Maybe not the "final solution", but an important work., January 2, 2003

By	Dennis Hawley (Asheville, NC) - See all my reviews

Several years ago, as I was browsing in a bookstore, I picked up this title, quickly scanned it and put it back, thinking it just another UFO debunking book.

Recently, I found a copy in a book closeout sale and bought it. Now that I've read it, I realize my initial impression was wrong. This is a very well written, solidly researched book which is thought provoking and troubling; it should be read anyone interested in the UFO phenomenon, be they 'true believer' or open-minded skeptic.

As I read the book, reflections of past curiosities I've noted over the years came flooding back: The many reports of UFOs sighted near military installatios; Ronald Reagan's repeated public comments about "aliens from space" threatening the world; Douglas MacArthur's warnings about future wars with aliens; the suspicious Rendlesham Forest UFO incident (with all reports coming from the military); the increase in sightings of triangular shaped objects with Stealth-like appearance; 'abductees'reporting military personnel alongside 'aliens'during the abduction, and the well-documented reality of government directed disinformation efforts regarding UFOs.

While I had always felt that many UFO sightings were super-secret 'black ops' projects, I was not prepared for the author's conclusions: UFOs are real, and are the product of the U.S. military. They are being used for the grandest psyc ops program imaginable, to create the ILLUSION of an alien invasion. As to why, the author provides a sobering and very feasible reason. It is but a series of illusory 'wars' designed to maintain an engorged military-industrial complex, and to develop a perceived "need for the permanent presence of the military in the internal affairs of the United States." The author offers some very convincing reasons to support this chilling scenario.

This is an excellent read. For me, however, it falls short in offering a "final solution to the UFO mystery." Mr. Kanton really does not address how such tremendously advanced technology came into the military's possession, other than to suggest it was derived from Nazi saucer technology captured at the end of WW11. He dismisses reports of UFOs prior to 1947 (the "modern era") as "lacking in scientific authenticity" and being "most likely misidentifications of astronomical and terrestrial phenomena..." The problem here is that there are numerous, unchallenged photos of UFOs dating back decades before Kenneth Arnold's sighting, not to mention detailed depictions of odd craft in historical paintings (mostly religious themes), ancient texts describing them and cave paintings of (apparent) UFOs dating back to antiquity. UFOs did not just show up in 1947. Kanon also suggests that Hollywood movies and the popular media have been duplicitous in fostering the idea of an alien invasion, depicting aliens as evil. He ignores such blockbusters as 'ET' and 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind', which cast aliens in a benign light. Morever, the idea of invasion by space aliens goes back at least as far as H.G. Wells' 'War of the Worlds', and probably a lot earlier.

No, 'The Great UFO Hoax' does not give "the final solution to the UFO mystery." Nonetheless, this is a serious and important book that should be read by a broader range than just UFO buffs.

While many UFOs may well be from a non-earthly origin, this does not rule out what the author proposes as being true. We should, as he states it, "watch our backs."

www.amazon.com/gp/product/1880090414/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top