John Senseney

My current research focuses on the intersection of US intelligence, national security, and science during the first quarter century of the Cold War era (1947-1972) and the Space Age from Sputnik through the Apollo missions (1958-1972). Much of my geographic emphasis is on the US-Mexico borderlands, which is also the setting of my investigation into recent and ongoing institutional strategies and cultural practices tied to anomalous aerial objects (known as UAP or UFOs) captured by the technological infrastructure of surveillance under the aegis of the US Border Patrol. I am writing a book on the Cold War-era space sciences and US military institutions, with a particular focus on the scientific hypothesis of UFOs as interplanetary spacecraft produced by highly advanced extraterrestrial technology. I routinely handle evidence that would blow your mind, and my clearances have permitted me entry even into the underground level of Special Collections at the University of Arizona.

My research aligns with the topics I teach in specialized courses highlighting digital methods and dissemination of research.

Current Happenings
At the Unbelievable Borderlands Festival at the US-Mexico port of entry at Naco on October 17, 2026, I will publicly present the "unbelievable" evidence for anomalous, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) captured by US Border Patrol surveillance technology. If you did not reserve lodging for this event, every reputable hotel within a 100-mile radius has been booked since last spring. 

Currently, I am teaching a digital histories course focused on UFOs and alienness in the interplanetary and desert frontiers, supported by a Mellon-funded Digital Borderlands in the Classroom Fellowship through the University of Arizona Libraries.

In December 2026, my contribution to the Presidential Plenary at the Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians in Mexico City (April 2026) will appear in article-form in the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. It focuses on invisible creative labor in the Parthenon and its relevance to the changing work of architectural historians.

I am also currently completing an article-length study of the interrelationship between the naos and peristasis in ancient Greek temple architecture during the High Classical period.

Previously
I am the author of The Art of Building in the Classical World (Cambridge University Press, 2011) and several peer reviewed articles and book chapters on ancient Greek and Roman architectural history.