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Chasing Aliens: Faith and Conspiracy in the UFO Heartlands
From Orwell Prize-winning journalist Daniel Lavelle comes a wild road trip chasing aliens through the UFO heartlands into the soul of America
The US government has been investigating unidentified aerial phenomena in a secret division of the Department of Defence. A former intelligence official urged the US to disclose evidence of UFOs after saying the government has possession of ‘intact and partially intact’ alien vehicles. And what about those sightings of Tic Tac, Gimbal, Go Fast and the infamous Oumuamua? Had an alien invasion been going on right under our noses?
Danny Lavelle, our charming, borderline-bewildered investigator, sets out on a road trip through America’s UFO heartlands to get some answers (thankfully around 41% of Americans believe aliens have made contact, so he has plenty of sources to choose from). Talking to those in the know in government and the wider UFO scene – often the same thing – Danny follows everyone from Lue Elizondo to Jeremy Corbell, whilst attending sky watches (sometimes falling asleep in the American desert), listening to the stories of alien abductees and chatting with Starseeds (those human beings who claim to be actual aliens).
Whether he’s smoking weed whilst holding dumortierite crystals to access his interdimensional past, or discussing the make-up of ‘space beads’ with the Harvard astrophysicist who’s convinced he’s found evidence of alien life, or investigating the clandestine Skinwalker Ranch, Danny’s journey becomes a deeper story about our unshakeable fascination with little green men – and our deepest wishes not to be alone in the universe.
Encountering a fair amount of religiosity, conspiratorial thinking and plain old magical thinking, Chasing Aliens is a wild journey into the heart of America – where aliens are as American as George Washington and warm apple pie. This is a book for anyone who’s interested in our (possible) neighbours in the universe, and our ongoing search for meaning and answers to life’s great mysteries, trapped as we are in the uncertainty of our short, mortal lives.
The US government has been investigating unidentified aerial phenomena in a secret division of the Department of Defence. A former intelligence official urged the US to disclose evidence of UFOs after saying the government has possession of ‘intact and partially intact’ alien vehicles. And what about those sightings of Tic Tac, Gimbal, Go Fast and the infamous Oumuamua? Had an alien invasion been going on right under our noses?
Danny Lavelle, our charming, borderline-bewildered investigator, sets out on a road trip through America’s UFO heartlands to get some answers (thankfully around 41% of Americans believe aliens have made contact, so he has plenty of sources to choose from). Talking to those in the know in government and the wider UFO scene – often the same thing – Danny follows everyone from Lue Elizondo to Jeremy Corbell, whilst attending sky watches (sometimes falling asleep in the American desert), listening to the stories of alien abductees and chatting with Starseeds (those human beings who claim to be actual aliens).
Whether he’s smoking weed whilst holding dumortierite crystals to access his interdimensional past, or discussing the make-up of ‘space beads’ with the Harvard astrophysicist who’s convinced he’s found evidence of alien life, or investigating the clandestine Skinwalker Ranch, Danny’s journey becomes a deeper story about our unshakeable fascination with little green men – and our deepest wishes not to be alone in the universe.
Encountering a fair amount of religiosity, conspiratorial thinking and plain old magical thinking, Chasing Aliens is a wild journey into the heart of America – where aliens are as American as George Washington and warm apple pie. This is a book for anyone who’s interested in our (possible) neighbours in the universe, and our ongoing search for meaning and answers to life’s great mysteries, trapped as we are in the uncertainty of our short, mortal lives.
- GenresNonfiction
320 pages, Hardcover
Published April 30, 2026
About the author
Daniel Lavelle
4 books5 followersDaniel Lavelle is a freelance feature writer from Manchester. He left care at 19 and experienced homelessness for the first time not long after. He graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University with a BA in History. He has covered topics such as mental health, homelessness, and culture for the Guardian (for whom he co-authored the series ‘The Empty Doorway’), New Statesman and the Independent. He has an MA in Journalism from Goldsmiths and in 2017 he received the Guardian’s Hugo Young award for an opinion piece on his experience of homelessness. ‘The Empty Doorway’ won Feature of the Year at the British Journalism Awards 2019 and has been nominated for the same award at the National Press Awards 2020. His first book Down and Out will be published by Wildfire in 2022. He lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 26, 2026
‘This is the problem with ufology. So much of the legitimate inquiry into UFOs is mired by hocus-pocus, which makes everyone associated with it seem insane’.
😂😂😂 You’re not wrong, Dan, you’re not wrong, son.
