Jay Rath

My reaction to reading this book in 1998.

Roth is too credulous in his views of UFOs and spiritualism, but this is an interesting sourcebook on Minnesota weirdness: Bigfoot and UFO sightings, Viking artifacts (that and the alleged unearthing of giant skeletons were the most interesting sections), cattle mutilations, airship sightings, and the Minnesota Iceman.

Roth does have a point, though, in his criticisms of the sociologists who wrote the classic When Prophecy Fails about a Minnesota show more saucer cult. The observers made up almost 50% of the membership and may have steered its course despite efforts at neutrality. Roth’s comment on the missed significance of Minnesota UFO reports around Collegeville just before the cult began are valid.

The bibliography could have been more detailed and footnotes added, but it isn’t pretending to be a scholarly tome – just a 119 page cash in on The X-Files. show less