American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, Technology

American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, TechnologyMore than half of American adults and more than seventy five percent of young Americans believe in intelligent extraterrestrial life. This level of belief rivals that of belief in God. American Cosmic examines the mechanisms at work behind the thriving belief system in extraterrestrial life, a system that is changing and even supplanting traditional religions. Over the course of a six year ethnographic study, D. W. Pasulka interviewed successful and

More than half of American adults and more than seventy-five percent of young Americans believe in intelligent extraterrestrial life. This level of belief rivals that of belief in God. American Cosmic examines the mechanisms at work behind the thriving belief system in extraterrestrial life, a system that is changing and even supplanting traditional religions.

Over the course of a six-year ethnographic study, D.W. Pasulka interviewed successful and influential scientists, professionals, and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who believe in extraterrestrial intelligence, thereby disproving the common misconception that only fringe members of society believe in UFOs. She argues that widespread belief in aliens is due to a number of factors including their ubiquity in modern media like The X-Files, which can influence memory, and the believability lent to that media by the search for planets that might support life. American Cosmic explores the intriguing question of how people interpret unexplainable experiences, and argues that the media is replacing religion as a cultural authority that offers believers answers about non-human intelligent life.


Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 02/20/2019
ISBN: 9780190692889
Pages: 288
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.80w x 1.20d

Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 11/12/2018
Kirkus Reviews 11/15/2018
Foreword 12/26/2018
Booklist 01/01/2019 pg. 19