So many acronyms! Too many acronyms! I could’ve made a tin of Alphabetti Spaghetti out of this book! WTF. LOL. JFC.
I had great fun reading, though. Very entertaining, and loads to check out on YouTube! It made me really LOL in places and thank goodness for that because the vast majority of it was just off-your-rocker bonkers and the rest was science I just couldn’t quite get to grips with!
I got the impression that author/journalist Daniel Lavelle is a funny, likeable guy. (Some ‘ufologists’ on X (Twitter) would probably disagree, they took a dislike to him over certain things and targeted him online). I did learn lots of new things, it took me down memory lane and the works of Arthur C Clarke from my teen years. Thankfully, my 50-something brain is very different to my teen one, so skepticism plays a part now, of course. As a kid, I was terrified I’d get abducted by aliens or a poltergeist would rock up at my house and start on the kitchen cupboards. I read wayyy too much of this stuff back in the day!
I’m on the fence when it comes to this sort of phenomena, always have been (once I got my shit together as a teen), that’ll be until something unexplained actually happens to me… (cue The Twilight Zone theme tune).
’The world of ufology is like a river contaminated with raw sewage: when wading into it, one will inevitably come out covered in shit’.
BTW, FYI, the horrors and illnesses from the aftermath of experiencing the paranormal is known as the ‘Hitchhiker effect’. These include, and I quote “serious illness like cancer; mild physical ailments; people putting on a few pounds; and what can only be described as ‘paranormal magnetism’, an infection that attracts monsters and poltergeists to one’s household - more commonly known as the heebie-jeebies”. WTF 😳 OK 🤣🤣🤣
So yeah, eye-opening, entertaining and some of it went way over my head, (like an alien spaceship, perhaps) but overall I thoroughly enjoyed it. The truth is out there, folks, but I don’t think we’ll ever really know what’s going on.
Oh, and before I forget, do check out Skinwalker Ranch, Utah and Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, it’s fascinating!
🛸🛸🛸🛸/5
March 14, 2026
A tremendous dive into the typically American world of ‘Ufology’; with all the rationality and humour of a British journalist. A superb read!
Lavelle guides us through a loose history of our public fascination with alien life and also provides a good review, and contextualisation, of several key UFO events through history such as the Roswell incident in 1947, the Gimbal incident captured by US Navy FLIR in 2017, and the Rendlesham Forest incident in 1980.
Throughout the book we are given interesting, quirky and informal insight into the spectrum of belief of key figures the author encountered in his journeying through America; from eyewitnesses to abductees, to government insiders to optimistic astrophysicists and to those ‘star children’ who truly believe they are descended from alien ancestors.
Lavelle is consistently open to wanting to believe but time and time again reigns in his imagination by seeking that ultimate ‘smoking gun proof’ needed to convert ever growing ‘faith’, and it really is just that, into substantiated fact. We would all do well to be as scientifically minded and self-aware here, alas most align themselves with the legendary X Files investigator Fox Mulder: they simply want to believe.
And this is what I took the most away from reading this book, the incredible and surprising willingness to believe in alien life and a real hope for extraterrestrial intervention. In an age where we are seeing increases in younger generations returning to religion, turning to philosophy to better understand themselves and the world around them, adopting alternative ways of living and thinking an increase in those blindly believing will undoubtedly rise exponentially; for better or worse.
Of course, like everything, there are those that will seek to exploit those in their faith. The con artists and snake oil salesmen and Lavelle does not shy away from discussing them and the gross exploitation on their part either. It is these people that consistently muddy the waters for all and make mockery of those at SETI attempting to professionally and scientifically search for answers.
I thought this a fantastic read and one I hope to highlight as much as possible going forward.
Bonus points awarded for quoting the great Christopher Hitchens too! “What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence”.
Lavelle guides us through a loose history of our public fascination with alien life and also provides a good review, and contextualisation, of several key UFO events through history such as the Roswell incident in 1947, the Gimbal incident captured by US Navy FLIR in 2017, and the Rendlesham Forest incident in 1980.
Throughout the book we are given interesting, quirky and informal insight into the spectrum of belief of key figures the author encountered in his journeying through America; from eyewitnesses to abductees, to government insiders to optimistic astrophysicists and to those ‘star children’ who truly believe they are descended from alien ancestors.
Lavelle is consistently open to wanting to believe but time and time again reigns in his imagination by seeking that ultimate ‘smoking gun proof’ needed to convert ever growing ‘faith’, and it really is just that, into substantiated fact. We would all do well to be as scientifically minded and self-aware here, alas most align themselves with the legendary X Files investigator Fox Mulder: they simply want to believe.
