“Otto Oscar Binder (1911-1974) began writing science
fiction with his brother Earl under the pen name Eando Binder and was first
published in 1932. … by 1938, according to S-F authority Sam Moskowitz,’Eando
Binder had become one of the three most popular writers in the field.’ ... [Otto]
Binder had a talent for plotting, and was credited with being one of the more
imaginative writers of the period. He largely left the S-F field in the 1940s
to write continuities for the Captain Marvel comic book series, which he did
for 17 years. … Binder also wrote more than 300 nonfiction articles, and wrote
extensively on unidentified flying objects.”
Binder wrote a saucer story in Captain Marvel Adventures # 98 from 1949
Binder wrote about UFOs in both science fiction and
nonfiction over the years in many books and magazines. His chief nonfiction books
on the topic were Flying Saucers Are Watching Us in 1967, and What We
Really Know About Flying Saucers in 1968.
Our Space Age
In 1960, Otto
Binder launched Our Space
Age (originally), a daily feature syndicated by Bell-McClure. It was illustrated
by Carl Pfeufer (1910 – 1980), an artist who had drawn comics for Dell,
Centaur, Fawcett, Marvel and other publishers.
Our Space Age focused
on rockets, satellites, and space exploration, and The Fabulous Fifties
bloghas a sampling of early panels from 1961 – 1962.
March 22, 1962
Jan 5, 1963
Binder combined his interest in flying saucers and
comics in several of his Captain Marvel stories, but in 1965, he did it again
as nonfiction for Our Space Age. In
1966 UFOs became the sole focus of the series, as seen below in the advertisement for the series. Binder frequently urged readers to send in their own sighting reports, and also directed them to contact Ray Palmer of Flying Saucers magazine and Jim Moseley of Saucer News for further information on UFOs.
Our Space Age covered a
mixture of classic cases, profiles of UFO witnesses, and recent sighting reports.
We’ve assembled a sampling of the episodes from across the run of the series.
Sept. 28, 1965
Oct. 1, 1965
Oct. 4, 1965
Oct. 27, 1965
Sept. 28, 1965
Jan. 24, 1966
Feb 19, 1966
Feb 23, 1966
Feb 28, 1966
Aug. 5, 1966
March 24, 1966
June 1, 1966
June 14, 1966
June 23, 1966
Aug. 6, 1966
July 7, 1966
July 8, 1966
Aug 17, 1966
Binder's series featured all aspects of the UFO experience: contact, abductions, humanoids, UFO performance, ancient astronauts, hoaxes, and more.
Sept. 6, 1966
Sept. 29, 1966
Oct 31, 1966
Nov. 1, 1966
Sept. 28, 1967
Dec. 3, 1966
July 20, 1967
Oct. 16, 1967
Oct. 10, 1968
Oct. 14, 1968
Oct. 14, 1968
Sept. 25, 1969
The Human Flying Saucer
In 1966, Binder
reunited with C. C. Beck hoping to recapture the magic of their Captain Marvel
success. What we got instead was Fatman, the Human Flying Saucer. It
only lasted three issues. Deliberately silly in the wake of the campy Batman TV
series, we mention it here chiefly for presenting a panel from Our Space Age in
color in each issue, as seen in the collection above.
Otto Binder's Legacy
Our Space Ageran from 1960 - 1969. Binder died in 1974 at the age of 63, but he left the world with a wealth of fantastic characters and stories.For more information on
the life and work of Otto Binder see, “Before the Golden Age-Eando Binder,”
from the site, Tellers of Weird Tales.
There's a
strange relationship between fact and fiction in the UFO business. J. Allen
Hynek consulted for the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, had a
cameo role, and he also wrote the epilogue for the novelization. The publisher,
Dell, also issued the non-fiction The Hynek UFO Report, which is
regarded as a classic. Without Hynek, there might not have been a CE3K, and if not for the film, the Hynek book might not exist. Or some
other commercial products.
