Imagine . . . you're in the woods after dark. Eerie green lights appear in the distance. Then there's a sudden flash and everything is dark again. You decide to take a closer look. You come upon a saucer-shaped craft hovering silently just above the ground. You reach out to touch it, but the object suddenly shoots up into the sky. Have you just seen a UFO?
Some people say they have had experiences like this. Are they telling the truth? To find out, Kelly Milner Halls investigated stories of eyewitnesses from around the world. She explored UFO sightings, landings, crashes, aliens, and even a few hoaxes. She also interviewed several of the world's UFO experts. Examine her findings and decide for yourself whether visitors from other worlds are real.
"With a surprisingly even-handed tone, this book uses an interest in aliens to inspire scientific inquiry. It discusses the history of UFO sightings, crashes, and hoaxes, providing thoroughly researched, factual information while remaining non-judgmental about explained phenomena. A fictionalized thread of an alien mission is interspersed with the nonfiction. The author's interviews with experts and witnesses are particularly insightful." --The Horn Book Guide
--Journal
"This is a clever book for anyone interested in flying saucers and UFOs. Halls uses an 'imagine if' short story that starts the beginning of each chapter to draw the reader into her subject. Her use of newspaper accounts, first-hand remembrances, photographs, and charts make this an easy and interesting read. Halls looks at different types of UFOs, actual close encounters, and world renowned hoaxes. Although her belief in UFOs and alien life forms is evident, she is careful to formulate a conclusion that looks at both sides of the debate. A fun read with its mix of colorful pictures, news articles, and firsthand accounts, this book will keep readers entertained while learning." --Library Media Connection
--Journal
Aliens and UFOs are popular topics among the middle school crowd. This title will satisfy readers who are fascinated by such things, with
a balanced presentation of the topic. Numerous eyewitness accounts, plus interviews with scientists, keep the text objective without losing the high-interest appeal of the topic. Halls includes everything from the types of spacecraft reported to accounts of specific crash landings all over the world. She also devotes a chapter to the aliens themselves--what reports claim they look like, both over time and in different locations. A full chapter deals with the concept of hoaxes and misunderstandings, claiming that "even if UFOs and aliens are real, that doesn't mean that everything having to do with them is real." In fact, the conclusion, subtitled "Real or Unreal," leaves readers to decide for themselves.
While the book is liberally peppered with various graphics, the design is a bit too inconsistent. There are several fonts used throughout the book, some which tie common items, like interviews, together, but the effect as a whole creates a disjointed feel. Also, several pages are told from an alien perspective--a team of them is travelling to Earth not knowing what they will find. Unfortunately, they are too sparsely interspersed throughout, adding to the overall disjointed feel, and may confuse unsophisticated readers. Most readers will forgive these shortcomings and be fully immersed in the graphics as well as the details of aliens, crash landings, and "men in black," who swoop in after a reported UFO sighting.
--
VOYA--Journal
"The author begins with an alien alter ego named Yllek (Kelly spelled backwards) who is planning a possible journey through space. His perspective is sprinkled throughout this historical survey of UFO and extraterrestrial sightings, providing a humorous touch to the information. Beginning with a 1947 incident over Washington State, the narrative succinctly describes similar incidents in such places as Florida, Iran, Arizona, China, and New Mexico. One-page interviews with the witnesses of UFO/ET sightings inject personal details into the description. Possible terrestrial explanations follow each incident. Jaunty full-color illustrations flash off every page and provide a good contrast between what people claim to have seen and what the experts think they may have seen--clouds, lightning, and other weather phenomena; secret U.S. planes; weather balloons, etc. A double-page world map pinpoints modern sightings. A bibliography of books and websites and lists of UFO organizations and festivals might lead readers further into the field. While not as comprehensive as Eric Elfman's Almanac of Alien Encounters (Random, 2001) or as skeptical as Judith Herbst's UFOs (Lerner, 2005), this attractive, balanced view will update collections." --School Library Journal
--Journal
