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The 37th Parallel: The Secret Truth Behind America's UFO Highway
A real-life mix of The X-Files and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Mezrich “writes vividly and grippingly…A terrific story…[that] will make a heck of a movie” (The Washington Post). Here is the “fascinating” (Publishers Weekly) true story of a computer programmer who tracks paranormal events in remote areas of the western United States and is drawn deeper and deeper into a mysterious conspiracy.
Like Agent Mulder of The X-Files, microchip engineer and sheriff’s deputy Chuck Zukowski is obsessed with tracking down UFO reports in Colorado. He even takes the family with him on weekend trips to look for evidence of aliens. But this innocent hobby takes on a sinister urgency when Zukowski learns of mutilated livestock—whose exsanguination is inexplicable by any known human or animal means.
Along an expanse of land stretching across the southern borders of Utah, Colorado, and Kansas, Zukowski documents hundreds of bizarre incidences of mutilations, and discovers that they stretch through the heart of America. His pursuit of the truth draws him deeper into a vast conspiracy, and he journeys from Roswell and Area 51 to the Pentagon and beyond; from underground secret military caverns to Native American sacred sites; and to wilderness areas where strange, unexplained lights traverse the sky at extraordinary speeds. Inspiring and terrifying, Mezrich’s “dramatic narrative…connects dots we didn’t even know existed…Something’s clearly happening out there in the high meadows and along desert highways” (Kirkus Reviews). The 37th Parallel will make you, too, wonder if we are really alone.
Like Agent Mulder of The X-Files, microchip engineer and sheriff’s deputy Chuck Zukowski is obsessed with tracking down UFO reports in Colorado. He even takes the family with him on weekend trips to look for evidence of aliens. But this innocent hobby takes on a sinister urgency when Zukowski learns of mutilated livestock—whose exsanguination is inexplicable by any known human or animal means.
Along an expanse of land stretching across the southern borders of Utah, Colorado, and Kansas, Zukowski documents hundreds of bizarre incidences of mutilations, and discovers that they stretch through the heart of America. His pursuit of the truth draws him deeper into a vast conspiracy, and he journeys from Roswell and Area 51 to the Pentagon and beyond; from underground secret military caverns to Native American sacred sites; and to wilderness areas where strange, unexplained lights traverse the sky at extraordinary speeds. Inspiring and terrifying, Mezrich’s “dramatic narrative…connects dots we didn’t even know existed…Something’s clearly happening out there in the high meadows and along desert highways” (Kirkus Reviews). The 37th Parallel will make you, too, wonder if we are really alone.
272 pages, ebook
First published September 6, 2016
About the author
Ben Mezrich
42 books1,361 followersBen Mezrich has created his own highly addictive genre of nonfiction, chronicling the amazing stories of young geniuses making tons of money on the edge of impossibility, ethics, and morality.
With his newest non-fiction book, Once Upon a Time in Russia, Mezrich tells his most incredible story yet: A true drama of obscene wealth, crime, rivalry, and betrayal from deep inside the world of billionaire Russian Oligarchs.
Mezrich has authored sixteen books, with a combined printing of over four million copies, including the wildly successful Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, which spent sixty-three weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and sold over 2 million copies in fifteen languages. His book, The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal – debuted at #4 on the New York Times list and spent 18 weeks in hardcover and paperback, as well as hit bestseller lists in over a dozen countries. The book was adapted into the movie The Social Network –written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by David Fincher – and was #1 at the box office for two weeks, won Golden Globes for best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay, best score, and was nominated for 8 Oscars, winning 3 including best Adapted Screenplay for Aaron Sorkin. Mezrich and Aaron Sorkin shared a prestigious Scripter Award for best adapted screenplay as well.
With his newest non-fiction book, Once Upon a Time in Russia, Mezrich tells his most incredible story yet: A true drama of obscene wealth, crime, rivalry, and betrayal from deep inside the world of billionaire Russian Oligarchs.
Mezrich has authored sixteen books, with a combined printing of over four million copies, including the wildly successful Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, which spent sixty-three weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and sold over 2 million copies in fifteen languages. His book, The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal – debuted at #4 on the New York Times list and spent 18 weeks in hardcover and paperback, as well as hit bestseller lists in over a dozen countries. The book was adapted into the movie The Social Network –written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by David Fincher – and was #1 at the box office for two weeks, won Golden Globes for best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay, best score, and was nominated for 8 Oscars, winning 3 including best Adapted Screenplay for Aaron Sorkin. Mezrich and Aaron Sorkin shared a prestigious Scripter Award for best adapted screenplay as well.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 272 reviews
August 1, 2020
I'm trying to discern how you stretch 247 pages to tell a story about absolutely nothing. Unconnected vignettes, legends, and bumbling sightings. Some extremely disconnected and vague mentions of Native American "sites of interest". Government compounds and paranoia. Some cattle mutilations (although this isn't mentioned but it reminds me of a documentary about CIA operations where they've admitted to doing these very things). Two or three supporting characters from the fringes of society that have zero scientific training running around, exchanging “experiences”, and "investigating" and making conjectures about possible answers. Overall it was haphazardly connected, completely uninformed, and rather ridiculously presented. The clincher was a completely disconnected and rather moronic "epiphany" about "the 37th Parallel". Outside of the topic in general which holds some interest for me (making this still a below average read) this was a pretty awful book.
December 30, 2017
WTF was that ending? An unsatisfying gimmick of a book with an even more unsatisfying gimmick of an ending. It almost works as a character study, but the way Mezrich skips around and sloppily compiles the narrative out of anecdotes without other sources is insulting. The upsides are: I got it from the library, so it was free, and the book is so brief it didn’t waste much of my time. And honestly, I probably would have still given it two stars just for my interest in the subjects it covers, if not for that damn middle finger of an ending.
August 11, 2020
Chuck Zukowski is obsessed with UFO sightings. This is his story.
Despite the pandemic, we flew my sister-in-law and brother-in-law into town for Miles' first birthday. Before they left town, Marc pushed this on me. My in-laws are much more into UFOs than I am but I resolved to give this a read.
I was huge into UFOs as a kid but have gotten increasingly skeptical over the years. As a result, I approached this as a work of fiction but reserved the right to change my mind later.
This reminded me of James Renner's True Crime Addict more than anything else. It was written in an engaging style and felt more like fiction than a factual work.
The 37th Parallel chronicles Chuck Zukowski sojourn into the world of UFOs, starting with cattle mutilations and eventually leading to a dig at one of the Roswell crash sites and beyond.
I'm not going to debate the existence of UFOs here. I'm sure there's life elsewhere but the thing about space is that it's quite big. Anyway, this book can be interpreted in two ways: either it's a very engaging piece of fiction with a shitty ending or an account of one man's wild goose chase.
If you take it as a work of fiction, this is some gripping stuff, although I found the time jumps annoying. If you take it as fact, Chuck's wife should have divorced his ass decades ago. Yeah, I get the pursuit of truth and I understand his obsession at times but was it really worth all the sacrifices along the way?
At the end, I guess I'll say I was very entertained by this and possibly a little convinced Chuck isn't wasting his time. Four out of five little green men.
Despite the pandemic, we flew my sister-in-law and brother-in-law into town for Miles' first birthday. Before they left town, Marc pushed this on me. My in-laws are much more into UFOs than I am but I resolved to give this a read.
