Publications
Curated publications and key texts on anomalous phenomena
We curate publications, articles, and key texts that inform the serious study of anomalous phenomena. The selection below highlights what we consider essential reading for scholars, researchers, and the curious.
Publications
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The Visible College — 2025
"Down the UAP Rabbit Hole"
An account of how academically trained members of The Visible College have engaged with anomalous phenomena — documenting the journey from skepticism to serious investigation, the experience of ontological disruption, and the value of scholarly community.
Read article → -
Journal of Astronomical Instrumentation — 2023
"The Scientific Investigation of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Using Multimodal Ground-Based Observatories"
A major peer-reviewed paper co-authored by 38 researchers arguing for systematic, instrumented scientific investigation of UAP. Notes that "UAP have resisted explanation and received little formal scientific attention for 75 years."
Read on arXiv → -
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (Nature) — 2023
"Faculty perceptions of unidentified aerial phenomena"
A peer-reviewed survey of 1,460 tenured and tenure-track faculty across 14 disciplines at 144 major U.S. research universities, examining how they evaluate, explain, and respond to UAP. 19% reported that they or someone they know had witnessed UAP; 37% expressed interest in conducting research on the subject.
Read on Nature → -
Progress in Aerospace Sciences — 2022
"Improved instrumental techniques, including isotopic analysis, applicable to the characterization of unusual materials with potential relevance to aerospace forensics"
A detailed materials and isotopic analysis of physical samples associated with two reported UAP incidents — Ubatuba, Brazil (1957) and Council Bluffs, Iowa (1977) — co-authored by Stanford pathologist Garry Nolan and computer scientist Jacques Vallée. One of the few peer-reviewed studies of alleged UAP-related physical evidence.
Read on ScienceDirect → -
Scientific Reports (Nature) — 2021
"Exploring nine simultaneously occurring transients on April 12th 1950"
A peer-reviewed study of nine point sources of light that appeared simultaneously on a single Palomar Sky Survey photographic plate from April 12, 1950, with no counterparts on plates taken minutes before or after. The authors examine and weigh competing explanations, including the possibility that the transients may be reflections from objects in near-Earth orbit.
Read on Nature → -
The Astronomical Journal — 2020
"The Vanishing and Appearing Sources during a Century of Observations Project. I. USNO Objects Missing in Modern Sky Surveys and Follow-up Observations of a 'Missing Star'"
The first publication of the VASCO project, which compares historical sky-survey catalogs against modern surveys to identify sources that appear to have vanished. The authors search 600 million USNO B1.0 objects against Pan-STARRS DR1 to identify candidates for further astrophysical investigation.
Read on NASA ADS →
Key Texts
The following books provide essential context for the historical, scientific, and sociological dimensions of anomalous phenomena research.
The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects
Passport to Magonia
The UFO Experience
The Invisible College
The Hynek UFO Report
Dimensions: A Casebook of Alien Contact
Abduction: Human Encounters with Aliens
UFOs and the National Security State: 1941–1973
UFOs and the National Security State: 1973–1991
UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record
Sky People
American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, Technology
In Plain Sight: An Investigation into UFOs and Impossible Science
Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth
Encounters: Experiences with Nonhuman Intelligences
How to Think Impossibly: About Souls, UFOs, Time, Belief, and Everything Else