The colour palette is good and the layout feels dynamic. Unique idea and feels mythic. Good use of radiation mechanics. A couple suggestions that could improve it:
- Summary first on the cover presents it as a location and the UCR call out is very hard to see, creating expectations that are thwarted. Shift some of the order around could really help make it more clear.
- Large amounts of flavor text impacts usability, breaking it up or scaling it back could help.
- Making the gold lines thinner and less obtrusive would improve the design in my opinion.
Using the Golden Record is a sweet idea and unconfirmed contact reports are a great niche to fill!