Scott Martelle had this review the other day in the Los Angeles Times about the much-discussed new book, "Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base" by journalist Annie Jacobsen. She ends the book by passing along the 60-year-old speculation that the UFO from the infamous "Roswell Incident" was a flying disc sent as a Soviet ruse and manned by children horribly disfigured by Nazi Josef Mengele. From Martelle's review:
As far as explanations go, it's not quite as far-fetched as visitors from outer space, but it does stretch credulity. Lord knows, Stalin — who sent millions of his own people to death in spasms of personal paranoia — was capable of the ludicrous. Jacobsen also quotes her source as saying that the U.S. government conducted its own immoral human experiments at Area 51.
But the problem with Jacobsen's presentation is that it is just too thin, relying on a single source nearing his own death passing along what he claims he and his four colleagues had been told about the background to their assignment, which was to figure out how the disk flew (it's unclear whether they succeeded).
Ultimately, Jacobsen presents us with yet another theory, one that feels as questionable as those that preceded it. It's an unfortunate ending to a book that otherwise is an engaging look at the secret world in the Nevada desert.
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