Press Release Summary = Nigel Watson reports that sixty years since the first flying saucer sightings they still intrigue and inspire us
Press Release Body = Invaders from outer space, and our own meetings with aliens as we ventured into space in our flimsy and noisy rocket ships, have been depicted on cinema screens since it first became apparent that such stories raked in money faster than a Dalek on a ski slope.
The sighting of flying saucers in 1947, and its subsequent grip on the popular imagination, provided a powerful and flexible symbol for filmmakers to play with.
At first there was a genuine belief that there was something to the flying saucer sightings. Many thought they could be secret Soviet or U.S. aircraft. Many seriously considered them to be visitors from outer space exploring our planet before the launch of a full-fledged invasion. Like today, facts and proper investigation were ignored in preference for ideas, theories and much speculation.
A constant theme of 1950s science fiction films is that the aliens want to invade the planet, steal our women and radically alter (if not totally destroy) the American way of life. The aliens are usually emotionless and rational. Their scientific abilities are underlined by the sleek seamless lines of their one-piece suits, the prowess of their flying saucers and the size and power (physical and mental) of their robot helpers. It doesn\'t take a great mental leap to realize that they are (very) thinly disguised Soviet communists.
2012
