'Blue Book' value: History picks up UFO drama from Robert Zemeckis

If you're into UFOs, History has just the show for you.

The cable network announced Thursday that it's picked up the sci-fi drama Blue Book from executive producer Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future).

Set in the 1950s and '60s, the 10-episode series will follow the as-yet-uncast Dr. J. Allen Hynek, a college professor recruited by the Air Force lead Project Blue Book, their top-secret effort to research and verify cases of UFO sightings. Episodes will mine actual case files, weaving together theories with history. 

“Blue Book is inspired by the true covert events of an era in American history shrouded in mystery,” said A&E president Paul Buccieri in a statement. “Robert Zemeckis and the creative team have shaped an incredibly compelling narrative, building upon History's unique, growing brand of fact-based scripted programming.”

“Rarely have I been associated with a project that is a perfect fusion of historical fact and extraordinary entertainment,” added Zemeckis, who knows a thing or two about that, having directed the 1994 Oscar best-picture winner Forrest Gump, about a developmentally disabled man who stumbles into defining moments of American history.

Blue Book will mark History's fourth scripted series after Vikings, which returns for its fifth season later this year, the Navy SEAL drama Six and the upcoming Knightfall, which traces the history of the medieval military order known as the Knights Templar.