Greg Eghigian (Oxford University Press (out now in the US; 30 September in the UK))
Luis Elizondo (John Blake (UK); William Morrow (US))
On 24 June 1947, pilot Kenneth Arnold set off on what seemed like an ordinary flight from Chehalis to Yakima, both in Washington. The skies were clear and the winds mild 鈥� perfect flying conditions. But midway through his journey, Arnold noticed something unusual: a bright flash, like sunlight reflecting off a mirror. Worried about a potential collision, he scanned the skies, only to spot a distant plane trailing him by about 24 kilometres. Then a series of dazzling lights caught his eye 鈥� flat, circular objects racing across the sky at astonishing speeds.
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Arnold described how the objects 鈥渇lew like a saucer would if you skipped it across water鈥�. His words ignited decades of fascination with 鈥渇lying saucers鈥� or, as we now call them, unidentified flying objects (UFOs) or unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).
This incident is the starting point for Greg Eghigian鈥檚 After the Flying Saucers Came: A global history of the UFO phenomenon, which explores how UFOs took hold of the public consciousness. Eghigian, a professor of history and bioethics at Pennsylvania State University, argues that Arnold鈥檚 sighting emerged at a pivotal moment in history 鈥� just after the second world war and during the onset of the cold war, a time marked by technological advancements and rising tensions between global powers. The world was on edge, primed to embrace stories of mysterious phenomena amid the era鈥檚 uncertainty.
By the 1950s, reports of strange aerial phenomena were pouring in. At the time, the leading theory was that these sightings were evidence of superpowers secretly developing advanced weapons. One particularly bizarre conspiracy, as Eghigian describes, suggested that Adolf Hitler and his scientists had escaped Europe with flying saucer technology and were hiding in Antarctica or the Arctic, preparing to strike the Allies.
As UFO sightings became more frequent, another explanation surfaced: these objects were of extraterrestrial origin. The media fuelled public imagination, reinforcing the belief aliens might have already visited Earth.
Eghigian鈥檚 approach is refreshingly balanced. He neither dismisses UFOs as figments of imagination nor endorses them as evidence of alien visitations. Instead, he offers a nuanced historical account filled with colourful characters who have shaped the UFO debate, leaving readers to decide what they believe.
His narrative also touches on government officials tasked with investigating these phenomena, including Luis Elizondo, a former military intelligence officer involved in the US鈥檚 secretive Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP). Elizondo鈥檚 own book Imminent: Inside the Pentagon鈥檚 hunt for UFOs offers a personal perspective on UFOs. It provides a candid look into his life and work, where he boldly asserts that alien life exists and has already visited Earth 鈥� though he acknowledges no unclassified evidence proves this.
Whether or not you are convinced by the extraterrestrial origins of UFOs, these books make it clear the phenomenon is about more than the 鈥渢ruth鈥� of alien life. It touches on broader issues, from government transparency to public trust and the limits of scientific inquiry. While scepticism is warranted, both books compellingly demonstrate that the idea of UFOs goes far beyond simple curiosity 鈥� it is a reflection of our hopes, fears and the complexities of the modern world.
Chen Ly is a writer based in London
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