Too late. Davenport shows how, when one accepts a belief system and then forces data into it, the horse can be led around by the cart. Before the main thesis of Visitors from Time is explicated, the subjects of abductions, MJ-12, and government coverups are examined. What is disconcerting from a philosophical perspective is that Davenport shifts the burden of proof from the ones making the claims to those trying to look at the evidence. For example, he states that no one has yet proven that the MJ-12 documents are fraudulent and that the charges against Bob Lazar, who claims that he worked on secret government projects at Area 51, have never been proven. So far, the evidence suggests that the MJ-12 papers are a hoax and that Bob Lazar is making some fairly outrageous statements.

The basic argument in Visitors from Time is that UFO occupants are using time-warping devices to visit us and that this explains what is occurring in our skies and bedrooms much more rationally than does the extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH). A good case is made for this, and Davenport does a fine job of bringing together disparate sources of information to give weight to his thesis. This analysis reaches its zenith in the chapter "A Rainbow of Colors, a Pot of Clues," wherein a hypothetical scenario is outlined of how and why the colors of UFOs change as they change speeds.

However, if we are to accept the time-warping hypothesis, knowing that UFO reports have described a variety of different occupants, are we then forced to accept that numerous civilizations have developed/acquired this technology? Not according to Davenport. Rather, and this is not explained until near the end, the aliens are us! Maybe they have returned to correct some genetic abnormality, but we are being abducted by our progeny. This is worth considering if only because the abductors cannot completely hide their doings. Abductees do remember the experience even when given the suggestion that they will forget everything.

Thus, the "greys" fail to keep their behavior covert. One would think that if the greys are so advanced (e.g., can warp time, float abductees through walls) they should be able to complete their mission without being detected. That they fail to do so suggests that they may be more human than is comfortable to consider. In an ironic and paranoid twist, what should produce real unease is a superior entity working on humans without being detected. And who is to say that it isn't happening? Comedian David Brenner once told a story about mosquitoes. To paraphrase, if you go to bed and hear buzzing, don't worry, it's the male and he won't bite. But if you hear nothing....

Perhaps the low point is Davenport's relating of his time-warping analysis to the Rendlesham Forest case. He wonders if the incident was a military staging of a UFO event meant to test the soldiers' reactions, how such a "magic trick" was accomplished, and why so much film of the object was taken and later confiscated. Rather than consider these possibilities in(f the high-tech wizardry and psychological techniques at the military's disposal, he speculates that the U.S. Air Force may have been working in cooperation with its counterpart from 100 years into the future. (It still fits the data!) The date, time, and place of the event were known not because present-day military authorities staged the event but because the Air Force from the future provided advance information! Why were the cameras not rolling when that exchange occurred? Again, what is the most likely explanation for an unexplained event? Just because an incident displays high strangeness should not necessarily lead to high-strangeness explanations.

In the end, the time-warping hypothesis is neither an alternative to nor does it supplant the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis. Rather, it is merely a method of propulsion. To be fair, it could function as such if all ufonauts are future Earthlings. But if the greys are us in the future, isn't it sad that we will lose our compassion, our sense of humor, and almost all of our emotions? If this is our future, it is "grey" indeed.