UFO : the inside story of the US government's search for alien life here-and out there

Graff, Garrett M. 1981- (author.).

Summary: 'UFO' by Garrett M. Graff is the first comprehensive and eye-opening exploration of the American government's decades-long quest to solve one of humanity's greatest mysteries: are we alone in the universe? For as long as we have looked to the skies, the question of whether life on Earth is the only life to exist has been at the core of the human experience, driving scientific debate and discovery, shaping spiritual belief, and prompting existential thought across borders and generations. And yet, the idea of extraterrestrial intelligence has been largely seen as a joke, banished to the realm of fantasy and conspiracy. Now, for the first time, the full story of our national obsession with UFOs-and the covert, decades-long search by scientists, the United States military, and the CIA for proof of alien life-is told by bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Garrett M. Graff in a deeply reported and researched history. Drawing from original archival research, declassified documents, and interviews with senior intelligence and military officials, Graff brings every moment of this extraordinary quest to life, transporting readers from secret military meetings and congressional hearings, where the validity of the search is debated, to the cluttered offices of UFOlogists and hoaxers determined to see the truth revealed, remote observatories where astronomers monitor the stars, and even the halls of the White House, where staffers and presidents alike eagerly await answers. Filled with twists and turns, and populated by an unforgettable cast of characters, UFO is a thrilling story of science, national security, the secrets of space, and the enduring mysteries of the universe.

Record details

ISBN: 9781982196776 (hardcover)
Physical Description: print
518 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some colour) ; 25 cm
Edition: First Avid Reader Press hardcover edition.
Publisher: New York : Avid Reader Press, 2023.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

Prologue : war of the Worlds -- Introduction -- Part 1. The saucer age -- Flying saucers -- The Foo Fighters -- The rocket age -- Project sign -- The classics -- Project grudge -- Captain Ruppelt arrives -- The mysterious death of Captain Mantell -- The Washington merry-go-round -- The Robertson panel -- Saucer-mania -- Frost's flying saucer -- The contactees -- The men in black -- Sputnik -- Briefing Capitol Hill -- Part 2. The space age -- Fermi's paradox -- Project ozma -- Phantom signal -- The Drake equation -- The search expands -- The Socorro incident -- Exploring Mars -- Swamp gas -- The UFO gap -- The Condon report -- The Byurakan conference -- The Arecibo message -- Close encounters of the third kind -- The Dick Cavett duel -- The Tehran incident -- The wow signal -- Situation red -- Exploring the cosmos -- The alone theory -- Voodoo warrior -- MJ-12 -- Crop circles -- The Belgian wave -- Interrupted journey -- Sex with aliens -- Roswell revisited -- "Who killed JFK?" -- The Mars rock -- The Phoenix lights -- Part 3. The interstellar age -- Cometa -- Skinwalker ranch -- StarChips -- The TicTac incident -- Life science -- Breakthrough listen -- Epilogue : the truth is out there.