Panama City News, March 28, 1966
Dr. Hynek
began working for a consultant for the Air Force in 1948, providing them with
explanations for UFO sightings based on his knowledge of astronomy, but did so
in relative obscurity. At the Detroit Press Club, on March 26, 1966 Hynek was propelled
into the public spotlight, initially unfavorably, due to his remarks about “swamp
gas.” Nevertheless, he became the top authority on the UFO topic, and in demand. In a heel/face turn, he went from being the Air Force’s senior debunker to being
the most famous UFO advocate. Jacques Vallee, from Forbidden Science Vol. I,
his entry for 11 April 1967:
"I
miss the days when he was not such a celebrity... The topic has become
fashionable entertainment, not serious science. Media men hire Allen as they
would hire a guitar player. He rushes wherever he sees a spotlight, and if the
spotlight moves he moves with it."
Jacques Vallee described Hynek’s gig
as a consultant for Stephen Spielberg’s
UFO movie in Forbidden Science Vol. II, in his entry for Friday 27
August 1976:
“Allen called me last night, cheerful...
Dell is sending two writers to help him with a hurriedly-compiled paperback
about Project Blue Book. As for the Spielberg movie, he will indeed have a
silent role in it, making his way to the front of a crowd of technical people
who surround the first landed saucer. I'd love to see the out-takes: They shot
a sequence where Aliens surrounded him, pulled on his beard, took his pipe and
poked it into their nose.”
Hynek took
an active role in helping promote the film and appeared in the theatrical trailer
for it.
The book he and the ghost writers
cranked out was The Hynek UFO Report, which hit the marketin
late 1977 to cash in on Close Encounters
of the Third Kind, and his
epilogue for the movie novelization closed with a plug for his Center for UFO
Studies (CUFOS) and their magazine, International
UFO Reporter.
UFO Encounters: The Record Album
Dr. J. Allen Hynek and his Center for UFOs Studies were partners in
the production of a double LP audio documentary, Factual Eyewitness
Testimony of: UFO Encounters. A news story in The Chicago Tribune,
Jan. 14, 1979, told how the project began when Investigative Research Associates
approached Hynek at a UFO convention in 1977. Hynek was initially reluctant,
fearing it would be “schlocky,” but IRA convinced him of their sincerity, so together
they set out to cover the most significant cases and record first-hand
testimony about them.
The Chicago Tribune, Jan. 14, 1979
Factual Eyewitness Testimony of: UFO Encounters was a two-disc LP, also released on cassette and 8-track tape. It was released in 1978 on the IRA label.
It was reviewed in UFO publications such as the A.P.R.O. Bulletin, but the most
comprehensive review was in the MUFON UFO Journal, Feb. 1980,“In Others'
Words” by Lucius Farish:
“A new 2-album record set, "UFO Encounters," presents an interesting selection of testimonies and opinions by UFO witnesses and researchers. Contributors to the album include Kenneth Arnold, Colonel Robert Friend (former Project Blue Book Director), Bill Pecha, Ted Phillips, Travis Walton, Father William Gill, Herbert Schirmer, former Air Force Major Paul A. Duich,
Louise Smith, Leonard Stringfield, Dr. R. Leo Sprinkle, Betty Hill, Marjorie Fish, Stanton Friedman, former astronaut Gordon Cooper, Jacques Vallee, David Saunders, and others. An additional bonus is President Carter's personal recounting of his 1969 UFO sighting. A special section inside the album cover contains 6 pages of UFO photographs, plus photos of most of the persons heard in the records. Some of the material relating to "crashed saucer" stories seem questionable, but all in all, this is a good selection of recorded UFO material. Available from: Investigative Research Associates, Inc., Suite W, 430 West Diversey Parkway, Chicago, Illinois 60614; the price is $8.95.”
Crashed Saucer Investigation
The red banner across the cover of the album touted “Crashed Saucer Investigation,” and the interior, a described the track:
“Since the 1940s, rumors have circulated indicating the possibility that extraterrestrial spacecraft have crashed on Earth and have been recovered by the American military. Investigative Research Associates decided to pursue these reports…”
The segment is interesting in that it documents the
marketability of crashed UFO stories even before the revival of the Roswell
incident. I had begun when Robert Spencer Carr rekindled interest in a
discredited aspect of ufology in 1974 by reviving the story of little men found
in a saucer in Aztec, New Mexico. Leonard Stringfield was the chief crashed UFO
researcher, but for the album, even Dr. Hynek got in on the act.
