Chasing Aliens

About the Book

Brought to you by Penguin.

From Orwell Prize winner Daniel Lavelle comes a wild road trip through the UFO heartlands into the dark heart of America

The US government has been investigating unidentified aerial phenomena in a secret division of the Department of Defence. President Obama admitted there are things happening in our skies that government cannot explain. A former intelligence official urged the US to disclose evidence of UFOs after saying the government has possession of ‘intact and partially intact’ alien vehicles. What, exactly, was going on?

Setting off on a road trip through the UFO heartlands to get some answers, Daniel Lavelle encounters government whistle-blowers and Harvard scientists who apparently have evidence of extra-terrestrial life, as well conspiracy theorists, amateur fanatics and Starseeds (those individuals who claim to be actual aliens), but where’s the line between a legitimate source and a harebrained grifter? He talks to those who claim to have been abducted by aliens, attends ‘sky watches’, as well as venturing into the fringes of the far-right and clandestine ranches run by the Pentagon where the truth – the long-awaited moment of disclosure – is jealously guarded.

Chasing Aliens is a wildly insightful journey into the dark heart of America, filled with adventure and hilarity, which will change how we think about UFOs, our (possible) neighbours in space and the ongoing search for meaning in a vast, unknowable universe.

© Daniel Lavelle 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

About the Author :
Daniel Lavelle is an Orwell Prize-winning freelance feature writer from Manchester. His first book, Down and Out, was published in 2022 and won a Royal Society of Literature award for non-fiction writing. He has covered topics such as mental health, homelessness and culture for the Guardian (where he co-authored the series ‘The Empty Doorway’), New Statesman and the Independent. He received the Guardian’s Hugo Young Award for an opinion piece on his experience of homelessness. ‘The Empty Doorway’ won Feature of the Year at the British Journalism Awards 2019 and was nominated for the same award at the National Press Awards 2020.

Review :
Daniel Lavelle dives headfirst into America’s UFO fever dream and comes back with something rarer than alien wreckage: clarity. Chasing Aliens is hilarious, humane and quietly devastating, a road trip through sky watches and Skinwalker Ranch that becomes a deeper reckoning with belief, loneliness and the stories we tell to make the cosmos feel less empty Many of us have questions about aliens. Are they real? Have they visited? Who's covering them up? In Chasing Aliens, Daniel Lavelle tackles all of these with the relish of a believer and the diligence of a sceptic. But beyond that he answers the question that really matters: what is it we're talking about when we're talking about aliens? Lavelle's quest for the truth about the UFO phenomenon involves a fascinating journey across the United States where he meets a colourful cast of characters who are at least as interesting as the UFO mystery itself. A hugely entertaining, gonzo-style examination of UFOs, ufology and ufologists A wild trip into the unknown and the surreal with Oldham’s answer to Hunter S. Thompson, except with more laughs, more heart and less bullshit. An essential book from one of the best non-fiction writers in the UK Chasing Aliens is an exhilarating adventure into the dusty heart of American conspiracy land, where Daniel Lavelle tries to parse alien myth from government secrecy from captivating lunacy. Lavelle’s investigation is, at the same time, utterly serious and totally berserk. His rip-roaring, edge-of-your-seat narration is injected with as much serious research as there is joy, humour and intrigue. I’m recommending this book to everyone I know With equal measures of sincerity and scepticism, Daniel Lavelle takes us into the UFO heartlands of America. But what begins as a journalistic quest for extraterrestrial evidence develops into a tender exploration of the question: are we alone? I loved going on this road trip to find 'the little green men' in Lavelle's funny, heartfelt and clear-eyed book Lavelle, a young British journalist, won an Orwell Prize in 2023 for his reporting on homelessness (including his own experience). This book may seem like a swerve: he takes a road-trip across the United States, not only to investigate why more than 40 per cent of Americans believe aliens have made contact, but to meet some who claim it’s happened to them. But the same journalistic skills are at play: enthusiasm, deft writing and an attention to the strange, fascinating details of ordinary lives