Watch the Skies!

Aerospace historian Peebles ( The Moby Dick Project ) argues that all UFO reports are misinterpretations of conventional objects, atmospheric phenomena, drama, delusional experiences, or else hoaxes. His debunking chronicle of UFO phenomena--extending from pilot Kenneth Arnold's 1947 sighting of craft near Mount Rainier in Washington to the modern era--is marred by highly selective reporting, distortions and omissions. His often superficial coverage of close encounters, abduction cases, reports of crashed UFOs and other sightings, while it may comfort ironclad skeptics, should be weighed against careful investigative works such as Timothy Good's Above Top Secret: The Worldwide UFO Coverup and Larry Fawcett and Barry Greenwood's Clear Intent: The Government Coverup of the UFO Experience. Peebles's overarching theory that UFOs represent an evolving "myth" embodying humanity's hopes, fears and search for mythological beings doesn't square with the evidence he cites.