UFO phenomena entered American consciousness at the beginning of the Cold War, when reports from astonished witnesses of encounters with unknown aerial objects captured the attention of the United States military and the imagination of the press and the public. But when UFOs appeared not to be hostile, and when some scientists pronounced the sightings to be of natural meteorological phenomena misidentified due to "Cold War jitters", military interest declined sharply and, with it, further overt scientific interest.;Yet sighting reports didn't stop and UFOs entered the public imagination as a cultural myth of the 20th century. Brenda Denzler's comprehensive, clearly written and compelling narrative provides the first sustained overview and valuation of the UFO/alien abduction movement as a social phenomenon positioned between scientific and religious perspectives. Demonstrating the unique place ufology occupies in the 20th century nexus between science and religion, Denzler surveys the sociological contours of its community, assesses its persistent attempt to achieve scientific legitimacy and concludes with an examination of the movement's metaphysical or spiritual outlook. Her book