Flying Saucers Over America

On June 24th, 1947, a private pilot reported numerous dazzling objects rushing through the sky above Mount Rainier in Washington state. It was the start of the current UFO phenomena, one of the country’s most perplexing and persistent mysteries. Within a few weeks, hundreds of sightings of flying saucers were reported to news media. Surprising reports of a UFO crash in Roswell, New Mexico further added to the mystery that July. Since then, UFOs have sparked a slew of incredible claims and speculations. This is a sober and honest history of America’s first major saucer craze, based on many sources including previously classified government records. The book cuts through decades of mystique and confusion, beginning with the 1947 UFO wave and ending with the launch of Project Blue Book in 1952. Balanced and comprehensive, this history provides background, social context and other tools for reframing perceptions of a controversial subject.

Gordon Arnold has taught at several colleges, including Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Massachusetts, for many years. He lives in the Boston area.

Gordon Arnold
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 227
Bibliographic Info: 17 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2022
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8766-7
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4652-7
Imprint: McFarland

Preface 1
Introduction 3
1. Things Seen in the Sky 9
2. In Search of a Missing Plane 15
3. Flashes of Light 21
4. Wildfire 27
5. Contagion 33
6. Visitors from Mars 40
7. Fever Pitch 46
8. Looking for Answers 52
9. In from the Ranch 58
10. Center of Attention 64
11. About Face 69
12. Unknown Knowns 75
13. Down the Rabbit Hole 80
14. A Laughing Matter 86
15. Taking Another Look 92
16. National Security and the Culture of Secrecy 98
17. Dangerous Skies 105
18. The Bureaucratic ­Merry-Go-Round 111
19. The Twining Memorandum 118
20. Life on Mars 123
21. Project Sign 130
22. Quest and Conspiracy 136
23. Project Grudge 143
24. The Flying Saucers Are Real 150
25. Project Twinkle 157
26. Fate 163
27. Going Hollywood 170
28. The UFO Myth 175
29. A Tangled Web 182
30. Project Blue Book 189
Postscript 196
Chapter Notes 203
Bibliography 215
Index 219