Operation Trojan Horse

A new print of an old book that I’ve been looking forward to reading again after my first attempt back in the early 90’s.  When compared with the sensationalist UFO claptrap that is published these days Keel makes a sober, convincing argument for the presence of something other than off-world, flesh-and-blood beings. It might even go some way to the helping formulate the elusive Unified Fortean Theory.

On to the book itself.

Early on, Keel states that the phenomenon might even be a cosmic joker (shades of Loki?) which delights in confusing and misleading humans with nonsensical antics.  Loki of course originated in Norse culture and is regarded as a shape shifter who even shifts in to the form of a mare and gives birth to Sleipnir an eight-legged horse.

The Trojan Horse of the title is the underlying phenomenon which is ancient, intelligent and resident on Earth having been here for æons – presumably tricking older, lost civilisations as it does to us now – comprised entirely of energy and able to take any form depending upon the observers mindset and expectations.  Keel calls it reflective in that the phenomenon takes on the expectation and beliefs of the observer. It you are religious so see a holy figure. If you are not then you might see an alien or something which has a cultural relevance to you.  This might explain why UFO’s have almost never repeated themselves in design and the apparent cultural tracking of them. (Refer to the Nuremburg woodcut, 1896 airship flap, 1950’s saucers and modern triangles for examples of this.)

Later in the book he mentions how UFO research is like demonology and black magic in that it can lead someone to an obsessive mentality and he cautions parents from allowing their children to become involved. It doesn’t stop them being abducted though…

He then spends a few chapters, too many in my view, going over various UFO and abduction cases. This might be useful to a newcomer but it’s filler for someone 30 years deep in the subject.

Keel proposes that it might be that we are unable to fully comprehend the phenomenon just as ants cannot understand us. He even theorises that the phenomenon is so ancient that it can only communicate with us in tiny chunks of information which represent entire lifetimes to us but a few moments to it. These chunks are spread across human history like a giant puzzle. It sort of makes sense but as far as I am aware nobody is working to put them together.  Keel also notes that UFO sightings mostly occur on Wednesdays and Saturdays in pretty much the same locations over the years which he takes as being confirmation that some intelligence is behind it all.

I appreciate his enthusiasm and share his conclusions but I need something a little more scientific to cross over the that line. Although if he’s right then this will never happen due to its reflexive nature. I’ll only see what I expect to see based on my own understanding and expectations.

Overall a good take on the UFO phenomenon and an interesting angle which has persisted over the decades since he first published this book.  It certainly throws up fewer problems than the ETH (extra-terrestrial hypothesis) which requires biologically similar beings, advanced technology, vast interstellar travel and actually finding us out here in the galactic wilderness.

In all a classic UFO book which has stood the test of time and is a worthy addition to any Fortean library.