I was huge into UFOs as a kid but have gotten increasingly skeptical over the years. As a result, I approached this as a work of fiction but reserved the right to change my mind later.
This reminded me of James Renner's True Crime Addict more than anything else. It was written in an engaging style and felt more like fiction than a factual work.
The 37th Parallel chronicles Chuck Zukowski sojourn into the world of UFOs, starting with cattle mutilations and eventually leading to a dig at one of the Roswell crash sites and beyond.
I'm not going to debate the existence of UFOs here. I'm sure there's life elsewhere but the thing about space is that it's quite big. Anyway, this book can be interpreted in two ways: either it's a very engaging piece of fiction with a shitty ending or an account of one man's wild goose chase.
If you take it as a work of fiction, this is some gripping stuff, although I found the time jumps annoying. If you take it as fact, Chuck's wife should have divorced his ass decades ago. Yeah, I get the pursuit of truth and I understand his obsession at times but was it really worth all the sacrifices along the way?
At the end, I guess I'll say I was very entertained by this and possibly a little convinced Chuck isn't wasting his time. Four out of five little green men.
October 12, 2016
I picked this one up because I felt like I was in the mood for a non-fiction book that was not related to politics or social issues in ANY way. And I thought, "Hey, aliens. That seems like it's pretty unrelated to that kinda stuff."
Here's what this is not: A solid narrative that answers the question, "Do aliens exist?"
Early on it's pretty clear that this is more a profile of a guy who becomes more and more interested in the question and into finding evidence of little green men.
So I find myself wondering...do I believe there are little green men?
Let's start with the belief I had before I started the book.
There is probably some form of life out there somewhere. Intelligent or not I couldn't have said, but it seems likely that in a universe with so many possibilities, and so little of it explored by us, that there's something out there. It seems MORE likely that there's nothing, but far from impossible, if you ask me.
Yes, I think there's some kind of life out there somewhere, and I still think that after reading this. It seems more than possible, especially if you consider the possibility that there are shades to the universe that we can't perceive.
Now, AFTER reading the book, what's changed?
Well...not much.
I think the most likely explanation is simple. When you decide that there are aliens and start looking for proof, basically, anything unexplained that happens goes into the "aliens are real" bucket. A helicopter flying over a given spot, cattle mutilations, black SUV following you home. When you're on the alien thing, all that seems related to aliens. But if you were, say, manufacturing drugs, then you'd probably put all those same things as being related to that somehow because it's what you're worried about.
Or think about it like this. You start to feel sick. You start googling your symptoms. And then whatever comes up, you start thinking, "Hey, I HAVE felt fatigued in addition to that other stuff. And come to think of it, my mucus MAY be a different color than normal."
In short, when you decide on the answer and then start looking for the questions afterward, it shouldn't be surprising that you end up finding questions that lead to your answer.
However, there is one difference in how I feel about paranormal shit.
I do feel like I'm a person who is one good sighting away from becoming a complete nut. Whether it be Bigfoot or a UFO, if something pushed me to the tipping point where I believed in something supernatural, then I don't really see any other way of life other than being completely consumed by that thing.
Which is a realization I came to from this book. It's not a pity thing. It's not like I feel bad for someone who investigates UFO sightings. It's that I think I can empathize with the idea of believing in something that, to most people, seems very crazy, and I can empathize with the idea of having to move forward knowing that something so important and life-changing that I've experienced will be met with skepticism forever. And the frustration of seeing parallel stuff (religious stuff comes to mind...) that is equally bizarre and unproven, and yet a churchgoer is a pillar of the community. Meanwhile, I'm a total nut for having similar beliefs (I believe there's something intelligent up in the sky that visits us occasionally, performs strange acts, and then vanishes without a trace).
And for now, I suppose that my belief isn't that there are little green men out there, but that there are unexplained things going on, and it's good to keep an eye out. Not because I want to blow the lid off some conspiracy or something, but because that's a more interesting world to live in.
Here's what this is not: A solid narrative that answers the question, "Do aliens exist?"
Early on it's pretty clear that this is more a profile of a guy who becomes more and more interested in the question and into finding evidence of little green men.
So I find myself wondering...do I believe there are little green men?
Let's start with the belief I had before I started the book.
There is probably some form of life out there somewhere. Intelligent or not I couldn't have said, but it seems likely that in a universe with so many possibilities, and so little of it explored by us, that there's something out there. It seems MORE likely that there's nothing, but far from impossible, if you ask me.
Yes, I think there's some kind of life out there somewhere, and I still think that after reading this. It seems more than possible, especially if you consider the possibility that there are shades to the universe that we can't perceive.
Now, AFTER reading the book, what's changed?
Well...not much.
I think the most likely explanation is simple. When you decide that there are aliens and start looking for proof, basically, anything unexplained that happens goes into the "aliens are real" bucket. A helicopter flying over a given spot, cattle mutilations, black SUV following you home. When you're on the alien thing, all that seems related to aliens. But if you were, say, manufacturing drugs, then you'd probably put all those same things as being related to that somehow because it's what you're worried about.
Or think about it like this. You start to feel sick. You start googling your symptoms. And then whatever comes up, you start thinking, "Hey, I HAVE felt fatigued in addition to that other stuff. And come to think of it, my mucus MAY be a different color than normal."
In short, when you decide on the answer and then start looking for the questions afterward, it shouldn't be surprising that you end up finding questions that lead to your answer.
However, there is one difference in how I feel about paranormal shit.
I do feel like I'm a person who is one good sighting away from becoming a complete nut. Whether it be Bigfoot or a UFO, if something pushed me to the tipping point where I believed in something supernatural, then I don't really see any other way of life other than being completely consumed by that thing.
Which is a realization I came to from this book. It's not a pity thing. It's not like I feel bad for someone who investigates UFO sightings. It's that I think I can empathize with the idea of believing in something that, to most people, seems very crazy, and I can empathize with the idea of having to move forward knowing that something so important and life-changing that I've experienced will be met with skepticism forever. And the frustration of seeing parallel stuff (religious stuff comes to mind...) that is equally bizarre and unproven, and yet a churchgoer is a pillar of the community. Meanwhile, I'm a total nut for having similar beliefs (I believe there's something intelligent up in the sky that visits us occasionally, performs strange acts, and then vanishes without a trace).
And for now, I suppose that my belief isn't that there are little green men out there, but that there are unexplained things going on, and it's good to keep an eye out. Not because I want to blow the lid off some conspiracy or something, but because that's a more interesting world to live in.
October 6, 2016
I had a lot of issues with this book. Mezrich writes in a way that stylistically resembles a novel. So while that makes for an interesting read, it discredits the research he's done and thus discredits his subject's argument that there's a secret UFO highway on the 37th parallel. I went into it thinking something new would be revealed in the field of ufology, only to be sorely disappointed. I don't think anyone who has done even a small amount of research on UFOs will be surprised by the information presented in this book. It was a lot of rehashing of old tropes and theories. And the worst part, this 37th parallel thing? That's just bull crap. Plenty of UFO sightings and phenomena have taken place outside the 37th parallel and Zukowski simply saw the pattern he wanted to see. To make matters worse, in the final chapter Mezrich makes an attempt to be clever or mysterious by redacting some of the action, but all it does is turn what could have been an interesting and thought-provoking book into a joke. I think skeptics or people who are new to ufology might have fun with this one. Otherwise, not worth your time. There are better UFO books out there.
