Tony Dodd has been a UFO researcher for well over 20 years, and in that time he has amassed a wealth of information pertaining to UFOs, which has taken him off the sceptical fence and made him a firm believer in the extra-terrestrial hypothesis. This book is Tony's life work into the subject and begins by informing the reader all about his early interest in the subject, which in point of fact, was added to by his own personal UFO encounters on the Yorkshire Moors. Tony presents his sightings with such conviction that the reader can almost sense that they are there. He was a serving police officer for a number of years and managed to convince his fellow officers that he wasn't going mad by reporting these things, for as fortune would have it, a number of his police collegues were also witness to these strange aerial devices which flitted across the Yorkshire skies. These early UFO experiences sparked a intense desire by Tony to find out what was behind all these UFO reports, and as such he began a one man crusade to investigate these happenings all over the country.

He joined Quest International, a Leeds based UFO society and provided them with many case reports. Throughout the book Tony presents case after case of baffling UFO experiences; from the 'Kalahari Incident' of May 1989 which concerns an alleged UFO which was shot down and it's occupants removed to a South African Air force base under tight security, to his own Investigations with UFO abductees. Tony admits that the hypnosis that was used on these 'abductees' provided a wealth of information, but that information is not taken by some to be all that convincing owing to the controversy surrounding the hypnosis issue. The by now infamous 'Fife Incident' of September 1996 where a number of small grey creatures were witnessed in some woods near Newton of Falkland is also looked at.

His work on animal mutilations is graphic in every detail, and contains some harrowing and disturbing accounts. We learn of sheep, cattle, seals, mice, foxes and a variety of other animals, all found in strange and mysterious circumstances, devoid of any blood and most, if not all, of their internal organs mysteriously removed. But more disturbing is Tony's presentation of some of what could be termed 'human' mutilations, these are even more gruesome. What this reviewer found to be by far the most impressive segment of the book, was the chapter dealing with the death of Captain Thomas Mantell who left Godman Air Force base near Fort Knox on the 7th of January 1948 to investigate a UFO near the air base. Tony presents a new version of the events, not by a friend of a friend, but by someone who was actually there that day, and believe you and me, if you thought Thomas Mantell died of natural cases as a result of his plane crashing due to his oxygen failure, then think again, the information provided here, is 'mind bending' and clearly shows how big the American Government went to cover up this tragic death. There is a great deal of new information in this book, Tony's involvement with the UFO sightings in the Arctic Circle near Iceland is impressive, and again clearly shows how much the cover up was in force. This was a great book to read, lots of new material from a researcher for whom I hold in high regard. I cannot recommend it strongly enough.

TITLE:	Truly Weird (Real Life Cases Of The Paranormal)
AUTHOR:	Jenny Randles
PUBLISHER:	Collins & Brown Publishers, London House, Great Eastern Warf, Parkgate Road, London, SW11 4NQ
PRICE:	£10.99 (Pbk)

Well what can I say about Jenny that has not already been said? For those (and there can't be many) that haven't heard of Jenny Randles, she is someone who has devoted her whole life to the subject of UFO's and strange phenomena. She has travelled extensively in her research and lectures, and has written many books on the subjects, of which this is her latest.

Truly Weird looks at many strange and paranormal subjects, subjects such as, The Bermuda Triangle, Spontaneous Human Combustion, UFO's, Big Foot, Crop Circles, Life After Death, Ghosts, Previous Life and much more. But we have heard all of this before I hear you say. Indeed we have, but the twist with this book, is the way in which it is presented to the reader, and the way the reader has the opportunity to weigh up jenny's own thoughts, then decide for themselves!! Each particular subject not only looks at the pro's and con's of the case, but also presents a special point of view as well, which for me was a great move, for there are far too many people stating that these types of books only presents what the author wants the reader to learn. Here Jenny gives it from all angles, but above all that, one can then turn to the end section of the book, where they can find a section which deals with all of the aforementioned chapters, and gives jenny's own personal thoughts as to, (for instance) Life after Death, UFO's, ets ets.. This is a novel way of presenting a book to the reader, they can be the judge and jury of each case, they can weigh up the information at hand, and ultimately, they can, after digesting all the evidence, for and against, decide what 'they' think is happening out there in the strange world of the unknown. What also makes this book enjoyable, are the many photographs papered throughout the book (over 120) which also highlights each story and provides a good reference point as to what each story is all about.

All in all then, this is a novel and new way in regards to 'presenting information' and jenny has come up with a thoroughly well presented book of which deserves it's place amongst the many other books of this nature. We do live in strange times, and the fascination of these subjects will still be there. Will we ever find the answers to life's little quandaries? I live in hope.