In light of my recent interest in all things extraterrestrial, Fat Cat got me this awesome book, and it is out of this world!

It covers UFO sightings and incidents from around the world. Definitely cool to see how other cultures view UFO phenomena. It never occurred to me what UFO lore is like in, say, Australia or South America. Plus, it’s got killer pictures.

Check this out! It kind of reminds me of a scene from The Calico Junction Incident, my current series in progress. How would you like a bunch of these guys hanging around your house? Brrr!

I love all the old photographs in the book. I find it incredible that UFOs have been around since the Dawn of Man.

And check out the retro scifi book cover in the top right-hand corner in the image below entitled: Flying Saucers Have Landed.

Can you imagine if that really happened? I wonder how the media would spin it. What would that look on the front page of The Huffington Post or The Los Angeles Times? How quickly would the riots start? (It’s so much fun to think about. Humans are curious lot.)

I’ve always held a strong fascination for UFO lore, but in researching The Calico Junction Incident, I realize that I actually know very little. Most of what I know come from The X-Files, which actually is not a bad place to start and a damn fine series.

But I’ve been trying to remedy my lack of knowledge by watching alien and UFO documentaries on Netflix (and there are lots to choose from) and, of course, the interwebz, which is rife with some of the most amazing, crazy, and outrageous stories…all of which I find immensely entertaining.

It’s not so much people believing in UFOs that’s entertaining — it’s the crazy fringe culture that has sprung up around that belief. It’s like marijuana culture with the sort of cartoony crackpot hippy fringe vibe — yet, given the number of abduction reports around the world and their striking similarities and the vast number of UFO sightings, it’s difficult to dismiss their validity. Of course, if the government knows anything definitive about the existence of UFOs, they’re not going to talk about it. Last thing any government wants is a populace afflicted with the heebie-jeebies and demanding answers that they probably don’t have.

There are even YouTube channels dedicated to posting recent sightings caught on video, and while there’s quite a few that look straight-up legit, there are some that, while not so legit, are certainly spine-tingling to watch. What if….?

Crazy, huh?

So in the name of research — and because we want to get take pictures of ginormous radio telescopes — my buddy Ninja Jim and I are heading out to the desert next week to take a tour of the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in Ft. Irwin, California, my old stomping grounds.

I asked Fat Cat if he wanted to come, but he’s allergic to road trips…and the desert. (He belongs in more tropic climes.)

What do you expect to find out there? he wanted to know.

I looked him in the eye and said: The truth.

So tell me, Good Reader, do you believe in UFOs? Leave a comment down below. And if you’ve actually seen unexplainable lights in the sky, I definitely want to hear from you. And if you’ve experienced an alien abduction, then I really, really want to hear from you!