Soviet Ufo Files: Paranormal Encounters Behind The Iron Curtain Hardcover – February 1, 1998

The Soviet UFO Files describes the history of Russian experience with UFOs. Bright well-defined color and somewhat-hazy black-and-white photographs are throughout the book, showing both UFOs and the Russian cultural experience. Impressive UFO photographs are the unidentified disc over Schelkovo in 1978 (page 58), a sphere over Crimea in 1978 (page 49), disc-shaped brightness (page 113), a cigar-shaped object (page 38), and ghostly bright fog over India in May 1964 (page 47). There are also a few described fake photographs as well as two silly Roswell false photographs, all of which I attribute to the publisher's error in judgement.Impressive UFO cases are cadet pilot Maxim Churbakov encounter with an orange sphere on August 28, 1991, Fighter Pilot First Class Lev Vyatkin's avoidance of a slanting milky-white ray from a UFO on the night of August 13, 1967, Veniamin Dodin's sighting and drawing (page 33) of a cylinder object over the Ishimba River in June 1953 as well as the loss of Soviet fighter planes on August 7, 1953 after attacking UFOs, the presence of orange spheres over Otorten Mountain before mountaineers were later found with orange-colored dead bodies, and Soviet frogmen's deadly experience with ten-foot humanoid swimmers in Lake Baikal in the summer of 1982.The Soviet UFO Files contains the same information as Mysterious Sky with the main difference being the presence of many photographs, which visually show the Russian UFO and cultural experience. I particularly liked the highlighting organization of the book.

Great first step in uncovering the Soviet UFO files. Because he was limited on space by the publishers for this volume, Paul Stonehill has written a further expanded account of the Soviet UFO files, which I've ordered & am looking forward to reading. Several of the stories Stonehill covers in this book have gotten a little attention on American documentaries - Tunguska, Otorten Mountain, Krasnoyarsk - but until recently there was no corroborating information. Although this book is more of a synopsis of the history of Soviet UFOs, Stonehill opens the door & shines a light on a century of deep, dark secrets. Even the long-ago political slants are interesting!As an aside, I was actually surprised at the lengths the Soviet government (allegedly) went to to cover up their UFO incidents & sightings. Not so much that I thought their government officials were smarter than ours (U.S.), but that both governments have taken the official position that there's no such thing as UFOs, & if there was such a thing they pose no threat to humans on earth. Several countries have declassified their UFO files, which directly contradict the "there's no such thing" stance. That leaves the "they pose no threat to us" stance - so why all the secrecy, double talk, disinformation, threats & coercion to witnesses?

Ok!

Pretty darn good book on the topic of UFOs. Some interesting never told before encounters are included. When the Iron Curtain fell the UFO community was blessed with a good amount of info sharing among ufologists and this book is a result of that. It's a very well put together book, glad I bought it.

This book is a short, easy read with lots of pictures, much like one of those Time-Life books popular 20 years ago or so. I don't know much about the Soviet Union before or after the heady days of Glastnost, and this book only served to pique my curiousity more (on the subject of UFOs and otherwise!). It seems obvious to me that Russia keeps it's secrets close to the vest. In this book Stonehill can only give you enough information on some startling incidents to make you wish for the 'whole story'. Rarely in this book is the 'whole story' told, and that leaves the reader frustrated. The reviewer who gave this book only one star apparently wanted scientific proof of the reality of the UFO phenomenon.This is not that kind of book. But the reviewer called this book a piece of s*** and I could not disagree more!Because I am obsessed with the subject matter I Googled some of the topics Mr Stonehill writes about, and there just isn't a whole lot of information out there (if I understood the Russian language there would be more). I deduce that he does not elaborate on these topics because the details, the files are not available. Thankfully, he does not sensationalize the events for the sake of selling books. But --WOW!--there have been many incredible incidents, landings, deaths, aviator and cosmonaut 'situations' with UFOs in the past that Stonehill introduces his readers to. He writes briefly about Tunguska and other 'Anomalous Zones' that exist within that huge country, where strange paradigms exist.As I said before, this is an easy read, and very appropriate for curious young readers and as an introduction to the history of the UFO phenomenon in the Soviet Union for any layperson. I enjoyed it for what it was, but it left me in need of a more in-depth expose' on the subject matter.Paul Stonehill has also written (with Philip Mantle) Mysterious Sky, Soviet UFO Phenomenon. It IS more in-depth and runs 416 pages. When I finish reading it I will attempt to review it as well.

What a fantastic UFO book Paul Stonehill has written featuring many shocking never-before-published Russian UFO accounts. Chock full of photos, a worthwhile addition to any UFO buff's collection. Prepare to be surprised and glued to the pages.

A must read!

In perfect condition. VERY happy with the purchase. A real keeper for me!

Great book. Gives added insight to a very hidden topic in the old USSR. A lot of the incidents I'd never even heard of. Definitely worth a read to any ufology addict.

Excelent coffee table book, many cases to get acquainted, some nice pics, but the book does not offer any depth in any of the cases, and some of them may be spurious, but as a introduction it is great, some of the cases can be found in the internet, so you can have a more satisfactory experience afterwards, the book can be bought cheaply, if so I recommend it.

I didn't know anything about Soviet Ufo happenings. Now I realise that it is clearly world wide,but was also hidden fron the public. There is a number of Ufo contact in this book.Great research and very informative for Ufo buffs.

Great book on a rarely reported bit of history. Turns out Russia also has unexplained stuff of other worldly nature.