Overview: Phantoms in the Night or ETs? is one author’s attempt to relate her lifelong experiences of physical and telepathic contact with extraterrestrials and the paranormal.

Verdict: Writing Phantoms in the Night or ETs? was not easy for author Lorraine McAdam, and what she relates in this book might not be believed by the vast majority of people - which is why she delayed writing it for so long.

Indeed, until now, only those in her close, nuclear family had known of the details of her story, which has been a lifelong one. But in her heart she eventually realized that withholding her story - of what she has now come to believe is some form of ongoing ET contact - was no longer an option.

And because it seems that the world at large has moved to a more enlightened attitude towards ‘abductees’ or ‘experiencers’ who have experienced and gone through this high strangeness, loosely called ‘alien contact’, McAdam now thinks that the time is ripe to reveal her story. “This is my own simple, truthful, riveting, intriguing, and sometimes frightening account of multiple encounters, and experiences, with beings I believe originate from other worlds and, possibly, other dimensions”, she writes. “And yet I am, to all who know me, an ordinary English teacher, wife, and mother. So why me? I have no answer.”

Taking it from the top (of the subject matter to hand), many people have wondered: are earthlings living on a speck of dust -- alone in the infinite universe or are there other intelligent life forms out there in the cosmos?

Nearly half of all Americans and millions more globally believe we’re not alone, according to a 2000 poll. While 40 million Americans say they have seen or know someone who has seen an unidentified flying object, or UFO, a growing number believe they’ve actually met aliens.

Some even believe that Extraterrestrials can embody people’s fears, looking radically different from human life. Indeed, pop culture depictions of aliens don’t seem to be slowing down, one of my own personal favs being the acclaimed mini-series Torchwood: Children of Earth.

But I digress, for another, and one which Lorraine herself attests to, is spiritual transformation, when you see these objects, and then you do the research and you see that there are so many people who have experienced the same thing as you. And so you have to say to yourself, well, okay, maybe there is something to this.

As for Lorraine’s story in particular, well, its a smorgasbord of encounters that all add up to to the fact that she has believed for the longest time that she has had various encounters with either phantoms in the night or ETs. “Having undergone a series of spiritual promptings lately, I believe I can no longer sit on the sidelines in the shadows and that it is time to share my story with the world.”

So, from my point of view, and having now read this book twice through, I think is it time to start taking these stories more seriously? I’m not saying that I believe it’s literally true that there are alien’s riding around the galaxy in their respective spaceships, but at the very least, these people such as Lorraine, who were previously disbelieved and even ridiculed, should be listened to and given a hearing.

And, in closing, for everyone who tells you these people are attention seekers after fame and fortune, I would say, ‘What fame? What fortune?’

About the Author - Lorraine McAdam is an artist, writer and poet. In the past, she worked as a nurse for twelve years. At 45, she trained to become a teacher, and she now runs her own tuition business. She is also unusual in that she believes she has been having encounters with the paranormal, ETs and UFOs since she was a child. She lives in Cumbria, UK.

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