HE HAD A WIFE & KIDS GODDAMIT :
EARTH VS THE FLYING SAUCERS
or
WHY UFO’s HATE PHOTO-SHOOTS
Yep, those pesky UFO’s sure do hate photo-shoots. One blurry photo after another. Even today, in our digital age of swipey-wipey paraphernalia, we still can’t get a decent money-shot of an UFO.
All that said, there was another incident that I couldn't explain. I saw what I presumed was the navigation light of an air plane, passing at high-altitude, over the night sky. But then it did a vertical lift on a 90 degree angle and flew straight up into space.
I'm no expert but I doubt planes or choppers can do such a manoeuvre. It was also way too high up to be a drone. Too bad I didn't have my video camera. So yeah, you only have my word.
Note to self: must carry 8k Video camera and 2000 mm telephoto lens at all times.
And even if someone did get a great shot of a real 100% genuine flying saucer, people would say it’s fake or just a trick of the light.
In fact, its crazy how many fake UFO shots are out there now. Anyone with a Frisbee (and a good aim) can dupe their friends and family or even a whole nation. So called Alien Abductee George Adamski, became famous for it.
Regardless, each year, dozens of UFO chasers still camp out in the Nevada desert, surrounding Area 51: determined to snap a shot of what they believe could be secret alien space crafts, being tested by the U.S. military.
It may sound crazy, but at the time of this blog, whistleblowers are now coming forward and Government deep state is finally having to admit that it is in possession of technology not of this world.
WASHINGTON FLAP
Of course, the UFO phenomena is not a new thing. Its been in vogue (on and off) for centuries, going back as far as the Egyptians.
But in more recent times, no more so publicly, as the infamous incidents of 1952, known collectively as the ‘Washington Flap’. Whereby, a series of UFO sightings were reported across Washington DC, over a two-week period, culminating with reports of UFOs flying over The Capital Building and The White House itself.
It is because of all this fuss, that Hollywood movie producers of the time saw an opportunity to cash in on this wave of UFO hysteria. Inspired mainly by the events over Washington, producer Charles Schneer of Columbia Pictures, contacted his buddy (animator extraordinaire Ray HarryHausen) for their next B-movie exploitation.
It would essentially be a rip-off of George Pals War of the Worlds (1953) but using flying saucers instead of Martian War Machines and called (“imaginatively”) : Earth Vs The Flying Saucers (1956).
Starring Hugh Marlowe and Joan Taylor as a newly-wed couple. Being scientists, they soon become embroiled in all things other worldly, when the flying saucers come a callin’.
Initially the aliens seem only pre-occupied in sabotaging the U.S. space program, knocking out space satellites and such before widening their campaign, hovering around military installations.
No proof of their sabotage is required of course, just the ‘gut feeling’ of our plucky square jawed scientist hero. As a result, when the landing aliens say hello, they receive very little of the red-carpet treatment and one of them is immediately shot dead on sight by trigger-happy soldiers.
HE HAD A WIFE AND KIDS GODAMIT
Watching that scene, I really felt sorry for that dead alien. Like in Austin Powers. I mean, what if he had a family? A wife and kids? Imagine them all back home, waiting for daddy to join them for dinner.
‘Mom?’ Ask the kids. ‘When’s Daddy coming home?’
Then the phone rings. The news is bad.
‘Daddies had an accident at work dear...’ Says the distraught wife. ‘But he’s gone to a better place now...’
‘But we want daddy!’ Squeal the kids in tears. ‘We want daddy! WE WANT DADDY!!’
‘I know my little sweet-hearts!’ Sobs the wife. ‘I miss him too!’
And this seems to be the gist of how things will pan out for the rest of this movie. It’s a simple tale of Us vs Them. Good and Evil, black and white etc with no grey areas. No attempt is made to really communicate or make peace with the aliens, it’s just blast ‘em all to hell and ask questions later. With nowhere else to go, naturally the illegal aliens step it up a gear and begin a full-on invasion of planet Earth, (well, mainly Washington DC anyway), until they are finally foiled by our plucky scientists anti-UFO sonic weapons and the sore invaders leave with their alien asses, well and truly kicked.
