Above Top Secret: Uncover the Mysteries of the Digital Age

by Jim Marrs

Jim Marrs can justifiably be considered the world's leading conspiracy author, with multimillion-copy bestsellers like Alien Agenda, Rule By Secrecy, and the book that Oliver Stone used as a basis for his JFK movie, Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy, Now Marrs has allied with the Web's most popular conspiracy forum to investigate everything from chemtrails to the Nazis' Antarctic base, moon landing hoaxes to UFOs, God as an alien to the end of the world in 2012.AboveTopSecret.com is the Internet's largest and most popular discussion board community dedicated to the intelligent exchange of ideas and debate on a wide range of alternative topics such as conspiracies, UFOs, the paranormal, secret societies, political scandals, New World Order, terrorism, and dozens more.Marrs brings his rigorous journalist's credentials to bear on these topics and more, asking (and often answering) the essential who, what, where, why, and how questions in compelling, page-turning fashion.A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Jim Marrs earned a BA in journalism from the University of North Texas in 1966 and attended graduate school at Texas Tech University for two years more. He has worked for several Texas news papers, including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where, beginning in 1968, he covered stories locally as well as in Europe and the Middle East. After a leave of absence to serve with a Fourth Army intelligence unit during the Vietnam War, he became the military and aerospace writer for the newspaper and an investigative reporter. Since 1980, Marrs has been a freelance writer, author, and frequent invited public speaker.

Genres: Conspiracy Theories, Nonfiction, Politics

284 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2008

About the author

Jim Marrs is an award-winning journalist and author. After graduating from the University of North Texas with a degree in journalism, Marrs worked for and owned several Texas newspapers before becoming an independent journalist/author. Marrs is the author of the New York Times bestsellers, Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy, the basis for the Oliver Stone film JFK, and Rule by Secrecy.

Reviews

[Jeffrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Do you believe there is a strong possibility that Kennedy was assassinated by the CIA, the moon landings were faked, road signs contain secret messages for the New World Order, and there is a secret Nazi UFO base in Antarctica? Are you intellectually curious yet temperamentally paranoid and unwilling to apply Occam's Razor to strange happenings? Have you ever made friends, neighbors or colleagues uncomfortable by insisting that the CIA, international financiers, the Military-Industrial complex and/or Corporate Media are trying to hide The Truth from us? IF SO, THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU!

I'm giving this book two stars because it's a fascinating read, and I do actually recommend it highly for those interested in a peek into the world of conspiracy theories. Unexplained phenomena do bear additional study and consideration, and some of the book is an interesting peek into weird stuff on the fringes of what's out there. The book pretends to have a neutral tone, but its lack of applying critical thinking skills shows it's more interested in stirring the pot for the Art Bell crowd.

I really do think it's a fun read and worthwhile - but only if you are willing to apply a more critical eye to all these phenomena than the author does.

[Didka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Доста нови неща научих от книгата!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're interested in an introduction to popular conspiracy theories, here is your book. Therefore, this book isn't for everyone. Some people associate conspiracy theorists with insanity or paranoia. This book would not be for you. This book is also not for people unwilling to entertain different ideas. I was describing this book to a friend, reading off the questions that headline each chapter such as the first one, "Was 9/11 an inside job?", and my friend rattled off quick answers to each one. His answer to the one I just quoted was "no". If you've made up your mind and are unwilling to read the data that exists, then this book is also not for you.

This is not an exhaustive resource by any means. It just scratches the surface on most topics. Each chapter warrants an average of 10-15 pages and provides online resources at AboveTopSecret.com where you can find out more about each topic. One thing I like about the book is that it doesn't push a theory, but it tells you the facts as we know them, and offers a range of ideas that people have formed as a result.

Some of the chapters (The 9/11 one, "Who killed JFK?", "What crashed at Roswell?", "Is Free/Alternative Energy Being Kept from the Public?", "Is the Federal Reserve a Scam?" are compelling. There is so much evidence to refute that it is difficult not to buy some of the ideas.

Other chapters ("What will happen in 2012?" "Is God an Alien?", "Is There a Nazi Base in Antarctica?") provide more entertainment value than any persuasion. There are other theories in the book as well, many regarding government takeover and concealment of UFOs. If you are an open-minded person, you should find some different ways at looking at things, may be convinced by some ideas and chuckle at others.

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for those uninitiated into the realm of conspiracy theory. Lightly covers the bread and butter topics of who really killed JFK, Chemtrails, the Roswell cover-up, and Nazis in Antarctica. Brushes up on some of the relatively newer topics that shine light onto the research of respected 9/11 Truthers and those not-so-crackpotish citizens demanding a reasonable explanation of the sightings over Phoenix, AZ on March 13, 1997. I did find interesting a couple of fresh chapters on the incident at O'Hare Gate C17 and Dr. Thomas Golds support of the theory of abiogenic formation of petroleum. Obtaining this book in Roswell, NM it was more a symbolic act than anything else. If you're really interested, there's no point in wasting your time with this particular piece of literature when you can just visit abovetopsecret.com and fill your head with all sorts of trivial suspicions. Keep in mind, it is no secret that governments DO keep secrets...

