There are many people interested in the UFO phenomena who have never had access to Soviet case reports. The authors of this book attempt to close the gap in Western knowledge of the extensive collection of Soviet case reports. Along with those reports, the reader is introduced to the personalities - past and present - involved in the research (whether official or not).

The book is divided into chapters discussing the phenomena by regional sections of the Soviet Union. I had wished that I had a detailed map of the Soviet Union hanging next to me as I read the book. Not only are famous, infamous and rare cases provided, but a short history of the region gives the reports what could be called a Russian flavor. The authors include - where appropriate - the name of the tribe that settled the region and their folklore. Much of the folklore involves strange lights, strange creatures and just plain strange phenomena. The text is spiced with Russian words. One of my favorites was the term "taiga." At one point the word is used to describe the area of the Tunguska explosion. Taiga implies a tangled, almost impenetrable undergrowth of trees and brush. Sometimes the area contains a watery marsh area.

The chapter I found the most interesting involved CIA documents. The authors provide some of the CIA documents that were evaluated by that agency trying to determine whether the Soviets were the source of "flying disks." There was well founded concern because the Soviets, after World War II, had marched triumphantly into Prague and Breslau. The Soviets had immediately seized the German engineering archives containing the plans of successfully flown "flying saucers." Along with the plans, the Soviets captured German engineering personnel. Everything was transferred under heavy guard back to the Soviet Union. Another coupe for the Soviets was the Berlin designer of the Stuka JU-87 dive bomber defected after the war. The designer later developed the MIG13 and 15 aircraft for the Soviet Union. The outcome of the American's CIA analysis turned out to circular as many of the confiscated Soviet documents showed the Russians wondering whether the Western Alliance was a source of the UFO phenomena.

The book is dense with information. The authors attempted to cram as much information as possible into their book. If I were start listing much more of the information they cover, I would not do it justice. For example, they have put forth some interesting ideas as to why UFOs are attached to specific places. In their chapter called Strange Places and Anomalous Zones, after briefly describing an area called Monchegorsk and the report of a geological expedition searching for the cause of an anomalous effect, the authors report that the expedition discovered a group of facilities. Secret facilities. The authors state:

"The ecology of the areas was polluted to such an extent, that geological reports were classified until the 1990s."

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