I can't believe nobody's mentioned this yet, but one major reason for the proliferation of UFO culture is literally a psyop. The CIA were testing the U2 spy plane in Area 51 in the 50s, and not only lied about sightings of their spy plane in order to cover it up, but gaslit certain prolific early UFO truthers in order to discredit everyone who was looking up and cataloguing every strange thing they saw. Some UFO sightings predate this - the CIA didn't invent the idea they just pumped it - but the sightings that are directly related to the U2's development turned it from an occasional thing that happened into an entire American subculture.
I can't believe nobody's mentioned this yet, but one major reason for the proliferation of UFO culture is literally a psyop. The CIA were testing the U2 spy plane in Area 51 in the 50s, and not only lied about sightings of their spy plane in order to cover it up, but gaslit certain prolific early UFO truthers in order to discredit everyone who was looking up and cataloguing every strange thing they saw. Some UFO sightings predate this - the CIA didn't invent the idea they just pumped it - but the sightings that are directly related to the U2's development turned it from an occasional thing that happened into an entire American subculture.