HOME   NEWS   DIRECTOR   MESSENGER   SITE  INDEX   LINKS  CONTACT 
 

RETURN TO BOOK REVIEW INDEX



by Raymond  Cecot
Organizational Director, IRAAP

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Interpretations of an Alien Star Map
by William McBride
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

Are you a bit confused when you look up into the night sky, wondering what it is you are looking at? Sure, you may know the Big Dipper or even the constellation Orion when it is visible during the winter months. But what of the rest of the night sky?

William McBride has written an interesting work titled Interpretations of an Alien Star Map (©2005). The basis for the book is the star map which Betty Hill drew after her and Barney’s alien abduction back in 1961. Whether you are an avid UFO follower or a total skeptic, Interpretations will not only enlighten you, but give you a few things to consider. As is my usual approach to any new book I read, especially one that is dealing with an older topic like Betty and Barney Hill (their story has been in the UFO circle for longer than many UFO buffs have been alive), I tried not to let any preconceived notions cloud my reading. I wanted to see what the book had to say, and how it was going to approach a topic that has been beaten up quite a bit in UFO literature.

To begin with, McBride gives a concise overview of the Hill event of 1961. A nice refresher for someone who is not inclined to re-read John G. Fuller’s book The Interrupted Journey. But this is only the beginning. We are then treated to a brief, but fairly thorough lesson in basic star gazing, in the chapter titled "Astronomy 101." I am not an amateur astronomer by any stretch of the imagination, although I thought I had a pretty good handle on what I was looking at when I looked at the night sky. Not so. McBride taught me quite a bit in this chapter, and if one is not interested in reading a book because of the UFO "thing," then I suggest reading it for the astronomy lesson you will be given.

After your night sky overview, the reader is then treated to the interpretations of the star map that Betty Hill was able to recall after being given a post-hypnotic suggestion. The many interpretations are given their fair allotment, those of Marjorie Fish (sun-like stars being the focus), James Randi (constellations Leo and Cancer or just about any constellation), Charles Atterberg (limited to stars close to our sun), Joachim Koch and Hans-Juergen Kyborg (Jupiter, Saturn, and asteroids), until McBride has his say. This is not the place to go into what McBride’s interpretation may be. One will have to read the book to get to that.

And if you are at all interested in the Giza pyramids and the Sphinx, well, so is McBride, and he goes into some of his opinions on this topic toward the end of the book. I must say that when I read his section on the possible Egypt connection and his reaction to Robert Bauval and Graham Hancock, I knew I found an author whose thinking is not much different from my own.

Notwithstanding my fascination with McBrides’ subject matter, I was very impressed with McBride’s presentation, and encourage anyone to give it a read, whether from a UFO perspective or as a learning experience for what one is observing when looking up on a clear night.

As McBride, himself, states toward the end of his book:

"With every new theory, there will always be some critics and skeptics who do not accept it and offer opposing views. Various astronomers refute the work of Robert Bauval and Graham Hancock. E.C. Krupp and others say that the Sphinx should be on the other side of the Nile. Leo faces the Milky Way in the night sky and the Sphinx faces the Nile on the ground. The skeptics say the belt stars in Orion are upside down and don’t match the Giza pyramids now and wouldn’t have in 10,500 BC. Mr. Bauval now gives the date of 11,500 BC for the structure’s construction. The cynics say that Virgo, not Leo, appeared at the vernal equinox in 10,500 BC. It is up to the reader to decide who is right in this debate."

Indeed, it is up to the readers, that is those with inquiring minds and seekers of truth, to gather as much information as they can and reach their own conclusions. McBride certainly gives us plenty to chew on in his book. Interpretations certainly deserves a place on an UFO bookshelf. 


Buy this book at Amazon.com:

You can purchase a copy of Interpretations of an Alien Star Map through Barnes and Noble, amazon.com, or through the publisher, Publish America.
Retail price $16.95.

You can contact William McBride by mail at
1004 Trinity Road
Conshohocken, PA 19428
or by email at .

Tell him IRAAP sent you.

;



Find these books and more at Amazon.com


 
 

Copyright ©2006 www.IRAAP.org.  All rights reserved.
HOME   NEWS   DIRECTOR   MESSENGER   SITE  INDEX   LINKS   CONTACT
to top