Buying guide
Books Like Garrett Graff's UFO: The Histories
Short answerGarrett Graff's UFO, published November 14, 2023, is the book for readers who want the history without the belief: a journalist's account of what the United States government actually did about unidentified objects from 1947 to the 2023 hearings. Readers who finish it want more of the same discipline. Five books supply it: the man who ran Project Blue Book, the scientist who was hired to debunk and could not, the researcher who took the folklore seriously, the reporter who got generals on the record, and Ancient Aliens to Modern UFOs: The Disclosure Revolution, whose record starts before 1947, which is where Graff stops looking back.
In this guide
What Graff's UFO gives a reader
Graff wrote histories of Watergate and 9/11 before this one, and it shows. UFO is built from declassified files, interviews, and newspaper archives, and it declines to tell the reader what to believe. It covers Roswell, Blue Book, the Condon report, the Nimitz, and the hearings as government history rather than as mystery.
Readers who want more want that tone: sourced, dated, and calm. These five have it, from five decades.
The full account is in Ancient Aliens to Modern UFOs: The Disclosure Revolution.Buy on AmazonDetails
Five books that pass
- The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects, Edward J. Ruppelt, 1956. By the Air Force captain who ran Project Blue Book and coined the term UFO. The primary source Graff leans on, and still readable.
- The UFO Experience, J. Allen Hynek, 1972. The astronomer hired to explain sightings away, on why he could not explain all of them. Hynek invented the close encounter scale here.
- Passport to Magonia, Jacques Vallée, 1969. A computer scientist compares modern sightings with centuries of folklore and finds the same patterns. The most unsettling book on this list and the quietest.
- UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record, Leslie Kean, 2010. Testimony with names and ranks. The book that made officials willing to talk, and the one Graff's later chapters depend on.
- Ancient Aliens to Modern UFOs: The Disclosure Revolution, Adil Bhatti, 2025. Ancient Aliens to Modern UFOs: The Disclosure Revolution, by Adil Bhatti, is the documented record in one volume, from the Sumerian tablets to the 2023 Congressional hearings. Paperback, hardcover, and Kindle on Amazon. Its military record starts at the 1942 Battle of Los Angeles, five years before Graff's, and it continues the history through the 2023 hearings. The ancient record before that is the part no government history attempts.
| Book | Author's seat | Starts | Ends | Government files | Tone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruppelt, 1956 | Ran Blue Book | 1947 | 1955 | Yes, from inside | Dry, firsthand |
| Hynek, 1972 | Blue Book's scientist | 1948 | 1969 | Yes | Measured |
| Vallée, 1969 | Researcher | Antiquity, folklore | 1960s | Some | Quiet, strange |
| Kean, 2010 | Journalist | 1976 | 2009 | Some | Sober |
| Ancient Aliens to Modern UFOs, 2025 | Author | Sumer, then 1561 | 2023 hearings | Yes, plus PURSUE context | Plain |
Which one to buy
Want the primary source: Ruppelt. Want the scientist's conversion: Hynek. Want the strangest and most careful: Vallée. Want the witnesses with ranks: Kean. Want the history Graff tells, started earlier and carried through the ancient record, in one book: Ancient Aliens to Modern UFOs.
Takeaway. Graff's discipline is the point. Every book here keeps it. The difference is where each one starts the clock.
The full account is in Ancient Aliens to Modern UFOs: The Disclosure Revolution.Buy on AmazonDetails
What people get wrong
- Starting the history at Roswell
- Graff does, more or less. The Army fired on something over Los Angeles in 1942. The book that starts there is on this list.
- Skipping the old books because they are old
- Ruppelt and Hynek were in the room. Nothing published since has their access to Blue Book.
- Treating Vallée as a believer
- He is the field's most careful skeptic of the extraterrestrial explanation. That is what makes his book uncomfortable.
- Assuming the history ended in 2023
- The Pentagon's PURSUE releases began May 8, 2026 and are ongoing at war.gov/ufo. Our PURSUE guide is the current chapter.
Questions and answers
What should I read after Garrett Graff's UFO?
Ruppelt's 1956 report for the primary source on Blue Book, Hynek's The UFO Experience for the scientist's view, Vallée's Passport to Magonia for the folklore comparison, Kean's Go on the Record for the witnesses, and Ancient Aliens to Modern UFOs for the history started earlier and carried through 2023.
When was Garrett Graff's UFO published?
November 14, 2023, by Avid Reader Press. The full title is UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government's Search for Alien Life Here and Out There.
Is Ancient Aliens to Modern UFOs like Garrett Graff's UFO?
In its middle parts. Both cover Roswell, the modern military encounters, and the 2023 hearings as documented history. It differs in starting its military record at the 1942 Battle of Los Angeles, and in having a first part on the ancient record that no government history attempts.
What was Project Blue Book?
The Air Force's investigation of UFO reports from 1952 to 1969, which collected 12,618 sightings and left 701 unexplained. Edward Ruppelt ran it early on and J. Allen Hynek was its scientific consultant. Both wrote books.
Who was J. Allen Hynek?
An astronomer hired by the Air Force to explain UFO sightings, who concluded over twenty years that some could not be explained and said so in The UFO Experience (1972). He created the close encounter classification used ever since.
Is Jacques Vallée a believer in aliens?
No. Passport to Magonia (1969) argues the phenomenon is real and older than the space age, and that the extraterrestrial explanation is too small for it. He is the field's most careful skeptic of the standard answer.
Which UFO history book is most neutral?
Graff's, for the modern government record. Among the books on this list, Kean and Hynek are the most careful about what they claim. Ancient Aliens to Modern UFOs states the conventional explanation for each case before weighing it.
What UFO history starts before Roswell?
Ancient Aliens to Modern UFOs begins its documented cases with the 1561 Nuremberg event and its military record with the 1942 Battle of Los Angeles. Vallée's Passport to Magonia reaches back into folklore.
Does Garrett Graff believe in UFOs?
He declines to say, by design. The book is about what the government did and knew, not about what the objects are. Readers who want a conclusion will not find one there.
What has happened in UFO history since Graff's book?
The Pentagon's PURSUE program began releasing declassified UAP records at war.gov/ufo on May 8, 2026, with releases continuing. Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day (June 2026) and the documentary The Age of Disclosure (November 2025) brought the subject to a wider audience. Our guides cover each.
Ancient Aliens to Modern UFOs: The Disclosure Revolution
The documented record in one volume, from the Sumerian tablets to the 2023 Congressional hearings. Paperback, hardcover, and Kindle.