Hugo Zelada Romero

UFOs, and the broader category of unexplained phenomena, represent a rupture in the continuity of what we are willing to perceive as real. Despite the sudden surge of interest in these occurrences, especially in America, we lack the language or conceptual frameworks to fully apprehend the disquiet they provoke. My goal with this project is not merely to archive encounters but to invite viewers to confront the limits of their knowledge, immersing them in narratives of “high strangeness,” particularly those rooted in the Kansas landscape. Through the images and accompanying stories, I offer multiple perspectives on these phenomena, urging us to question how we process events that hover on the edges of fact, between the credible and the irrational.

The photographs I created over several years evoke not only the geographical spaces where these incidents reportedly occurred but the psychological spaces they inhabit. By deliberately manipulating these images—heightened, but not overtly transformed—I want to provoke engagement with the emotional undercurrent of the unknown. My focus on Kansas is intentional; it’s a region with its own metaphysical history, deeply entangled with both rural isolation and a yearning for connection to something larger. As public fascination with UFOs accelerates, spurred on by recent governmental disclosures and cultural shifts, I am reminded of how these phenomena occupy a liminal space, reflecting our anxieties about encountering the unexplained. The photographs, alongside historical and contemporary commentary, become more than documentation—they are a meditation on the tensions between belief, skepticism, and our enduring desire for meaning.