The “Crashed Saucer Investigation” was the next to last track
on the album. It opened with former astronaut Col. Gordon Cooper vaguely discussing
second-hand rumors he’d heard about saucer crashes:
“There were some accident involving a UFO, and from there it
varies greatly. There were occupants and in each of the rumors that I've heard,
but from there on, it varies greatly as to whether they were all alive, or some
alive, or what the extent of damage was to them, and then as to what happened
to them is quite variable. The particular rumors aren't necessarily from people
who've been involved, but they come from so many different sources, that it
would lead you to believe that it certainly is worth investigating a little
further.”
Dr. Hynek shared his view:
“Over the years, these rumors have persisted. Hardly a week
goes by without my being asked about the ‘crashed saucer’ stories. My response
to these rumors has always been complete skepticism. Recently however, some of
my colleagues, Investigative Research Associates, have probed into these
stories and some intriguing information has surfaced. I believe it is quite
worthwhile to let listeners to this record have the benefit of some preliminary
findings.”
Next, Herbert Coyer told about a story he heard from an aide
to an Army general about a 1951 saucer crash at White Sands where alien bodies were
recovered and an autopsy was performed. Both Willingham and Coyer’s stories
featured metal from the UFO that was incredibly tough and could not be burned
or cut, a detail we’d see hear again when the Roswell crash was resurrected.
The Final Track: Summaries and Theories
The final segment was “Summaries and Theories,” which
featured comments from Stanton Friedman, Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Dr.Jacques Vallee, and Dr. David Saunders. Hynek
suggested that UFOs might be from another dimension or a parallel reality rather
than being something from another faraway planet. He was the researcher given
the last word on the album and drifted a bit into mystic concepts:
“The idea of other intelligences in space is not so radical or new. It's in both the ancient Eastern religions and the more modern faiths. The prophets in the Bible and many philosophers have been telling us for centuries that there are other planes of existence. So why do we find it so difficult to acknowledge that there might be other highly developed life forms or forms of consciousness that might surpass our own? In fact, it is now widely accepted that the universe may well be teeming with life.”
Factual Eyewitness Testimony of: UFO Encounters is worth a listen, for the chance to
hear rare recordings with witness and researchers, and for a look at the state
of serious ufology at the time it was recorded. The full album is available via YouTube.
UFOs and science
fiction have a complicated history together, and there’s no doubt there has
been a mutual exploitative relationship. That’s show business, and it makes for
some strange bedfellows.
Dr. Hynek with characters from Star Wars, and with Leonard Nimoy of Star Trek fame.
Track Listing and Credits
Below are the track titles and lengths to Factual Eyewitness Testimony of: UFO Encounters, followed by the album’s credits.
Introduction 4:24
Foo Fighters 2:08
Kenneth Arnold Sighting3:40
Government Involvement 2:04
Simi Valley Sighting (CE-I)5:08
Pecha Case (CE-I) 5:44
James Richard Case (CE-II) 6:59
Travis Walton Abduction (CE-III)15:44
Father William Gill Sighting (CE-III)4:51
Officer Herbert Schirmer Abduction (CE-III)8:29
Louise Smith / Kentucky Women Abduction (CE-III)7:20
Charles R McQuiston PSE Evaluation Summary 1:14
Betty and Barney Hill Abduction (CE-III)7:42
Crashed Saucer Investigation 10:09
Summaries and Theories4:46
Credits, as listed on the back cover:
Produced by: Investigative Research Associates, Inc., Chicago, Illinois.
Producer: Steve Cronen. Exec. Prod.: Ben Christ.
Scientific Consultants: Center for UFO Studies, Evanston Illinois, Dr. J. Allen Hynek, Sherman
J. Larsen.
Investigation, Research, Writing: Peter Bordwell, Steve [Thom].
