If you get out your Bible and read the book of Ezekiel through a set of 21st century eyes and with an open mind you might be surprised by what you find. That was the experience of this reviewer many years ago and I later learned I was not alone. A former NASA engineer had the same experience. This is his stunning analysis of the encounters described by the prophet, Ezekiel.

The Spaceships of Ezekiel, by Joseph F. Blumrich (Bantam Books, 1974) is, in my opinion, one of the most important, albeit one of the most under-appreciated or under-recognized books in all of ufology.

The author, Joseph Blumrich, was a NASA engineer whose son had been reading von Daniken's "Chariots of the Gods?". His son was excited about the possibilities raised by von Daniken whose book includes a brief mention of the events depicted in the book of Ezekiel in the Bible. But Blumrich was skeptical and set out debunk the whole notion of ET visitors to our planet in ancient times.

Blumrich figured the debunking process would be a cinch because Ezekiel's descriptions of the objects he encountered were so elaborately detailed. Blumrich figured he could take one read of Ezekiel's descriptions and do away with the whole notion that it had any technological implications whatsoever. As it turned out, however, the more he analyzed Ezekiel's descriptions, the more he recognized similarities to technologies already on the drawing board at NASA. What transpires then is one of the most amazing analyses of the entire book of Ezekiel probably ever undertaken in all of ufological literature.

This is not just a book about the technology (in the back is a section especially for the more technically oriented reader) but also a very interesting alternative look at the events described throughout the entire book of Ezekiel. Impressively, Blumrich does a remarkable job of trying to stay within the bounds of the facts as they are known.

The Spaceships of Ezekiel should be considered required reading for anyone interested in the more rational approaches to the UFO phenomenon and the idea of ancient visitors from other worlds. His case is so well presented it would even cause a considerable challenge to people who hold to the conventional explanations of the events depicted in Ezekiel. In fact, as pointed out by Blumrich, after a truly careful reading of Ezekiel it turns out that the conventional explanations don't hold up when contrasted against otherwise known historical facts.

Truly, something very strange took place with ol' Ezekiel. This is one heck of a read. As Blumrich expertly conveys, the book of Ezekiel is extraordinary in its implications; not the least of which is that Ezekiel's writings may well be one of the most detailed accounts of a series of Close Encounters of the Third Kind on record; and it happened 2500 years ago! I couldn't put it down. I read the whole thing in about three and a half hours. Highly recommended if you can find it.