In the 1940s and 50s, accounts of “flying saucers” became an American cultural phenomenon. Sightings of unusual objects in the sky provided the inspiration for Hollywood to craft visions of potential dangers. Posters for movies, such as Earth vs. the Flying Saucers from 1956, showcase these fears. Connected to enduring concepts about life on the Moon, the canals of Mars, and speculations about Martian Civilizations, flying saucers have come to embody the aspirations and anxieties of the modern age.
Are these supposed visitors from other planets peaceful and friendly, or would they pose a threat and harm humanity? The devastating power of the Atomic bomb raised doubts about the progressive promise of technology. Concerns about the destructive potential during the Cold War era created fertile ground for terrestrial fears to take the form of visions of flying saucers and beings from other planets who might be concealed among us in everyday life.
Aliens Among Us and Fears of the Unknown
If UFOs were visiting Earth, where were these extraterrestrial beings? Could they be living among us? Comic books and television illustrate how the possibility of alien visitors reflected the unease of that period.
The 1962 comic There are Martians Among Us, from Amazing Fantasy #15, demonstrates how fear of aliens could mirror Cold War worries. In the story, a search party gathers around a landed alien spacecraft but finds no trace of extraterrestrial life. Radio broadcasts warn locals to stay inside. The narrative shifts to a husband and wife as he gets ready to leave their home, ignoring a television announcement urging residents to remain indoors. As he departs, he reminds his wife to stay put. She, however, decides to step out to the store and is attacked and abducted. The husband returns to find their home empty and frantically grabs the telephone. In a twist, it is revealed that both the husband and wife are the Martians.
The idea that alien adversaries could be living in our midst resonates with the fear of Soviets and communists during the McCarthy era. Ultimately, in this tale, the humans are the ones who seize and capture the alien woman. The shift in perspective positions humans as the antagonists.
UFOs as Modern Folklore
Beyond portrayals in media, UFOs are also part of American folk traditions. Ideas of extraterrestrials and flying saucers have become a significant part of American mythology. These experiences are documented in folklife collections. For example, an interview with Howard Miller about hunting and hound dogs, part of the Tending the Commons: Folklife and Landscape in Southern West Virginia collection, records an individual’s experience with a possible UFO sighting.
In A Mysterious Light, a segment of an ethnographic interview, Miller recounts an odd light he witnessed while hunting with his dogs in 1966. “Suddenly, it was like daylight, and I looked up to see what happened. There was a light about that big, drifting up the hill. When I looked, it just faded away. I’ve been in the Marines and know what airplane lights look like, and it was too large for that.” When asked what he thought it was, he responded, “I don’t know what it was,” but added, “If there is such a thing as a UFO, that’s what it was.” Such unexplained lights during outings in the woods are typical of many similar stories. It’s not only media that shapes these narratives—documenting individual experiences and stories is equally important for understanding what UFOs symbolized to 20th-century America.
Doubts About UFOs and Alien Encounters
Scientists and astronomers hold a range of views about the possibility of intelligent life in the cosmos. However, they generally reject the notion that extraterrestrials are visiting Earth. In Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space, Carl Sagan examines the likelihood of alien visitors and argues for skepticism. Much of Sagan’s work involves debunking folklore and popular beliefs, advocating for a more critical and analytical mindset. He similarly critiqued beliefs in alien visitors in his earlier book, Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark.
Sagan’s staunch criticism of UFO beliefs may seem contradictory, given his speculative thoughts on the existence of alien civilizations. He even entertained the possibility of ancient alien visits in his early essay, Direct Contact Among Galactic Civilizations by Relativistic Interstellar Spaceflight.
How can we reconcile Sagan the skeptic with Sagan the visionary? Rather than being contradictory, these two aspects of his perspective offer a framework for understanding the interplay between science and mythology about extraterrestrial life. Critical thinking and imaginative speculation work together as two sides of the same coin. It’s vital to consider and explore unconventional ideas, no matter how strange, while simultaneously testing and verifying their validity.