And this is what I took the most away from reading this book, the incredible and surprising willingness to believe in alien life and a real hope for extraterrestrial intervention. In an age where we are seeing increases in younger generations returning to religion, turning to philosophy to better understand themselves and the world around them, adopting alternative ways of living and thinking an increase in those blindly believing will undoubtedly rise exponentially; for better or worse.
Of course, like everything, there are those that will seek to exploit those in their faith. The con artists and snake oil salesmen and Lavelle does not shy away from discussing them and the gross exploitation on their part either. It is these people that consistently muddy the waters for all and make mockery of those at SETI attempting to professionally and scientifically search for answers.
I thought this a fantastic read and one I hope to highlight as much as possible going forward.
Bonus points awarded for quoting the great Christopher Hitchens too! “What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence”.
May 20, 2026
This book was mostly bland and boring. I thought it would be a witty telling of the authors time on a journey researching evidence of aliens, however there is no wit or humour, its just a straight forward telling of his time researching the subject.
The author is an experienced journalist for a prestigious UK newspaper (The Guardian) however comes across as incapable of the simplest journalistic requirements. There are so many times within the book the author is with a subject and he states he was going to ask a question, but he just didnt or he couldn't bring himself to, or he didnt know how to bring it up. Not only are asking the tough questions essential for journalism, but they are also essential in investigating and obtaining evidence for a topic such as the existence of aliens. What the reader gets is half-assed watered-down and completely non-revealing interviews with notable UFO enthusiasts who the author himself notes need to be held to the fire to ensure authenticity, and this does not happen.
There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the subjects the author includes as part of his 'investigation'. They range from well-known figures within the UFO / conspiracy circuits, to random individuals who have either claimed to have had experiences or claimed to de-bunk (UFO) sightings. The author also seems to be swayed very easily. As soon as one of his subjects says something mildly convincing about aliens being real, the author makes it known he is now a believer, but as soon as another subject says something about aliens being fake, hes just as easily swayed in that direction. The author seems to have no actual opinion of his own and instead agrees with the beliefs of whoever he is speaking to at the time.
The first two thirds of the book (titled part one) are the above discussed journey. The final third of the book (titled part two), is much shorter than part one, however is where the book starts to get slightly interesting. Part two touches on the conspiracy that the U.S. government made up aliens and UFO's to purposely mislead the public in order to keep high level weapon development secret. Had this been explored further, I might have given the book 2 stars, however this topic does not delve any further than surface level and does not seem to be a route the author is interesting in spending much time on.
Overall I'd say the book is a waste of time with the journalistic integrity and substance of a Wikipedia article that was quickly drafted by an average everyday person with only the slightest interest or experience with the subject of said article. Would not recommend.
The author is an experienced journalist for a prestigious UK newspaper (The Guardian) however comes across as incapable of the simplest journalistic requirements. There are so many times within the book the author is with a subject and he states he was going to ask a question, but he just didnt or he couldn't bring himself to, or he didnt know how to bring it up. Not only are asking the tough questions essential for journalism, but they are also essential in investigating and obtaining evidence for a topic such as the existence of aliens. What the reader gets is half-assed watered-down and completely non-revealing interviews with notable UFO enthusiasts who the author himself notes need to be held to the fire to ensure authenticity, and this does not happen.
There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the subjects the author includes as part of his 'investigation'. They range from well-known figures within the UFO / conspiracy circuits, to random individuals who have either claimed to have had experiences or claimed to de-bunk (UFO) sightings. The author also seems to be swayed very easily. As soon as one of his subjects says something mildly convincing about aliens being real, the author makes it known he is now a believer, but as soon as another subject says something about aliens being fake, hes just as easily swayed in that direction. The author seems to have no actual opinion of his own and instead agrees with the beliefs of whoever he is speaking to at the time.
The first two thirds of the book (titled part one) are the above discussed journey. The final third of the book (titled part two), is much shorter than part one, however is where the book starts to get slightly interesting. Part two touches on the conspiracy that the U.S. government made up aliens and UFO's to purposely mislead the public in order to keep high level weapon development secret. Had this been explored further, I might have given the book 2 stars, however this topic does not delve any further than surface level and does not seem to be a route the author is interesting in spending much time on.
Overall I'd say the book is a waste of time with the journalistic integrity and substance of a Wikipedia article that was quickly drafted by an average everyday person with only the slightest interest or experience with the subject of said article. Would not recommend.
