Allen Hynek, the astronomer who invented the concept of "Close Encounters" with alien life, inspired Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster classic science fiction epic film, and made a nation want to believe in UFOs.In June 1947, private pilot Kenneth Arnold looked out his cockpit window and saw a group of nine silvery crescents weaving between the peaks of the Cascade Mountains at an estimated 1,200 miles an hour. The media, the military, and the scientific community—led by J. Allen Hynek, an astronomer hired by the Air Force—debunked this and many other Unidentified Flying Object sightings reported across the country. But after years of denials, Hynek made a shocking pronouncement: UFOs are real.Thirty years after his death, Hynek’s agonizing transformation from skepticism to true believer remains one of the great misunderstood stories of science. In this definitive biography, Mark O'Connell reveals for the first time how Hynek’s work both as a celebrated astronomer and as the U. S. Air Force’s go-to UFO expert for nearly twenty years stretched the boundaries of modern science, laid the groundwork for acceptance of the possibility of UFOs, and was the basis of the hit film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. With unprecedented access to Hynek’s personal and professional files, O’Connell smashes conventional wisdom to reveal the intriguing man and scientist beneath the legend.Tracing Hynek’s career, O'Connell examines Hynek’s often-ignored work as a professional astronomer to create a complete portrait of a groundbreaking enthusiast who became an American cult icon and transformed the way we see our world and our universe.

    In this volume, read about:-An invisible organist in the sky, a floating coffin and a giant mysterious ball-The spooky sounds of ghostly kittens, a screaming woman and a crying baby-Giant snakes, Bigfoot-like creatures and a lake monster-Haunted cabins, mysterious dwellings and sites of strange cult activity-Tarot cards nailed to trees, an Ouija board that wouldn't burn and a voodoo doll- And many MORE true stories!

    From a colonial manse in New England to a small-town home in Iowa to a Beverly Hills mansion, these residences have taken on a life of their own, gaining everything from local lore and gossip to national—and even global—infamy.Writer Steve Lehto recounts the stories behind the houses where Lizzie Borden supposedly gave her stepmother “forty whacks,” where the real Amityville Horror was first unleashed by gunfire, and where the demented acts of the Manson Family horrified a nation—as well some lesser-known sites of murder that were no less ghastly.Exploring the past and present of more than twenty-five renowned homicide scenes, American Murder Houses is a tour through the real estate of some of the most grisly and fascinating crimes in American history.INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHS

    Berkowitz confessed to being a lone murderer—one who had carried out eight senseless shooting with a .44 caliber Bulldog revolver. The case was officially closed.Journalist Maury Terry was suspicious of Berkowitz's confession, convinced as he gathered corroborating evidence throughout the years, that Berkowitz did not act alone. In this investigative story, first published in 1987, Terry details the chilling events, proving that Berkowitz was an affiliate of—and triggerman for—a Satanic cult known as the Process Church of the Final Judgment, a far-reaching organization that is connected to other ritual slayings across the country. Updated with Berkowitz's recent confirmations from his prison cell, Terry untangles the web of information and shocking extent of the Process Church's activities. Includes black-and-white photographs.

    And Stan Romanek can prove it.Romanek's gripping tale-augmented by video footage, photographs, and physical evidence-is the world's most documented extraterrestrial contact case.In print for the first time, Romanek relives his personal experiences, from his first sighting of a UFO to terrifying alien abductions. Romanek tells how he captured an extraterrestrial on film--the famous "alien in the window" video footage featured on Larry King Live. Messages includes photos, witness statements, lab reports, and other evidence supporting the validity of Romanek's fascinating story.But what's most shocking are the strange messages these unearthly visitors communicate to Romanek--authentic equations relating to space travel and planetary diagrams pinpointing what could be an auspicious date for the human race.

    Scientific evidence, exciting new research, and the breakthrough discovery of an amazing Egyptian map prove without a doubt that this lost continent did exist...and reveal where its ruins can be found.But the fascinating truth about Atlantis also leads to a chilling conclusion about the environmental catastrophe that destroyed it. Now you can find out how the forces that shattered the first great civilization on Earth can happen again, bringing the end of the world to us all!

    With this book Immanuel Velikovsky first presented the revolutionary results of his 10-year-long interdisciplinary research to the public, founded modern catastrophism - based on eyewitness reports by our ancestors - shook the doctrine of uniformity of geology as well as Darwin's theory of evolution, put our view of the history of our solar system, of the Earth and of humanity on a completely new basis - and caused an uproar that is still going on today.

