Angels and Aliens: UFO's and the Mythic Imagination

by Keith Thompson

Hardcover, 1991

Status

Available

Call number

001.942

Publication

Da Capo Press (1991), Edition: 1st, 320 pages

Description

It was Carl Jung who first spoke of the UFO phenomenon as "a modern myth in the making," and Joseph Campbell who insisted that the first function of myths is "opening mind and heart to the utter wonder of all being." Now Keith Thompson makes it possible for us to share that sense of wonder as he explores the UFO against the timeless backdrop of visionary experience: angelic vision, near-death experiences, shamanic journeys, religious miracles, and folkloric encounters with fairies. In a brilliant stroke, Keith Thompson takes a subject usually confined to sensationalistic expose and reveals its surprising literary richness, intellectual energy, and symbolic depths. By offering a new, open-ended perspective which avoids the dogmatism of true believers and debunkers alike, Angels and Aliens invites readers to enter a fascinating world with profound implications for our understanding of the human spirit.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member zardoz
This is a very intelligent and (IMHO) well-balanced book covering the subject of UFOs. Thompson objectively reports famous and well-documented UFO encounters and at the same time discusses the power of myth on a culture. We moderns think of ourselves as haven grown out of myth and into science, but
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this book very convincingly shows that modern UFO accounts are simply the current incarnation of ages old myths. Not to say that UFOs aren't "real"...well, it's complicated, but Thompson ends up with some speculative theories of his own.

Very interesting read.
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Language

Original language

English

Physical description

320 p.; 6.5 inches

ISBN

0201550849 / 9780201550849

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