December 31, 2016
Try--JUST TRY--not to throw this book across the room when you reach the final page. An absolute waste of time. Not only did it fail to reveal any "secret truth," but I actually somehow know LESS than I did when I started. To misquote the principal from Billy Madison:
Mr. [Mezrich], what you've just [written] is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever [read]. At no point in your rambling, incoherent [book] were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone [who has read this book] is now dumber for having [read] it. I award you [one star because I can't award you negative five], and may God have mercy on your soul.
Mr. [Mezrich], what you've just [written] is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever [read]. At no point in your rambling, incoherent [book] were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone [who has read this book] is now dumber for having [read] it. I award you [one star because I can't award you negative five], and may God have mercy on your soul.
June 30, 2016
Like Fox Mulder I want to believe.
The 37th Parallel is Ben Mezrich’s chronicle of the life of Chuck Zukowski, electronics component engineer and UFO investigator. Mezrich follows Zukowski as his interest in UFO and related phenomena grows into an obsession, becoming the focal point of family vacations, relocating to another state, and taking more time and more money for equipment and investigations. His expertise and his opportunities to investigate grow, eventually becoming known nationwide in the investigating community as an authority in instances of animal mutulation. Mezrich’s writing is clear and smooth, his descriptions easily followed.
The story’s development, though, is uneven. Like a crow inspecting a debris field outside Roswell, the focus of the narration jumps from chapter to chapter, returning regularly but without obvious reason to the site of Zukowski’s first animal mutilation investigation. The chapter organization follows no pattern of time or of geography or of Zukowski building expertise. In one instance, extensive background material is presented in one chapter that was covered in the previous chapter, only four or five pages earlier.
The largest problem is the 37th parallel theory. For such an overriding idea that it commands the title of the book, it only appears in the last twenty pages. Even then, the idea only came to Zukowski after plotting two earthquakes on his map and noticing that many of the sightings and phenomena he’d marked seemed along the same latitude. According to Mezrick, Zukowski then removed all his marking pins and repopulated the map with those reports between the 36th and 38th parallels of latitude, because they were most recurring, and voilà: a pattern.
Five minutes of Google searching led me to any number of maps of UFO sightings and related phenomena. None of them showed any sort of organized sightings tendency, whether by lines of longitude or latitude or elevation.
As for discussion of a UFO superhighway the cover promises, it’s not even mentioned.
A clear, easily understood, rational discussion of current UFO sightings and investigation would probably find a ready market, and Ben Mezrich’s writing offered a promising start at the beginning of this book, but, like some of the most widely publicized UFO cases, upon further investigation there’s just not enough substance to build anything concrete.
Like Fox Mulder I want to believe. Like Fox Mulder I was repeatedly disappointed.
The 37th Parallel is Ben Mezrich’s chronicle of the life of Chuck Zukowski, electronics component engineer and UFO investigator. Mezrich follows Zukowski as his interest in UFO and related phenomena grows into an obsession, becoming the focal point of family vacations, relocating to another state, and taking more time and more money for equipment and investigations. His expertise and his opportunities to investigate grow, eventually becoming known nationwide in the investigating community as an authority in instances of animal mutulation. Mezrich’s writing is clear and smooth, his descriptions easily followed.
The story’s development, though, is uneven. Like a crow inspecting a debris field outside Roswell, the focus of the narration jumps from chapter to chapter, returning regularly but without obvious reason to the site of Zukowski’s first animal mutilation investigation. The chapter organization follows no pattern of time or of geography or of Zukowski building expertise. In one instance, extensive background material is presented in one chapter that was covered in the previous chapter, only four or five pages earlier.
The largest problem is the 37th parallel theory. For such an overriding idea that it commands the title of the book, it only appears in the last twenty pages. Even then, the idea only came to Zukowski after plotting two earthquakes on his map and noticing that many of the sightings and phenomena he’d marked seemed along the same latitude. According to Mezrick, Zukowski then removed all his marking pins and repopulated the map with those reports between the 36th and 38th parallels of latitude, because they were most recurring, and voilà: a pattern.
Five minutes of Google searching led me to any number of maps of UFO sightings and related phenomena. None of them showed any sort of organized sightings tendency, whether by lines of longitude or latitude or elevation.
As for discussion of a UFO superhighway the cover promises, it’s not even mentioned.
A clear, easily understood, rational discussion of current UFO sightings and investigation would probably find a ready market, and Ben Mezrich’s writing offered a promising start at the beginning of this book, but, like some of the most widely publicized UFO cases, upon further investigation there’s just not enough substance to build anything concrete.
Like Fox Mulder I want to believe. Like Fox Mulder I was repeatedly disappointed.
July 22, 2017
Chuck Zukowski has been fascinated by UFO’s for years. A computer programmer and geek, he has managed to persuade his family to accompany him on the trips out to Colorado visiting the locations of sightings and reports. However, things are about to take a disturbing turn as he begins to read about reports of horses and cattle that have been mutilated in very strange and inexplicable circumstances. Seeing the deceased animals on a ranch with a terrified owner adds a dramatic edge to the macabre scene.
What starts out as a weekend hobby though rapidly becomes an obsession that takes up all his free time and ever increasing amounts of his bank balance as he heads to locations across Utah, Colorado and Kansas seeking details and meeting the folks that have seen these strange lights and experienced strange things. The more he finds out the stranger things become. He starts working with the Mutual UFO Network, an organisation that his sister, Debbie, also is associated with and discovers that all suspicious sightings are reported to the Bigelow Aerospace Company, a mysterious organisation founded by Robert Bigelow to begin the private exploration of space, but who seem to have feelers into other pies now. His journey into the unknown takes us to sacred Indian sites, into forests seeking the source of strange lights in the sky, the infamous Roswell and to the very edge of Area 51.
There are moments of genuine bafflement as to what is going on; is it just government programmes or something of greater significance. He is trailed by SUVs with tinted windows and federal plates with the sinister ‘men in black’ guys who do their best to put him off continuing investigating the unexplained… I do like to read the odd conspiracy theory book, sometimes just for the entertainment factor. Mezrich thankfully lifts what could be a dull story about something that you really cannot get a handle on, to something quite readable and quite dramatic at times. Fairly sure there isn’t visitors from elsewhere, but there is definitely something happening with government heavies all over these reports and sightings.
What starts out as a weekend hobby though rapidly becomes an obsession that takes up all his free time and ever increasing amounts of his bank balance as he heads to locations across Utah, Colorado and Kansas seeking details and meeting the folks that have seen these strange lights and experienced strange things. The more he finds out the stranger things become. He starts working with the Mutual UFO Network, an organisation that his sister, Debbie, also is associated with and discovers that all suspicious sightings are reported to the Bigelow Aerospace Company, a mysterious organisation founded by Robert Bigelow to begin the private exploration of space, but who seem to have feelers into other pies now. His journey into the unknown takes us to sacred Indian sites, into forests seeking the source of strange lights in the sky, the infamous Roswell and to the very edge of Area 51.
There are moments of genuine bafflement as to what is going on; is it just government programmes or something of greater significance. He is trailed by SUVs with tinted windows and federal plates with the sinister ‘men in black’ guys who do their best to put him off continuing investigating the unexplained… I do like to read the odd conspiracy theory book, sometimes just for the entertainment factor. Mezrich thankfully lifts what could be a dull story about something that you really cannot get a handle on, to something quite readable and quite dramatic at times. Fairly sure there isn’t visitors from elsewhere, but there is definitely something happening with government heavies all over these reports and sightings.
