History—the network that’s now brought you eleven seasons of cosmic eggs, rampaging reptilians, and other Ancient Aliens culled from the stuff your weird cousin is always sharing on your Facebook wall—has announced a new series about possible alien life. In the network’s defense, though, Blue Book will at least be based on something we can confirm actually happened (outside of David Icke’s fevered imagination): The U.S. Air Force’s 18-year investigation into the existence of, and possible threats presented by, unidentified flying objects.
The series is being executive produced by Robert Zemeckis, whose 1997 film Contact took a notably even-handed stance on the possible existence of extraterrestrial life. It remains to be seen whether Blue Book—which is being pitched as an hour-long drama—will be quite so equivocal, or if it’ll go full-on X-Files before the first season is halfway done. Certainly, there’s already more than enough drama to be found in the actual project’s fading fortunes: it started out as high-profile endeavor with backing from the Air Force’s top brass, before slowly sliding into mockery and neglect after years of continually unconfirmed reports. The project was eventually shuttered in 1970, having never found official proof of an actual UFO.
Zemeckis is producing the show alongside Jack Rapke and Jackie Levine. Newcomer David O’Leary created the concept for the series, and also wrote the scripts.