American Cosmic cover art

American Cosmic

UFOs, Religion, Technology

 Preview
Free with 30-day trial
A 30-day trial plus your first audiobook free.
1 credit/month after trial—to buy any title you like, yours to keep.
Listen all you want to a selection of thousands of Audible Originals, audiobooks and podcasts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.

American Cosmic

By: D.W. Pasulka
Narrated by: Norah Tocci
Free with 30-day trial

$16.45/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $24.99

Buy Now for $24.99

About this listen

More than half of American adults and more than 75 percent of young Americans believe in intelligent extraterrestrial life. This level of belief rivals that of belief in God. American Cosmic examines the mechanisms at work behind the thriving belief system in extraterrestrial life, a system that is changing and even supplanting traditional religions.

Over the course of a six-year ethnographic study, D. W. Pasulka interviewed successful and influential scientists, professionals, and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who believe in extraterrestrial intelligence, thereby disproving the common misconception that only fringe members of society believe in UFOs. She argues that widespread belief in aliens is due to a number of factors, including their ubiquity in modern media like The X-Files, which can influence memory, and the believability lent to that media by the search for planets that might support life. American Cosmic explores the intriguing question of how people interpret unexplainable experiences and argues that the media is replacing religion as a cultural authority that offers believers answers about non-human intelligent life.

©2019 Oxford University Press (P)2019 Tantor Religious Studies Social Sciences Thought-Provoking
All stars
Most relevant  
I’ve been looking forward to this book but personally I’m finding the narrator very flat and monotonous, a bit like an AI, which leads me to drift off and not engage with the content. Again, just a personal perspective but I think it’s so important for narrators to inject some energy and rhythm into the performance.

Great book. Disappointed with the narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A very interesting book that brings together many threads that enhance the topic of anomalous encounters and experiences.

Informative, humane, wonderful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book WILL change the way you look at pretty much everything. A classic for certain.

Life changing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great story. Great research. Fascinating people.
Thank you.
Great story. Great research. Fascinating people.
Thank you.
Great story. Great research. Fascinating people.
Thank you.

Very good book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really liked how Diana is able to tie UAP and religious experiences together. I think that her contribution to the UAP subject is extremely profound and one of the most important discoveries for the subject and humanity. I went into this not knowing much about religion and now I understand why religion is so impactful for people.

I didn't want this book to end and now I'm about to dive into all of her works! I highly, highly recommend for anyone interested in either subject.

Incredible and Revolutionary

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Real deep dive into the phenomena, approaching it from a variety of intriguing perspectives...must read

fascinating read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A landmark text that will become all the more important as time goes on.

But it’s tantalising, leaving the reader wanting more detail on nearly everything covered. Hopefully following books by the author and the decreasing secrecy of the subject will provide some of those details.

Fascinating, of major importance

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The narrator was very dull and robotic to listen to. Considering this title is focused around a personal curiosity, the publishers might have leant into that to make the listening experience more accessible.

Wrong narrator chosen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Expected more from the prof.
I read the whole book as I bought it. Regret not reading the reviews prior to purchase. The book is incoherent all over the place and a collection of what others have written. There are many more much better books on the subject.

Nothing new

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I understand what Pasulka set out to do with this book but at times it felt like reading about someone with a crush on the main character as there was no critical assessment of their beliefs. Still an interesting read but fell short of what I was expecting.

Found it all a little confusing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.