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Rating: 
Summary: Very good compilation on a complex and complicated subject
Review: I liked reading Professor Jacobs' collection of articles on UFO's and abductions (he of course provides the intro and authors one article himself). As a whole the book exmaines from different angles and points of view the very compelling issues of what is going on with these phenomena and how we can perhaps best approach studying it. Almost all of the chapters are authored by researchers who demonstrate a great deal of knowledge of and insight into the aspect of UFO-logy they discuss. I would recommend this book only to open-minded readers who have a rather dispassionate interest in the topic. I say this because as one of the chapters I discuss below depicts so well, most people are more concerned with the myth of UFO's rather than the real evidence. I also want to say that the Kirkus review at the top of this page is only too typical of those who want evidence when such "evidence" would never satisfy their preconceived version of reality. Prof. Jacob's compilation to me presents more than enough proof that this issue is real and needs to be seriously addressed by mainstream disciplines. I will discuss four of the best chapters in "UFO's And Abductions." One chapter in what to me was a rather ironic argument style shows how among science, law, and military intelligence, science is the *least* qualified to investigate UFO's because the data does not fit into any scientific model, and scientists cannot operate w/o such. Because war and defense necessitate avoiding preconceptions and simply examining the facts dispassionately, military intelligence is best qualified in the author's opinion. In my opinion the author did not go far enough, as I find the evidence that the military got technology from the ET's and gave it to industry very believable (Col. Corso's "The Day After Roswell", also "The Montauk Project" books). Budd Hopkins' contribution is a thorough rebuttal to the skeptics' strongly biased attempts to dismiss all abduction accounts as phony. The most salient point he brings out is that many abductees have very clear memories w/o undergoing any hypnosis. He also gives plenty of evidence that hypnosis of abductees does not produce the kind of false memories claimed by debunkers, such as the false memories "remembered" by "victims" of parental abuse. Psychiatrist John Mack insightfully probes how the abduction phenomenon expands our concepts of reality, particularly the merging of the spirit and material worlds, which are kept separate by the current materialistic worldview. Dr. Mack also feels that the transformations that occur in the lives of abductees are genuine and significant. Of course Dr. Mack is very familiar from personal experience with how the mainstream disciplines react when a researcher attempts to provide evidence that threatens the current belief systems! The longest and to me the best chapter in this book is called "Lost In The Myths," which is for the most part a brilliant discussion of first the many values of myths, and then how relevant it is to view the UFO phenomenon from the standpoint of these myths. For example, as we know from Joseph Campbell, story myths can be used to resolve some of the bizarre contradictions in life, so that the resolution is assimilated into the unconscious. UFO's in this context unite technology with magic, advanced science with angelic archetypes who will save a world on the brink of apocalypse (it always is, isn't it?!). The author also compares the transformations experienced by UFO abductees with those who have undergone shamanic initiations. Finally, the author rightly calls on science and the public to separate the myths of UFO's from their actuality, to study the evidence w/o the biases.
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