Alien Encounters: Sci-Fi Movies and the Cold War Culture of the 1950s

May 10th at 5:00 p.m., :

 by Robert Horton. The term "flying saucer" was coined after a 1947 sighting near Mt. Rainier; the UFO craze that followed coincided with the dawn of the Cold War and with Hollywood's depictions of extra-terrestrials landing in the all-American landscape of the post-WWII boom years. Robert Horton will examine the underlying political and social anxieties that resulted in the alien-invasion scenarios of 1950s science fiction films, citing movies both thoughtful (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and silly (Earth vs. the Flying Saucers). Comparisons will be drawn with similar offerings today (including the 2005 War of the Worlds remake), demonstrating how pop culture always reflects its era. Click here for more information. Appropriate for teenage audiences and up.