UFOs, Chemtrails, and Aliens: What Science Says

Prothero (Rhinoceros Giants), a geologist and paleontologist, and Callahan, religion editor for Skeptic Magazine, explore popular paranormal notions and conspiracy theories while explaining the best ways to evaluate them. The first step, the authors advise, is a healthy dose of skepticism: take a close look at the evidence. Humans’ “believing” brains work overtime to fashion random events into patterns, such as finding false data correlations between vaccination and autism or seeing the Virgin Mary on a grilled cheese sandwich. Combine that pattern-making survival skill with a need to have control over a threatening world and the result is often the kind of conspiratorial thinking that proliferates across the internet. Prothero and Callahan explore the modern myths of UFO sightings and alien encounters and the evidence for them that never quite adds up. They look into the reality—or lack thereof—of New World Order efforts to maintain a docile population, rapacious reptilian aliens disguised as humans, extraterrestrial-based religions premised on aliens seeding Earth with human life, and a crystal skull that is supposedly an ancient microchip for storing alien wisdom. With their book’s brisk pace and energetic writing, Prothero and Callahan offer entertainment as well as wisdom for everyone who’s ever wondered what’s behind so many conspiracy theories and paranormal phenomena. (Aug.)