| Revision as of 03:00, 9 October 2022 editFeoffer (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers25,466 edits →Reactions and legacy← Previous edit | Revision as of 03:00, 9 October 2022 edit undoFeoffer (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers25,466 edits Filled in 6 bare reference(s) with reFill 2Next edit → | ||
| Line 23: | Line 23: | ||
| | followed_by = | | followed_by = | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| '''''The Coming of the Saucers''''' is a 1952 book by original 'flying saucer' witness ] and pulp magazine publisher ].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CmFVEAAAQBAJ|title=Flying Saucers Over America: The UFO Craze of 1947|first=Gordon|last=Arnold|date=December 3, 2021|publisher=McFarland|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D5tTAAAAMAAJ|title=Report on the UFO Wave of 1947|first=Ted|last=Bloecher|date=October 9, 1967|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0SZB1fQDuAsC|title=The Man from Mars: Ray Palmer's Amazing Pulp Journey|first=Fred|last=Nadis|date=June 13, 2013|publisher=Penguin|via=Google Books}}</ref> The book reprints and expands early articles the two had published in Palmer's ].<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=jT5juKHRdwIC&pg=PA51</ref> The work blends first person accounts attributed to Arnold with third-person summations of UFO reports.<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=rT4oDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT12</ref> | '''''The Coming of the Saucers''''' is a 1952 book by original 'flying saucer' witness ] and pulp magazine publisher ].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CmFVEAAAQBAJ|title=Flying Saucers Over America: The UFO Craze of 1947|first=Gordon|last=Arnold|date=December 3, 2021|publisher=McFarland|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D5tTAAAAMAAJ|title=Report on the UFO Wave of 1947|first=Ted|last=Bloecher|date=October 9, 1967|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0SZB1fQDuAsC|title=The Man from Mars: Ray Palmer's Amazing Pulp Journey|first=Fred|last=Nadis|date=June 13, 2013|publisher=Penguin|via=Google Books}}</ref> The book reprints and expands early articles the two had published in Palmer's ].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jT5juKHRdwIC&pg=PA51|title=Strange Skies: Pilot Encounters With Ufos|first=Jerome|last=Clark|date=October 9, 2003|publisher=Citadel Press|via=Google Books}}</ref> The work blends first person accounts attributed to Arnold with third-person summations of UFO reports.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rT4oDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT12|title=The Golden Age of Flying Saucers: Classic Ufo Sightings, Saucer Crashes and Extraterrestrial Contact Encounters|first=Frank G.|last=Wilkinson|date=May 28, 2017|publisher=Lulu Press, Inc|via=Google Books}}</ref> | ||
| The book features the first appearance of a "]", <ref name="auto"/> later expanded into UFO folklore by ] in his 1956 work '']''. | The book features the first appearance of a "]", <ref name="auto"/> later expanded into UFO folklore by ] in his 1956 work '']''. | ||
| Line 42: | Line 42: | ||
| One journalist recalled his skeptical response to the book: "It was a hair-raising account -- and adventure straight out of pulp fiction. I was fascinated, but also suspicious: Palmer had been a publisher of science fiction, so how much of the book was fact and how much was fiction?"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uVL7BCSdv5gC&pg=PA7|title=UFO Mysteries: A Reporter Seeks the Truth|first=Curt|last=Sutherly|date=October 9, 2001|publisher=Llewellyn Worldwide|via=Google Books}}</ref> Air Force UFO investigator ] cast doubt on the book's accuracy, noting: "As Arnold's story of what he saw that day has been handed down by the bards of saucerism, the true facts have been warped, twisted, and changed. Even some points in Arnold's own account of his sighting as published in his book, ''The Coming of the Saucers'', do not jibe with what the official files say he told the Air Force in 1947."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mqjoDwAAQBAJ|title=The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects|first=Edward J.|last=Ruppelt|date=April 9, 2020|publisher=e-artnow|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2O0QDQAAQBAJ|title=Pseudoscience and Science Fiction|first=Andrew|last=May|date=September 13, 2016|publisher=Springer|via=Google Books}}</ref> | One journalist recalled his skeptical response to the book: "It was a hair-raising account -- and adventure straight out of pulp fiction. I was fascinated, but also suspicious: Palmer had been a publisher of science fiction, so how much of the book was fact and how much was fiction?"