Did American government conceal UFO evidence?

Project Blue Book may make more people believe – and that’s not a bad thing according to its lead actor.

Canadian Laura Mennell has no trouble going where few actors have gone before in Project Blue Book. The fact-based historical drama revolves around secret US Air Force investigations into supposed UFO encounters and unexplained phenomena, undertaken by astrophysics professor – and Project Blue Book head – Dr J Allen Hynek (Aiden Gillen, Littlefinger in Game of

Thrones) during the 1950s and 1960s.

Mennell didn’t know much about UFOs, alien sightings and the like when she was cast as Hynek’s wife, Mimi, but she quickly became fascinated by the subject.

‘‘It’s one of the biggest mysteries of all time,’’ says the 39-year-old actor, admitting she is now open to the possibility that humans are not the universe’s only inhabitants.

‘‘I think it would be pretty ignorant to dismiss everything. I think there is something to the mystery of UFOs. What that is exactly I don’t know. Will we fully know during our lifetime? Who knows? But it’s pretty exciting.

‘‘There was some infrared footage released in the last couple of years of this 40-foot-long Tic Tac-shaped craft up in the sky. Stuff like that is bizarre and fascinating. I don’t know how that can’t stir up more questions in the general public.’’

Although Project Blue Book is based on fact, it is still a drama.

While the Hyneks were indeed real people – their sons are heavily involved in the series’ production – other characters are more loosely based. Hynek’s offsider, Captain Michael Quinn (The Vampire Diaries’ Michael Malarkey), is inspired by USAF Captain Edward J Ruppelt, the first director of the real-life Project Blue Book, and other characters are similarly based on historical figures.

‘‘We’re not making a documentary but, yeah, we’re definitely infusing some real-life aspects into the show, particularly the cases,’’ Mennell says, adding she is amazed how much was kept from the American public – and the world – during the 50s and 60s.

‘‘Project Blue Book was one of the first versions of fake news in a way. It misinformed the public to quell any possible mass hysteria that could have happened. I thought, ‘Why didn’t I know these things?’ These were real-life cases. There were over 12,000 of them and a little over 700 are still unresolved to this day.

‘‘Even if we could prove one of those cases – and I think there’s some pretty great evidence in our show – we’d have the quintessential truth of one of the greatest mysteries of all time.’’

The second season opens with Hynek and Quinn investigating the strange happenings at Roswell, New Mexico in 1947, which led many people to believe the US government covered up a UFO crash.

‘‘We’re even dealing with the issue of the CIA mind-control programme that was going on at the time,’’ Mennell says of Project Blue Book’s second season.

‘‘There’s some really crazy stuff that I loved reading about and finding more about and I think the audience will too.’’

It will also be a season of change for Mimi who, when the show began, was a typical 50s housewife stuck in a rut of domesticity. However, her new friend Susi (Ksenia Solo) – revealed to be a KGB spy – made her take a new look at her life and what she wanted out of it.

‘‘Mimi’s going to take a little break from Susi. She’s going to set her sights elsewhere . . . but for people who love Mimi and Susi, give it a bit of time . . . they will reconnect and when they do some pretty crazy things will definitely happen.’’ – Kerry Harvey, TV Guide

Project Blue Book season two streams on TVNZ OnDemand from Thursday, April 16.