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Unlock The Orb of Chatham and witness its mystery ... You MUST hold 'The Orb of Chatham' in your hands to FULLY access these features. LEARN more about 'The Chatham Five' witnesses READ news accounts of 'The Orb of Chatham' mystery LISTEN to audio interviews recalling the events of 1935 SEE amateur video of Orb sightings WITNESS postcards and photos that offer clues about the Orb BLOG with other 'Orb of Chatham' readers STUDY a map showing where the Orb may hide in Chatham's waters To BUY the book, please click here Email your friends about 'The Orb Of Chatham' web site! Just Click Here   Home I Sneak Peek I The Chatham Five I Buy The Book I FAQs I Unlock The Orb Code I About The Author I The Art I Behind The Scenes I Press & Media I Book Signings & Events I Contact I Links I About Chatham I Blog I The Orb Store I About Chatham I Walking Tour I Help "A strange noir mystery that is truly baffling, yet curiously entertaining." -- Tim Wood, The Cape Cod Chronicle   'Middle-of-the-night black, moonlight white and cold gray have never been so eerily orchestrated as they are in Staake's superb drawings for his chilling tale, 'The Orb of Chatham'. Your eyes will feast and your skin will crawl." -- Michael Keegan, The Washington Post   "A taut tale of ghostly suspense -- a clever mystery with a solid mythology." -- CapeCodToday.com Email your friends about 'The Orb Of Chatham' web site! Just Click Here   Press & Media "Bob Staake's account of a deeply mysterious 1935 visitation in a small fishing village near Cape Cod is both creepier and more convincing than Roswell." -- Barnes and Noble   " A strait-faced fable illustrated by creepy black-and-white images. .. the pages of the book, one discovers, contain answers to riddles posed on a sophisticated companion website." -- The Boston Globe ...And Back Again -- The Boston Globe -- June 16, 2005     "A strange noir mystery that is truly baffling, yet curiously entertaining." -- Tim Wood, The Cape Cod Chronicle   'The Mystery of The Orb of Chatham' --- Cape Cod Chronicle - June 16, 2005)       "The 'Blair Witch' of graphic stories. Staake's cold tale is warmed only by his magnificently creepy drawings. Be careful where and when you read it." --Michael Keegan, The Washington Post       "An incredible tale ... fascinating!" --Mindy Todd, WNAN 91.1 (National Public Radio)       "Haunting illustrations ... intrigue and mystery and a whole lot of fun. " --Laurie Higgins, The Cape Codder   'Enigmatic Orb' -- The Cape Codder - June 17, 2005)     "(Staake) took the part of Chatham thet he loves best, the shadowy moonlight night feel, and infused it into a spooky little book called The Orb of Chatham. Staake has fashioned a hypnotic world around his tale of the orb, hiding a Da Vinci like code in the images of the work that unlock clues on his website. Clues that promise evidence of the orb's existence. Young and old alike, particularly those that prefer their reading heavy on pictures, will enjoy the ride..." -- Josh Delaney, The Cape Cod Voice     "Two favorite books around my house are My Little ABC Book and My Little 123 Book hby Bob Staake. I bought them at SF MOMA in 1998 and started reading them to my daughter when she was a couple of months old. Now I read them to her little sister, and my older daughter likes to sit with us. Staake's art is deceptive -- it looks simple, but I still find new things in the illustrations after over a hundred readings. His work is a big inspiration to me. Staake has a new book coming out that looks completely different from his earlier work -- the psychedelic candy colors have been stripped away from his style, leaving luminescent shades of gray. Interestingly, these monochromatic images have a 3D quality to them, while his color work is totally flat. This book is called The Orb of Chatham and it's about a mysterious black orb that appears in a fishing village on Cape Cod in 1935. Five months after the visitation, all the witnesses disappear forever. The pub date is June." -Mark Frauenfelder, BoingBoing.net A blogger from London reports his first-hand experience of staying in a home depicted in 'The Orb Of Chatham': "For our honeymoon in 1998, Sam and I rented an old house on Cape Cod. It was a great house, built in 1798 but full of very good 20th century furniture. I remember an Eames rocking chair and an enormous 1950s cooker in the kitchen. We had a great time there and I've always wanted to go back. One thing I noticed though (and I usually try to suppress these irrational feelings) was that there were certain parts of the house that felt cold and uncomfortable, in particular the basement and the bottom of the top flight of stairs. It didn't stop us having a fantastic week there. For our final holiday as a couple before our baby is born I thought I would rent out the same house for another week. So I was disappointed to find that the owner had taken it off the rental market. A bit of research led me to believe that he had moved into the house permanently from his previous base in St Louis. The owner was children's illustrator Bob Staake. Now it is clear what he was doing there: his new book is