High Strangeness is the third volume in Jerome Clark's The UFO Encyclopedia. Clark, who is Editor of the International UFO Reporter (a publication of the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies) has been a prolific writer in ufology, and his long and extensive knowledge of the field is evident throughout this encyclopedia series. In Volume 3, Clark also gets some minor assists from Thomas E. Bullard, who contributes a section on UFO "waves," Bill Chalker, who provides two entries regarding Australian ufology, and Michael D. Swords, who discusses "the extraterrestrial hypothesis and science."

Each volume of The UFO Encyclopedia focuses on a particular period in ufological history. However, readers should not expect a chronological logic to the order of volumes. Volume 1 covers UFOs in the 1980s, Volume 2 deals with The Emergence of a Phenomenon: UFOs From the Beginning Through 1959, and Volume 3 (High Strangeness) covers the period in between (1960 - 1979).

Nor should the reader expect the specified time periods to strictly determine the content Clark has chosen for each volume. For example, in High Strangeness, the Allagash abduction case, an event reported to have occurred in 1976, is given just a tangential one-sentence reference (perhaps because the case only achieved prominence with the eponymous book published by Raymond Fowler in 1993), while entries which transcend the time periods associated with each volume (e.g., Men in Black; Paranormal and Occult Theories of UFOs; UFO Waves) are given extensive coverage. In some instances, the entry is apparently justified because the topic in question (e.g., animal mutilations) became fully developed during the specified time frame. In other instances, (e.g., UFO Waves) the rationale is less clear. For the most part, however, Volume 3, like its companions, is a history of the major cases, events, people, and organizations associated with a particular period in ufology.

Volume 3 is by far the longest of the three volumes, covers about twice the period of time addressed in either Volume 1 or 2, and on average devotes about twice as much space to each entry as do either of the other volumes (Volume 3 has 99 entries and 592 pages of text; on average about 6 pages per entry). One could quibble about entries that were omitted but should not have been, or entries that are given more coverage than they deserve.

But complaints based on such idiosyncratic preferences would miss the point. High Strangeness is admirably comprehensive, and in total The UFO Encyclopedia is the most extensive reference guide available on the UFO phenomenon.

High Strangeness contains a number of very useful aids for the research oriented reader. These include a 30-page cumulative bibliography of over 4000 source materials, and a 54-page cumulative index, each identifying the particular volume to which the listing refers. Clark also uses textual citations, and each topic is accompanied by its own list of references for the sources cited as well as a bibliography of related source materials. These are highly commendable practices not generally followed by mainstream encyclopedias. Finally, topics dealt with in the other two volumes are clearly cross-referenced and identified in the text by boldfaced type.

Although the content of High Strangeness is organized like an encyclopedia, this format is by no means dictated by the topic entries. With a different organization the same content could have served as a traditional historical text.

High Strangeness is more book-like than traditional encyclopedias in another way. Encyclopedias strive for objectivity, and attempt to achieve this by incorporating differing points of view into their topic coverage. Clark does this as well. Indeed, his treatment of each topic suggests that he regards this as a primary responsibility. However, he frequently does not stop there, but goes on to offer his own interpretations of the subject under discussion.

For example, in regard to government/alien conspiracies Clark states "there is, of course, virtually no chance that any of these things are true." The MJ12 document is described as "a notorious forgery." The Walton abduction case is, in effect, exonerated as a hoax for "if [Walton's] story is a fabrication, it is among the most skillfully and intricately executed in UFO history." The Coyne close encounter case is pronounced "one of the most important UFO events ever recorded." And throughout, Clark does not suffer debunkers gladly, describing at least one debunker's (Klass) analyses as "reckless and emotional attacks."

None of these positions are necessarily untrue, unwarranted, or unwelcomed — although, of course, others will disagree. Nor do they necessarily reflect bias rather than Clark's best effort at analysis. Indeed, his attempt to maintain objectivity is on occasion almost painfully obvious. Consider this summation of his 12-page account of the Andreasson abduction affair: "We may reasonably speculate, perhaps, that her testimony is a mixture of reality and fantasy: a core UFO experience (or perceived experience) at the bottom of a mountain of confabulation."

In any event, Clark's treatment of some subjects is not always the dispassionate or unopinionated treatise the reader may have come to expect from traditional encyclopedias, nor for that matter, from what Clark has set for himself as his own writing guideline (his stated principle for High Strangeness is that "intellectual agnosticism... is the wisest course"). But in no case is the reader given less than a clear statement of the facts and opinions at hand, and ample opportunity to reach a conclusion on his or her own.

In this regard, a number of impressions emerge from a reading of High Strangeness. First, the period between 1960 and 1979 was indeed, as Clark describes it, highly strange — a period of "excitement, confusion, and overwhelming eventfulness." Few writers could convey the flavor of this period as well as Clark. Among the strange goings-on, we see the beginnings of the crash retrieval frenzy of the '90s, the start of "other-realities" explanations for UFO origins, and the emergence of the abduction experience. It is of particular interest to read the thirteen abduction accounts — reported before the phenomenon was well known — and to note their similarities to more contemporary reports.

But perhaps more provocative than these antecedents of modern ufology is what is no longer a significant aspect of the contemporary scene. The period of high-strangeness reported by Clark was characterized by recurrent close encounters, by CE2s and CE3s, by an apparent evolution of the numerous sighting reports which first launched the UFO phenomenon. Where have all the UFOs gone? The sightings of the '50s, '60s, and '70s seem to have diminished dramatically. Perhaps testimony to this can be found in Clark's Volume 1 (the 1980s) which has only a few entries on actual cases of any kind.

One of the greatest threats to ufology as a field of study is that the core phenomenon has been slowly fading away. Clark describes CE2s as "by their nature... the most important of all UFO cases." Because they involve physical effects on the environment or the observer, they are far more amenable to conventional study than mere testimony. But the exciting multiple witness close encounters, the radar/visual cases, the witnessing of landings and entities (outside of abduction accounts), although still occurring, are becoming more and more of a rarity. Whether this is due to a change in the phenomenon or a change in reporting and investigating behaviors, it is a change that has had a significant impact on the ufology of today, and will continue to influence the ufology of tomorrow.

High Strangeness is, therefore, not only informative but thought provoking. It is also a highly enjoyable read. Clark combines the art of the storyteller with the skill of the historian to weave together an authoritative and compelling tale of ufology in the '60s and '70s. High Strangeness is an important book. Along with its companion volumes, it should be read by anyone with an interest in the UFO phenomenon.

Stuart Appelle
Department of Psychology
State University of New York, College at Brockport
Brockport, New York 14420

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