Alien Artifacts (Volume 1)

Alien Artifacts (Volume 1) by Chris Aubeck (2022 Self-Published/Amazon paperback 370pp)

 

This book is probably something of a niche interest within a niche interest. The field that calls itself “Ufology” is full of cranks and crackpots producing hundreds of volumes full of absolute dribble. “Ufology” itself seems to work on a 20-year cycle, every generation discovers the mysteries and wonders of the topic (like I did in the 1970s) and promptly goes about proclaiming that they know the ultimate answers. When ‘Disclosure’ (the ETH believer’s equivalent of the Rapture) fails to arrive things soon head down multiple rabbit holes of conspiracy theories and in-fighting. The internet has only accelerated this process. However, a few voices seem to break through the general noise of each cycle and Chris Aubeck is one of those authors. Abandoning sensationalism and bold claims, Aubeck is more a scholar of history calmly investigating what really happened as opposed to mindlessly repeated the same old stories.

The title “Alien Artifacts” rather than referring to actual physical objects refers more to the concept that the idea of aliens can be traced back through history via written fact and fiction. First of a projected series, this volume covers media and literature from antiquity to the late 19^th century. Aubeck skilfully searches through books and newspapers of the era to find when aliens first started to appear in text – some of the references are very early indeed and many seem surprisingly modern in the way they use the same ‘tropes’ and claims that we still see reported today. The book is divided into six sections – Starting with the idea of the plurality of worlds and ending with reports of dead aliens. Each chapter ends with what the author calls ‘fragments’ – selections of original texts that illustrate to the reader the type and feeling of what was being said in the past.

Some of the more elaborate stories are investigated in depth by the author and he finds most were constructed piecemeal from the personalities and current events of the day. Many were April Fool’s Day articles that went out of control and gained lives of their own in print. Most of the news stories were simply made up ‘tall stories’ as was the habit of the newspapers then.

This book is fascinating and should appeal more widely than to UFO enthusiasts – those interested in history and perhaps early science fiction will find much to amuse and enlighten.