UFO
The Inside Story of the US Government's Search for Alien Life Here-and Out There
Published on 7. December 2023
Book
Hardback
544 pages
978-1-9821-9677-6 (ISBN)
Description
From Garrett M. Graff, New York Times bestselling author of Raven Rock, The Only Plane in the Sky, and Pulitzer Prize finalist for history Watergate, comes the first comprehensive and eye-opening exploration of our 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.
It begins in 1947, when two headline-making sightings of strange flying objects-the first near Mount Rainier, Washington, involving a pilot named Kenneth Arnold, and the second a ranch on the outskirts of a New Mexico town called Roswell-prompt the US Air Force's newly formed Department of Defense to create a series of secret programs to determine how unidentified phenomena may pose a threat to national security. Over the next half-century, as the atomic age gives way to the space race and the Cold War, the search continues, bringing together an unexpected group of astronomers, military officials, civilian contactees, and true believers who bring us closer, then further, then closer again, to answering one of our most enduring questions: What exactly is out there?
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.
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.
It begins in 1947, when two headline-making sightings of strange flying objects-the first near Mount Rainier, Washington, involving a pilot named Kenneth Arnold, and the second a ranch on the outskirts of a New Mexico town called Roswell-prompt the US Air Force's newly formed Department of Defense to create a series of secret programs to determine how unidentified phenomena may pose a threat to national security. Over the next half-century, as the atomic age gives way to the space race and the Cold War, the search continues, bringing together an unexpected group of astronomers, military officials, civilian contactees, and true believers who bring us closer, then further, then closer again, to answering one of our most enduring questions: What exactly is out there?
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.
Reviews / Votes
PRAISE FOR UFO:"The perfect guide for readers interested in learning how that discussion has evolved. . . . a narrative as compelling as Graff's other works." * <B><I>Associated Press</I></B> * "Loads of fun, and Graff's agnosticism has the potential to appeal to skeptics and believers alike. . . a fascinating dive down the rabbit hole." * <B><i>Publishers Weekly</i></B> * "One of the rare books on the topic that manages to be both entertaining and factually grounded." * <I><b>Wall Street Journal</b></I> * "An entertaining tour through the world of flying saucers, aliens, and weird science." * <I><B>Kirkus Reviews</B></I> * PRAISE FOR WATERGATE
"Do we need still another Watergate book? The answer turns out to be yes - this one: Garrett M. Graff's Watergate: A New History. It is a remarkably rich narrative with compelling characters, who range from criminal and flawed to tragic and heroic. As someone who played a small role in the drama while I was editing many of The Washington Post's Watergate stories, I found that Graff convincingly populates and re-creates an extraordinary time in the history of the country and this city. ... fast-paced ... filled with apt sketches of its many characters, major and minor, from all the president's men, and some of their spouses, to journalists, investigators, lawyers and members of Congress. It vividly re-creates all the key events, from Nixon's overreaction to the revelation of the Pentagon Papers about the Vietnam War in June 1971 to his resignation in August 1974.... engaging, informative and thought-provoking, more than earning its place on bookshelves alongside the old histories." -Len Downie, Jr., The Washington Post
"Dazzling. . . A lively writer, Graff explores the dramatic scope of the Watergate saga through its participants - politicians, investigators, journalists, whistle-blowers and, at center stage, Nixon himself." -Douglas Brinkley, The New York Times Book Review
"Award-winning author Graff aims to give readers the full scope of Watergate - a much bigger, more bizarre story than even remembered - telling the full story from start to finish in this ambitious book." -New York Post
"A definitive, exhaustive account of the scandal. . . a fascinating, horrifying examination of the Nixon presidency up close-enough to scare the record straight." -AirMail
"A meticulously researched, expansive history of the Watergate scandal from start to finish, from the release of the Pentagon Papers in 1971 to the reverberations that echo through present day." -Barbara VanDenburgh, USA TODAY
"A brisk, riveting, compulsively readable, comprehensive, up-to-date narrative of the entire tangled affair, and it's hard to imagine it better told. . . . Now the best and fullest account of the Watergate crisis, one unlikely to be surpassed anytime soon." -Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Monumental. . . effortlessly clarifies the strands of one of the most complex episodes in modern history. . . A masterful, epic look at a story that is still barely believable." -The Daily Mail
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Simon & Schuster
Illustrations
1x8-pg b&w insert, 1x8-pg 4-C insert; b&w endpapers
Dimensions
Height: 244 mm
Width: 162 mm
Thickness: 50 mm
Weight
788 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-9821-9677-6 (9781982196776)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Garrett M. Graff
UFO
The Inside Story of the US Government's Search for Alien Life Here-and Out There
E-Book
11/2023
1st Edition
Avid Reader Press
€16.80
Available for download
Person
Garrett M. Graff has spent two decades covering politics, technology, and national security. The former editor of POLITICO and longtime WIRED and CNN contributor, he writes the popular Doomsday Scenario newsletter and hosts the Edward R. Murrow Award-winning podcast Long Shadow. He is the author of ten books, including the #1 national bestseller The Only Plane in the Sky, the FBI history The Threat Matrix, Raven Rock, and the New York Times bestsellers When the Sea Came Alive and Watergate: A New History, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History.