'Project Blue Book' season 2: Release date, cast, plot, news, and all you need to know about History's UFO drama

History Channel's 'Project Blue Book' recently wrapped up its first season earlier this March after quite the successful run for a whole two months, and while the season finale was able to tie a lot of loose ends, there's still a lot of alien and UFO stories to be told once the show returns for a second run. So far, there has been no confirmation on when the upcoming season might arrive, but fans can rest easy knowing that it is most definitely happening.

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Plot

Starring 'Game of Thrones' Littlefinger, Aidan Gillen as Dr. J Allen Hynek — the real-life astrophysicist who was the only civilian onboard the titular project — the show brought to life on screen the investigation undertaken by the US Air Force back in the 50s, when reports of aliens and UFO sightings suddenly rose drastically. The real-life Dr. Hynek was asked to help the investigation offer a scientific explanation to these sightings, and it is his journey from a curious skeptic to a believer that the show highlighted exceptionally well, with nuanced fiction sprinkled here and there. On the show, Dr. Hynek teams up with his counterpart in the investigation, Captain Michael Quinn (Michael Malarkey) — a character loosely based on Edward Ruppelt — a United States Air Force officer known for his involvement in the real-life investigation.

Cast

Alongside Gillen and Malarkey, the debut season's cast also featured Laura Mennell as Dr. Hynek's wife, Mimi, and Ksenia Solo as the undercover Russian spy, Susie Miller. The drama also starred Neal McDonough as General James Harding, the man heading the Air Force's investigation, and Michael Harney as General Hugh Valentine, a USAF General both overseeing and keeping a close eye on General Harding’s new division.

What to expect

Gillen, who is best known for his role of Littlefinger, aka Lord Petyr Baelish on 'Game of Thrones', appears on the show as a character absolutely different from the one he is widely known for. In that, Dr. Hynek is not only an honest man, but his sincerity, dedication, and diligence are commendable, and a stark contrast to the several vices Lord Baelish is infamous for. However, to say that Dr. Hynek's journey through the developments of the investigation on the show isn't reminiscent of Lord Baelish's character, would be wrong because at the end of season 1, Dr. Hynek is left at such crossroads in his life that his only ally is deceit — something that is inherent in Lord Baelish's character.

As season 1 concludes with the explosive season finale entitled 'The Washington Merry-Go-Round', we see a recreation of the 1952 Washington DC UFO sightings reported within the span of July 12 to July 29. And this brings about an inherent urge in Dr. Hynek to deceive others to benefit his own purpose. In that, Dr. Hynek tells President Harry Truman and other officials involved in the investigation that the Washington Mall incident barely shows any extraterrestrial connection, even though he himself ends up turning into a stern believer in UFOs — a ufologist, if you will — at the end of the season.

All of this isn't mere speculation, as Gillen has already confirmed his character's beliefs in the existence of UFOs and aliens, telling IGN that "This is the first we see of him as a UFOlogist instead of some government stooge." The biggest takeaway from this has got to be the potential new character development arc for Dr. Hynek on the show, as he is able to overcome his lack of faith in the prospect of extraterrestrial existence, and embraces the idea that maybe it wasn't as black or white as the government was trying to paint it to be. Let's add to that the creative license that the show has always indulged in fully, and we have an even more complicated and dramatic potential season 2 lying ahead.

Release date

Sadly, however, there hasn't been any update on exactly when the second installment is going to premiere, but on the bright side, we can definitely hope that a trailer will be arriving soon. Ahead of the debut season's January 2019 premiere, all the way back in July 2018, the first trailer of season one had dropped. So even if season 2 releases in January 2020, there's a high chance that the network and showrunners might be generous enough to offer fans a sneak peek into it sometime around this summer, considering it is in production right now. As of now, the only solace we have to sail us through the 'Project Blue Book' hangover is the fact that History had released season one with the understanding that there was going to be a season 2, so that's definitely something to cling on to!