In 2017, The New York Times uncovered a program at the Defense Department which investigated unidentified flying objects.

This year, the former chair of Harvard's astronomy department published a book arguing that we may recently have been "visited by advanced alien technology from a distant star."

This week, The New Yorker has a long piece on changing attitudes and fading taboos around UFOs.

What does this all mean? Does it matter that these acknowledgements are coming from The New York Times, The New Yorker... the astronomy department at Harvard?

Could it be that the concept of UFOs has finally escaped the crackpot fringe?

GUESTS:
Leslie Kean - An investigative journalist and the author of UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record
Avi Loeb - Former chair of the astronomy department at Harvard University and the author of Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond the Earth
Mike Panicello - Mutual UFO Network CT state director

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Colin McEnroe, Betsy Kaplan, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired June 6, 2019.

In 2017,&nbsp;The New York Times&nbsp;uncovered&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/16/us/politics/pentagon-program-ufo-harry-reid.html">a program at the Defense Department</a>&nbsp;which&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/26/us/politics/ufo-sightings-navy-pilots.html">investigated unidentified flying objects</a>.
This year, the former chair of Harvard's astronomy department&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hmhbooks.com/shop/books/Extraterrestrial/9780358274551">published a book</a>&nbsp;arguing that we may recently have been "visited by advanced alien technology from a distant star."
This week,&nbsp;The New Yorker&nbsp;has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/05/10/how-the-pentagon-started-taking-ufos-seriously">a long piece on changing attitudes and fading taboos</a>&nbsp;around UFOs.
What does this all mean? Does it matter that these acknowledgements are coming from&nbsp;The New York Times,&nbsp;The New Yorker... the astronomy department at Harvard?
Could it be that the concept of UFOs has finally escaped the crackpot fringe?
GUESTS:
<ul>
<li>Leslie Kean&nbsp;- An investigative journalist and the author of&nbsp;<a href="http://www.survivingdeathkean.com/ufos/">UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record</a></li>
<li>Avi Loeb&nbsp;- Former chair of the astronomy department at Harvard University and the author of&nbsp;Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond the Earth</li>
<li>Mike Panicello&nbsp;-&nbsp;<a href="https://mufonct.com/">Mutual UFO Network CT</a>&nbsp;state director</li>
</ul>
Join the conversation on&nbsp;<a href="https://facebook.com/ColinMcShow">Facebook</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/wnprcolin">Twitter</a>.
Colin McEnroe, Betsy Kaplan, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired June 6, 2019.

The Colin McEnroe Show is public radio’s most eclectic, eccentric weekday program. The best way to understand us is through the subjects we tackle: Neanderthals, tambourines, handshakes, the Iliad, snacks, ringtones, punk rock, Occam’s razor, Rasputin, houseflies, zippers. Are you sensing a pattern? If so, you should probably be in treatment. On Fridays, we try to stop thinking about what kind of ringtones Neanderthals would want to have and convene a panel called The Nose for an informal roundtable about the week in culture.

<a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/the-colin-mcenroe-show/about">The Colin McEnroe Show</a> is public radio’s most eclectic, eccentric weekday program. The best way to understand us is through the subjects we tackle: Neanderthals, tambourines, handshakes, the Iliad, snacks, ringtones, punk rock, Occam’s razor, Rasputin, houseflies, zippers. Are you sensing a pattern? If so, you should probably be in treatment. On Fridays, we try to stop thinking about what kind of ringtones Neanderthals would want to have and convene a panel called <a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/tags/the-nose">The Nose</a> for an informal roundtable about the week in culture.

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