Are we alone in the universe?

New manual looks to answer one of our biggest questions

UFOs have been a global phenomenon from the late 19th century to the present day, and this Haynes manual examines the many UFO investigations that have occurred over the years and equips budding believers with the correct knowledge to stand a chance of making a sighting.

The term ‘flying saucers’ was coined in June 1947, as a label for nine weird, gleaming, disc-shaped aircraft seen by pilot Kenneth Arnold as he was flying over Mount Rainier, Washington DC. This opened the floodgates for thousands more flying saucer sightings, accompanied by newspaper headlines and speculation about their origin. 

Despite official denials, UFO experts (ufologists) have painstakingly collected data about these reports and come to diverse and exotic explanations for the existence of UFOs in our skies.

The UFO Investigations Manual shows how you can identify a UFO yourself and how to classify an alien encounter – was it of the first, second, third, fourth or fifth kind? The findings of scientific research are explored, along with a look at the wide variety of explanations to account for these uncanny happenings.


The book includes an in-depth look at the history of this phenomenon, how to classify and identify a UFO, global hot spots of UFO sightings and patterns of activity as well as information about famous and not-so-famous cases as defined by Hynek’s classification system. 

There are also detailed appendices for the budding UFO investigator including kit essentials, how to produce an investigation report, tips on skywatching, online resources and a glossary of UFO terminology.

The Author

Nigel Watson has written for numerous magazines on paranormal, science and technological subjects, including History Today, All About Space, How It Works, Flying Saucer Review and UFO Magazine. He also runs the website Talking Pictures (www.talkingpix.co.uk) and is the author of three books: The Scareship Mystery (2000), Supernatural Spielberg (1992) and Portraits of Alien Encounters (1990). He lives in Plymouth with his wife and three children.

The UFO Investigations Manual is available from all good bookshops and direct from  Haynes , priced £21.99.