ANTI-COMMUNIST SUBTEXT
The simplicity of this narrative only lends itself to mass-interpretation. You could argue that this film is nothing more than just a propaganda show reel, showing off the might of the Gun-Ho American military against all adversity. The sub-textual differences between this movie and say Pals War of the Worlds(1953) are the split of a hair. Whereas in that film, America is (more realistically) utterly defeated and without hope, requiring divine intervention (in the form of the common cold), to kill off the seemingly unstoppable Martian invaders. But in Earth Vs The Flying Saucers, the USA fairs a lot better, matching the aggressors with (unlikely) technology that inevitably defeats them, due to the heroism and genius of our square-jawed hero.
It all makes for a simpler story, whereby America comes up tops but is somehow all the less believable. Thus if there is a subtext in Earth Vs The Flying Saucers at all, it could easily be interpreted as an anti-communist flick, designed to drum up fear and hate for the Soviet Union and any other foreign power.
After all, there was already a plethora of anti-communist dogmas in 50’s America and a movie dealing with ‘invaders’ that are explicitly defeatable (using our conventional weapons), could only add fuel to the fire.
For impressionable young American boys, who’s to say this film didn’t play a hand in nudging their thoughts towards joining the U.S. military, just to shoot some goddam Commies? Who knows. On the other hand, maybe it’s just a silly movie having fun and blowing up stuff, I’ll let you decide.
And speaking of bad photo-shoots. Being shot in black and white really didn’t help this movie at all. While its superior counterpart War of the Worlds was shot in lavish Technicolor, Earth Vs The Flying Saucers struggles to live up to the hype, due to the lack of any colour, making it look cheap and forgettable.
NOW IN COLOR !
More recently, this movie has had a new make-over and is now available in a fantastic colorized version. And wow! What a difference a splash of colour actually makes, as it really helps bring this film to life, enhancing the viewing enjoyment and aligning it just a tad closer, to the spectacle of George Pals War of the Worlds. Of course it doesn’t help save the wooden acting or enhance the bland script, but the colorized version really makes every scene in this film suddenly pop.
Another reason to watch this film, is to catch the unmistakable voice of the aliens, as recited by actor Paul Frees, who you may remember (again from Pals War of the Worlds), portraying the roaming reporter, recording for "for future history ... if any."
RAY HARRYHAUSEN
But above all, the main reason to watch Earth Vs The Flying Saucers, is to sample the genius of Ray Harryhausen’s amazing stop-motion effects. Whereas Pals expensive War of the Worlds movie could blow up Los Angeles with spectacular slow-motion camera trickery, Earth Vs The Flying Saucers was on a somewhat smaller budget. Unable to afford the slow-motion cameras required to film miniature buildings, (exploding in a realistic manor), Harryhausen had to resort to animating individual chunks of falling miniature masonry, one piece at a time! Jeez. What a chore that must have been.
Anyways, as part of his homework, Harryhausen read the book: Flying Saucers from Outer Space, by leading ufologist Donald Keyhoe, who had previously published an article in True Magazine titled Flying Saucers are Real. Keyhoe made extensive research into the matter, utilising his contacts within The Pentagon and presented a convincing argument for the existence of extra-terrestrial vehicles, stating that the American Government was withholding vital information.
Harryhausen even went as far as to actually interview (now-debunked) alien abductee George Adamski, quizzing him on the details of how flying saucers should look. He later said of Adamski, that he found him a rather sketchy fellow, probably because his UFO ‘scout ship’ photos were actually based on an lamp shade from an old Sears Kerosene lantern! But as a result, Harryhausen’s research made for spectacular animated saucers.
Yet in the age of CGI (all now done on our mobile phones), today’s kids might not be all that wowed by the special effects in Earth Vs The Flying Saucers. They certainly won’t blow you away by any means, but considering that they were done using stop-frame photography, one cannot be nonetheless awed by the impressive results they still yielded.
It’s just a shame that the rest of the film didn’t get as much attention to the details as this aspect, as overall the movie was let down by a half-baked script, that would tax the attention span of any goldfish.
But despite its shortcomings, the importance of Earth Vs The Flying Saucers should not be overlooked, for (due to Harryhausen’s involvement), the film was a big hit in 1956 and spurned an entire genre of flying saucer movies, while securing itself as a cult classic and essential required reading at the Geek Academy, for all aspiring sci-fi nerds.
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