When was the first UFO photograph taken? What areas of the world are you most likely to encounter an unidentified object? What are the most common shapes of objects and have there ever been any famous witnesses?

This book by famed UFO investigator Jenny Randles attempts to answer these and much more.

For the record, the first known UFO photograph was taken in August 1883 by a Mexican astronomer and shows a somewhat blurry object crossing the face of the Sun.

That photo is included here along with the famous 1942 newspaper photo of something weird caught in the searchlight beams over Los Angeles.

As to the second question, Randles looks at all of the continents to see what geographical locations are hot spots.

By rights, Antarctica should be included, as there have been a number of well-attested sightings there for well over 40 years.

Australia is represented by several regions – the Nullabor Plain, Bass Strait, the Kempsey area, and the Great Barrier Reef.

In the case of the Nullabor, the most celebrated sighting occurred in 1988 when a family claimed their car was attacked by an egg-like object in an egg-cup base.

At one point, they believe their car was sucked off the road and a tire burst when they crashed back to earth. A humming noise was heard coming from the glowing shape.

Back in February 1973, a nurse and her boyfriend were driving towards Kimba, in South Australia, when they saw an orange rectangular glow in a field beside the road that seemed to contain a large, white figure of humanoid appearance resembling a person standing in a non-existent doorway.

To the west of Kempsey in March 1976, a yellow-green light came down from the sky and enveloped a car, sucking all energy from the lights and engine. It left behind physical traces in the form of a thick white powder deposited over the bodywork.

When it comes to Canada, Randles is quite right in mentioning the Niagara region as attracting the attention of UFOs.

As far back as 1911 strange objects were reported, and continue to be, to this very day.

I was a little disappointed that she did not mention the other Canadian locations UFOs display an interest in.

One is the interior of British Columbia, where sinister black triangles have been showing up, the second is the nation’s capital of Ottawa, the third is the Winnipeg area, and the fourth is the Yukon.

UFOs in the Niagara region were blamed for possibly being the cause of the great 1965 power blackout.

North and South America have plenty of window areas, ranging from the Texas triangle to Gulf Breeze in Florida, from Puerto Rico to the Brazilian mountains, and to Bahia Blanca in Argentina.

In 1972 at Tres Arroyos, Argentina, a wheel-like object containing a strange figure wearing a suit made of rolled material zapped the pet cat of an uneducated gaucho, aged 73. The cat vanished for several days, returning with singed skin, and a subdued personality.

I once questioned the Japanese pen pal of my cousin regarding UFO activity in Japan, when she was visiting Canada.

I didn’t elicit any information, perhaps due to language difficulties. However this book says that Japan’s far north, notably the island of Hokkaido is an active location.

In July 1973, a UFO was spotted by a security guard. It was sucking water from the sea through a tube. A large drum shaped craft with windows behind which a shadowy figure lurked, it soon departed at a rapid speed.

There are quite a few celebrities who have had their own personal encounters with UFOs (when they care to admit them that is) and several are mentioned here – John Lennon, British comedian Michael Bentine, and strangely enough, Star Trek’s Captain Kirk, William Shatner.

In the case of Shatner, he was stranded in the heat of the Mojave Desert when his motorcycle engine failed. This was shortly after the conclusion of his TV series around 1969.

He had the sudden urge to change direction, and as he did so, caught sight of a silvery object directly overhead. He found help in time and was rescued, but attributes his survival to the appearance of the object.

Tips are given for organising skywatches, photographing UFOs and determining which of the six most common shapes your sighting falls into, (i.e. discs, triangles, rods, spheres, etc.). Sometimes it is not clear as to what the shape is, when you view something edge on.

Although obviously intended for a younger audience, Randles has included enough material, particularly with regard to crop circles and the various regions, to hold the attention of an older audience.

Some fascinating material from her files, and a very useful handbook for anyone interested in the subject.

– Reviewed by W. Ritchie Benedict in New Dawn No. 89