most definitely that Adamski's narrative contains enough flaws to place in very serious doubt both his veracity and his sincerity. The reader will be moved to make for himself a careful re-evaluation of the worth of Adamski's book." Air Force investigation During the early-to-mid 1950s USAF Captain Edward J. Ruppelt was the head of Project Blue Book, the Air Force group assigned to investigate UFO reports. In 1953 Captain Ruppelt decided to investigate Adamski's UFO claims. He traveled to California's Palomar Mountain and, dressed in civilian attire to avoid attracting attention, attended one of Adamski's lectures before a large crowd at his Palomar Gardens Cafe. Ruppelt concluded that Adamski was a talented con artist whose UFO stories were designed to make money from his gullible followers and listeners, and he compared Adamski to the famed hoaxer, carnival, and circus showman P.T. Barnum. In describing Adamski's speaking style, Ruppelt wrote "to look at the man and listen to his story you had an immediate urge to believe him ... he was dressed in well-worn, but neat, overalls. He had slightly graying hair and the most honest pair of eyes I've ever seen. He spoke softly and naively, almost pathetically, giving the impression that 'most people think I'm crazy, but honestly, I'm really not.'" According to Ruppelt, Adamski had a persuasive effect on his audience, "you could actually have heard the proverbial pin drop" in the cafe as Adamski told of his initial 1952 meeting with Orthon. When Adamski finished his story, Ruppelt noted that many of his listeners purchased copies of Adamski's UFO photos that were on sale in the cafe. At another lecture led by Adamski and other well-known contactees, Ruppelt wrote that "people shelled out hard cash to hear Adamski's story." Ruppelt believed "the common undertone to many of these [contactee] stories ... is Utopia. On these other worlds there is no illness, they've learned how to cure all diseases. There are no wars, they've learned how to live peaceably. There is no poverty, everyone has everything he wants. There is no old age, they have learned the secret of eternal life ... Too many times this subtle pitch can be boiled down to, "Step right up folks and put a donation in the pot. I'm just on the verge of learning the spaceman's secrets and with a little money to carry out my work I'll give you the