February 19, 2017
Couldn't finish this one. It is about a subject I am very interested in, but the book is unnecessarily weird toward this guy's wife? She seems like a pretty nice wife but the book is constantly like WIVES, AM I RIGHT?
So, I put it down. It shares the same weakness as Sex On The Moon - the author has some kind of woman related thing he should get over instead of putting it in his books.
So, I put it down. It shares the same weakness as Sex On The Moon - the author has some kind of woman related thing he should get over instead of putting it in his books.
April 27, 2017
This is an inconclusive account of some of the adventures of Chuck Zukowski, one-time policeman, amateur UFO and cattle mutilation investigator. With all the appearance of being hastily written by this prolific author, it is nonetheless entertaining as a quick read for those, like myself, interested in accounts of such things.
Most interesting was Mezrich's all-too-brief description of the first archaeological investigation of the purported Roswell/Corona UFO crash site. Led by the head of the University of New Mexico's department, Zukowski and his sister, a MUFON representative, discover a small metallic fragment bearing characteristics reminiscent of what witnesses say was found on the site in 1947. Electronmicroscopy and other examinations follow, but the story ends in the middle of things without any conclusions. Interesting also are the accounts-at-a-distance of the involvement of two Bigelow corporations in such UFO research--a topic deserving another book perhaps.
The title's reference to the 37th parallel refers to Zukowski's belief that there is a statistically significant concentration of mutilations and UFO (and 'black helicopter') sitings along that strip of territory. This, as anyone who has read much of the literature would know, is a highly dubious claim. Zukowski's own investigations may have been mostly between the 36th and 38th parallels, but the literature is repleat with plenty of accounts of UFOs (at least) elsewhere throughout the world. Perhaps, however, there may be something to the claim as regards joint mutilation/UFO events. In any case, and like so much in this book, the author merely recounts the claim uncritically.
In sum: an unsatisfying, inconclusive, yet entertaining, account of the adventures of one investigator...
Most interesting was Mezrich's all-too-brief description of the first archaeological investigation of the purported Roswell/Corona UFO crash site. Led by the head of the University of New Mexico's department, Zukowski and his sister, a MUFON representative, discover a small metallic fragment bearing characteristics reminiscent of what witnesses say was found on the site in 1947. Electronmicroscopy and other examinations follow, but the story ends in the middle of things without any conclusions. Interesting also are the accounts-at-a-distance of the involvement of two Bigelow corporations in such UFO research--a topic deserving another book perhaps.
The title's reference to the 37th parallel refers to Zukowski's belief that there is a statistically significant concentration of mutilations and UFO (and 'black helicopter') sitings along that strip of territory. This, as anyone who has read much of the literature would know, is a highly dubious claim. Zukowski's own investigations may have been mostly between the 36th and 38th parallels, but the literature is repleat with plenty of accounts of UFOs (at least) elsewhere throughout the world. Perhaps, however, there may be something to the claim as regards joint mutilation/UFO events. In any case, and like so much in this book, the author merely recounts the claim uncritically.
In sum: an unsatisfying, inconclusive, yet entertaining, account of the adventures of one investigator...
September 5, 2016
This book is basically the story of the journey of Chuck Zukowski who while working as a computer programmer and sheriff's deputy "moonlighted" as a self-trained UFO investigator.
I found the book to be a fascinating read as I have never read an account of anyone who was so dedicated to finding out what is going on while also having the logic required of being a computer programmer. I was impressed by the fact that he never assumed that every anomaly was automatically UFO related but would try to debunk before accepting anything as unexplained.
The writing was detailed and I found it difficult to put the book down. I would love to read more about Chuck Zukowski and also would really like to read a book by Mr. Zukowski. He has obviously seen some odd things (along with his fellow investigator who happens to be his sister). Highly recommended to those who are interested in this subject.
I received a copy of this book from the publishers in exchange for an honest review.
I found the book to be a fascinating read as I have never read an account of anyone who was so dedicated to finding out what is going on while also having the logic required of being a computer programmer. I was impressed by the fact that he never assumed that every anomaly was automatically UFO related but would try to debunk before accepting anything as unexplained.
The writing was detailed and I found it difficult to put the book down. I would love to read more about Chuck Zukowski and also would really like to read a book by Mr. Zukowski. He has obviously seen some odd things (along with his fellow investigator who happens to be his sister). Highly recommended to those who are interested in this subject.
I received a copy of this book from the publishers in exchange for an honest review.
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November 11, 2016Comment to Yaritza's comment and others...
This is Chuck Zukowski's sister Debbie. I have been an independent UFO investigator for over 25 years. I am the Missouri MUFON State Director, a Star Team Investigator, and on the MUFON Board of Directors. I have investigated over 1000 UFO sighting reports over 700 of them for MUFON in the state of Missouri. I don't "follow" my brother Chuck around. Chuck and I teamed up beginning in 2000 to pull our resources and investigate sightings in the San Luis Valley and Roswell. I am very proud of my brother Chuck Zukowski whose expertise is animal mutilation investigations, my expertise is "craft" landing sites. "The 37th Parallel" is just a small fracture of what both Chuck and I have investigated. If you go to mufon.com you can read the 20 latest sighting reports in the USA as well as famous historic UFO investigations. Folks, UFOs are real, sightings have been going on for centuries and this is happening in your backyard. MUFON has been actively investigating these sightings since 1969, has chapters in every state and is represented in over 30 countries.
This is Chuck Zukowski's sister Debbie. I have been an independent UFO investigator for over 25 years. I am the Missouri MUFON State Director, a Star Team Investigator, and on the MUFON Board of Directors. I have investigated over 1000 UFO sighting reports over 700 of them for MUFON in the state of Missouri. I don't "follow" my brother Chuck around. Chuck and I teamed up beginning in 2000 to pull our resources and investigate sightings in the San Luis Valley and Roswell. I am very proud of my brother Chuck Zukowski whose expertise is animal mutilation investigations, my expertise is "craft" landing sites. "The 37th Parallel" is just a small fracture of what both Chuck and I have investigated. If you go to mufon.com you can read the 20 latest sighting reports in the USA as well as famous historic UFO investigations. Folks, UFOs are real, sightings have been going on for centuries and this is happening in your backyard. MUFON has been actively investigating these sightings since 1969, has chapters in every state and is represented in over 30 countries.
January 12, 2020
Ben Mezrich is a terrible writer. Really, exceptionally awful. This book is not about UFOs, but rather a choppy, badly executed profile of some guy whose obsession with UFOs turned into a full time job, with the odd chapter about Bob Bigelow, the billionaire real estate mogul/paranormal researcher. Mezrich’s style is that of a third rate fiction writer, which instantly discredits his subject matter and makes me wonder why no one at Penguin had a word with him or his editor. Chapters jump in time and subject with no rhyme or reason, and it’s only in the last fifteen pages of this hot mess of a book that Mezrich actually discusses the 37th parallel. I suppose he thought he was building suspense for the big reveal, but he does absolutely nothing with this information, offering no semblance of a conclusion, a thesis, an idea, or original bloody thought.
Usually I would say ‘read it yourself, you might like it!’ But do not waste you’re precious time on this load of chuff.