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uVL7BCSdv5gC&pg=PA7|title=UFO Mysteries: A Reporter Seeks the Truth|first=Curt|last=Sutherly|date=October 9, 2001|publisher=Llewellyn Worldwide|via=Google Books}}</ref> Air Force UFO investigator ] cast doubt on the book's accuracy, noting: "As Arnold's story of what he saw that day has been handed down by the bards of saucerism, the true facts have been warped, twisted, and changed. Even some points in Arnold's own account of his sighting as published in his book, ''The Coming of the Saucers'', do not jibe with what the official files say he told the Air Force in 1947."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mqjoDwAAQBAJ|title=The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects|first=Edward J.|last=Ruppelt|date=April 9, 2020|publisher=e-artnow|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2O0QDQAAQBAJ|title=Pseudoscience and Science Fiction|first=Andrew|last=May|date=September 13, 2016|publisher=Springer|via=Google Books}}</ref> | ||
| For his role in promoting UFO folklore, Palmer would later be dubbed "The Man Who Invented Flying Saucers".<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=0SZB1fQDuAsC&pg=PT83</ref> Popular science writer ] argued that "no one can deny that played an enormous role ... in tirelessly promoting the craze".<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=2ECKIASfKa8C&pg=PA214</ref> The book "fueled" the ] among "an increasingly saucer-hungry public". <ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=c9zABAAAQBAJ</ref> Despite coming to no definitive conclusion about the origin of the discs, the book argued the issue was 'vitally important".<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=Md_ABAAAQBAJ&pg=PT666</ref> | For his role in promoting UFO folklore, Palmer would later be dubbed "The Man Who Invented Flying Saucers".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0SZB1fQDuAsC&pg=PT83|title=The Man from Mars: Ray Palmer's Amazing Pulp Journey|first=Fred|last=Nadis|date=June 13, 2013|publisher=Penguin|via=Google Books}}</ref> Popular science writer ] argued that "no one can deny that played an enormous role ... in tirelessly promoting the craze".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ECKIASfKa8C&pg=PA214|title=The New Age|first=Martin|last=Gardner|date=March 9, 2011|publisher=Prometheus Books|via=Google Books}}</ref> The book "fueled" the ] among "an increasingly saucer-hungry public". <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c9zABAAAQBAJ|title=The Mammoth Book of UFOs|first=Lynn|last=Picknett|date=March 1, 2012|publisher=Little, Brown Book Group|via=Google Books}}</ref> Despite coming to no definitive conclusion about the origin of the discs, the book argued the issue was 'vitally important".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Md_ABAAAQBAJ&pg=PT666|title=The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters|first=Ronald|last=Story|date=March 1, 2012|publisher=Little, Brown Book Group|via=Google Books}}</ref> | ||
| Modernly, the flying disc craze described in the book is regarded as an example of mass hysteria.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GeWm-zM3NEoC|title=Little Green Men, Meowing Nuns and Head-Hunting Panics: A Study of Mass Psychogenic Illness and Social Delusion|first=Robert E.|last=Bartholomew|date=May 23, 2001|publisher=McFarland|via=Google Books}}</ref> | Modernly, the flying disc craze described in the book is regarded as an example of mass hysteria.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GeWm-zM3NEoC|title=Little Green Men, Meowing Nuns and Head-Hunting Panics: A Study of Mass Psychogenic Illness and Social Delusion|first=Robert E.|last=Bartholomew|date=May 23, 2001|publisher=McFarland|via=Google Books}}</ref> | ||
Revision as of 03:00, 9 October 2022
Book by Kenneth Arnold and Raymond Palmer| Front cover | |
| Author | Kenneth Arnold and Raymond Palmer |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publication date | 1952 |
| Media type | Hardcover |
| Pages | 192 |
The Coming of the Saucers is a 1952 book by original 'flying saucer' witness Kenneth Arnold and pulp magazine publisher Raymond Palmer. The book reprints and expands early articles the two had published in Palmer's Fate magazine. The work blends first person accounts attributed to Arnold with third-person summations of UFO reports.
The book features the first appearance of a "man in black", later expanded into UFO folklore by Gray Barker in his 1956 work They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers.
Contents
In the book's first chapter, "How the Big Story Happened", Arnold describes his initial report of flying discs near Mount Rainier, his role in the 1947 flying disc craze, his collaboration with the crew of the Flight 105 UFO sighting, and his being contacted by Raymond Palmer.
