The Day After Roswell by William J Birnes and Philip Corso
I'm the one in the family that scoffs at the idea of UFOs and life on other planets beyond this one. I know, right? The sci-fi writer who doesn't think aliens are a thing.
It's not that I don't think they're a thing. It's just that I'm not sold on the ideas presented to me about them thus far.
No, I don't think that aliens are really angels in disguise.
No, I don't think they're a higher evolved version of us.
Any of that New Age crap, is just that: New Age Crap.
It's a nice idea to turn something like aliens into the 'feel-good' trending self-help nonsense of the moment.
Otherwise I have no strong opinions on the matter.
The Day After Roswell brought me the closest to believing--in a Fox Mulder sort of way, in the existence of alien life.
This wasn't a death-bed confession, but shortly after its publishing, Retired Col. Corso did die of a heart attack. He was 83 at the time but the timing is something one might want to consider. Were he a younger man, it would be suggested he steer clear of hot tubs, small aircraft, and CIA looking thugs wielding a garrote.
Speaking of the CIA...
Even if all the stuff about aliens is bullshit, Corso paints a very interesting picture of the politics between the Military and the Intelligence Community. In summary, the CIA are pretty much the worst, and have been trying to skull-fuck the American people since the start of the Cold War--if not the beginning of time. Those aren't Col. Corso words. Those are mine, but I'm sure the spirit of my words would be echoed by the late Colonel.
Aliens aside, what I found the most intriguing was the detail that went into the technology discovered at the alleged crash site and what was done with it. Col. Corso was essentially in charge of going through the original Roswell reports on the tech--his, 'nut' file--and figuring out ways of getting the tech into the hands of tech companies, so that they might reverse engineer it. Fiber optics, lasers, the stealth bomber--all alien tech.
On a personal note, I've always been convinced that laser printers are not of this world. Google--or better yet, Bing! how a laser printer works. What goes on in that box is nothing short of black magic...or alien technology.
I'm not saying I believe in aliens. I'm not sure about Roswell either. But Corso, an 80+ year old man had nothing to gain writing a book of fiction. He didn't have enough years left to enjoy the money and died shortly after the book came out--either by natural causes or the CIA.
...Probably the CIA.