The 37th Parallel
by Ben Menrich
Atria Books, 2016, HC, 1st Edition
260pp, index, bw photos throughout
ISBN: 978-1-5011-3552-1, $26 USD
A Review by Gene Stewart
First some bona fides: Ben Mezrich graduated Harvard summa cum laude and has published 18 books, among them The Accidental Billionaires, which became the movie THE SOCIAL NETWORK, and Bringing Down the House, which became the movie 21.
His usual method is to focus on remarkable people and follow their arc of success, beginning when they were not prominent in their field. This is his approach here, too, although success is swapped out for expertise here. In readable narrative journalism, he presents the story of microchip engineer and sheriff’s deputy Chuck Zukowski.
Zukowski grew up in Las Vegas during the atom bomb tests, back when we were blatantly lied to about how safe radiation is, back before the Las Vegas Strip was much of anything, back when seeing the unannounced mushroom clouds rising after the ground shook was as strong a tourist draw as casino gambling. The explosions had everyone watching the skies but locals, like Chuck, knew there was another sky show going on after hours, when illuminated shapes floated and flitted over bomb test sights in the desert night. This fascinated the teenaged Zukowski, who took his curiosity about what was really going on with those UFOs into his adulthood.
He became a microchip engineer, pursuing his interest in UFOs by investigating sightings and talking to witnesses on his off-time. He became a volunteer sheriff’s deputy in order to get himself out in the field more often, although he was careful never to mix his official duties, or identity as a deputy, with is UFO investigations.
Then one day a rancher called, frightened out of her wits, and he investigated his first, and one of the earliest, animal mutilation cases, in that case a horse. He knew at once the dismissive stance maintained by law enforcement and veterinary science did not begin to address the unusual aspects. Over the years Chuch Zukowski became the go-to guy to such matters and he developed an expertise exceeded by no one. He began taking proper samples in as timely a way as possible to real labs for real work-ups. He began amassing files and compiling a sighting map, from which, eventually, his insight came, and along with it the title for Mezrich’s book about all this.
Compelling cases are recounted, Chuck Zukowski’s story is told, and a puzzle is gradually put together as one reads this excellent book. It is clear, concise, and always to the point, with excellent explanations to keep the reader effortlessly oriented and grounded. This is not a wild-eyed fringe topic book, it is a focused account of one man’s experience investigating such matters and a revealing glimpse of what he has found.
Turns out most mutilations occur along the 37th parallel in tight clusters. It is the center line of a highway between the 36th and 38th parallels of latitude along which mysterious lights, devastating attacks, and appalling remains are found, at times so frequently as to bankrupt ranchers. The predation has been going on for decades and receives only scorn and derision from officials who might help look into the actual causes.
Each explanation proffered, from satanic cults to military data-gathering in the radiation drift zones of bomb tests, fails when all the details are factored. No one explanation suffices, and nothing sensible seems to stick.
Into this maddening outburst of silent violence from unseen forces comes a map with stick-pins in it, marking incidents. It reveals a long-term pattern. It offers an insight of sorts, one no one can yet interpret clearly; the 37th line of latitude is where one finds most of these incidents, globally. Why? How?
Interestingly, there are more military bases along the 37th parallel in the US than anywhere else. It passes through the horizontal middle of the USA. Are these facts related? Did one prompt the other?
Every chapter is rooted in the narrative of personal experience. This makes it read almost like fiction at times, yet it is all well-researched and rooted firmly in accredited fact. Strongly recommended for those new to such topics, and for those who have been following such weirdness for ages.
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