The conversation about UFOs—now officially labeled Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs)—has gone from whispering in the shadows to sworn testimony before the U.S. Congress.
While the topic gained modern traction in 2020 with the news that a Pentagon program to investigate UAPs was still operating, the issue has since escalated into a full-scale demand for government accountability.
A landmark hearing in July 2023 featured explosive, under-oath testimony from whistleblowers, including a former intelligence officer who alleged the government is concealing a program involving the retrieval of "non-human" craft.
As we reported, this congressional hearing put a spotlight on government secrecy surrounding UAPs.
These claims were followed up by new testimony from military veterans in the September 2025 House Oversight Committee hearing titled Restoring Public Trust Through UAP Transparency and Whistleblower Protection, all pressing for greater transparency and protection for those who speak up.
Congress is no longer debating if the phenomena exist; they are debating what the government knows about them and why that information is being withheld.
This political urgency has shed new light on decades of unexplained incidents, from historical cases like the 1947 Roswell crash, the 1897 Aurora Encounter, and the widespread 1994 sightings in North America, to countless modern encounters.
The bottom line is that the government is treating this phenomenon with unprecedented seriousness. The authors of the following 13 nonfiction books are the essential experts navigating this complex, developing story.
Pick one up and dive into the most compelling research available.
Encounter in the Desert
A deeper look into the official silence surrounding the legendary 1964 Socorro, New Mexico, UFO landing, revealing exactly what police officer Lonnie Zamora saw in the desert: a landed craft, a strange symbol, and alien beings.
Drawing on new evidence and suppressed testimony, this is the definitive study on a case the government tried hard to bury.
It exposes how the Air Force deliberately misled the public and shows how the Socorro investigation became a masterclass in the earliest UAP cover-ups.
The Roswell Legacy
Major Jesse Marcel put his time in as an intelligence officer for the 509th Bomber Group. While he cemented his name in history for being part of the military group that dropped the atomic bomb on Japan, he made his mark even more indelible in Roswell, New Mexico.
On record as being the first military officer to report to the scene of the now infamous Roswell crash, his first hand account of his discoveries there are detailed by his son in The Roswell Legacy, and presents documentation that’s never before been made available in such organized totality.
UFOs Caught on Film
UFO researcher BJ Booth has compiled a collection of photographic evidence pointing to the existence of UFOs that’s hard to dispute. In UFOs Caught on Film, he provides written commentary for each photo, spanning all the way back to the 1920s, up to recent years.
As the saying goes, “every picture tells a story,” and the stories found here will either excite you, or keep you up at night.
Evidence of Extraterrestrials
An exhaustive, case-by-case analysis of over forty of the most definitive alien encounters, providing detailed documentation for a staggering array of events—from the 1897 Aurora Crash to the modern Tic Tac incident.
This deep-dive connects the dots between famous cases like Roswell and the Phoenix Lights with lesser-known global incidents, proving once and for all that extraterrestrials are visiting Earth.
Crucially, it details the influence of six different government UFO programs on the decades-long, global effort to achieve disclosure.
For Nobody's Eyes Only
A fascinating read for anyone interested in knowing more about a wide variety of head scratching conspiracies.
In For Nobody’s Eyes Only, Nick Redfern shines an investigative light on previously hidden government files pertaining to the Roswell UFO crash, notable figures like JFK, and Princess Diana, MK-Ultra, and the Watergate scandal.
The truth is no longer just “out there,” it’s in this book.
How UFOs Conquered the World
A fascinating historical and cultural examination of the evolution of Ufology, from its shadowy origins before WWI through the era of government cover-ups and abduction reports.
Neither conspiracy theory nor skeptical debunking, this insightful book explores how UFO belief has shaped, and been shaped by, world events, science, and popular culture over the last century.
It reveals why the phenomenon persists and how the overlaps between UFOs, religion, and superstition have made them a permanent part of the global consciousness.
Flying Saucers and Science
Stanton T. Friedman has compiled over 40 years of research obtained during his career as a Nuclear physicist & lecturer.
In Flying Saucers and Science he uses his vast knowledge to explain, in plain terms, that UFOs are not only possible, but probable.
The CIA UFO Papers
This essential volume collects and organizes the actual CIA documents released under the Freedom of Information Act, proving the U.S. government has been actively tracking UFOs and extraterrestrial matters for over five decades.
