Early Years Ufology

Loren E. Gross. UFOs, a History. Volume I, July 1947 to December 1948. Arcturus Book Service. 1992.
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When I first became interested in ufology about twenty years ago, I had a fantasy about writing a series of massive books giving every UFO report for each year. It appears that Loren Gross is actually doing some thing just like that. In some ways the book is less interesting that some of Gross's earlier works, because it covers a period, and deals with cases, which have appeared in all of the older UFO books. However, there are many up and coming ufologists who do not have access to this material (especially as more and more libraries are selling off their reserve stocks!), for whom this will be a valuable introduction.

Furthermore, Gross manages to say something new. By quoting original material, he gives a very different picture of what the earlier flaps were about, than works written in the 1950's, after the image of the UFO had become more standardised. For example, mysterious sky-quakes and exploding objects which made no sense In terms of the ETH, but were very relevant in terms o( contemporary fears of Russian rockets, were featured strongly. The ETH appears to have begun to be taken seriously after the Chiles-Whitted case in July, 1948, which significantly featured an object which resembled a 'Buck Rogers rocket'. Gross expresses his scepticism of the official explanations of this case and the Gorman case, but I suspect that he is in danger of giving too much weight to the Rosewell incident; the amazing features of which, significantly, come from recollections thirty years after the event. – Peter Rogerson. Magonia 14, 1983.

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