A review of Fire In the Sky by Travis Walton

Post date: May 9, 2018 11:52:31 AM

By: Chelsea Inchaurregui, Staff Writer

Posted May 9th, 2018

This book review is not going to necessarily go along the lines of a typical review, you will see what I mean by the end of it. I’m not going to try to say some meaningful claims on why this book has to be a must-read to try to convince you to read it, instead, I will tell you why I decided to read this book and what unique aspect this book contains. It’s up to you to keep reading this review and ultimately decide if you are going to want to understand Travis Walton’s rare experience. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this guy, he is just one of many who need to share with the world a great dilemma that needs to be addressed, but to society, it may be regarded to as fake or just plain foolishness.

Above I was vague, purposefully, to introduce the book, but now I will get to good stuff. The reason why I got this book in my hands was not because I was trying some new book or was required to read it for homework, rather, something in my past, influenced me. In 2011, (I was attending Slinger Middle School at that time), near midnight, I was presented with a UFO. What I mean by that, is that I was watching a tv show with my family, like an ordinary school night. The power went out and curiosity struck me to look outside my window because I heard this strange noise. What I didn’t know was that catching a glimpse of a non-earthly flying object, only for a few seconds, would change my perspective on life immensely. I could go more into details, but this is a book review, so I’ll leave it at that (if you want to learn more about that sighting, just ask me, I’ll be more than glad to share). Before that event, I was just like any closed-minded typical kid. You could’ve asked me if I believed in aliens, and I’m pretty sure I would’ve answered no, so I understand why some people would right away dodge even the consideration of other life in the universe After this incident, I realized that I needed to spread the word, open up other people’s minds, and try to gather more information on UF0’s -- that’s what drove me toward Fire in the Sky.

The non-fiction book, Fire in the Sky, is one of the sincerest books I’ve ever read in my life. By sincere I mean that the author, Travis Walton, struggled with the reaction of society after a life-altering event of being abducted by a UFO in 1975, and yet, was able to stay true to his vales, and more importantly, the truth. In the opening lines of the book, Travis conveys to us a statement that I found most profound. It was along the lines of how after being abducted, he never saw the skies bounded, where we just look up at the sky and say something like, “Oh, there’s a sky above us, that’s all,” instead, he now sees the sky and recognizes that there’s an actual universe out there.

The personal narrative is broken into chunks. There is the background on the setting of where this happened, and historical context to help you understand the community of Snowflake, Arizona. Walton also decided to include background information on himself, his family, and his childhood, up until his current job. I thought this was essential for understanding Walton’s personality and society, which helps answer questions, such as why did Walton decide to get an up-close examination of the UFO? Then it talks about how Walton’s family was affected by his disappearance. Afterwards, it covers Walton’s experience in an alien environment. I find it crazy how we look similar to aliens, yet they are far more technologically advanced than us. The book then talks about Travis being returned and the great commotion that it caused. People wouldn’t believe his story that he was abducted. Then the book ends with some analysis by Walton on his odd experience.

Fire in the Sky provides detailed information on Walton’s experience, and this is not some fictional book with the goal of having you on the edge of your seat the entire time. This book’s purpose is to relate factual information and help us as a society to accept more beliefs, no matter how delirious they may sound. What it comes down to is trust. After reading the book, I was able to understand Walton and I felt bad for him that so many people gave him the cold shoulder, even though he told the truth the entire time. For those who want “real evidence”, Travis Walton and his co-workers all passed lie detectors tests, but if you do decide to read this book, his words are sufficient to make you trust him.