The Believer Audiobook By Ralph Blumenthal cover art

The Believer

Alien Encounters, Hard Science, and the Passion of John Mack

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The Believer

By: Ralph Blumenthal
Narrated by: Phil Thron
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The Believer is the weird and chilling true story of Dr. John Mack. This eminent Harvard psychiatrist and Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer risked his career to investigate the phenomenon of human encounters with aliens and to give credibility to the stupefying tales shared by people who were utterly convinced they had happened.

Nothing in Mack's four decades of psychiatry had prepared him for the otherworldly accounts of a cross section of humanity, including young children who reported being taken against their wills by alien beings. Over the course of his career, his interest in alien abduction grew from curiosity to wonder, ultimately developing into a limitless, unwavering passion.

Based on exclusive access to Mack's archives, journals, and psychiatric notes and interviews with his family and closest associates, The Believer reveals the life and work of a man who explored the deepest of scientific conundrums and further leads us to the hidden dimensions and alternate realities that captivated Mack until the end of his life.

©2021 Ralph Blumenthal (P)2021 Tantor Professionals & Academics Social Scientists & Psychologists Unexplained Mysteries Suspenseful Scary Aliens Nonfiction

Featured Article: The best audiobooks about aliens for curious humans


Throughout the history of storytelling, we humans have been curious about the possibility of worlds beyond Earth and its inhabitants. Thanks to our endless fascination with extraterrestrial life, there is a mountain of literature, from novels to memoirs, exploring the potential outcomes of interacting with creatures from other planets. Without further ado, here are 20 of our favorite listens about alien life.

Featured Article The best audiobooks about aliens for curious humans
Fascinating Biography • Well-researched Study • Solid Voice Performance • Balanced Perspective • Thought-provoking Content
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I absolutely loved this story. At the beginning I knew almost nothing about John Mack except for his connection to UFO research. After reading this book he may be one of my favorite human figures. He really did live a full life (despite its tragic end) and passionately pursued his interests and principles. For me personally, I was blown away by the overlap of several interests of mine: UFOs/ 60s counterculture/ plant medicine and psychedelics/ intellectual curious characters/ and the big questions of existence and death.
I loved it. Thanks to Ralph Blumenthal for this in-depth portrait of Mack, and for his own work in investigative journalism.

This is an incredible story of an enigmatic human being.

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Listened twice and will return to this work again. Highly recommend to anyone interested in John E. Mack’s legacy and work!

Beautiful work.

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John Mack reigns Supreme in the realm of discovery of other species and their intentions albeit negative or positive toward Humans. Mack’s early demise is suspicious and leaves his readers missing what could have been his continued work in this field of the paranormal.

Blumenthal honored John Mack’s pioneer work well.

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I didn't get as much out of this book as I hoped that I would but it was good nonetheless. I liked learning about Dr. John Mack, who I had never heard of before, or, if I had heard of him it did not click. Anyhow, now I will always know about him, and so will you if you read this book. Plus there's a couple interesting case studies I had never heard about before, as well as a couple ones I had.

Learned a lot about Dr. John Mack

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Great book to listen to if you’re thinking about UFOs! Nice to get another educated prospective. The aliens are here! Here is some more proof.

Eye Opening

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I've always been intrigued by Dr Mack, but never really knew his story. I thought this was a well written and very interesting biography, in a fashion. Dr Mack rubbed shoulders with some amazing people of his era. Sad to hear how Dr Mack died, yet interesting how people reacted, and the belief Dr Mack reached out to each. Maybe it's a way they truly processed his death, or who knows. Overall, the voice performance was solid, and I was never distracted by the narrator's various voices. Interesting how the scholastic community is full of weirdos, Dr Mack having some of that, but maybe that is how some geniuses act. He had his problems, but I appreciated his passion in whatever he did. The stories of the abductees were quite interesting to say the least. On a side note, and a common theme in other books, is Carl Sagan had a super inflated egomaniac who didn't seek the truth often standing in the way of truth. I think Dr Mack stood as a giant over dinosaurs like Sagan, although he did do some great things, just his ego crushed his ability to do more. Great book. I wish Dr Macks books were on Audiobooks. Thanks, Ralph, for this work.

What an amazing man Dr John E Mack

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I was interested in reading about Dr. John Mack after having read his ground shaking book ABDUCTION. I knew Dr. Mack suffered blow back from his research into the UFO questions. So this book was a nice explanation of where Mack came from and how he got to his beliefs. A worthwhile listen if you read either John Macks books.

Dr. Mack was an interesting man

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John Mack had a long and interesting career, may he RIP. I didn’t feel this was a book I could listen straight through. Overall it was interesting but at times was very slow. There are quite a few supposedly conversations with others but who’s to know. Lots of information on Mr. Mack, who was interesting on his own. Despite the things mentioned I would still recommend this book.

Interesting

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I like it. I got this book because I’ve had “Abduction” from a used bookstore for decades so I was interested in a book about John Mac the author.

This was mostly middle of the road but the ending is strong.

This ends well

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very well written but very long and sluggish as times, yet still worth a listen or read.

Top notch biography

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