We Want to Believe: How Aliens Went Mainstream and Why It Matters

Why do we still believe in UFOs, despite repeated efforts to dismiss them?

For most of the twentieth century, reports of unidentified flying objects were treated as cultural error: cranks, hoaxes, late-night radio. Then, abruptly, the posture changed. The Pentagon released videos it could not explain. Navy pilots testified under oath about encounters that defied known technology. Intelligence agencies acknowledged that something unfamiliar appears to move through the skies.

In We Want to Beli...