Are aliens cryptids? Probably not, I guess. But itās my site, so thatās where I am sticking them. Sorry!
Anyway, this is Daniel C. Knightās UFOs: A Pictorial History from Antiquity to the Present (1979). When I found it recently, I was surprised because I think of Knight as a ghost guy, not a UFO guy (though since reading Boardmanās illustrated history, the distinction is maybe less pronounced than I used to believe). Anyway, I am not a huge UFO guy myself. Iāve bought Cohenās UFO books because Iām a completionist, but I am not attracted to the aesthetics of UFOlogy the way I am Monsterology. If Iām being honest, I donāt even particularly enjoy cryptids, at least how they have developed in the 21st century (that is, largely defined by crankery and disappointment).
But a picture book of UFOs? Thatās enough to get me up off the bench. The cover has a lot of promise already! Color-graded black and white photos, that racing stripe font. I would maybe have arranged the photos in a different pattern that doesnāt subtly evoke the evilest government of the 20th century, though Iām pretty sure thatās accidental. And inside is the best collection of UFO imagery Iāve ever encountered.
Truly, there is stuff in here I have never seen before, a lot of it more compelling than the same six images every other book on UFOs reprints. The quality of reproduction is also worth noting, too: these are the best versions of these photos Iāve seen, as clear and as big as possible on the page. There is also a lot of supplemental material: sketches, paintings documents. As a lukewarm UFO fan, I love it. I suspect hardcore UFOols out there probably have proportionally stronger opinions.
Oh, and Knight seems rightly skeptical of the whole racist Chariot of the Gods/ancient aliens theory, so thatās a plus too!
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