I'm still looking for a good history of the UFO phenomena in the United States and beyond. Preferably one that begins in the post war period, the "Atomic Age" (what a great name for an age too, we are stuck in the Information Age, or have we left that and entered some other dystopian Age as yet uncatagorized) and carries it through to at least the 1980s. These years seem to be the golden years of UFO sightings and reportings.
Sans that history I have begun gathering books written on the topic, but starting at the beginning, or as close to it as I can. I'm currently reading Flying Saucers from Outer Space. Written in 1953 by Donald Keyhoe, it is an interesting catalog of conversations that supposedly happened between the writer, a retired Air Force Colonel, and a host of Air Force officials throughout 1952-1953. He is trying to get the air force to admit what everyone "in the know" already realizes, that the flying saucers are real and they come from out space. Turns out this is not the first book written on the phenomena by Keyhoe, as he had previously published a book The Flying Saucers are Real* that only appeared in limited number in paper back. That book is in route to me now.
There is a sense of urgency about this book, Flying Saucers. Every page wants to leap out at you, to grab you by the collar, jerk your head to the heavens and say "look! look! they are coming!" There is an almost frantic need to get the truth out there, to let everyone know about the coming contact. There's not the hint of fear, only an unsettled certainty of what is coming and bracing for it. barely a half decade from a devastating world war and in the midst of the Korean War there is no trepidation, only hurry up, tell us the truth.
I've yet to finish it, but the half I've read carries the same tone, the same feeling to it. I can't imagine it will change pace. Keyhoe wrote science fiction as well, or maybe this is, and his pacing is very good, his hand on the doorknob is spot on.
I wonder what it was like to pull this book off the shelf in 1954 and start reading it. Atomic testing was on the way. The Soviets were building an arsenal, the US was detonating missiles, a whole new style of living was unfolding in the US. In a world of total uncertainty and constant change, where all you had for information was the steady hand of a writer (who, if nothing else, had to take the time to write something several hundred pages longer than a wiki article) to tell you what was up.
I wonder what it was like to look up at the heavens in 1953.
The truth is out there. But who has it? Its hard to say.
* Turns out what is really needed is a historiography of the literature on the phenomena, a project that might be a good toe in door project for Chenault & Gray Publishing, our parent company.
7 comments:
This gives me the best idea for my first homebrew when the newly revised Amazing Adventures ruleset comes out: 1950's Americana Los Alamos / Area 51 mashup - what IS going on in the desert and the sleepy town with the abandoned drive-in movie theater? Love the post!
That sounds awesome! There is so much info out there as well. You could actually use real newspapers as props!
I've had discussions with my mother on this topic, as I wasn't around in the UFO era of which we are discussing, and she has some interesting thoughts. Her belief is that the Germans were probably working with obscure metals and such during WWII and we know that many of them came to the US to work with NASA on the moon launch project. Well, she thinks that many of the UFOs from the 40's and 50's were the result of an extension of those WWII projects, only done in the US. Makes sense that the military would mostly deny that they were working on something such as a hovercraft or stealth aircraft which might provide a military advantage. And makes sense that much of that work might happen in obscure places like New Mexico.
Anyway, it will be interesting to see what conversations get sparked by this blog. :-)
You night want to check this book out. It sounds good! https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31717518994&dest=usa&ref_=ps_ggl_17721428148&cm_mmc=ggl-_-US_Shopp_Trade_20to50-_-product_id=COM9781477781579USED-_-keyword=&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-uK0BhC0ARIsANQtgGPzvuTBHX0WbK-b_oGouV25YKR7YAA_eNsXsVi5tFZullp61gqIKT4aAgCAEALw_wcB
Ancient Aliens: Close Encounters with Human History (Conspiracies and Cover-Ups)
Coppens, Philip
ISBN 10: 1477781579 / ISBN 13: 9781477781579
Published by Rosen Young Adult, 2014
Finarvyn, that is a very interesting thought. I remember when I was at Roswell, they had an exhibit of German flying saucers from WW2. There were a couple of German Airman looking at it and laughing actually, it was kind of funny. But there is no doubt, a whole lot of experimental stuff came out of that war and flooded the airs throughout the 40s, 50s, and 60s.
Robert, I will add that to my growing pile of books on this phenomena. The whole thing just fascinates me.
Good! Yes, I have always been interested in it. The last 10 years have been extremely interesting. I'm a believer.
We have the Michigan triangle here. I haven't seen anything yet but I keep my eyes open.
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