X-Files Book of the Unexplained: Vol. 1
The X-Files Book of the Unexplained: Volume One (1995)
by Jane Goldman
352 pages - Simon & Schuster
The X Files, in its nine season television run, explored many mysteries in fictional form, from UFOs and government cover-ups to monsters hiding in forests and new diseases. This book takes the episodes of the first season and expands on the subject matter by exploring various myths, allegations, and confirmed events. Areas covered include ghosts, extrasensory perception, human physical anomalies, legendary beasts, UFOs, and even profiles of some real-life 'experts on the unknown' (one of them points out how nonsensical a term like that is).
The author takes a relatively neutral view, being somewhat on the materialist side on most of the subject matter, except in the area of UFOs and government cover-ups of said activity, where she presents a lot of evidence both in favour of the phenomenon and various admitted untruths put forward by the government, the military, and NASA. Though the book does not go into very much depth on each subject, a very welcome inclusion is a bibliography at the end of each chapter, so you can continue reading if you want to know more.
There's some really interesting stuff in here, like the people who only shed their skin once a year, like a snake, and various cases of setting fire by psychic power that have landed people in jail even in just the last few decades. In 1990, a law was passed in the state of Connecticut that protects realtors from disclosing the haunting (or, legally speaking, 'psychological impacting') of a property to potential buyers, unless presented with a formal written request.
Sometimes, when reading material like this, your imagination can start really running away from you, which is both thrilling and slightly unnerving.