The Science of UFOs: What If They're Real?

by William R. Alschuler

Book Overview

The Scientific Investigation of the greatest challenge facing humanity: What if UFOs are real?Reports of UFO sightings and strange visitors from the sky go back as far as recorded human history. But it was only in the twentieth century that technological innovation made them impossible to ignore. We see reports on the evening news, accompanied by videotapes of strange objects in the sky taken by eyewitnesses, sometimes in broad daylight.Astronomer...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312300719
• ISBN13: 9780312300715
• Release Date: August 2002
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A complex but fascinating read

Alschuler's book is a fascinating one, though it might prove a difficult read if you cringed during science class. The most interesting part is that it shows how weird our universe really is, but at the same time showing that this "weirdness" cannot fully explain the UFO sightings he examines. While his analysis does lean towards the skeptical side of the ledger, he gives the pro-UFO side of things more credence than do a lot of scientists. His use of science fiction stories throughout helps to illustrate his points. I highly recommend this book to science fiction writers as well as people interested in the scientific opinion of the UFO phenomenon.

Excellent book on scientific study of the phenomenon

One of a new breed of books along the lines of Peter Sturrock's "The UFO Engima" written by degreed Physics Ph.Ds at respectable institutions which approach the phenomenon scientifically without bias. Rather than forming an opinion one way or the other, like Sturrock he makes a clear-headed best effort attempt at fitting the available data from the various reports, whatever they may be, to the science that we know about today and where we currently believe that it might head. The author has the gift of Fred Alan Wolf to clearly communicate scientific concepts in a way for non-scientists to understand. Especially enlightening is the author's frankness and clear grasp on what is and isn't known yet in modern physics. For each of the reported things considered, the author makes an excellent attempt at extrapolating existing science as far as a practicing researcher can realistically go. In some cases the extrapolations clearly fall off a scientific cliff, so to speak, as he notes each time. In a few cases the extrapolations lead to results that are surprisingly plausible given our recent emerging understanding of membrane (string) theory and quantum effects such as the quantum entanglement of light. I highly recommend this book!

cogent scientific analysis of a controversial topic

clever, thoroughly scientific approach to the domain of lunatics.