Proximity: Life Changing UFO Experiences. Volume 1 The Early Years

John Hanson and Shirley Edwards

 236pp

Paperback

Black and White/ colour images profusely illustrated

£18.22

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/157276331175?itmmeta=01K4JFAY8FVJV4HYBHAM14FVM4&hash=item249e665ca7:g:XsQAAeSwl7hory8f&pfm=0

The UFO books by John Hanson delves into the historical and paranormal aspects of the topic, published by Haunted Skies. The paperback books offer an intriguing narrative in English, focusing on real-life stories and encounters related to UFO sightings and alien phenomena. Perfect for those interested in the mysteries of the unknown, this book series explores the fascinating world of non-fiction storytelling in the genre of the paranormal.

Very few UFO books impress me these days as they are usually the same old-same old and usually leave me asking why I spent my valuable money on them.  There are the exceptions such as John Hanson's Haunted Skies UFO Encyclopedia series which is not as boring as "encyclopedia" may make it seem. Those are thoroughly researched books and many cases often left "hanging" have been looked into revealing factors that previous Ufologists never asked about or bothered with.

It cost me a fair amount but I at least have a full set of HS and every single volume is full of post-it notes and the more post-it notes shows how valuable a reference a book can be.  Having specialised in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Alien Entity reports since 1974 I have to admit that Haunted Skies as a series turned up a good few UK reports that I had never heard of -because they were reported to and investigated by Hanson.

HS as a series does not just focus on the UK as anyone who has ever read a volume will know. The in depth work on the Rendlesham Forest Incident  -The Halt Perspective for instance are valuable sources for serious researchers.

So what does Proximity Volume 1 have going for it?  Firstly, it brings together some of the best cases from the HS series (which are hard to come by volumes now).  There is a look at some of the personalities involved in Ufology from J Allen Hynek, Trevor James Constable, Dr Condon, the now sadly forgotten Arthur Constance and many others including astronauts.  There is a look at UFO Disclosure but the main "meat" of the bookare the actual witness/percipient accounts.

There are reports beginning in 1870, through the early 1900s and 1920s through to the 1960s; everything from missing time incidents to recalled abductions and close proximity sightings that caused physiological effects in the observers. There are the claims of sightings and then threats and intimidation of observers to keep them quiet. Enough is presented here to make you ask "What is going on?"

But there is more. There are features within the book such as a large section on the Betty and Barney Hill case and one asking whether Morris K Jessup was murdered for getting too close to the truth.  There is a look at the claims of George Adamski and correlations from other UFO reports. One thing that stands out are the stories of the people who became involved in Ufology and how they set up groups or investigated personally reports as they came in (such as Gavin Gibbons who looked into the 1954 Jessie Roestenberg CE3).

The volume is not just a boring citation of report after report but fills in many things that people want to know such as "Who was this person? Were they a loony?" or even "Has anyone else ever reported what that person saw or says happened to them?" You will find those questions answered where ever possible in this book -Shirley Edwards adding notes where necessary.  And on top of everything else the book is full of photographs and illustrations many of which have not seen print before -some in colour and some in black and white. The last chapter of the book looks at some cases from the 1970s on that will no doubt get fuller treatment in the next volume.

If you are looking for a book that genuinely looks at the phenomena involved then this has to be it whether you are just curious or trying to learn more to become active in Ufology. The book is highly recommended.

Note: John is also interviewed and looks at his work on the Haunted Skies Project here: https://terryhooper.blogspot.com/2024/09/john-hanson-haunted-skies-and-british.html