UFOs for the 21st Century Mind: The Definitive Guide to the UFO Mystery: New and Expanded Edition Paperback – 21 Dec. 2022

Richard makes a difficult subject easy to read and absorb for anyone new to the subject. For readers more acquainted there is added detail and links to further information in the footers.My only gripe is the one I have with many modern books. There are too many typos, missing words and parts of words, extra words and some jumble. But none of this detracts from the overall historical value. It's an excellent first step to understanding what is going on behind our backs.

Richard Dolan delivers mammoth in-depth analysis. Quality+++. Stands head and shoulders above the rest. Intelligent, analytical, crammed with detail, Dolan considers the phenomena from political and economic perspectives as well as one of just general interest.

Whether you are new to Ufology or you are obsessed with the genuine mystery of UFOs, there is much to love about Dolan's book, now updated to include events, both social and mysterious, of the last decade (2013 through 2023). First, it's a serious look at ufology as a whole, including the more "speculative" aspects of it. Those are treated fairly with the right amount of skepticism, which is sometimes considerable. Dolan's basic premise or view, nevertheless, is to keep an open mind while insisting on corroborative, scientific evidence. In short, "we just don't know what we're dealing with... yet."I'm familiar with Richard Dolan's appearances on various programmes and documentaries but until now I've never read any of his books. I'm grateful this book turned up on Kindle Unlimited so that I could "borrow" it and read it for free, which isn't exactly free nor is it actually unlimited, but I digress. I couldn't afford a physical copy otherwise: 25.00 GBP is quite steep for a paperback, even one as large as this one is. Then again, it's cheaper than many other self-published books or even those "paranormal" books who have gone through traditional publishing circles. Is the paperback worth the twenty-five quid, even with the new pages? Maybe, if you're already deeply enmeshed with the ufology world and you absolutely must have everything to do with ufology on your bookshelves. But I do think it's worth the roughly 8 quid for the kindle e-book version, despite some minor formatting problems in one section (photo attached from chapter 9) and a small handful of typos.As for the content of this book, it's impressive but it's not an exposé; this book is a simple, clear, explanatory guide with plenty of citations to follow. You won't get any major revelations, although you will get nearly every possible theory described in a straightforward, sensible manner -- even the incredibly subjective "way out there" ones, such as channelling interdimensional aliens who are part of the Galactic Federation of something or other. It's all here, along with plenty of geopolitical "taking over the world" opinions and speculation as to ET's motivations as you'd expect from any treatise of this topic. Is this book truly "definitive"? No, but it would impossible to write such a thing, as the topic of ufology is vast and there is far too much for any one person to adequately cover. Fortunately, Dolan deftly sidesteps the pitfalls that many others have succumbed to and brings a welcome clarity to the subject of UFOs and extraterrestrials.Despite never having seen a UFO personally, I have long been interested in them, since I was a young child and my grandmother told me she was convinced that aliens were coming into her house and, bizarrely, raiding her fridge. Those aliens, I learned many decades later, were actually my cousins looking for some free food after a night out of partying with friends before returning home. Still, my grandmother and I would watch every 1970s and early 80s TV show about paranormal and UFO events (In Search Of comes to mind), and I fondly remember long conversations with her about all things mysterious and unexplained. I also had a few books devoted to Project Blue Book's unknowns.It is fair to say, as most of us who are interested in this topic know well, the ufology field is littered with absolute crackpots. Keeping an open mind can only go so far after all. Dolan isn't one of those crackpots, fortunately. But... well, let's just say that it seems he absolutely lost his poop during the pandemic, which I can understand because it was enormously stressful and terrible for most of us, but I do think he goes a bit too far with his (newfound?) politics on one his podcasts that I've seen by saying that Jan 6th was not an insurrection. A huge mob of people trying to prevent certification of an election by storming America's capitol building to install their petulant, narcissistic leader who lost is indeed an insurrection by definition, though we can debate whether those people were deceived into thinking otherwise via nationalism or some other nefarious means.To be absolutely fair, I have for quite some time wondered if the deep polarisation of American politics and the divided population is part of some grand, terrible scheme or experiment to control people (which Dolan refers to as The Great Reset) and force otherwise rational people to do irrational things in service of the ultra-wealthy. Dolan hints at this in the addendum and on his podcasts, but I wonder if he realises that by simply choosing a side means that he is also being unwittingly controlled, too? Despite his misguided political belief that making people (or children) wear masks to prevent the spread of a virus was a crime, and his general anti-vax stance in respect of Covid vaccines, his work on in the UFO field is superb -- of this there is no doubt. I'd still have him over for dinner and an amicable chat about The Global Revolution, which he touches on briefly in the addendum of this book, whether the US govt or the entire world is actually heading towards totalitarianism via The Great Reset or something altogether different. I have to say, I agree in part with some of his assertions, particularly Big Tech and the fact that most media outlets are not doing their jobs properly, regardless of your political biases. But in respect of the latter group and particularly in American media, that has always been the case, in my opinion. The question becomes how to get media to report on UFOs without making it an absurd spectacle of it every time? I would add that Dolan should consider that we don't actually own our digital purchases, not in the strict sense of ownership -- try moving to a new a country and you will discover that you can't take all of your digital purchases with you. In any case, I don't believe Dolan has gone on to fully "red pill" and buy into the Qanon conspiracy theories, but at present I don't have enough information. I hope he hasn't. I will still give this book five stars regardless, as it isn't overtly political, and I only care about your politics when they are used to actually cause harm to me and others.Conclusion: This is a truly superb guide on the mystery of UFOs and other related subjects. It's fair-minded throughout, and doesn't jump to overly speculative beliefs (nor does it advocate to send a ton of money to sign up for ET contact, thankfully -- I'm looking at you, Greer) except to say that subjective experience is not scientific evidence. I've long been weary of the anecdotal evidence presented in documentaries for all sorts of UFO and other paranormal events. It's been very nice to a read a book that presents the actual evidence of UFOs, of which there is an enormous amount, for a change.

Anything by Richard Dolan is a must have for the collection.

Good read and interesting way to consider the reality we may live in and the obvious facts that show we are in fact living in this scenario

I always enjoy reading Richard Dolan works. He discusses the UFO/UAP subject with good common sense and objectivity. This latest update invites yet more thought provoking reflection on recent world events and changes taking place in our society. I love that Richard is enticing and hopefully inspires a new generation to take up the UFO/UAP research/expose baton. This truely is a fascinating and captivating subject, especially to those of us who have seen things in the sky’s which defy explanation. Thanks RD, I enjoyed this book.

It's written well. If someone is looking to learn about ufology, this would be a good start. It might seem pedantic to some readers, but the information is set up in different contexts or perspectives, which suggests why UFO enthusiats are so tenacious.

A very well written and eye opening book. Very worth the read.