May 26, 2026
It’s a bit like the Loch Ness Monster - on the one hand you know it’s not real but you do want to believe! 👽
Review of advance copy
I did not receive an advanced copy of this book - it is in fact already released, first published 30th April - the published date on Goodreads of July 2026 is incorrect.
This book was everything that I had hoped it would be, in the sense that not only was it an entertaining read, it also covered, I think, everything I was already aware of (through my partner’s interest in the topic), from the sceptical perspective I myself have. In other words, the author undertakes an open-minded and hopeful journey - the way I would too - to try his best to find incontrovertible evidence of alien life here on earth, and instead finds fascinating stories that tell us more about the psychology of people who believe they experienced something out of this world (from abductees to Starseeds, and even pilots) to money- and fame-hungry egotists on the ‘inside’ who clearly have no evidence whatsoever, duping their excited, followers into believing the day of ‘disclosure’ is imminent. One thing’s for sure, what’s going on in the US government on the UFO/UAP side of things is bizarre, either a huge con, or a cover up to hide black ops and defence tactics. It’s an interesting topic, but infuriating if, like me, you want to be able to trust people in this sphere and to see ‘smoking gun’ proof. I was not at all surprised that Daniel Lavelle found none, and nobody he spoke to, from what I could tell, could be trusted (or else, could not trust their own eyes/minds). I’d be open to reading a completely opposite kind of book on the topic, just to be fair, just need to figure out which one...
This book was everything that I had hoped it would be, in the sense that not only was it an entertaining read, it also covered, I think, everything I was already aware of (through my partner’s interest in the topic), from the sceptical perspective I myself have. In other words, the author undertakes an open-minded and hopeful journey - the way I would too - to try his best to find incontrovertible evidence of alien life here on earth, and instead finds fascinating stories that tell us more about the psychology of people who believe they experienced something out of this world (from abductees to Starseeds, and even pilots) to money- and fame-hungry egotists on the ‘inside’ who clearly have no evidence whatsoever, duping their excited, followers into believing the day of ‘disclosure’ is imminent. One thing’s for sure, what’s going on in the US government on the UFO/UAP side of things is bizarre, either a huge con, or a cover up to hide black ops and defence tactics. It’s an interesting topic, but infuriating if, like me, you want to be able to trust people in this sphere and to see ‘smoking gun’ proof. I was not at all surprised that Daniel Lavelle found none, and nobody he spoke to, from what I could tell, could be trusted (or else, could not trust their own eyes/minds). I’d be open to reading a completely opposite kind of book on the topic, just to be fair, just need to figure out which one...
May 23, 2026
A missed opportunity of a book, concentrating more on style over substance - sadly it promised much more than it ultimately delivered. The author clearly wants to be a modern day Hunter S Thompson which is fine, undertaken his own road-trip but this ultimately tries to be a trendy 'pop' piece and fails by just re-hashing old news and concentrating on personalities. After a promising objective start it quickly falls into the classic 'UFO subject' traps of ridicule over research and gets tied up in 'new world' tropes and caught on tired cliches in the long grass of "Woo" that surrounds this subject. The author says he has an open mind but this Op-Ed book speaks otherwise, which would be fine too but his pre-dispositions are clear and biased based mainly on his personal opinions of personalities he meets and sloppily drawn characters sketches. This subject deserves more than ridicule, and the cheap condescending laughs this book contains, only further fuels the stigma against proper investigation. Like many of its predecessors it descends into a trivial commentary on what is ultimately a very serious subject of things flying in our skies with capabilities that we cannot currently understand. There are plenty of polarised egos in this subject both of 'believers' and 'non-believers' - the author would have been better to avoid becoming embroiled in these debates and focus on scientific facts rather than a social media commentary on flawed personalities. If you are serious about the subject and want to know more, I recommend you look elsewhere.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Complete tripe! There's so much evidence that has been ignored in favour of simply discrediting UAP/UFO. The author has confused UAP grifters, and there are many (including Elizondo), with the phenomenon. As a result, this is a poorly researched, heavily biased work of nonsense. I was hoping for a non-partisan, neutral exploration - but it's clear that the author had no intention of delivering that and either got utterly confused by the subject or chose a malicious path to deliver against preconceptions.
May 21, 2026
Ultimately, quite disappointing. Really looked this might be something about folk from small town America but instead it's a back and forth through the author between government officials, ufologists and scientists. The author uses the term "tedious" about it all near the end, and sadly I have to agree.
May 27, 2026
Interesting, but not a lot of depth. Ultimately, I much preferred Abducted by Susan Clancy, which goes into much greater detail about why people feel compelled to believe in something that carries its own cost.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews