Is truth stranger than conspiracy-theory fiction? A new book on Area 51 that's already generating a ton of buzz says there was no alien spacecraft that crashed in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. Instead, Stalin did it--maybe.

According to Annie Jacobsen, the reporter who authored "Area 51," the spaceship was actually a Soviet spy plane that came down during a storm. Jacobsen claims it was filled with bizarre, genetically engineered child-sized pilots. Then-Soviet leader Joseph Stalin was hoping, Jacobsen alleges, that the new cause widespread panic in the U.S.

The story gets even stranger: The leader of the USSR had apparently been inspired by the 1938 radio adaptation radio broadcast of the HG Wells story "War of the Worlds," produced by Orson Welles. The broadcast triggered panic in some listeners who tuned in and mistook it for a real-life alien invasion. (Though later students of the episode claim that the media of Welles' day vastly exaggerated the scale of public alarm over the broadcast.)

And those ET-looking aviators? They were scientific experiments created by the "Angel of Death," Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, for the USSR after the war. The flight was piloted remotely, according to accounts in the book, and was filled with a crew of "alien-like children."

According to Jacobsen's source, a retired engineer who was put on the project in 1978, the look of the human experiments could explain the alien conspiracy theories: "They were grotesquely deformed, but each in the same manner as the others. They had unusually large heads and abnormally shaped oversize eyes."

Is any of this true? There's no way to prove it. Documents surrounding the Roswell incident are still classified--as is virtually all information related to the mystery spot.

Still, lack of proof hasn't exactly stopped the book from sparking speculation on the media circuit and on the Web. In the last day, Yahoo! searches skyrocketed 3,000 percent for "area 51 book." And the tome is penned not by a crackpot conspirator, but a respected journalist.

Even the New York Times gives her credence, writing in its review: "Although this connect-the-dots UFO thesis is only a hasty-sounding addendum to an otherwise straightforward investigative book about aviation and military history, it makes an indelible impression. 'Area 51' is liable to become best known for sci-fi provocation."

But sci-fi provocation may be all the book generates. After all, without the government coming out and saying what happened back in 1947, even if there was no conspiracy, the stories of the "Roswell Incident" will remain just that.

You can watch "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart about interview Jacobsen about her claims below.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20110518/od_yblog_upshot/new-book-says-ussr-behind-roswell-ufo

This is part of my Area-51 exposed thread lol

is it? i didn't read the whole thing, it was kinda long...

I never did believe in monsters from space. It's just modern day folklore.

In past times they believed fairies and goblins caused all the trouble that nobody was willing to confess.

Then they believed in creepy monsters and leprechauns. Today we have monsters from space.

People will write anything to make money these days..

True. Genetic engineering didn't exist (on earth anyway) in 1947. Selective breeding would have taken more than one generation.

Yes, I have been told many things about Roswell. I have grown up in Roswell, NM. Been here most all of my life. I have seen people from all over this globe come here ,to enjoy themselves. If this makes people happy , I am all for that.

I think the majority of her book is pretty accurate with the exception of Mengle working for Stalin trying to creat monster like people.

I believe Roswell was a Russian Spy Plane or a crashed US Black Project and all the UFO signtings were the SR71 Blackbird, U-2, F-117 and B-2 bomber oh and this new RQ Sentinel.

There is just to much evidence that supports this. Hell, there are even photographs now being released from former employees at Area-51.

Hell, if anyone wants a job, they are hiring. Just goto EG&G and Wackenhunt's websites and submit a resume. All their security is hired through them. I actually have the link if someone wants it.

Not bad for your ecomony over there eh?

i don't know, the Germans were into some really weird crap... i wouldn't be surprised either way on this...

Dont knock writers, they're just trying to get some...that exactly true what you said...

I never believed in area 51, at least not the alien part, I maybe believed it was used as a military test sight, which is why it was so guarded. Maybe I should re-write something on that....make some money

i'll proof read it for you, over a beer... light beer, that is...

This is stupid on many reasons. How did they fly "remotely?" Even today, the fighters drones need satellite uplink and computer control from a not-too-far base. There was no such a technology available in the 50s, especially not for Stalin.

it could have been dropped from another plane, or a glider. but your right, remotely is the wrong word to use there...

here's how a well know scientist defines a theory:

"A good theory will describe a large range of phenomena on the basis of a few simple postulates and will make definite predictions that can be tested. If the predictions agree with the observations, the theory survives that test, though it can never be proved to be correct."

Stephen Hawking, the universe in a nutshell.

doesn't sound like anything coming out of roswell now does it???

The claims in this book....even conspiracy theorists are sayin' they are absurd. Me however....I dunno'. Hell....I'll entertain almost any idea at this point........

a new breed of conspiracy theorists...

I guess so. Yea. I really don't find the claims in this book that far-fetched at all......

I doubt the USSR could have entered that far into US airspace.