In Chapter Two, "The Tacoma Affair", Arnold describes his initial investigation of the Maury Island Incident and his meeting with Fred Crisman. In Chapter Three, "The Mysterious Informant", Arnold becomes convinced that he is being bugged and summons military investigators. Chapter Four, "Death Takes A Hand", features the crash of a B-25 carrying the investigators and an anonymous claim that the plane had been shot down. Chapter Five, "Get Out - For Your Own Good!" describes Arnold's departure from Tacoma.
The sixth chapter, "Project Saucer Report", summarizes a report by J. Allen Hynek on Project Saucer, including the Mantell UFO incident, the Chiles-Whitted UFO encounter, and the Gorman dogfight. Chapter Seven, "Comments on the 'Project Saucer' Report" features conspiratorial speculation about military secrets and a chemical analysis of the slag rocks from Tacoma.
Chapter Eight, "One Thousand Years of Flying Saucers" details historic reports of unusual airborne sightings; Chapter Nine, "The Strange Foo Fighters", examines sightings during World War Two. The tenth chapter, "Foreign Sightings" and Chapter Eleven "American Reports" respectively detail international and domestic reports from 1947 to 1951.
Chapter 12 presents concluding analysis, while the remainder the book, Chapter 13 "Camera Story of the Saucers", features alleged photographs of the discs, such as the Rhodes UFO photographs.
Reactions and legacy
One journalist recalled his skeptical response to the book: "It was a hair-raising account -- and adventure straight out of pulp fiction. I was fascinated, but also suspicious: Palmer had been a publisher of science fiction, so how much of the book was fact and how much was fiction?" Air Force UFO investigator Edward J. Ruppelt cast doubt on the book's accuracy, noting: "As Arnold's story of what he saw that day has been handed down by the bards of saucerism, the true facts have been warped, twisted, and changed. Even some points in Arnold's own account of his sighting as published in his book, The Coming of the Saucers, do not jibe with what the official files say he told the Air Force in 1947."
For his role in promoting UFO folklore, Palmer would later be dubbed "The Man Who Invented Flying Saucers". Popular science writer Martin Gardner argued that "no one can deny that played an enormous role ... in tirelessly promoting the craze". The book "fueled" the extra-terrestrial hypothesis among "an increasingly saucer-hungry public". Despite coming to no definitive conclusion about the origin of the discs, the book argued the issue was 'vitally important".
Modernly, the flying disc craze described in the book is regarded as an example of mass hysteria.
References
- Arnold, Gordon (December 3, 2021). "Flying Saucers Over America: The UFO Craze of 1947". McFarland – via Google Books.
- Bloecher, Ted (October 9, 1967). "Report on the UFO Wave of 1947" – via Google Books.
- ^ Nadis, Fred (June 13, 2013). "The Man from Mars: Ray Palmer's Amazing Pulp Journey". Penguin – via Google Books.
- Clark, Jerome (October 9, 2003). "Strange Skies: Pilot Encounters With Ufos". Citadel Press – via Google Books.
- Wilkinson, Frank G. (May 28, 2017). "The Golden Age of Flying Saucers: Classic Ufo Sightings, Saucer Crashes and Extraterrestrial Contact Encounters". Lulu Press, Inc – via Google Books.
- ^ Arnold, Kenneth Albert; Palmer, Ray (October 9, 1952). "The Coming of the Saucers: A Documentary Report on Sky Objects that Have Mystified the World". Privately published by the authors – via Google Books.
- Sutherly, Curt (October 9, 2001). "UFO Mysteries: A Reporter Seeks the Truth". Llewellyn Worldwide – via Google Books.
- Ruppelt, Edward J. (April 9, 2020). "The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects". e-artnow – via Google Books.
- May, Andrew (September 13, 2016). "Pseudoscience and Science Fiction". Springer – via Google Books.
- Nadis, Fred (June 13, 2013). "The Man from Mars: Ray Palmer's Amazing Pulp Journey". Penguin – via Google Books.
- Gardner, Martin (March 9, 2011). "The New Age". Prometheus Books – via Google Books.
- Picknett, Lynn (March 1, 2012). "The Mammoth Book of UFOs". Little, Brown Book Group – via Google Books.
- Story, Ronald (March 1, 2012). "The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters". Little, Brown Book Group – via Google Books.
- Bartholomew, Robert E. (May 23, 2001). "Little Green Men, Meowing Nuns and Head-Hunting Panics: A Study of Mass Psychogenic Illness and Social Delusion". McFarland – via Google Books.
External links
- Full text of The Coming of the Saucers at the Internet Archive