SOURCE: A review of The Demon-Haunted World, in Science, Vol. 273, No. 5274, July 26, 1996, pp. 442-43.

Below, Ayala presents a favorable review of The Demon-Haunted World, but disagrees with Sagan's reductionist view of scientific truth.

In 1961 while driving at night in the White Mountains, Betty and Barney Hill sighted a bright object in the sky that seemed to follow them. Fearing for their safety, they left the main highway and took narrow roads, arriving home two hours later than they had expected. The experience prompted Betty to read a book that described UFOs as spaceships navigated by little men from other worlds, who sometimes abducted humans. Soon thereafter, she began experiencing a repetitive nightmare in which she and Barney were abducted and taken aboard a UFO. In a few days they were describing a pancake-like UFO with uniformed figures visible through the craft's windows. This and other motifs of the...