Usually I would say ‘read it yourself, you might like it!’ But do not waste you’re precious time on this load of chuff.
October 26, 2016
Please do not buy this book
This may be the worst book I've ever read. It's indescribably bad. Stupid nonsense would be a compliment for this. The only parallel here is this book to any other horrible book. Thank you New York post for your review on this book...as usual I can't believe a word you publish
This may be the worst book I've ever read. It's indescribably bad. Stupid nonsense would be a compliment for this. The only parallel here is this book to any other horrible book. Thank you New York post for your review on this book...as usual I can't believe a word you publish
April 6, 2021
Ben Mezrich has written a lightly entertaining book about an obsessed UFO chaser which reads more like disjointed fiction than non-fiction.
The writing is overly dramatic, especially considering it jumps from various events during a decade where Chuck Zukowski investigates cattle mutilations, lights and other UFO-ish reports. There is not any real cohesion from chapter to chapter and instead it skips from different events. It does return occasionally to a Colorado woman who reported her horses had been mutilated in bizarre fashion.
Much of Mezrich's "reporting" is recounts of events that took place when he wasn't there. He recreates dialogue based, presumably, on what people tell him, but it reads more like a novel.
There are some interesting anecdotes. Chuck returns to an area where he saw lights 10 years prior, but was chased away by a black helicopter. He and his sister, Debbie, were also followed by black SUVs, presumably CIA or government types. The thing rings of conspiracy. It also is a good profile of Chuck and his fervor into proving UFOs. The ending, while dramatic again, is also neat where he figures out the 37th parallel... which is odd because the book is entitled that and it's not until the last 10 pages or so it's revealed.
The very last page, though.. It almost made me drop this to a two-star rating if not for the entertaining value and the quick readability of the book. The last page, supposedly, is the payoff and the explanation of what's happening. However, most of it is redacted. Mezrich makes reference to redaction earlier and maybe this is his sense of humor, poking fun of the government's redactment. It's not funny, though, for readers who have spent time reading this only to be kicked in the groin at the end.
If you're looking for a profile of a very obsessed UFO hunter who is willing to risk his family and job while searching for the little green men and don't mind the hopscotch way it's presented, then, okay, read it. If you're looking for a detailed account of the UFO phenomenon, then you'd probably be better served watching those goofy shows on the History Channel.
The writing is overly dramatic, especially considering it jumps from various events during a decade where Chuck Zukowski investigates cattle mutilations, lights and other UFO-ish reports. There is not any real cohesion from chapter to chapter and instead it skips from different events. It does return occasionally to a Colorado woman who reported her horses had been mutilated in bizarre fashion.
Much of Mezrich's "reporting" is recounts of events that took place when he wasn't there. He recreates dialogue based, presumably, on what people tell him, but it reads more like a novel.
There are some interesting anecdotes. Chuck returns to an area where he saw lights 10 years prior, but was chased away by a black helicopter. He and his sister, Debbie, were also followed by black SUVs, presumably CIA or government types. The thing rings of conspiracy. It also is a good profile of Chuck and his fervor into proving UFOs. The ending, while dramatic again, is also neat where he figures out the 37th parallel... which is odd because the book is entitled that and it's not until the last 10 pages or so it's revealed.
The very last page, though.. It almost made me drop this to a two-star rating if not for the entertaining value and the quick readability of the book. The last page, supposedly, is the payoff and the explanation of what's happening. However, most of it is redacted. Mezrich makes reference to redaction earlier and maybe this is his sense of humor, poking fun of the government's redactment. It's not funny, though, for readers who have spent time reading this only to be kicked in the groin at the end.
If you're looking for a profile of a very obsessed UFO hunter who is willing to risk his family and job while searching for the little green men and don't mind the hopscotch way it's presented, then, okay, read it. If you're looking for a detailed account of the UFO phenomenon, then you'd probably be better served watching those goofy shows on the History Channel.
January 15, 2023
This was a fun fast read, even if it doesn't hold a lot of water. It definitely gave me some new destinations I want to hit next time I am out west.
A few thoughts:
1. This is really a book about a woman named Tammy and all of the things she tolerates and how she goes the extra mile to be married to a self-proclaimed UFO nut. Team Tammy all the way. I hope somebody buys her a spa weekend away.
2. The book ended abruptly, and the 37th parallel thing didn't hold water in my opinion. Looks like confirmation bias and probably spurious correlation. Some of the most well-documented sightings have happened outside the 37th-he mentions Roswell but also the big Michigan sighting that was just on Unsolved Mysteries, many of the military incidents like Malmstrom or Rendlesham forest, the Zimbabwe school sighting, etc.
3. It was enjoyable and gave a decent history. I really liked the bit with strip excavating the Roswell site. Seems like that should have been done in much more comprehensive fashion-if it hasn't it should!
4. Bob Bigelow is shady af.
5. I would absolutely want to have some coffee with Chuck and hear him talk. He sounds like a really fascinating guy.
6. It would be weird to join MUFON, right? I'm going to need some more hobbies once the kids are both in college. Does being trained as a scientist make it a good idea or a super shameful one? Lol
A few thoughts:
1. This is really a book about a woman named Tammy and all of the things she tolerates and how she goes the extra mile to be married to a self-proclaimed UFO nut. Team Tammy all the way. I hope somebody buys her a spa weekend away.
2. The book ended abruptly, and the 37th parallel thing didn't hold water in my opinion. Looks like confirmation bias and probably spurious correlation. Some of the most well-documented sightings have happened outside the 37th-he mentions Roswell but also the big Michigan sighting that was just on Unsolved Mysteries, many of the military incidents like Malmstrom or Rendlesham forest, the Zimbabwe school sighting, etc.
3. It was enjoyable and gave a decent history. I really liked the bit with strip excavating the Roswell site. Seems like that should have been done in much more comprehensive fashion-if it hasn't it should!
4. Bob Bigelow is shady af.
5. I would absolutely want to have some coffee with Chuck and hear him talk. He sounds like a really fascinating guy.
6. It would be weird to join MUFON, right? I'm going to need some more hobbies once the kids are both in college. Does being trained as a scientist make it a good idea or a super shameful one? Lol
October 12, 2017
I read "The Hunt for the Skinwalker" by Colm A. Kelleher, PhD, several years ago, so when I heard about this book, I simply had to read it. The book, written by Ben Mezrich tells the story of Chuck Zukowski, a former sheriff's deputy, microchip engineer (which he still works at) and full time UFO investigator; especially those instances where animal mutilations have occurred. In the last 50 years, there have been over 10,000 strange mutilations of animals, usually livestock, and to date, no logical explanation has ever been offered. Chuck and his wife Tammy, along with his kids and sometimes sister Debbie, have taken many, many trips to various UFO 'hot spots', including Roswell, New Mexico. I loved the way the author incorporated a short history of UFO sightings and newspaper clippings, along with the current experiences of the Zukowski family. From the strange lights, known as 'foo fighters', seen around World War II bombers in the 1940s when night flights were started to flush out any Nazi equipment, etc. to some actual verbal sightings which occurred in the 1950s and 1960s and beyond, the narrative leads the reader to the mysterious sightings around Roswell, New Mexico, Sedona, Arizona and many other locations. If you know anything about UFO lore at all, then you know that Roswell was the alleged location of a crashed UFO with four or five dead aliens aboard, which supposedly were hidden by branches of the US military, or perhaps Black Ops outfits. A lot of lore has come to light about the "grays", which is what the alien entities have been called; however, almost every single reported sighting of one of them is identical as to how they looked, and especially how they moved. The big question is: are we being visited by extraterrestrial beings, and/or is the US government running some strange experiments and discouraging research into these sightings mainly by implying or outright saying that people who report sightings or interactions are "nuts", thus dismissing the entire subject from the public mind. The animal mutilations are indeed strange: they are extremely precise and surgical in nature; every single animal has been exsanguinated; not one drop of blood has ever been found. In addition, the animals' tongues, genitalia, heart and some other parts are very neatly removed with no evidence of a laser or something similar being used. The indigenous peoples of North America have many different legends about all of these events and who or what is behind them. Near the end of the book, Mr. Zukowski used push pins on a map to locate every single animal mutilation he had investigated, and to his amazement, all of them occurred on the 36th to 38th parallel of longitude across the areas in the United States where he had been. Coincidence? Perhaps the future will tell; the other odd thing about this is that earthquakes seem to occur in these locations more often than in others. That brought to my mind questions on the effect of fracking, etc. on what seems to be kind of a 'highway' of UFO sightings, etc. (By the way, Mr. Zukowski lost his job as a deputy sheriff due to his research, but he and his sister do work sometimes for Robert Bigelow, who along with Elon Musk, are not only both billionaires, but are fascinated by the subject of space, space travel and everything in between).
