Weighting in at nearly four pounds and 764 letter-size pages is a remarkable new reference work entitled Outbreak! The Encyclopedia of Extraordinary Social Behavior, written by Hilary Evans and Robert E. Bartholomew. Not only is history replete with examples of remarkable social behavior, from fads, crazes, and manias to collective delusions, scares, panics, and mass hysteria, but so is the present day. This massive collection of extraordinary social behaviors spans more than two millennia, and attempts to place many of the recounted episodes within their greater historical and cultural context. The authors have outdone themselves with an authoritative work that covers a broad range of topics: collective behavior, deviance, social and perceptual psychology, sociology, history, folklore, religious studies, political science, social anthropology, gender studies, critical thinking, and mental health. The pre-publication reviews call it “an extraordinary compilation,” “remarkable and surprising,” and “a thumping good read.” Don’t miss it!

Peter Brookesmith has kindly reminded us that we neglected to blog about what may be the best review we have ever seen to come out of Fortean Times. It’s not a coincidence that Brooksmith happens to be one of the two editors (with the late Karl Pflock) of the book in question: Encounters at Indian Head: The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Abduction Revisited. The “Fortean Times Verdict” on the book summed it up as “Intelligent, wide-ranging and a must have for UFOlogists” with a score of a perfect “10.” Bob Rickard, who reviewed the book, concluded: “It’s an exemplary debriefing on how a story grew in the telling, influencing the content of many ‘abduction’ experiences to follow and, in turn, giving birth to the ‘missing time’ school of self-referenced and highly subjective (but very bankable in terms of media) ufology. The lack of consensus on what happened to the Hills reflects a healthy division of opinion in ufology.” Bill Chalker echoed those words in his own review of the book for Australia’s UFOlogist magazine. “Encounters at Indian Head is an excellent study of why the uncertainties of human testimony alone will guarantee that there will always be room for doubt, and that resolution of a case of that type will always be dependent on one’s approach.” Chalker, like Rickard, also recommended the book. So with Brookesmith, that makes three.

The third volume of Brad Steiger’s groundbreaking Shadow World series is now back in print with a new 15-page preface. Originally published as Our Shared World of the Supernatural, Beyond Shadow World expands the roster of extra-dimensional beings that we share our universe with. In addition to the spirits of the dead, nature spirits, spirit parasites, and spirit mimics, he also explores the nature of the Light Beings, which include the benevolent entities known as angels, spirit guides, spirit teachers, and celestial visitors or “space brothers.” Though Steiger provides techniques for contact and behavior with them, he warns that such entities should never be either worshipped or summoned–as they may not be what they claim to be. And the reviews are already in: “A fantastic compilation” (Fate) and “my highest recommendation” (Erskine Overnight).

They lurk in obscurity. Looming human figures, blacker than darkness. Millions across the globe see them. The unfortunate feel their touch. And some awake in horror to their red, unblinking stare. In Darkness Walks: The Shadow People Among Us, Jason Offutt is able to shine some light on the world of the Shadow People thanks to the dozens of interviews he conducted with eyewitnesses. Offutt views these beings through the lens of science, religion, and metaphysics, and asks: Are they ghosts, demons, hallucinations, or something else entirely? Brad Steiger has this to say about the book in his foreword: “Jason Offutt’s excellent study of the phenomenon presents us with the most thorough and complete work yet written regarding the mysterious beings that we have come to call collectively, the Shadow People…Jason may not have any ultimate answers, but no one has done a better job of defining who or what these shades might be.”

Hilary Evans devotes three pages to a review the Fátima Trilogy (Heavenly Lights, Celestial Secrets, and Fátima  Revisited) in the January 2009 issue of the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research. About the third volume specifically, he writes: “a number of researchers and authorities are invited to present their takes on Fátima. With the exception of Michael Persinger’s masterly exposition of the geomagnetic forces that might have been involved, few of them set out to throw any light on the nitty-gritty of the encounter happenings. Rather, they seek to set those events in a wider context, and we are treated to a variety of perspective, ranging across religion (though not much of that), folklore, anthropology and more. Authors include David Jacobs, Stanley Krippner and Jacques Vallee, together with authorities– mainly academics–from many different disciplines. Their subjects range widely, from angels and alien abductors to altered states of consciousness, dream states and mind control, neuro-theology and the physics of ‘high strangeness.’ Some keep within the bounds of existing knowledge, other head out into the wide blue yonder with speculations as to what really happened to those three little children on that day in May which started out like any other, yet ended so fatefully.” Hilary then ends with a comment about the entire enterprise: “Taken together the trilogy represents a formidable research enterprise which casts a flood of light on one of the most enigmatic events of recent times. Whether or not we end by sharing the conclusions of the lead authors, their quest for the truth is a fascinating one, and one which leaves us in no doubt that the traditional account of what happened at Fatima is sadly inadequate.”