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a fan of Jim Marrs. And this book covers a lot of interesting topics. If you're looking for an introduction and summary of conspiracy discussions on the internet then I bet you'll be happy with this one. If you're looking for more in-depth information beyond what you could find yourself online, then you'll probably be disappointed with some aspects of this book.

The book includes chapters about UFOs, aliens, the JFK assassination, American government complicity in the 9-11 disaster, a secret Nazi base in Antarctica, time traveler John Titor and his alternate future bleak American history, the end of the world in 2012 when the Mayan calendar ends, and various other cover-ups, scams, and conspiracies. Each chapter is titillating enough to invoke interest with basic information, but then ends with a commercial to check with the web site, ABOVETOPSECRET.com, for more reading--a little more than frustrating.

[David Nunez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an informative book of current events that have been taken place. Jim's book covered many topics from UFOs, JFK, aliens, alternative energy, chemtrails, the fed reserve, spidery drones and many more topics that aren't discussed in the mainstream. I always have a new discovery when I read a Jim Marrs book. I was very interested to read more research regarding oil and the fascinating occurrences on Antarctica. Many of the topics covered in this book are modern mysteries that we don't have answers to yet.

I do feel that humanity will discover and be able to answer the many mysteries that are taking place on the planet!

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic overview of prominent conspiracy theories and other mysteries. Some I was quite familiar with (9/11, Roswell, Phoenix), and others I knew nothing about (chemtrails, O'Hare Airport, spidery drones, hollow moon), but all were interesting. The user comments from Above Top Secret were a nice touch as well. Obviously not all of this stuff is true, and that's clear from reading the last chapter, "What will happen in 2012", which suggested that "Planet X" may come into the solar system and cause disruptions on Earth, but it's 2016 now and nothing of the sort happened. I look forward to reading more from Jim Marrs.

[Analuabc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Livro repleto de teorias da conspiração. Desde o 11 de Setembro aos chemtrails, não esquecendo uns quantos Nazis e o JFK. Quer acreditem ou não, quer queiram ler por que acham divertido, aproveitem que é um bom livro. Não se limita a apresentar só as teorias como fundamenta-as com citações de documentos.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good primer for newcomers to conspiracy theories but it offers very little to a stalwart such as myself. This book is quite superficial compared to Mr. Marrs's other books. I doubt that it will convince any skeptics.

[Kaptainmyke.com · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I learned? Everything. Must read. Especially about Chemtrails and Lunar Bases.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jim Marrs is a man who knows his stuff, and does his research. Fascinating read.

[Patrick Tays · Rating 1 out of 5]

While Jim Marrs may have been a top-notch conspiracy debunker. Some of this book is 180 deg. wrong.
ATS (Above Top Secret website) is now (2023) back up and running. The site was gone for years. As previously, the site is a right-wing propaganda organ.
Back to Marrs– everything in this book was on the ATS site in the past. Every topic was explored in depth. Every topic in this book was true– the only conspiracy is that Marrs was deluded by ATS. I wrote Marrs and told him so.
BTW (by the way), the book referral to Amazon– “page does not exist.”
ATS was and apparently (reborn) is a shill site pushing some kind of hidden agenda.

[Joseph Inzirillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many will dismiss this book as complete fantasy but Jim Marrs is careful not pick sides and instead offer all possible answers to some of the biggest conspiracies ever. Though his attitude towards the conspiracy theories within are obvious to the reader, he still chooses to approach them with the eyes of speculation. Most are questioned and then posed to the reader.

The biggest thing about this book is just making your brain churn a little and maybe giving you a new perspective of some old stories. An enjoyable read regardless of how you feel about it.

[Fabrizio Poli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by Jim Marrs. This is well researched and presented and actually a good start for anyone that doesn't know much about 'conspiracies'. In a world where the mainstream media has become 'Fake News' it is important for us to know what really has and is going on in the world. This is a great reference book and helps you to know what to look for when reading, watching or listening to any news outlet.
Highly recommended!

[IAN SPEIGHT · Rating 1 out of 5]

I Guess this kind of books falls into two camps, If you're a believer you'll lap it up.
If like me you're a cynic like me you'll dismiss it as a load of hokum, Mysteries
put about with people with nothing better to do.
However, the book is well researched & does make several validating points
that people such as myself wouldn't be able to put up much of an argument
against.

[BRUCE K. McCURDY · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written, detailed, and organised.

Same.Well written and organised. Danced about the edges without
missing a beat. A good and fanciful read. Quote the scholar!

[NoirReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting collection of theories, but not as good as Marrs' other works.

[Jamie Norris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting book on popular conspiracy.

[Renée · Rating 1 out of 5]

I enjoy the discussion but not from old sources like this

[Kevinjwoods · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but possibly too much emphasis on the obviously nonsensical and one piece of really bad editing where it refers you to a chapter on hoaxes which isn't in the book.
Oh and pretty sure the world didn't end in 2012.