November 18, 2019
In the words of Mr. Plinkett, "You never thought you'd be laughing at the end, did you? Laughing so hard you couldn't breathe. Was all this a big practical joke?"
I sure hope so, Mr. Plinkett.
This is less a review of the author and his work and more a review on the gullibility and shallow thinking skills of Ben's subject, Chuck.
*Possible SPOILERS Ahead*
-BRIGHT LIGHTS-
There is a scene somewhere in the beginning of this book about Chuck and his family being in the mountains and watching what were clearly alien craft swooping around in the sky on the 4th of July. They had just seen something incredible - something only a few lucky, or unlucky, get to see. Yes, you've got it - they were enjoying the sight of a few idiots in a national park blowing off fireworks for Independence Day and getting away with it.
It's mentioned a few times that Chuck understands these lights could be anything from refraction off low hanging clouds, to fireworks, to general atmospheric disturbance. Hell, I'm sure the first person to see the Northern Lights almost shit themselves, but when a supposedly uncommon and strange occurrence becomes common and non-strange through anecdotal or physical evidence it might be time to take off the tin-foil hat and think critically for a moment.
-CATTLE MUTILATION-
"There's no blood! There aren't any footprints! The organs were removed too cleanly, those cuts look surgical, nothing but a cauterizing tool could do that! Must be aliens!"
Well, no. Unless you count bot flies and maggots as "alien." Visibly, they most certainly are, but not in a terrestrial sense.
Alison Hudson with Skeptiod.com posted a podcast in 2015 that gives an explanation to these phenomena better than I ever could: "[Remove the bullshit] and we have a series of facts about the condition of found carcasses that can all be attributed to natural, terrestrial causes. These are odd but not at all [unexplained] moments where scavenged and decomposed corpses are discovered by people who don't know what they're looking at and who are often primed to believe that cattle mutilations occur. The actual culprits are flies, coyotes, birds, and even just gas. Variances in the condition of carcasses across the globe can be easily explained by the different scavenger species and insects in a given area, as well as the health of the creature at the moment of death and the exact conditions where they fell. The similarities can be explained by the missing parts simply being the easiest to scavenge - rip off an ear, peck out an eye, nosh on the organs conveniently spilled out of the split belly by internal gasses, let maggots pick things clean, and voila! It's not pleasant to describe, but it's the way nature works." If you are interested, listen to this podcast (#456) or even read the transcript of it below playback. https://skeptiod.com/episodes/4456
-ALIEN SHIP PARTS-
My biggest beef with Chuck at the end of all this is the "alien metal" he found at a dig site outside of the crash site by Roswell. The alien metal is the same substance described as being found by the U.S. Military after the crash was reported in 1947.
When we meet with Chuck at the dig site, he decides to use a style of digging that will be most likely to yield him his desired result, which is locating any remaining debris from 1947. Perfectly, scientifically sound, as I'm sure we would all agree. But when Chuck does stumble across something, what appears to be garbage to all other people at the site that aren't looking specifically for something alien, he acts as if he never really thought he would find anything at all. He is absolutely shocked that he would find something. It's almost as if he couldn't possibly believe that animals walk through the desert and kick or carry stuff around, or that maybe the wind blows through the area at any point in the year, or maybe that the desert isn't just one gigantic time-capsule that can never be touched or changed.
My annoyance does not end here: he eventually has the object tested, not once but twice, by two independent researchers. The first researcher notes that he found predominantly aluminum and silicon but also traces of carbon, oxygen, and calcium - which he points out usually come from handling the object before testing. The researcher then states, "But take a closer look at this, man. Manufactured aluminum is usually quite smooth. This is oddly battered and damaged. We've got strands sticking out all over.... This sort of damage - it's like it was torn up, fractured."
Sit with that for a few seconds.
Yes, manufactured aluminum is smooth when it hasn't impacted with the ground. And I'm pretty sure I know the object that has strings hanging off the end of it after it's been torn: duct tape.
They found duct tape and it blew their minds.
On to the second researcher. This is a snippet of a full email: "The material provided is a dark grey polymer that contains small amounts of several elements that are commonly used as colorants (iron, zinc, calcium, titanium). We were not able to identify any mass-produced polymer that matches this sample, but the number of products to compare to is immense. The sample does not contain any elements that wouldn't be expected in a standard polymer."
Now back to Chuck. "For Chuck, it was a mixed result, but exciting nonetheless. Although [the scientist] found some elements 'commonly used as colorants', to Chuck the most significant description of their lab analysis was: 'We were not able to identify any mass-produced polymer that matches this sample'."
Did you catch it?
Chuck completely ignored the second half of that sentence stating, "...but the number of products to compare to is immense." Meaning, they wouldn't be able to test for every product ever conceived because they don't have samples for every product ever conceived. So, say you tried testing for duct tape from 1947, or 1952, or even 1981 - it's not exactly a solid chance that the lab would have anything to compare it to.
So, if you find a piece of duct tape in the desert in or around Roswell, one that's been rubbed around in the dirt and hardened in the sun, grab that shit and sell it to a UFO artifact collector. It doesn't matter that you don't know whether it was being tested as a new formula for more "sticking action" in order to mass-produce it at a later date - proof is just, like, a concept created by The Man, man!
And for anyone who thinks I'm pulling the "duct tape" solution out of my ass on this one, take a look at what duct tape is made of: glue, mesh fabric, and a polyethylene coating. Polyethylene is a common plastic. Plastic is considered a polymer.
I don't hate Ben Mezrich after this but I am quite disappointed compared to his other works. I would have been much happier reading a novel about Bigelow and Musk and their troubled partnerships and competitions - that is interesting.
Then again, maybe I shouldn't really be the one talking about Chuck like he's the idiot - the whole reason I picked up this book in the first place was due to superficial and shallow thinking - I saw his author photo and laughed. I sure hope that Ben Mezrich was laughing his ass off when this book finally went into print.
Maybe that's the key. Laughter.
I sure hope so, Mr. Plinkett.
