Hollywood / Movies & the ghost experience

[bobdezon]

Yeah, there have been gray aliens in movies before. Not disputing that, its just the aliens dont look like the modern versions we are accustomed to in modern reports. Whitleys book is the first occurance of this type of spindly limbed, almond eyes large headed gray type.

[Trinoc]

Has anyone ever worked out how the Greys manage to stop their eyeballs colliding in their skulls, or how they have any space left over for their brains?

[Mulder]

Technically true. Flash Gordon Comic from 1934, Film serials from 1936. First 'Flying Saucer' - 1947. No flying saucers in Flash Gordon, they flew fat rockets with fireworks sticking out the back. No obvious connection.

Th term 'flying saucer' comes from the first really widely publicised UFO incident, Arnold's Cascade Mountains sighting in 1947. He said the objects were
'flying like a saucer would'. After that UFOs tended towards a saucer shape.

The 'grays' became the prevelant aliens witnessed after Whitley Streiber's popular 1987 book 'Communion'. Grays had already been 'seen' but there were many other 'competing' forms, regionally influenced (probably overlapping with folklore).

The concept of ghosts is, of course, much older. Tradition feeds media portrayals of ghosts that, in turn, feeds those actually witnessed.

Lots of this is documented in books by Hilary Evans. See also Magonia magazine.

[Croydon Bob]

Th term 'flying saucer' comes from the first really widely publicised UFO incident, Arnold's Cascade Mountains sighting in 1947. He said the objects were

'flying like a saucer would'. After that UFOs tended towards a saucer shape.

Indeed yes. Even though Kenneth Arnold clearly stated and drew cresent shaped craft, that he claimed moved like skipping saucers, the media misinterpreted and then everyone started seeing what the media had said, flying saucers, rather than what Arnold had seen, flying cresents (or Geese).

[Croydon Bob]

See also Magonia magazine.

Edited by Sir Sir John Rimmer who gave an excellent talk at Skeptics in the Pub on both UFOs and the Brentford Griffin hoax.

[Trinoc]

Indeed yes. Even though Kenneth Arnold clearly stated and drew cresent shaped craft, that he claimed moved like skipping saucers, the media misinterpreted and then everyone started seeing what the media had said, flying saucers, rather than what Arnold had seen, flying cresents (or Geese).

Hmmm ... shaped like a boomerang, according to some versions, and bobbing up and down like skipping saucers ... just like a bird alternately gliding and flapping its wings, in fact ...