Section 3 : Useful free books online
Some budding UFO researchers may be surprised by the number of useful free books that can be found online. I’ll give links to some relevant books below.
Section 3.1 Significant free UFO books
Section 3.2 Less significant UFO Books
Section 3.3 Significant Non-UFO Books
Section 3.4 Other significant publications available free online
Section 3.1 Significant free UFO books
Several of the most influential and popular books are now available online.
I don’t simply mean you can order those books online or read extracts from those books - I mean you can read the full text. Free. Now.
Simply click on the titles of the books listed in chronological order below. Enjoy.
- Donald E Keyhoe’s classic book “The Flying Saucers are Real” (1950). This book was one of first UFO books published. Keyhoe’s books and articles helped form the various views held in relation to UFOs.
Captain Edward J Ruppelt’s book , “The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects” (1956) is an account of the US Air Force’s Project Bluebook investigations by one of its former heads.
NICAP in its “The UFO Evidence” (1964) edited by Richard Hall remains one of the more respected pro-UFO publications.
The Condon Report (“Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects”, Edward U Condon (Director) and Daniel S Gillmor (Editor) (1969)) is probably the most influential (and longest) publication by scientists presenting a skeptical view of UFO reports . For one of the best known articles criticizing the Condon Report, see John G Fuller’s article “Flying Saucer Fiasco”, Look, Volume 32 (14 May 1968) - which is also available online here
The Rockefeller Briefing Document written by Don Berliner, Antonio Huneeus and Marie “Bootsie” Galbraith (with funding by Laurance Rockefeller). In 1995, this document was endorsed as containing “the best available evidence for the existence of UFOs” by three of the most prominent and respected UFO research organizations, i.e. the Mutual UFO Network (“MUFON”) , the Center for UFO Studies (“CUFOS”) and the Fund for UFO Research (“FUFOR”).
Section 3.2 Less significant UFO Books
While the books listed above represent some of the most significant UFO books which are available online, there are a considerable number of less significant UFO books on the Internet. I’ll just mention a few of them below.
- Major Hector Quintanilla’s manuscript “UFOs: An Air Force Dilemma” (copyright 1974) is far less well-known than Ruppelt’s book, partly because Quintanilla’s manuscript remains unpublished. It may also be relevant that Quintanilla’s manuscript was rather more skeptical than Ruppelt’s book.
James M McCampbell’s book “Ufology” (1973) attempts to analyze the reported characteristics of UFOs, e.g. their colour and the sounds they generate, and also of UFO occupants.
Morris K Jessup’s “The Case for the UFO”(1955).This version is a transcription of the annotated Varo edition, which is one of the most expensive UFO books to obtain (which, I have to say, should not be taken as any indication that its contents are particularly worth studying).
Les G Howarth’s book (2000) “If In Doubt, Blame The Aliens” is one of various more recent books which are available online to “browse before you buy”.
Section 3.3 Significant Non-UFO Books
While not UFO books per se, there are various books which are fairly directly relevant to UFO researchers, including those below.
David Darling’s online Internet Encyclopedia of Science contains numerous entries relating to SETI (see the list here), astrobiology (see the list here) and related matters, in addition to entries directly relating to ufology (see the list here).
Section 3.4 Other significant publications available free online
While not precisely books, there are various important book-length UFO documents available online. I’ll briefly mention three of them:
- Much of the content of Peter Sturrock’s book “The UFO Enigma” (1999) is available online here. That book related to a significant meeting of scientists to consider physical evidence relating to UFO reports.
It is not uncommon to see posts on Internet discussion forums calling for Congressional hearings in relation to UFOs. However, it is extremely rare to see any mention within such posts of previous Congressional hearings relating to UFOs or (in particular) to the presence on the Internet of a complete transcript of the “Roush Hearing”. The Roush Hearing was a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Astronautics entitled “Symposium on Unidentified Flying Objects”, which was held on 29 July 1968. That transcript is available free online HERE and HERE. This significant transcript contains interesting material from several researchers, including James E McDonald.
A translation of the rather controversial French COMETA report (1999) can also be found on several websites, including on the UFO Evidence website (Part 1 is here, and Part 2 is here).