This is less a review of the author and his work and more a review on the gullibility and shallow thinking skills of Ben's subject, Chuck.
*Possible SPOILERS Ahead*
-BRIGHT LIGHTS-
There is a scene somewhere in the beginning of this book about Chuck and his family being in the mountains and watching what were clearly alien craft swooping around in the sky on the 4th of July. They had just seen something incredible - something only a few lucky, or unlucky, get to see. Yes, you've got it - they were enjoying the sight of a few idiots in a national park blowing off fireworks for Independence Day and getting away with it.
It's mentioned a few times that Chuck understands these lights could be anything from refraction off low hanging clouds, to fireworks, to general atmospheric disturbance. Hell, I'm sure the first person to see the Northern Lights almost shit themselves, but when a supposedly uncommon and strange occurrence becomes common and non-strange through anecdotal or physical evidence it might be time to take off the tin-foil hat and think critically for a moment.
-CATTLE MUTILATION-
"There's no blood! There aren't any footprints! The organs were removed too cleanly, those cuts look surgical, nothing but a cauterizing tool could do that! Must be aliens!"
Well, no. Unless you count bot flies and maggots as "alien." Visibly, they most certainly are, but not in a terrestrial sense.
Alison Hudson with Skeptiod.com posted a podcast in 2015 that gives an explanation to these phenomena better than I ever could: "[Remove the bullshit] and we have a series of facts about the condition of found carcasses that can all be attributed to natural, terrestrial causes. These are odd but not at all [unexplained] moments where scavenged and decomposed corpses are discovered by people who don't know what they're looking at and who are often primed to believe that cattle mutilations occur. The actual culprits are flies, coyotes, birds, and even just gas. Variances in the condition of carcasses across the globe can be easily explained by the different scavenger species and insects in a given area, as well as the health of the creature at the moment of death and the exact conditions where they fell. The similarities can be explained by the missing parts simply being the easiest to scavenge - rip off an ear, peck out an eye, nosh on the organs conveniently spilled out of the split belly by internal gasses, let maggots pick things clean, and voila! It's not pleasant to describe, but it's the way nature works." If you are interested, listen to this podcast (#456) or even read the transcript of it below playback. https://skeptiod.com/episodes/4456
-ALIEN SHIP PARTS-
My biggest beef with Chuck at the end of all this is the "alien metal" he found at a dig site outside of the crash site by Roswell. The alien metal is the same substance described as being found by the U.S. Military after the crash was reported in 1947.
When we meet with Chuck at the dig site, he decides to use a style of digging that will be most likely to yield him his desired result, which is locating any remaining debris from 1947. Perfectly, scientifically sound, as I'm sure we would all agree. But when Chuck does stumble across something, what appears to be garbage to all other people at the site that aren't looking specifically for something alien, he acts as if he never really thought he would find anything at all. He is absolutely shocked that he would find something. It's almost as if he couldn't possibly believe that animals walk through the desert and kick or carry stuff around, or that maybe the wind blows through the area at any point in the year, or maybe that the desert isn't just one gigantic time-capsule that can never be touched or changed.
My annoyance does not end here: he eventually has the object tested, not once but twice, by two independent researchers. The first researcher notes that he found predominantly aluminum and silicon but also traces of carbon, oxygen, and calcium - which he points out usually come from handling the object before testing. The researcher then states, "But take a closer look at this, man. Manufactured aluminum is usually quite smooth. This is oddly battered and damaged. We've got strands sticking out all over.... This sort of damage - it's like it was torn up, fractured."
Sit with that for a few seconds.
Yes, manufactured aluminum is smooth when it hasn't impacted with the ground. And I'm pretty sure I know the object that has strings hanging off the end of it after it's been torn: duct tape.
They found duct tape and it blew their minds.
On to the second researcher. This is a snippet of a full email: "The material provided is a dark grey polymer that contains small amounts of several elements that are commonly used as colorants (iron, zinc, calcium, titanium). We were not able to identify any mass-produced polymer that matches this sample, but the number of products to compare to is immense. The sample does not contain any elements that wouldn't be expected in a standard polymer."
Now back to Chuck. "For Chuck, it was a mixed result, but exciting nonetheless. Although [the scientist] found some elements 'commonly used as colorants', to Chuck the most significant description of their lab analysis was: 'We were not able to identify any mass-produced polymer that matches this sample'."
Did you catch it?
Chuck completely ignored the second half of that sentence stating, "...but the number of products to compare to is immense." Meaning, they wouldn't be able to test for every product ever conceived because they don't have samples for every product ever conceived. So, say you tried testing for duct tape from 1947, or 1952, or even 1981 - it's not exactly a solid chance that the lab would have anything to compare it to.
So, if you find a piece of duct tape in the desert in or around Roswell, one that's been rubbed around in the dirt and hardened in the sun, grab that shit and sell it to a UFO artifact collector. It doesn't matter that you don't know whether it was being tested as a new formula for more "sticking action" in order to mass-produce it at a later date - proof is just, like, a concept created by The Man, man!
And for anyone who thinks I'm pulling the "duct tape" solution out of my ass on this one, take a look at what duct tape is made of: glue, mesh fabric, and a polyethylene coating. Polyethylene is a common plastic. Plastic is considered a polymer.
I don't hate Ben Mezrich after this but I am quite disappointed compared to his other works. I would have been much happier reading a novel about Bigelow and Musk and their troubled partnerships and competitions - that is interesting.
Then again, maybe I shouldn't really be the one talking about Chuck like he's the idiot - the whole reason I picked up this book in the first place was due to superficial and shallow thinking - I saw his author photo and laughed. I sure hope that Ben Mezrich was laughing his ass off when this book finally went into print.
Maybe that's the key. Laughter.
March 12, 2017
I was prepared to be enlightened about the UFO phenomenon, and I did learn some interesting things: that there have been thousands of unexplained animal mutilations in this country; that there have been many unexplained sightings of lights in the night sky; and that the federal government doesn't seem to want us to know about any of this. But I was left wanting more, and wishing that Mezrich had conducted his interviews/research with more than one person and his sister. It was a case of extra-terrestrial light.
November 8, 2018
This is what I typed upon angrily snapping this book shut: "What a massive let down. All I know is this book is one big lie; it is barely about the 37th parallel and ends like a fiction[al retelling of UFO related events]."
This is what I thought this morning while walking to the bus:
The 37th Parallel: The Secret Truth Behind America's UFO Highway Is NOT AT ALL about the secret behind America's UFO highway. Rather this book is a pseudo-biographical account of one Chuck Zukowski and his adventures being a solo paranormal investigator/ufologist. The man, Chuck, is oft described as a real life Mulder. He is also described as a self-described NOT Mulder.
Mezrich has totally decieved readers and instead of providing them with a thoughtful, non-fictionalized account of the events that take place on the 37th parallel, the book is just a random series of chapters that follow no chronological order, have no direct relationship TO cattle mutilations, and sometimes span off into the realm of "why are you talking about this NOW??".
In my (rather harsh) opinion, it is boring and reads poorly. It is not researched at all. The details regarding the parallel itself don't really start until the end, and even then, readers are given a poorly executed "FUN" final page of the book in order to play with notions of a cliff hanger. But, you know what? I have learned nothing. I am sorely disappointed in the deceptive nature that was Mezrich's interview on The Paranormal Podcast . I still have no idea about the history of the 37th Parallel, what it's exact relationship is to UFOs/ufology, nor about the science, possibilities, and ANYTHING ELSE about the cattle mutilations.
