What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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BY JOY DOONAN TV Media F ans of "The X-Files," rejoice! History Chan- nel has produced a new fictional minise- ries that delves into the world of extraterrestrial investiga- tions. "Project Blue Book" comes with many of the typi- cal hallmarks of its genre — a lead UFO investigator strug- gling to get to the bottom of unexplained phenomena, an internal culture of govern- ment secrecy — but it has one major feature that sets it apart: the series stays remark- ably true to the specific his- torical events that it follows. One of the network's first scripted series, "Project Blue Book" premieres Tuesday, Jan. 8, on History. The real Project Blue Book, after which the new series is named, was a classified re- search project conducted by the United States Air Force. The secretive study, designed to investigate unidentified fly- ing objects, was initiated in 1952 and continued through the 1960s. Perhaps the most alluring aspect of this real-life study is the fascinating cen- tral figure of the Blue Book in- vestigations: J. Allen Hynek, portrayed in the show by Aid- an Gillen ("Game of Thrones"), was a respected astrophysicist recruited by the air force to spearhead UFO research. He started out as a skeptic, but Hynek did his best to keep an open mind throughout the project, and he ultimately came to accept the possibility of alien life as a cause for cer- tain unexplained events on Earth. By the time Project Blue Book was shut down in 1969, there were whispers of government coverups initiat- ed to prevent mass panic. Hynek came out of the project an unwavering champion of truth and evidence-based conclusions. Backing up Gillen's Hynek is Laura Mennell ("The Man in the High Castle"), who plays his wife, Mimi Hynek. There is also air force pilot Capt. Michael Quinn (Mi- chael Malarkey, "The Vampire Diaries") and a mysterious town newcomer named Susie (Ksenia Solo, "Lost Girl"). And you can keep your eyes peeled for Michael Imperioli of "The Sopranos," who makes an appearance in a few episodes. Neal McDonough ("Minority Report," 2002) and Michael Harney ("Orange Is the New Black") round out the main cast. There's something for ev- eryone in "Project Blue Book." CR O SS W O R D S S UDO KU W O R D SE A RC H T V & M O V I ES A/Filler 5 x 3 Stranger than fiction IT'S EASY! Just go to nwaonline.com, click on "Photos" in the top menu bar and use the search to fi nd the photo you want. Then just click "Purchase" for sizing options. You can also have the image put on a coff ee mug, mouse pad, key tag, holiday ornament and more! Check it out! Do you know someone featured in a photo in our newspaper or on our website? DID YOU KNOW those images are available for purchase?