Back in the day, my Mom had all these flying saucer hysteria books. I managed to come across a few that still existed in her collection as we were going through her personal effects after she passed on in 2006. I suppose you could say that this was part of my inheritance (along with all her Oprah tapes – which I promptly erased so that they didn’t annoy anyone else. You’re welcome.)
In the 1970s, she bought Erich Von Daniken’s CHARIOTS OF THE GODS? and the subsequent ones he wrote after that. It should be noted here that Von Daniken stopped after only a few books; he did not go on to write BOOGERS OF THE GODS, HEMORRHOID CREAMS OF THE GODS and one that would have been my personal pick, FAVORITE JELLO FLAVORS AND PANCAKES OF THE GODS.
Then there were the other UFO/Cosmic Star Connection books by J. Allen Hynek, Frank Edwards, Alan Landsburg and so on. Leonard Nimoy could have come to our house to do one of his “In Search of” shows there.
So, for a time, I was tripping over these types of books in the house. I suppose it’s no wonder that I would pick up on her fascination with all that. Apparently I’m the only other person in the household to show any interest in these books as I know Dad didn’t read them. Of the four kids in the house only two of us (my sister Deb and I) developed any interest whatsoever in reading books (of any kind) and I don’t know or recall if she was ever interested in the flying saucer books.
The irony here is that Mom never had INSIDE THE FLYING SAUCERS. I found it used somewhere and remember reading it after her death. As I can recall basically nothing about the book today, I can only conclude that I was abducted by aliens and that the knowledge I gained of UFOs was wiped from my memory completely. Or else I just plain forgot.
If it WAS an abduction, those gray, round-eyed little bastards didn’t even give me the courtesy of repairing my umbilical hernia during my physical exam. Ingrates! And after all that probing, too! Guess that would explain my vague recollections of these good ol’ boys enjoying a cigarette after concluding my cavity probes. Hope I didn’t have to squeal for them.
I hate to end this with a cliché, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to: “If you’ve read one UFO book, you’ve probably read them all.” INSIDE THE FLYING SAUCERS is just as good/valid/speculative/well-written as any other, I would venture to say.