Kevin Randle reviews Keith Chester’s Strange Company: Military Encounters with UFOs in WWII in the Spring 2009 issue of the Journal of Scientific Exploration. “As I began reading Strange Company,” writes Randle, “I wondered whether we would be treated with a series of stories of indistinct lights, which, I confess, was my concept of the foo fighters of World War II…But we read of solid objects with sharply defined edges moving the foo fighters from the realm of ionized air and other natural phenomena into something that is solid and probably extraterrestrial….Chester gives us the documents created at the time by intelligence officers trained in interrogation techniques and whose job it was to understand all that the flight crews were telling them because lives hung in the balance…this book is a unique history of the Second World War…What Strange Company does quite well is move the modern era of the UFO from June 1947 when Kenneth Arnold’s report hit the newspaper to World War II. It is clear that these sightings, considered at the time to be classified information and therefore weren’t widely discussed, are the beginning of the modern [UFO] era.” Randle ends his review saying that by correcting the misconception that the foo fighters were some kind of enemy weapon, “Chester has performed a valuable service and should be commended for it.”

In the Spring 2009 issue of the Journal of Scientific Exploration, Chris Rutkowski revisits Jacques Vallee’s “remarkable series of books: Dimensions, Confrontations, and Revelations” and finds the experience “fascinating.” Vallee’s “different slant on what may be going on” is “antithetical to popular belief about UFOs,” notes Rutkowski. “Presented in a logical, coherent sequence (and with thematically attractive new covers), Vallee makes his case for his position that the UFO phenomenon is not extraterrestrial but terrestrial in nature, and not simply physical, but psychosocial in character.” In the final paragraphs of his review, Rutkowski summarizes Vallee’s accomplishments in the Alien Contact Trilogy: “Vallee does several important things toward the advancement of ufology. First he provides data to show that the UFO phenomenon is real and has been part of human history for millennia. Second, he emphasizes that it is an absurd phenomenon that does not seem to be conformable to simple scientific categorization. Third, he shows that current approaches by both debunkers and believers fail to address the complex nature of the phenomenon and do a great disservice to its witnesses. Fourth, he suggests a methodology that may be more useful in understanding the phenomenon. And fifth, he theorizes that a clandestine organization, military or otherwise, is obscuring the nature of the phenomenon to its own end.”

Astrology Off the Beaten Track: A Scientific Study of Planets and Personality by Dr. Suzel Fuzeau-Braesch bridges the deep divide between astrology and modern science. It represents a major breakthrough and an exceptional achievement, as this book is a synthesis of the only rigorous scientific study of astrology conducted by a high profile scientist who spent 40 years of her life investigating astrology. After finding fault with today’s scientists, who with contempt and prejudice have refused to put astrology to the test, Dr. Fuzeau-Braesch decided to conduct her own investigation to either confirm or discredit astrology. After studying the work of ancient astrologers and contemporary researchers, as well as modern statisticians and biologists, she undertook an original research program that has extended the boundaries of our understanding of astrology and science. Most intriguingly, Dr. Fuzeau-Braesch examined the characteristics of purebred dogs and cloned cows–and, to the dismay of skeptics, found that some astrological tools and concepts can be confirmed by hard science. She discovered that beyond the longstanding errors, blind spots, and confused thinking inherent in most astrological techniques lies a real and still unexplained interaction between personality and planets. Throughout her personal and professional journeys, Fuzeau-Braesch has charted a path for those who find value in interdisciplinary studies that are based on true science, rather than personal or professional biases or magical thinking. Her wide ranging work is a thoughtful step toward creating a new kind of scientific thinking, one that will appeal to readers with a profound curiosity about the mysteries of our universe.

In recent months, reviews of some of our books have appeared in Paranormal Magazine, a beautiful, glossy newsstand monthly edited by Richard Holland. First up is their review of  Worlds Before Our Own by Brad Steiger: “Steiger’s book delves into the dim and distant past to examine evidence damned by archeological and paleontological orthodoxy. Could Homo sapiens have existed on the Earth far longer than currently believed?…The suggestion is not as fantastical as it might first appear…[Steiger] does not intend this evidence to be conclusive, merely to raise the question about our origins and to fire the imagination regarding the possibility of a millions of years-old lost civilization. He succeeds admirably on both counts.”

Next is their review of Brad Steiger’s Otherworldly Affaires: “Demon lovers have been a feature of folklore since the Middle Ages at least but such phenomena are still reported today. Steiger turns his considerable resources onto the subject of sex and the supernatural in this welcome reprint of Haunted Lovers first published in 1971 but now rather hard to find… Sex and romance are powerful forces in the human psyche so it’s no wonder that they should have a strong influence on supernatural experience. Many of the accounts in Steiger’s fascinating book are doubtless the result of psychosis or wish fulfillment, but many more provide unnervingly convincing evidence of beings from beyond who are keen to get closer than comfortable.”

And lastly is their review of The Tujunga Canyon Contacts by Ann Druffel and Scott Rogo: “Whatever your attitude towards the alien abduction scenario (literal truth or hypnosis hooey?), The Tujunga Canyon Contacts is a seminal must-read for anyone interested in the subject…The particular value of this book is that alien abductions were still new on the scene when [Ann Druffel and Scott Rogo] carried out their research, which means the experiencers would not have been contaminated by all the abduction scenarios that have since become so familiar…”