called The Orb of Chatham (thanks, Boing Boing). Not surprisingly, given the atmosphere in some parts of the house, it is a departure from his children's books into a darker, spookier world of mystery. It looks great and I will be asking my contacts in the US to get hold of a copy for me when it comes out. In the meantime I rented a different house for our holiday next month. Looks very similar if not quite as old. Fewer ghosts hopefully." - Dominic Sayers, http://dominicsayers.blogspot.com London, England   Read More: 'The Mystery of The Orb of Chatham' by Tim Wood (Cape Cod Chronicle - June 16, 2005) 'Enigmatic Orb' by Laurie Higgins (The Cape Codder - June 17, 2005)     You might also find these pages of interest: About The Author and Illustrator The Art Of The Orb Behind The Scenes News and Media Sources: If you care to review 'The Orb Of Chatham' in your print or online publication, we're more than happy to provide support.   Interview the Author/Illustrator: To talk with Bob Staake about his book, please click here Excerpting the Book Reprinting of Hi-Res Artwork: To download and publish examples of 'The Orb Of Chatham' artwork to coincide with any media interviews or reviews, please click here. Note: Artwork on the above page can ONLY be used or reproduced in conjunction with editorial reviews, excepts or promotion of 'The Orb Of Chatham'. To license artwork from 'The Orb Of Chatham', please click here Linking to 'The Orb Of Chatham' web site: Please link to our home page at -- OrbOfChatham.com. Please feel free to use any of the link graphics found on this page. If we can help you in any other regard, please visit out contact page.     + Take A Sneak Peek At 'The Orb Of Chatham' NOW + Unlock The Orb Code (To do so, you must hold the book in your hands to solve the clues found in the artwork) + Buy The Book + Email your friends about 'The Orb Of Chatham' web site! Just Click Here Written and illustrated by Bob Staake, 'The Orb Of Chatham' is unlike any other of his more than 35 books. A hauntingly eery tale that meanders through this mysterious New England town, 'The Orb Of Chatham' fascinates and mesmerizes readers both young and old. Take a peek at the book       The Book Is Only The Beginning Of The Orb Of Chatham Story: Of the five who reported witnessing 'The Orb Of Chatham' in 1935, why would Margaret Snow be the last to file her report with the authorities, while her husband, Walter, was the first? Additional Information on 'The Chatham Five' can be found inside the Orb. Click here to unlock the code and enter Why are so many orb shapes found in Chatham? The mysterious forms are commonly seen decorating gardens, placed in northeast corners of barns, and even used as book ends. Once people have read 'The Orb of Chatham', they report noticing even more Orb shapes within the quaint village. Additional photos of Orbs can be found inside the Orb. Click here to unlock the code and enter What explains that orbs are often found near ship wrecks, particularly those occuring on nights with full moons? Unless you look closely at some of these mysterious photographs, you may not even notice the orbs that almost seem to hide from view. Additional shipwreck photos can be found inside the Orb. Click here to unlock the code and enter Given the relative shallowness of Chatham's waters, why did divers feel it necessary in 1976 to use a titanium diving suit like this to search the ocean floor of Stage Harbor when lobster traps were discovered being mysteriously "crushed" by something? Additional photos can be found inside the Orb. Click here to unlock the code and enter Why would this novelty song about 'The Orb Of Chatham' have been recorded in 1936 -- but banned from being played on the town's only radio station? Additional product photos can be found inside the Orb. Click here to unlock the code and enter Is there a reason why orb sightings in the Chatham skies increase during the winter months -- even though the town's population drops considerably? And why do so many townspeople insist that 'The Orb of Chatham' events of 1935 never took place? Additional Sighting Photos can be found inside the Orb. Click here to unlock the code and enter   The Orb Of Chatham and OrbOfChatham.com is Copyright 2005 by Bob Staake - All Rights Reserved. The book was originally published by Commonwealth Editions. The text, images and content on this web site cannot be used without the expressed, written consent of the author. For licensing inquiries, please click here. Any similarity to charcacters living or dead is strictly coincidental Flash animation and music sequence by Ryan Staake -- Melonsoft.

, the reports were made upon daylight, though local authorities dismissed them a hoax.

Still, the witnesses' independent accounts were virtually identical; the orb appeared to be made of blackened metal, perhaps six feet tall, and traveled in absolute silence by rolling (though one witness reported spotting the orb "hovering" in the air above a local church).

Two months later, all five witnesses vanished -- on the same October evening -- never to be seen again.

Whether 'The Orb Of Chatham' is truth or fiction remains a mystery to this day.