UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — World UFO Day, celebrated annually on July 2, marks the alleged crash of a flying saucer near Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947. Whether or not unidentified flying objects (UFOs) have actually appeared to Earthlings, the UFO phenomenon is as much about human beings as it is about aliens, according to Greg Eghigian, professor of history and bioethics at Penn State.

In his new book “After the Flying Saucers Came: A Global History of the UFO Phenomenon,” Eghigian explores how individuals, scientists, governments and the media responded to reports of UFO sightings and alien abductions and what those responses say about the human experience. Learn more about Eghigian’s new book and research into the flying saucer phenomenon here.