Riding the sweeping wave of mystery, wonder and misinformation surrounding UFO sightings around the world, a massive new 500-page investigation into the phenomena hits bookstores today (November 14) – and we’ve got an exclusive author interview to share.
“UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government’s Search for Extraterrestrial Life Here – and Beyond‘ comes from Garrett M. Graff, the New York Times bestselling author of ‘Raven Rock,’ ‘The Only Plane in the Sky’ and a leading Pulitzer Prize finalist for ‘Watergate: A New History.’ ‘UFO’ spans the period from the Atomic Age to the Cold War and into the Digital Age, as we try to sort fact from fantasy amid the historical hysteria to provide more valid explanations for UFO encounters.
The book is a comprehensive exploration of the US government’s 75-year subterfuge regarding the existence or non-existence of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) since the flying saucer fervor began in the summer of 1947 with the infamous Roswell Incident.
Related: NASA UFO report finds no evidence of ‘extraterrestrial origin’ for UAP sightings
Here’s an excerpt from the official description:
“Based on original archival research, declassified documents, and interviews with senior intelligence and military officials, Graff brings every moment of this extraordinary search to life, taking 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 keep an eye on 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 about science, national security, the secrets of space and the enduring mysteries of the universe.”
Space.com: What drew you to this UFO scavenger hunt down a creepy rabbit hole?
Garrett Graff: This really started for me in December 2020, when John Brennan did an interview for “Radar” in DC. He said, “Yeah, there’s some weird stuff flying around up there and we don’t know what it is.” That struck me because John Brennan is someone who spent ten years at the top of the American intelligence community. He had been CIA director, White House homeland security adviser and career intelligence officer. There can’t be many things in his life that are mysteries. The fact that he was amazed by all this made me interested in delving further into this subject. This was in the middle of The New York Times and Politico reporting on the Pentagon’s UFO work. It seemed like there was a moment worth exploring as to what the truth behind the government’s hunt for alien life was.
Space.com: With the logical explanations behind most UFO sightings offered by qualified experts, why do people still rush to fantastic reasons to see strange lights and unknown aircraft?
Graf: The vast majority, whether that’s 90%, 99%, or 99.9%, of these things are explainable with more or better data. A large percentage of UFO sightings over hundreds, if not thousands of years, simply involve the planet Venus, a meteor shower, or a satellite appearing on the horizon. But at the same time, there is a part that is truly inexplicable, either because we do not yet have the science to understand them, or because there is a secret or mystery behind the observation. The government itself is baffled by some of this, and for me the interest in this subject lies in the small part that is not an easily explained case of mistaken identity.
Related: NASA UFO report finds no evidence of ‘extraterrestrial origin’ for UAP sightings
Space.com: What revelations did you discover while researching this book?
Graf: Part of what was so fascinating about writing this book was realizing how much of the story of UFOs and flying saucers is the story of early concerns about the Cold War and the nuclear age. It is so intertwined with political and security issues, decade after decade, generation after generation, and the way the government’s response is shaped. Many of those flying saucers and alien invasion films from the 1950s are actually Cold War invasion allegories. What I like about this topic is that I understand how much of the story of UFOs is the story of people on Earth.
A big part of the challenge of writing a book about UFOs is the question everyone has when reading a book about UFOs: Is this something or nothing? It’s a challenge as a writer to try to cover a story where at its core you don’t know if some of these witnesses are telling the truth. Is everyone lying? Is everyone wrong?
I think the answer is a little bit of everything.
Space.com: How has writing this detailed retrospective changed you as an author and as a person?
Graf: I came to the subject with an open mind and completed the research and conversations I had around it, leaving myself open to a much wider range of possibilities than I thought going into it. The science in so much of this is new and evolving and changing that I think we have a lot more to learn to figure out how much is secret and how much of it is a mystery. We must be humble about the limits of our current human knowledge and the strangeness of the universe beyond.
I dedicated the book to my son. He’s two. I hope the book arouses curiosity and wonder. The parts that I was most excited to write and explore are the parts that most expand our understanding of our place in the universe, the size and scope and scale of the universe. I hope readers will be inspired by the wonder and fragility of life and the possibility, or probability, that life exists elsewhere.
“UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government’s Search for Extraterrestrial Life Here – and Beyond” will be released on November 14th.
