The idea of Flying Saucers pre-1940s

Many say the idea of flying saucers began with the Arnold Sightings or with the Roswell Crash in 1947. Some say they came about after WWII reflecting peoples fears of the Nuclear Age.

This is not true.

They may have entered broader public awareness in 1947, but the following items prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the idea of Flying Saucers was well-known before that. These are magazine covers from the 1930s, 1920s and there is even one from 1915.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/bb53023ff0bc.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/cbf362b139f1.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/f097bbc8fdab.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/3d473ef11539.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/603596249ba4.jpg[/atsimg]

This "Vintage UFOlogy" is interesting and raises the question - what was first the sci-fi or the event? In any case, the 10s to 30s pre-paved the way for UFOlogy in the late 40s.

These samples were hard enough to find, if anyone can come up with any more evidence of flying saucers pre 1947, that would be great!

Source

[edit on 16-2-2010 by Skyfloating]

reply to post by Skyfloating


Great post, thanks for shattering that common myth!

But I've read over and over again that it was the TERM "flying saucers" that was coined in the 1940s (from Kenneth Arnold's sighting, from a distortion the media used of his description).

So while you've clearly shown that flying discs existed in literature prior to Kenneth Arnold's sighting, I wonder what they were called before then, or if the story about the term " flying saucer" originating in the 40's is also a myth?

Maybe they were just called "spaceships" or something? I really don't know and haven't researched this yet.

Star and flag!

[edit on 16-2-2010 by Arbitrageur]

The best history of Scifi book I read was "Great Balls of Fire" Warning: it's an illustrated history of sex in science fiction (you know robot with half dressed girl in claw, hero with improbable sword, etc), but it is very thorough and detailed.

I'm not sure when the "disc" made it's appearance, but it probably had something to do with Zeppelins. Though due to their size they, I would think, had to be shrunk down for magazine covers in order to show detail that the reader could relate to (guns, people etc). After that it's a small step from cigar shape to saucer in a 2D rendering.

[edit on 16/2/2010 by nomadros]

Originally posted by Arbitrageur
So while you're clearly shown that flying discs existed in literature prior to Kenneth Arnold's sighting, I wonder what they were called before then, or if the story about the term " flying saucer" originating in the 40's is also a myth?

Maybe they were just called "spaceships" or something? I really don't know and haven't researched this yet.

This is something I was hoping to find out with this thread - when did the term "flying saucer" first arise? I dont know. Looks like they called them "spaceships" before. But maybe Im wrong.

It would be great to find earlier mentions.

i have that answer for you Sky

It was 60 years back when a sales man and pilot Kenneth Arnold, who coined the term Flying Saucer. Kenneth Arnold reported on June 24th, 1947 seeing UFOs or Flying Saucers flying over Mount Rainier in Washington.

And the world even Steven Spielberg, not to forget the Scientology guys all believe in Aliens and we all say "Flying Saucers"

Good thread. Here's a cover from April, 1930 to add to the list.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/3ba2671ce9cf.jpg[/atsimg]

reply to post by l neXus l


Im sure it was popularized 1947. Was it coined then? Probably. But you never know what kind of sci-fi Kenneth Arnold read...

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nice add yeahright, thanks

[edit on 16-2-2010 by Skyfloating]

reply to post by Skyfloating


Interesting thread

reply to post by Arbitrageur


I've also read that Kenneth Arnold told the press that the objects he saw flew like saucers skipping across water. The press dubbed them flying saucers yet according to Arnold what he saw looked nothing like saucers. Later people started seeing, not what Arnold described but flying saucers. Does anyone know if there are any more sightings of Arnold type objects?

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/1528fb0e6c00.gif[/atsimg]




[edit on 16-2-2010 by cripmeister]

reply to post by Skyfloating


good question, that was just the information i found, ill do a little more research

Originally posted by cripmeister

I've also read that Kenneth Arnold told the press that the objects he saw flew like saucers skipping across water. The press dubbed them flying saucers yet according to Arnold what he saw looked nothing like saucers. Later people started seeing, not what Arnold described but flying saucers. Does anyone know if there are any more sightings of Arnold type objects?

Thats amazing - those look nothing like saucers and in all my looking at UFOlogy Ive never seen any that look like that.

