and many-levelled universe and were on terms of familiarity with its many human-like races. Newton slammed the door on that living universe for us. Today, however, the door is slowly opening again, and 'Alien Identities' seems destined to become a wedge permanently holding open that door. Those who have become tired of our outmoded and mechanistic world-view, and the joyless and lifeless universe it falsely posits, should not miss Thompson's invaluable contribution. His is a much-needed remedy for the "Single vision and Newton's sleep" which afflicts so many today. Not only does he open our eyes to a whole new way of understanding the UFO phenomenon, he also opens them to a new way of understanding the universe and life itself. It is doubtful whether any author could have done more. 'Alien Identities' is an inspiring and thought-provoking book which has an important message for us all, whether we be Ufologist, Indologist, or general reader in search of a stimulating read. You would be unwise to miss it.
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Summary: Vimanas
Review: I always found it very interesting how ancient writings, in this case ancient Indian texts descibing flying machines dating back to 3000B.C. This made want to learn more about this subject.
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Summary: I Don't Know why I Bought This
Review: I guess I thought I was going to get an intelligent book about the subject of extraterrestrial contact in ancient India. I began to have doubts about that as soon as I began reading the forward by Whitley Streiber . I should have stopped there. This book is a complete waste of money and time. It's a rehash of famous UfO and close encounter reports mixed in with a few excerpts from ancient Hindu texts and some information about Hindu religion. It's strictly for people who like to use the subject of alien contact to reinforce their prevailing religious beliefs.
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Summary: If you want good information that reads very well........
Review: I have a master's degree from Yale in Religion (for what it's worth)and I spent lots of what I feel is unbiased, level-headed rational time investigating religious phenomena, origins of humankind, ancient history, religion and the nature of living things. I have no bias in any particular religious or scientific direction. I have tried to be open to all possibilities regarding extraterrestrial phenomena and possible connections with ancient known and unknown cultures. This is a good book. It is good reading. No matter what your persuasion, anyone could read this with skepticism or gullibility and feel that information is presented in an unbiased and scientific manner. That is what I like about it -- not to mention the potentially profound revelations concerning Vadic material and other text. When I ordered this book, I had to wait for it. In the meantime I bought 4 others referenced as "related" and none held a candle to this one. THIS IS A GOOD BOOK. Go get it if you have any interest in understanding or contemplating possibilities regarding ancient cultures and human origins.
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Summary: UFO Paralells
Review: I was not only impressed with Alien Identities, I literally could not put it down. As a Phd. I have a skepticism toward UFO reports but R. Thompsons book has presented a great deal of evidence and explanantions of UFO phenomena that cannot be pooh poohed, that's for sure. The paralells between modern accounts of UFO incidents and ancient texts from India is striking! Thompson gives many reasonable explanantions for how the aliens and their ships can perform feats beyond our understanding of physics. This book is not only informative but pleasuable reading. Check it out... Scott McGregor, Ph.D.
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Summary: A down to earth context for out of this world ideas.
Review: One of the difficulties in the 'UFOlogy' field is that there are plenty of offbeat accounts, and in some cases evidence but mostly in pieces, or without context, or with potential other explanations. (There is more than most people are aware of, though.)
Authors such as Dr. Jacques Vallee have given interesting historical overviews of UFO lore. Of course, all these accounts are 'accounts' and 'Lore', they are not scientific evidence, but since these experiences don't seem to happen on command inside a science lab, this may account for that problem. The fact that the surgeon general has not yet made a ruling about the existence or effect of UFOs or 'experiences' potentially related, will not change whether they or the experiences exist.
ALIEN IDENTITIES is a book title I cringe to give to people and consider an embarrassment to the content. Consider it was written when such a title (not to mention Streiber as an intro) were apparently considered a hot sell and hence the publisher promo. The CONTENT of the book has a calm, fair, respectability in its own fashion that belies the assumption and hype of the title.
This book is a great introduction for people new to the subject. The first half is a recount of documented Vedic history, which is part and parcel of their religion. The second half is a recount of documented recent history--accounts in the UFOlogy field. Which, like religious history, are equally tenuous and unprovable.
However, when you read the detail from the historical accounts, and then you read the detail of claims from the last half century, the parallel is more than just striking. It's pretty much obvious to anybody with half a brain and no major personal bias that the modern day accounts are clearly talking about some of the same kind of things as the ancient accounts.
In the context of how seriously we should take modern accounts, for which we have little hard proof and a lot of confusion, a realization that they are hardly a novel new result of science fiction books is important.
In the context of religion, "the Gods," and many accounts biblical as well as Vedic, it is thought provoking to say the least.
I highly recommend this book. It reads well, it is interesting, it is informative, and it doesn't pretend to be anything it's not. It makes no claims. It is one of the very few UFOlogy related books that I have kept on my shelves for years.
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Summary: One of the most brilliant books I have read!
Review: Stunning book by Sadaputa Prabhu! have read it from cover to cover not once but thrice - undoubtedly the most insightful ufological work I have come across,and it also did confirm many of my own ideas about the ancient accounts of vimanas in the Vedic literature.A book I would recommend to anyone anyday.
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Summary: Fascinating on all levels
Review: The first half is especially good. In the second a purely exoteric examination of vedic mythology, one of the most detailed systems in history, reveals explicit descriptions of what's only vaguely hinted at in other mythologies. Namely, straightforward descriptions of extraterrestrials in spaceships, various types of missiles and "modern" weaponry, and clear knowledge of a heliocentric solar system thousands of years before Galileo. This is where myth, religion, and reality all unite and confuse the hell out of everybody... Essential knowledge.
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Summary: Thought provoking, but covers too much
Review: This book is a fascinating comparison of modern UFO phenomena with similar phenomena recorded in the Vedic texts of Ancient India. Unfortunately, the author tries to cover too much in one volume. The first half of the book contains an excellent summary of modern UFO and related phenomena. In the second half of the book, Mr. Thompson uses his tremendous knowledge of ancient Vedic texts and shows similarities between the two. Unfortunately, in an effort to bolster his arguments, he adds in Celtic folklore and mythology plus the 1917 events in Fatima, Portugal. It felt like he didn't have enough room to fully flesh out his hypotheses. If this book is to be updated for a 3rd addition, I strongly recommend that a glossary be added. In the second half of the book, the author repeatedly refers to the various types of entities refered to within the ancient Indian literature and I had trouble keeping them straight. Also, many of the deities could be refered to by multiple names and it became confusing when a particular deity would be refered to by 2 different names within consecutive pages (for example a Christian might refer to Jesus as Jesus Christ or Son of God, etc.). This is a fascinating book, and I think that Mr. Thompson has a very interesting point to make. I recommend this book to people interested in possible connections between the modern UFO phenomena and ancient mythology and folklore. However, if you are unfamiliar with ancient Indian mythology, I recommend that you keep your own glossary as you read through the 2nd half of the book.
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Summary: Good narrative on Vedic texts. Poor on relating to FO phenom
Review: This is a very interesting book. There is lot of information on Vedic texts. However, there are one too many references to topics like abductions and UFO sightings. A word of CAUTION that most of the pages in this book are filled with narratives/reports (with no scientific backing whatsoever) that in some or the other way are linked to the Vedic texts. I've read this book over and over and enjoy each time. However, I usually read the chapters on Hindu mythology and avoid the UFO reports. Especially, the concept of interdimensional travel by Demi-Gods is very interesting. Could have been a four star if MORE material on Hindu mythology was presented and the "insight" was based on scientific reasoning.
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