 Science fiction has long been interested with the possibilities of intelligent alien life. H.G. Wells wrote The War of the Worlds in 1898. In 1938 when it was broadcast on the radio in America (setting it in contemporary America) and the listeners thought that Earth had been invaded, leading to mass panic. If you would like to hear a clip from Orson Wells production find it at:- http://www.war-ofthe-worlds.co.uk/war_worlds_orson_1938.mp3 This could have been one of the starting points for the growing interest in Unidentified Flying Objects. Fears about the 'communist threat' during the McCarthy era led to many American's fearing their own government and to secrecy and mistrust. Ideas about conspiracy began to circulate. Possibly it was preferable to think that UFO's were alien, rather than Russian aircraft. Possibly it was better to let people imagine that there were more frightening things out there than their own government, that any advanced technology must be extra terrestrial. |
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