Spanning 1949 to 2000, the book presents a chronological history of official concern, including a memo to J. Edgar Hoover and records from a 1949 conference with Edward Teller debating flying saucer incidents.
It's a must-have resource that provides the undeniable paper trail of government secrecy and intelligence involvement in the UAP phenomenon.
The Close Encounters Man
Discover the untold story of Dr. J. Allen Hynek, the respected astronomer hired by the U.S. Air Force to debunk UFOs who ultimately made the shocking pronouncement: “UFOs are real.”
This definitive biography uses unprecedented access to Hynek's private files to trace his agonizing evolution from deep skeptic to true believer.
Learn how one scientist's intellectual transformation fundamentally changed the way the world views the possibility of alien life.
Earth: An Alien Enterprise
In this mind-blowing page turner Timothy Good offers up research and firsthand accounts of interactions between humans and aliens dating as far back as 1932.
A stand out section of the book includes a former M16 member supplying intel on a conversation she had with Neil Armstrong regarding undisclosed space craft on the moon, which she tells in this book for the first time publicly.
UFOs, Chemtrails, and Aliens
For those who are on the fence as to what they believe when it comes to aliens and UFOs, this book is heavily rooted in science, and hard cold facts. Authors Donald R Prothero and Tim Callahan go from crop circles, UFO sightings, and accounts of alien contact while measuring the stories and claims against research and data.
For these authors, believing is one thing, but proving something is far more valuable.
The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects
You may be familiar with Project Blue Book, the United States Air Force project designated to investigate any UFO claims. What you may not know is the name of the man who ran Project Blue Book, but you’re about to.
Edward J. Ruppelt, credited for coining the term “UFO” has written a book that is, in essence, the full report he would have written on his work during Project Blue Book, if he’d ever been asked to officially write it while running the program.
Certainly government officials were too wary of such information being made public to ask for such a report, but it’s here now, for all to read.
The Science of UFOs
Astronomer William R. Alschuler examines reported UAP attributes through the strict lens of known science and physics.
He delves into the science of faster-than-light travel, interdimensional movement, and teleportation to provide the most grounded, scientifically rigorous explanation for the technology behind the UFO phenomenon.
Flying Saucer Pilgrimage
First published in 1957, Flying Saucer Pilgrimage puts to use the knowledge Bryant Reeve gained from being an American Engineer, and a graduate of Yale and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Together with his wife Helen they spent two years, and traveled over 23,000 miles talking to experts around the country, and making note of first hands claims of UFO sightings, to attempt to prove or debunk what was thought to be true at that time about UFOs.
The UFO Experience
Astronomer, professor, and UFO expert J Allen Hynek has served as a scientific advisor for the U.S. Air Force for the majority of his career.
Studying and compiling UFO data for Project Sign, Project Grudge, and Project Blue Book has given him more factual knowledge about UFOs than a whole building full of people could ever hope to obtain.
Lucky for anyone interested in taking a peek at said knowledge, the bulk of it is collected in this book.
Out of the Shadows
Authors David Clarke and Andy Roberts focus on cover ups and misdirections pertaining to UFOs in their fascinating book, Out of the Shadows.
Interesting for both skeptics, as well as believers, the authors comb through secret files and previously unknown research to present a rational account of what’s what.
Communion
Arguably the most widely read first-hand account of an encounter with life from another planet, Whitley Strieber’s Communion is a truly shocking book.
Published in 1987, and still referenced and discussed to this day, it details the author’s harrowing experience coming face to face with alien life, and his supposed abduction, while spending Christmas with his family in a cabin in upstate New York.
To get ahead of skeptics attempting to debunk the chain of events written about within this best-selling book Strieber took, and passed, a lie detector test, and also got a statement from a psychiatrist attesting to his sanity.
The UFO Enigma
Commissioned by Laurance S. Rockefeller, this major scientific report brings desperately needed academic rigor to the UFO debate by having an international panel of scientists grill top investigators and debate the most compelling physical evidence.
It presents a sober analysis of dozens of complex, documented encounters—including military radar confirmations of a half-mile-wide disc and cases where witnesses suffered radiation-type injuries.
Moving past belief and debunking, this objective investigation stands as a powerful, objective inquiry into the core scientific facts of the UAP mystery.
Featured photo: Michael Herren / Unsplash