Mezrich depends entirely on the fact that he cannot and does not give any rational conclusions, logical explanations, nor any possibly hypotheses in this text. This is a book that has no truth to it, but rather is shrouded in the dank mist of the unknown in order to allow these legends to remain truth-some to diehard believers.
Lame lame lame. Disappointed. #beach read.
This is what I thought this morning while walking to the bus:
The 37th Parallel: The Secret Truth Behind America's UFO Highway Is NOT AT ALL about the secret behind America's UFO highway. Rather this book is a pseudo-biographical account of one Chuck Zukowski and his adventures being a solo paranormal investigator/ufologist. The man, Chuck, is oft described as a real life Mulder. He is also described as a self-described NOT Mulder.
Mezrich has totally decieved readers and instead of providing them with a thoughtful, non-fictionalized account of the events that take place on the 37th parallel, the book is just a random series of chapters that follow no chronological order, have no direct relationship TO cattle mutilations, and sometimes span off into the realm of "why are you talking about this NOW??".
In my (rather harsh) opinion, it is boring and reads poorly. It is not researched at all. The details regarding the parallel itself don't really start until the end, and even then, readers are given a poorly executed "FUN" final page of the book in order to play with notions of a cliff hanger. But, you know what? I have learned nothing. I am sorely disappointed in the deceptive nature that was Mezrich's interview on The Paranormal Podcast . I still have no idea about the history of the 37th Parallel, what it's exact relationship is to UFOs/ufology, nor about the science, possibilities, and ANYTHING ELSE about the cattle mutilations.
Mezrich depends entirely on the fact that he cannot and does not give any rational conclusions, logical explanations, nor any possibly hypotheses in this text. This is a book that has no truth to it, but rather is shrouded in the dank mist of the unknown in order to allow these legends to remain truth-some to diehard believers.
Lame lame lame. Disappointed. #beach read.
November 1, 2016
Absolute crap. I kept an open mind until page 22. The author lost all credibility six lines down on this page when the pilot in this "nonfiction" work is told there are lights off the starboard side and then looks to the left and verifies that he can see them. If I can't trust an author to know left from right, how am I supposed to trust him to tell a fatuous UFO kook from a legitimate scientific researcher?
The bulk of "scientific" studies described in the course of the book are more the stuff of nine year old boys with active imaginations and what grasp of science they've picked up from comic books. In fact, save your money, spend it on comic books, and you'll be further ahead and more enlightened in the long run. The truth IS out there, some people just refuse to believe it can be simple and not far-fetched and conspiratorial.
The bulk of "scientific" studies described in the course of the book are more the stuff of nine year old boys with active imaginations and what grasp of science they've picked up from comic books. In fact, save your money, spend it on comic books, and you'll be further ahead and more enlightened in the long run. The truth IS out there, some people just refuse to believe it can be simple and not far-fetched and conspiratorial.
February 15, 2020
A fantastic journey and a subject I wish more had
A crack at - quite a left turn from previous work and his depth is fully on display. An often fun and tense ride where the change of gears is managed perfectly without ever being dull or silly!
A crack at - quite a left turn from previous work and his depth is fully on display. An often fun and tense ride where the change of gears is managed perfectly without ever being dull or silly!
Read
January 17, 2017“There’s more physical evidence that UFOs exist than there’s physical evidence that Jesus Christ existed.”
November 13, 2017
This fed into my conspiracy-loving tendencies, and I am now fully convinced in the existence of aliens. A lot of X-files vibes, and I loved it!
August 3, 2018
Useless- a lot of nonsense that leads nowhere.
August 1, 2021
The 37th parallel covers the weird phenomenon that happens along the 37th latitude line in the United states. From cattle mutilation to ufo sightings to mysterious noises, all matter of odd things happen along this line.
This story mostly covers Chuck Zukowski's beginnings as a hobbies, into a full blown researcher. This book shares some of the events he's investigated or been apart of, and how being interested in UFO's impacted his career, family, and relationships in general. This also covers Robert Biggalow, billionaire Paranormal enthusiasts. The two stories intertwine more than expected.
Honestly, the real hero of this story is Chucks wife, Tammy. She bargains new home furniture in exchange for him buying ufo devices or going on investigations. She takes on A SECOND JOB to support the family so he can go off on UFO hunts. Chucks offical profession is making microchips?! He should be able to support his own family. Honestly, they must really be in love.
I dont think this book would convince anyone who doesn't already believe in this stuff to believe in it. It covers alot of conspiracies, which people who don't believe will dismiss. It's informative to those interested in weird phenomenon to see how location is important.
I own this book hard copy, but actually listened to the audio book. The writing format was more appropriate for listening to than reading.
This story mostly covers Chuck Zukowski's beginnings as a hobbies, into a full blown researcher. This book shares some of the events he's investigated or been apart of, and how being interested in UFO's impacted his career, family, and relationships in general. This also covers Robert Biggalow, billionaire Paranormal enthusiasts. The two stories intertwine more than expected.
Honestly, the real hero of this story is Chucks wife, Tammy. She bargains new home furniture in exchange for him buying ufo devices or going on investigations. She takes on A SECOND JOB to support the family so he can go off on UFO hunts. Chucks offical profession is making microchips?! He should be able to support his own family. Honestly, they must really be in love.
I dont think this book would convince anyone who doesn't already believe in this stuff to believe in it. It covers alot of conspiracies, which people who don't believe will dismiss. It's informative to those interested in weird phenomenon to see how location is important.
I own this book hard copy, but actually listened to the audio book. The writing format was more appropriate for listening to than reading.
May 31, 2020
This book was such an interesting read. I decided to read it after hearing about it on the documentary Hellier. The story drew me in from the start and while I wasn't the biggest fan of how it was told so out of order it did still make sense so it gets points for that.
I do wish though that it had delved more on the 37th Parallel and not all the cases on it which I understand where done as a lead up, but still, it was a bit disappointing to have that bit be just for the last twenty pages or so when I feel it should have been a bigger chunk of the book.
Either way though it was still a nice read and I still learned a lot from the read that was interesting.
I do wish though that it had delved more on the 37th Parallel and not all the cases on it which I understand where done as a lead up, but still, it was a bit disappointing to have that bit be just for the last twenty pages or so when I feel it should have been a bigger chunk of the book.
Either way though it was still a nice read and I still learned a lot from the read that was interesting.
January 4, 2020
So here's the thing about Ben Mezrich, he will take actual events and sensationalize them to create a great story that reads more like a movie (and some of his books have been adapted into movies, The Social Network, for instance). Absolutely nothing wrong with that, just know that this book is not going to give you great insight into what might actually be happening out there with unexplained phenomena. It's definitely entertaining but should not be looked at as non-fiction.
February 8, 2020
This was an absolute headache and the fastest read. The story is all over the show and doesn't really allow the reader to lose themselves in the book
This also reads like a fiction novel. Not recommending this
This also reads like a fiction novel. Not recommending this
February 5, 2024
People are a bit mean to this book in the reviews. I liked it. You go along with a guy doing his thing, you see the ways his relationships support him and are strained, you get glimpses into the mysteries that haunt him, and you see some of the politics between organizations and community groups interested in UAPs. Not sure what people wanted, the author to solve UFOs lol?? Just go along for the ride, or don’t.
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