S P E C I A L C O L L E C T I O N
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The Shocking Truth Behind Unexplained Aerial ObjectsIn 2009 authors Jacques Vallée and Chris Aubeck presented Wonders in the Sky, a collection of case studies of 500 reported incidents of encounters with unexplained aerial objects and their occupants. The publisher, Tarcher/Penguin, bill the volume as “groundbreaking … fascinating and rigorously researched.” Beginning in 2013, I examined dozens of these case studies and traced them back to their origins, revealing a pattern of slipshod research, poor translation, and misinterpretation that undercut both the claims of the publisher and efforts to cast Vallée as uniquely qualified to understand the historical origins of UFO phenomena. A new edition of Wonders was released in 2016, correcting these and other errors. My criticisms are indexed below, with a listing of the primary texts analyzed in each blog entry. Wonders in the Sky can be purchased by clicking the book cover at left.
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April 28, 2013
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April 29, 2013
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April 30, 2013
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June 7, 2013
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August 15, 2013
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March 9, 2015
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March 10, 2015
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March 11, 2015
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March 15, 2015
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March 17, 2015
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March 19, 2015
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March 22, 2015
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March 29, 2015
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April 1, 2015
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April 5, 2015
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June 9, 2015
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June 29, 2015
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March 1, 2016
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- Ancient Egyptian stelae
- 2 Kings 2:11
- Ezekiel 1:4-21
- Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 1.24
- Diodorus Siculus, Library 16.66.3
- Livy, History of Rome 21 and 22
- 1960s Italian magazine hoax
April 29, 2013
Texts covered:
- Livy, History of Rome 28 and 42
- Pliny, Natural History 2.32 and 2.35
- Plutarch, Life of Gaius Marius 17.4
- Julius Obsequens, Liber Prodigiorum 45 and 54
- Han-shu 26
- Cassius Dio, Roman History 41.61.2
- Josephus, Wars of the Jews 6.5.3
- Henry Boece, Historia Gentis Scotorum 4.58
April 30, 2013
Texts covered:
- Herodian, History of the Empire 1.14.1
- Cassius Dio, Roman History 74.14.3-4
- Various Chinese texts
- Gan Bao, Sou-shen Chi 8.235
- Theophanes the Confessor, Chronicle, entry for 334
- Photius, Library, codices 181 and 242
- Notes and Queries, April 17, 1875
June 7, 2013
Texts covered:
- Abbé Nicolas-Pierre-Henri de Montfaucon de Villars, Comte de Gabalis, Discourse V, sec. 127-128
- Abogard, On Hail and Thunder 1-2.
- Charlemagne, Admonitio generalis of March 23, 789 (cap. 65).
August 15, 2013
Texts covered:
- Sheng Kuo, Dream Pool Essays 369
March 9, 2015
Texts covered:
- Annals of Philosophy 12 (as cited in Fort, Book of the Damned)
March 10, 2015
Texts covered:
- Livy, History of Rome 22-24
- Quintus Curtius Rufus’ History of Alexander 4.3
- Hoax texts
March 11, 2015
Texts covered:
- Roger of Reading, continuation of the Flowers of History, entry for 1322
March 15, 2015
Texts covered:
- Alberto Guglielmotti, Marcantonio Colonna 2.12
- Ferrante Caracciolo, I commentari delle guerre fatte da Don Giovanni d’Austria, p. 17
- Bartolomeo Sereno, Commentario della guerra di Cipro etc., p. 160
March 17, 2015
Texts covered:
- Matthew Paris’s Chronica Majora, entry for July 24, 1239
March 19, 2015
Texts covered:
- Mirabilis Annus, entry for November 10, 1660
March 22, 2015
Texts covered:
- Jacques du Clercq, Memoirs, vol. 3, p. 189
March 29, 2015
Texts covered:
- Pierre Boaistuau’s Histoires Prodigieuses 4.6
April 1, 2015
Texts covered:
- Gervase of Canterbury, Chronicle, entry for 1078
April 5, 2015
Texts covered:
- Vita Hludowici Pii 41
- Annales Regni Francorum, entry for 827
June 9, 2015
Texts covered:
- Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa, Narrative and Route of the Voyage and Discovery, February 6-7, 1580
June 29, 2015
Texts covered:
- Leaflets and news accounts from Straslund, Germany, 1665
March 1, 2016
Texts covered:
- Plutarch, Life of Numa 13.1-6
- Ovid, Fasti 3.361ff
- Livy, History of Rome 1.4.20 and 1.5.52
- Horade, Odes 3.5
- Lucan, Pharsalia 9
