Case file · Non-fiction & research literature
Pasulka, 'American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, Technology'
Religious studies professor Diana Walsh Pasulka's ethnography of scientists, technologists and believers who treat UFOs as a new form of religious experience.
2019 CE · 34.23, -77.87 · status: account
The account
Published by Oxford University Press, it argues that belief in non-human intelligence is functioning as a modern religion and follows anonymous scientists ('Tyler', 'James') who quietly study the phenomenon. It brought ufology into mainstream academic and media conversation.
The sceptical view
Critics note that its central informants are pseudonymous and their claims unverifiable, and that the narrative style blurs observation and the author's own impressions.