218: Close Encounters: UFOs in American History

Published: Sept. 18, 2019, 4 p.m.

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Alienstock, the event jokingly conceived by college student Matty Roberts to storm Area 51 on September 20, is officially canceled. When more than 500,000 planned to attend and another 500,00 indicated they were interested in the Facebook event back in July, the U.S. Air Force took notice and issued a strongly worded statement that discouraged the plan.
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But that hasn\\u2019t stopped an unknown number of people from planning to descend on rural Nevada this weekend, leading the FAA to shut down airspace above Area 51 as a precaution. This interest in the unknown isn\\u2019t new and to shed some light, BackStory is republishing our 2018 episode about UFOs in American History. In \\u201cClose Encounters,\\u201d Nathan, Brian and Ed discuss the things in the sky we struggle to explain \\u2013 unidentified flying objects.
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\\nImage: Grainy B&W image of supposed UFO, Passaic, New Jersey. July 30, 1952. Source: www.cia.gov via Wikimedia Commons
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\\nBackStory is funded in part by our listeners. You can help keep the episodes coming by supporting the show: https://www.backstoryradio.org/support\\n
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