esearch is a joy for us at Hieronimus & Co. because, just like following a treasure map, you never really know where it will lead you.

A good library is essential to learning; and central to a good library are encyclopedias. The UFO Encyclopedia by Jerome Clark, published by Omnigraphics, now in its third volume, stands alone in quality and quantity -- we cannot recommend a better educational tool to learn about UFOs. It will probably remain the best for a long time to come. The three volumes are available for purchase separately, but the best deal is to order all three volumes for $228. Although that may be a large sum of money to some of you, put in perspective with a desire to grasp the gamut of UFO research, it's a real bargain. You could buy 50 or 75 or even 100 other UFO books and still not get the comprehensiveness found in Clark's UFO Encyclopedia from Omnigraphics. So save your dollars, or put it on your credit card and pay for it over time, but make this investment in knowledge. Contact your local library and urge them to purchase a set of Jerry Clark's UFO Encyclopedia ASAP.

Volume 3: High Strangeness completes the three-volume UFO Encyclopedia by providing an extensive survey of UFO phenomena that occurred during a period in which ufology became established as a field of inquiry and staggering numbers of sightings were reported. One hundred individual entries describe and explain such aspects as close encounters of the first, second and third kind; UFO crashes and retrievals; sightings, hoaxes, and abduction cases; and more.

Written by Jerome Clark, whom Library Journal calls "a respected UFO authority," the UFO Encyclopedia features unbiased and well-balanced coverage of all aspects of the UFO phenomena. Detailed entries cover the cases, the theories, the organizations, the personalities, the government and media responses, the effects on popular culture, the hoaxes, the flying-saucer religious movements, the debunkers, and all else that is relevant.

In the 1960s and 70s, daylight discs and nocturnal lights -- the kinds of phenomena that had previously defined the UFO controversy -- began to share center stage with an unprecedented number of close encounters on the ground. Claims became increasingly bizarre: there were sightings of craft occupants, communications with them (often via telepathy), abductions, and ever more intimate encounters.

This was also an era when investigations were undertaken by military agencies and civilian groups. Scientific associations held UFO symposiums, many concluding that the phenomena was worth scientific study. When the U.S. Air Force shut down its investigative unit, Project Blue Book, in 1969, many Americans suspected it was covering up sensitive information.

This volume is extensively cross-referenced and contains a cumulative index to the entire three-volume set. There is also a cumulative bibliography in Volume 3 that lists all of the sources used in each of the three volumes.

Our limited space allows us to share only a part of one of the hundred entries. Under a section on "Hairy Bipeds and UFOs," we first learn that "apelike animals" (or Bigfoot) are not just spotted in the Pacific Northwest, but all over North America. But even more intriguing, these strange creatures are sometimes seen in association with UFO sightings or UFOlike effects, like power blackouts, etc.

On pages 212-221, Clark explains: "In the most extreme UFO stories -- those that allege extensive communications with (usually benevolent) extraterrestrials -- Hairy Bipeds make an occasional appearance." He continues with one possible explanation of the alleged link between UFOs and Hairy Bipeds "advanced by the late parapsychologist D. Scott Rogo, who speculated that UFOs, Hairy Bipeds, and other anomalous manifestations may be 'psychic projection'... 'Something from us 'projects out,' takes on a physical form and a vestige of intelligence, and then disappears as the force which gave it birth dissipates.' Extrapolating from a notion favored by many parapsychologists, that psychokinetic energy from the unconscious mind creates poltergeists, Rogo suggested that collective -- not, as with 'ordinary' poltergeists, merely individual -- psychokinesis can create phenomena of sufficient physical substance to leave tracks but not enough to conclusively prove its existence. In other words, no one will ever recover the body of a psychic projection." (Rogo, 1977)

Clark, in his ever-objective tone, concludes this entry by stating, "These are huge suppositions tied to small evidence. At this stage, given the limitations of human knowledge, there is hardly anything about Hairy Bipeds, or their possible connections with the UFO phenomena, that can be stated with any degree of confidence."

Admittedly, seeing Bigfoot piloting a UFO is one of the stranger observations of the UFO phenomena, but we find these encounters some of the more interesting as they are so mysterious and strange. The UFO Encyclopedia: Volume 3, however, equally covers all the classic and standard lights in the sky, tracking on radar a variety of UFO experiences that occurred in the 60s and 70s. This is a must-have book. Order your copy today! High Strangeness (700 pp./$95), Omnigraphics, phone: 1-800-234-1340, Penobscot Building, Detroit, MI 48226.

Jerry Clark was a guest on 21^st Century Radio on 4/28/96.

From Hieronimus & Co. Newsletter, Vol. 1, No. 6

Please note that High Strangeness: Volume 3 is also available from amazon.com.