    This time the willful and witty duo must catch a murderer at an excavation of an ancient Egyptian tomb.

    ROCKET SCIENTIST KILLED IN PASADENA EXPLOSIONscreamed the headline of the Los Angeles Times. John Parsons, a maverick rocketeer who helped transform the rocket from a derided sci-fi plot line into a reality, was at first mourned as a scientific prodigy. But reporters soon uncovered a more shocking story: Parsons had been a devotee of black magic. George Pendle re-creates the world of John Parsons in this dazzling portrait of prewar superstition, cold war paranoia, and futuristic possibility. Fueled by childhood dreams of space flight, Parsons was a leader of the motley band of enthusiastic young men who founded the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a cornerstone of the American space program. But Parsons's wild imagination also led him into the occult- for if he could make rocketry a reality, why not magic? With a cast of characters including Howard Hughes, L. Ron Hubbard, and Robert Heinlein, Strange Angel explores the unruly consequences of genius.

    Dewhurst reveals not only that North America was once ruled by an advanced race of giants but also that the Smithsonian has been actively suppressing the physical evidence for nearly 150 years. He shows how thousands of giant skeletons have been unearthed at Mound Builder sites across the continent, only to disappear from the historical record. He examines other concealed giant discoveries, such as the giant mummies found in Spirit Cave, Nevada, wrapped in fine textiles and dating to 8000 BCE; the hundreds of red-haired bog mummies found at sinkhole “cenotes” on the west coast of Florida and dating to 7500 BCE; and the ruins of the giants’ cities with populations in excess of 100,000 in Arizona, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Louisiana. Dewhurst shows how this suppression began shortly after the Civil War and transformed into an outright cover-up in 1879 when Major John Wesley Powell was appointed Smithsonian director, launching a strict pro-evolution, pro-Manifest Destiny agenda. He also reveals the 1920s’ discovery on Catalina Island of a megalithic burial complex with 6,000 years of continuous burials and over 4,000 skeletons, including a succession of kings and queens, some more than 9 feet tall--the evidence for which is hidden in the restricted-access evidence rooms at the Smithsonian.

    The tale seems to begin with buried treasure and then turns into an unprecedented historical detective story - a modern Grail quest leading back through cryptically coded parchments, secret societies, the Knights Templar, the Cathar heretics of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and a dynasty of obscure French kings deposed more than 1,300 years ago. The author's conclusions are persuasive: at the core is not material riches but a secret - a secret of explosive and controversial proportions, which radiates out from the little Pyrenees village all the way to contemporary politics and the entire edifice of the Christian faith. It involves nothing less than... the Holy Grail.

    Hardcover, 319 Pages

    Solving puzzles is satisfying, yet still we are fascinated by mysteries: the riddle that might have a solution, the secret that could be revealed, the legend with a kernel of truth. Collected here are classic mysteries from across time and space, chosen for their enduringly enigmatic nature, from ancient riddles of the sands to modern-day oddities in the sky.-What was the true identity of the young man who in 1828 wandered into Nuremberg without a past?-What do the strange markings on a 5,000-year-old South American bowl mean for our most fundamental beliefs about the history of civilization?-How is it possible for a wanted fugitive to leap from a passenger plane over American soil with a suitcase full of stolen money, and evade capture or identification for over 40 years?These and many other fascinating tales are told, with concise but thorough reviews of the background, evidence, and theories behind each one. Beautifully illustrated, Unsolved Mysteries features more than 120 photographs, paintings, illustrations, and maps.

    Godfrey. In her latest work, she tackles the very real possibility of portals between worlds -- and even other dimensions.Shadow wolves, sentient mists, and UFOs...oh my!Linda S. Godfrey -- author of Real Wolfmen, American Monsters, and other books reporting on creatures such as Bigfoot, gigantic birds, and strange energy forms -- began to seek answers to the question of where these creatures are actually from. The common thread that she discovered was the reportage of mysterious doorways leading to other worlds. Godfrey here offers a comprehensive look at the mystical, legendary, and scientific angles of these portals, providing a broad sampling of modern day encounters and experiences, interspersed with her own field research and interviews with eyewitnesses. Meticulously researched and expertly written, Secret Portals is a fascinating look into worlds unknown that will challenge the reader's idea of reality.