[edit on 16-2-2010 by Skyfloating]

If you've never seen the info about The man Who Invented Flying Saucers (by John Keel, of all people), you might find it interesting.

There's another photo of the Kevin Arnold model at the link.

The link goes on with an article about Richard "Sharpe" Shaver. Pretty good stuff.

These pictures are very interesting. I love seeing old print covers like this in regards to space and the future.

H.G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds" was first published in 1898. I read this book a few years ago and not only was it an excellent read, it was astounding given it's time period (112 years ago!).

If I recall correctly, capsules are shot from Mars and arrive on Earth years later. I can't recall if these capsules are described as cigar or cylindrical in shape or if it was just my imagination. Wells does not write the book as if it was some far off event, but as if it were during current times (i.e. at the turn of the century). In it, he makes reference to bicycles being a new invention/fad!

Anyways, the possibility of flying sauces/cigars/cylinders may go back further into the late 1800s.

[edit on 16-2-2010 by SuperFlyGT]

Originally posted by SuperFlyGT
If I recall correctly, capsules are shot from Mars and arrive on Earth years later. I can't recall if these capsules are described as cigar or cylindrical in shape or if it was just my imagination.

It's not your imagination.

The Thing itself lay almost entirely buried in sand, amidst the scattered splinters of a fir tree it had shivered to fragments in its descent. The uncovered part had the appearance of a huge cylinder, caked over and its outline softened by a thick scaly dun-coloured incrustation. It had a diameter of about thirty yards.

Originally posted by l neXus lAnd the world even Steven Spielberg, not to forget the Scientology guys all believe in Aliens and we all say "Flying Saucers"

Not all, in Portuguese they are called "discos voadores", meaning "flying discs".

That's a great idea for a thread, and one that could have interesting results.

I think I will look for some of those myself.

I was reading through writings of Charles Fort in which he described multiple witness accounts of unknown objects in the sky.

The Book of the Damned was published in 1919 ,
in it was a good section of UFO sightings.

These look like they might fit the bill.



Wonder Stories

[edit on 16-2-2010 by ListenD]

Originally posted by Skyfloating
This is something I was hoping to find out with this thread - when did the term "flying saucer" first arise? I dont know. Looks like they called them "spaceships" before. But maybe Im wrong.

Looking back through a sampling of odd cases, it doesn't seem there was a uniform, catch-all term for UFOs before 1947. Even "foo-fighters" was more military slang than a universal term. Interestingly too, it seems that in pre-Cold War sightings, it is rarely suggested that the sightings of these strange objects could be alien spaceships.

In fact, flying saucers featured in early 20th century pulp and science fiction were, more often than not, human vehicles. The flying saucer was as ubiqitous as the rocket ship. After WWII, the flying saucer quickly became the province of the alien. I'm sure that public interest in UFOs was the culprit. Still, some movies and book carried on the tradition of the flying saucer being futuristic human vehicles. Consider the United Planets Cruiser from 1956's Forbidden Planet.

Great thread, by the way. I'm a huge fan of early 20th century pulp fiction.

[edit on 16-2-2010 by DoomsdayRex]

Originally posted by ListenD
This one looks like it might fit the bill.

Notice who is looking out of the porthole. In this case, it appears that humans are the aliens.

Originally posted by cripmeister
I've also read that Kenneth Arnold told the press that the objects he saw flew like saucers skipping across water. The press dubbed them flying saucers yet according to Arnold what he saw looked nothing like saucers. [edit on 16-2-2010 by cripmeister]

This is wrong and a persistent myth perpetuated by pseudo-skeptics who mainly feel that UFOs are a sociological phenomenon.

In the official AAF report Arnold does in fact describe the objects he saw as disc-shaped and there is a sketch of Arnold showing the objects to be more or less like a saucer. In interviews after the incident Arnold consistently described the shape as saucer or disc-like. The phrase that they flew like saucers skipping across water was merely ment to be indicative of their erratic motion.

The picture you posted comes from Arnold's book many years later, and at that point Arnold claimed that only the leading object had a crescent shape. The others did not.

Originally posted by DoomsdayRex
Notice who is looking out of the porthole. In this case, it appears that humans are the aliens.

Good catch. I've been researching the Philidelphia Experiment/Montauk Project lately and I've been running across info that suggests some ufo activity may actually be the product of future/past human time travel.