BackStory

218: Close Encounters: UFOs in American History

Alienstock, the event jokingly conceived by college student Matty Roberts to storm Area 51 on September 20, is officially canceled. When more than 500,000 planned to attend and another 500,00 indicated they were interested in the Facebook event back in July, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2019/07/13/half-million-people-signed-up-storm-area-what-happens-if-they-actually-show-up/">the U.S. Air Force took notice and issued a strongly worded statement</a> that discouraged the plan.
 
But that hasn’t stopped an unknown number of people from planning to descend on rural Nevada this weekend, leading the FAA to shut down airspace above Area 51 as a precaution. This interest in the unknown isn’t new and to shed some light, BackStory is republishing our 2018 episode about UFOs in American History. In “Close Encounters,” Nathan, Brian and Ed discuss the things in the sky we struggle to explain – unidentified flying objects.<br/>
<br/>
Image: Grainy B&amp;W image of supposed UFO, Passaic, New Jersey. July 30, 1952. Source: <a href="http://www.cia.gov">www.cia.gov</a> via Wikimedia Commons <br/>
<br/>
BackStory is funded in part by our listeners. You can help keep the episodes coming by supporting the show: <a href="https://www.backstoryradio.org/support">https://www.backstoryradio.org/support</a>


BackStory is a weekly public podcast hosted by U.S. historians Ed Ayers, Brian Balogh, Nathan Connolly and Joanne Freeman. We're based in Charlottesville, Va. at Virginia Humanities.

There’s the history you had to learn, and the history you want to learn - that’s where BackStory comes in. Each week BackStory takes a topic that people are talking about and explores it through the lens of American history. Through stories, interviews, and conversations with our listeners, BackStory makes history engaging and fun.