Need to Know: UFOs, the Military and Intelligence: Amazon.co.uk: Timothy Good: Books

Review

An obsessively researched look at what British sky-watcher Good (Alien Contact, 1993, etc.) deems ample international evidence of UFO visitations since the 1930s, and the repeated official denials that they ever happened. "UFOs are as real as the airplanes that fly over your head," declared former Canadian Minister of Defence Paul Hellyer in 2005. Good methodically lays out similar testimony from pilots, military men in air and sea, civilian observers, surgeons who operated on the extraterrestrials, generals and presidents, accompanying their words (some from sworn affidavits) with meticulous footnotes, photos, drawings and copies of documents. During World War II, small, seemingly remote-controlled flying objects dubbed "foo-fighters" created a nuisance for pilots. In the summer of 1946, a rash of sightings of "ghost rockets" across Scandinavia and other parts of Europe alarmed the U.S. military, which blamed them on the Soviets. Good believes UFO incursions were common in 1940s New Mexico, the site of U.S. atomic testing, and avers that the debris found near Roswell in 1947, quickly identified by the military as fragments from a military balloon, was in fact the remains of a flying-saucer crash. He chronicles alien-disc sightings during the Cold War, suggests that Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy were taken to disc-landing sites and maintains that since the 1940s, aliens have been communicating "with an elite group of U.S. military and scientific intelligence personnel [and] there has been a project was actually motivated by growing concerns about alien hostility, the author adds. The bizarre crash of a cigar-shaped craft near Varginha, Brazil, in January 1996 stranded strangecreatures needing medical attention. Good excerpts some chilling material from an interview conducted by a fellow UFOlogist with comments are conflated into quotes collectively attributed to "Medical Personnel." The author certainly knows his stuff, and to his credit is keenly aware of the importance of documentation, however specious some of it may seem to the unconverted. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars

Write a customer review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful

Strange U-turn by the Author 16 Mar 2009

By Tyler Durden

Format:Paperback

I have read all of the author's previous books and always found them interesting, this one was however quite disappointing. As has been noted elsewhere there is a lot of repeated material in this book. Simply reading a report of a UFO sighting is never especially interesting, although they certainly add to the strength of the argument in a book such as this. What has kept me returning to the author's books has always been the fascinating stories of first-hand contact. Yes, its fair to say that they always depend upon us taking the contactees at their word, and that a compendium of sightings by trained military observers would be far more scientific, but the contact stories are certainly compelling reading and Good's previous books always struck a good balance between the two. What I find really perplexing in this book however, is the authors departure from his previously stated opinion that; "Whatever the threat posed by certain alien species, I believe we have much more to fear from our own kind. I, for one would welcome an official disclosure...It might be just the sort of shock we need" (Unearthly Disclosure). In Need to Know Good makes a complete u-turn, saying; "...based on what I now know, I believe that a full revelation would be destabilizing...gradual disclosure - the planned agenda - is by far the wisest course". In no way throughout the course of the book, does the author disclose anything not included in his past books that explains to the reader what Good `now knows', and why his opinion has changed so dramatically. If he is withholding information in this book it is certainly not in the spirit of the ufology movement within which he is so revered. It is wrong to expect the reader to `read between the lines', Mr. Good should have the courage to clearly state his views and the reasoning behind them if we are to give them serious consideration.

Comment |

Was this review helpful to you?

Yes

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

Top Investigator At His Best 7 Mar 2008

By AD

Anyone who has read Timothy Good's previous coverage of the UFO question will know that he is probably the UK's most respected authority on the subject. In this book he documents the major cases over the years, and highlights the ongoing coverup. I think this would make an excellent introduction on the subject for the casually interested reader who wants to know more, as well as an update for the more seasoned UFO sleuth.

Investigators in this field have a tough task; with the possible exception of the Roswell case, the mainstream media tend to single out the lunatic fringe for ridicule, so the general public has for the most part, been ignorant of what exactly has been going on. Through the Internet and the written word, we can get a glimpse of the truth. Yes, there are many cranks out there, looking to make a killing from their claims of alien contact, abduction, etc. It's for the reader or viewer to filter these out and concentrate on the serious attempts to fathom the mystery.

Timothy Good is not only a superb investigative journalist but also an excellent on-stage presenter and broadcaster. He always gives a balanced view, and is extremely thorough, leaving no stone unturned in his quest for the truth. He has always been interested in the government/military coverup aspect of the UFO phenomenon, and convinced me right from the start that the reality of the situation has been withheld from the public at large.

Full marks to him, and to others like him, for their attempts in prising open that constant lid of secrecy and revealing what has been going on over our heads (and behind our backs) all these years.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

Evidence, not proof 20 Dec 2007

By Rouchie TOP 1000 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This was the first book I've purchased about UFO phenomena, so it didn't really know what to expect. "Need to Know" reads like a historical compilation of sighting and abduction accounts, starting in 1930's through to the present day. In addition to this the author hints at his opinions and asks questions about the behaviour of the miliary (how things have been 'dealt with', or covered up).

The weight of the evidence gathered in this book to suggest that aliens exist is impressive (around 400 pages), and some of the witness accounts make for very interesting reading. The author has used statements from lots of senior people (military etc) to ensure a high degree of integrity.

My only issue with this book is that a lot of the accounts are repetitive (same shaped aircraft, same coloured lights/behaviours etc). Certain accounts however are enough to make you think twice about whether you'd report a sighting yourself.

The sad fact here though is that this book is not proof, only evidence. We won't have proof of extra-terrestrial beings until they land and introduce themselves. However, even if only a fraction of the accounts in this book are truthful, then we really should start looking at the sky more often.