“If we fail to anticipate the unforeseen or expect the unexpected in a universe of infinite possibilities, we may find ourselves at the mercy of anyone or anything that cannot be programmed, categorized, or easily referenced.” — Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), The X-Files: Fight the Future 

Fox Mulder was right! Well, that depends on your thoughts on Congress’ UFO hearing. According to Michael Mitsanas of NBC News, five former military officials testified before Congress on Wed., July 26, making five main claims: “the Government is ‘absolutely’ in possession of UAPs (unidentified aerial phenomena); ‘nonhuman biologics’ were found at a crash site; officials must establish a ‘safe and transparent reporting process’; stigma associated with sightings ‘silences’ possible witnesses; and a UFO was spotted accelerating to ‘supersonic speeds’.”

Photo courtesy of the Villanova University Digital Library.

Villanova had its own Astronomical Society. From the Belle Air 1969 (p. 109), “A program of films and lectures, operation of the Tolentine observatory’s ten inch Schmidt Cassegrain telescope, and participation in the Symposium on the Natural Sciences were among the many activities conducted this year by the members of the Astronomical Society.”

Maybe they saw some UAPs. Do you WANT to believe? Whatever your stance, the truth is in Falvey’s resources!

Falvey Library Resources:

• UFOs: An Insider’s View of the Official Quest for Evidence (Craig, 1995)
• UFO Religion: Inside Flying Saucer Cults and Culture (Reece, 2007)
• Beyond UFOs: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Its Astonishing Implications for Our Future (Bennett, 2011)
• The UFO Evidence (Hall, 2001)
• The UFO Encyclopedia: The Phenomenon from the Beginning (Clark, 1998)
• The UFO Files: The Inside Story of Real-life Sightings (Clarke, 2013)
• Intimate Alien: The Hidden Story of the UFO (Halperin, 2020)

Additional Reading:

• What We Know—and Don’t Know—About UFOs After the Congressional Hearing (TIME, 2022)
• Lawmakers and Former Officials Press for Answers on U.F.O.s (The New York Times, 2022)
• U.S. Recovered Non-Human ‘Biologics’ from UFO Crash Sites, Former Intel Official Says (NPR, 2022)
• Officials and Lawmakers Push For More Government Transparency on UFOs (CNN, 2022)
• Here Are the 5 Most Memorable Moments from Congress’ UFO Hearing (CNN, 2022)

X-Files Resources:

• The X-Files: The Official Archives: Cryptids, Biological Anomalies, and Parapsychic Phenomena (Terry, 2020)
• X-Files and Philosophy (Arp, 2017)
• The X-Files and Literature: Unweaving the Story, Unraveling the Lie to Find the Truth (Yang, 2007)
• The Philosophy of The X-Files (Kowalski & Davis, 2009)
• The Mystery Chronicles: More Real-Life X-Files (Nickell, 2010)
• Entertainment the Ultimate Guide to the X-files: 25 Years Inside Every Season & Film (PALCI EBSCO, 2018)
• Monsters of the Week: The Complete Critical Companion to the X-Files (Handlen Et al., 2018)

Kallie Stahl ’17 MA is Communication and Marketing Specialist at Falvey Library. Her favorite X-Files episode is “Bad Blood.”