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There has probably never been anything like it in UFO history, but the
UFO fever that gripped the small British town of Warminster for about a
decade is now largely forgotten. It was one of the largest UFO flaps
ever to occur. Thousands of witnesses reported seeing the "Warminster
Thing." The hilltops around the town attracted a loyal band of
followers, all waiting for the magic sighting, the landing, the
contact. The authors were themselves among the skywatchers and spent
nights on Cradle Hill, the center of the phenomenon, watching and
waiting for UFOs.
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IN ALIEN HEAT
The Warminster Mystery Revisited
by Steve Dewey and John Ries
An Anomalist Books Original
Trade Paperback,
$17.95
ISBN: 1933665025
328 pages, index
Order from AMAZON here:
or from
Barnes & Noble or your local bookstore |
IN
ALIEN HEAT introduces the Warminster phenomenon to a new
generation of readers. It contains a short history of the phenomenon,
places it in its social and historical context, and examines the
possible mechanisms that initiated and sustained this remarkable UFO
flap.
From the preface:
This was not a book waiting to be written. The ufological phenomena
that occurred in the small town of Warminster, in Wiltshire, are, if
not forgotten, at least an embarrassment to modern-day ufologists. The
Warminster “Thing” is almost completely unknown
outside of the UK. Nobody is embarrassed about the Banbury wave. Nobody
appears to be embarrassed about Bonnybridge, despite its almost exact
replication of the Warminster phenomenon. Sightings of the Warminster
Thing grew slowly, and then reached a tipping point, after which
Warminster became the center of a full-scale UFO flap. However, once
the Thing had produced a flap, researchers and writers almost
immediately dismissed it. For the best part of a decade, in the face of
this disdain, the phenomenon stumbled along, with new sightings now and
then that sustained the mythos. For that decade, however, the power of
that mythos was enough to tempt a loyal band of followers to the
hilltops around Warminster, waiting for the magic sighting, the
landing, the contact.
When we first visited Cradle Hill on one of those cold dark nights, we
wanted to see and believe, and we looked very hard. We had read Arthur
Shuttlewood’s books about the Thing, and lapped up other
books in the genre. We were quickly seduced into the whole occult
weltbild. As burgeoning adolescent would-be intellectuals, a whole stew
was put on to boil, a farrago that included Daniken and Tomas, Wheatley
and Crowley, Marx and Freud, Jung and Reich, Conway and Wilson, Keel
and Vallee. . .
CONTENTS
Preface
1. The Apparent Beginning
2. The Start of Things
3. To Begin at the Very Beginning
4. The British Context
5. Reacting to Things
6. Warminster Revisited
7. This Charming Man
8. The Thing Trilogy
9. The Hoaxes, the Hoaxers, and the Hoaxed
10. Reading Warminster
11. Seeing Things
12. Becoming Hysterical
13. Believing in Things
14. The Guru
15. Where Are We?
16. Summing Up Things .
Appendix I: Oh My God, It’s Full of Stars!
Appendix II: Unwarranted Conclusions and Dubious Data
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Index
About the authors:
Steve Dewey grew up in
Warminster. He has a bachelor's degree in Society and Technology and a
master's in Popular Culture. He is a technical author by trade.
John Ries also grew-up in
Warminster (insofar as he ever managed it). He is a computer programmer
specializing in databases: he cannot, however, program his
video recorder.
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What they're saying. . .
"Dewey
and Reis have done a public service in dragging the Warminster Thing
and the Warminster phenomenon back into view...this book is a gem, not
just for having resurrected the 'case,' but for the relentless
dissections the authors put it through...The story of the Warminster
phenomenon as Dewey and Reis tell it is at once singular and weird –
not least in its initial manifestation as a still-unattributed series
of alarming noises – and archetypical. This book should be read with
care, patience, and reflection, but most of all it should be read." –
Peter Brookesmith, Journal of Scientific Exploration
"[The authors] introduce a new generation of readers to the remarkable story of Britain's biggest UFO flap. .. In Alien Heat is an impressive and scholarly tome that should be added to the library of every ufologist and fortean."
– David Clarke, Fortean Times, which awarded the book a rare 9 on a 10 point scale
"A remarkable new book...a riveting social document, objectively
placing the phenomenon in its cultural and historical context...highly
engaging." -- The Western Daily Press
"Dewey and Reis are not concerned with 'explaining' the Warminster
mystery. This is no catalogue of UFO sightings, no attempt to promote
an ET or a 'skeptical' viewpoint on what happened all those years ago.
It is, in the very best sense, 'literary criticism'...taking a story -
the history and development of the Warminster phenomenon, and examining
how it grew and fitted together as a narrative, how that
narrative was influenced by other stories and contexts, and how in turn
it affected them...This book is a remarkable achievement, meticulously
researched and
documented, well-written, often humorous account of a fascinating piece
of not just ufological history, but British social history. Perhaps it
will help recover Warminster from the historical black-hole it seems to
have fallen into. Buy it.
Read it."
-- John Rimmer, Magonia
"[The
authors] grew up in Warminster, and their book provides an interesting
and critical analysis of the story...Dewey and Reis make a good
case...this is a well-researched and interesting book..." – Peter
McCue, Journal of the Society for Psychical Research
"Some of the dullest books ever published have flying saucers on their
cover. This book isn't one of them. Since 1947 UFO related beliefs have
spread across the world like a modern legend. Stories about objects in
the sky and alien contacts have become part of popular culture. But
virtually all discussion about UFOs has been confined to either belief
in 'alien visitors' or debunking ET claims. IN ALIEN HEAT takes a fresh
approach to the subject. Steve Dewey and John Ries take a microcosm of
the UFO phenomenon - the Warminster Mystery - and examine it as a
social and cultural phenomenon akin to modern folklore. This is a
fascinating and absorbing book which should be read by everyone who
wants to know 'the truth' behind the UFO mystery." -- Dr. David Clarke, National Centre for English Cultural Tradition,
University of Sheffield
"An excellent and unique account of the Warminster UFO phenomenon." -- David Simpson, author of Conclusions from
Controlled UFO Hoaxes
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