Narration: Walt Peters.
Music: DeWolfe Music, Inc.
Music Coordination: Walt Peters.
Musical Effects: Ron Figura.
Recorded at: Starbeat Recording Studios, Deerfield, Illinois.
Engineering, Editing & Mix: Steve Cronen.
Album Design: Steve Schaul.
Album Cover Trifid Nebula Photo: Copyright by the California Institute of Technology and the Carnegie Institute of Washington. Reproduced by permission from the Hale Observatories UFO Photos & Documents: Center For UFO Studies.
.
. .
Close Encounters: The Slide Show
Dr. Hynek had been involved in some
other commercial enterprises before the Spielberg movie. In 1976 he had
produced a set of UFO slides and audiotapes for Edmund Scientific, but with release of CE3K,
it was a hotter item.
It was advertised in Popular Scienceand was featured in an article in the
April 1978 debut issue of Future magazine (the companion to Starlog). Below is a YouTube video of the Hynek audio, sadly without the accompanying slides shown.
There have always been objects in the sky that could
not be identified; therefore, UFOs are real. But what’s said and printed about
UFOs is often far from reality. From the start, there was a lot of sensationalism
and exploitation.
Flying saucers made a splash in late June 1947, but newspapers need photographs to go with the stories, and those were in short supply. An early example of a semi-legitimate
saucer picture was produced by the Central Press, which distributed news photos
for International Soundphoto, a photowire service. Farmer Sherman Campbell
found a rawin target on his farm, but his daughter Jane was photographed
holding the “flying disc” for the camera. (The next day, another rawin target
was in the news from Roswell, New Mexico.)
Jane Campbell, 17, of Chillicothe, Ohio, exhibits an unidentified mechanism which fell from a balloon and landed on her father's farm. The father, Sherman Campbell, said the vaned object, may have caused some of the reports of “'flying discs.”
The same day, and in the weeks that followed, there were many less legitimate photographs, some of them more in the way of pin-ups. Newspapers staged their own photos, often printing pictures of pretty young women allegedly searching for saucers, or posing with bogus UFOs, or sometimes no saucer at all, just mentioned in the caption. A few novelty pieces featured flying saucer hats or other out-of-this-world fashions.
The Decatur Herald, July 7, 1947
The Dispatch, July 7, 1947
The Indianapolis Star, July 7, 1947
The Miami News, July 7, 1947
The Dayton Journal, July 8, 1947
HALLUCINATIONS OR??
WHO SAYS THOSE FLYING SAUCERS are just high-powered hallucinations? If you do, check this, son. ...Journal Reporter Mary Ellen Lynch makes a stab for her first saucer. Reaction: "Whatta jar!"
The Daily Times, July 9, 1947
The News-Herald, July 10, 1947
Syracuse Herald Journal, July 12, 1947
The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 13, 1947
The Madera Tribune, July 16, 1947
Vilnis, July 25, 1947
The Victoria Advocate, June 15, 1950
Vilnis, July 25, 1947
Science fiction pulps had long featured buxom damsels
in distress.
Amazing Stories, Feb. 1942, Dec. 1945
Once saucers were proven to be an enduring product, publishers borrowed the concept, and even some of the same artists.
When Behind The Flying Saucers by Frank Scully was
issued in paperback in 1951, it featured a painting on the cover by Earle Bergey.
Startling Stories, March 1951 and Frank Scully's book.
When the first full-length motion picture about an
extraterrestrial flying saucer was released in April 1951, the ads and poster
for The Thing from Another World prominently featured actress Margaret
Sheridan.
Later that year, the second ET saucer film, The Day the Earth Stood Still, also featured a damsel in distress in the promotional art.
Many subsequent posters followed the example, regardless of the films’ content.
Invaders from Mars, 1953, The 27th Day, 1957
It wasn't just Hollywood. Life magazine published perhaps the second most important article in UFO history. Their issue dated April 7, 1952, featuring the bold declaration, "There Is A Case For Interplanetary Saucers." H. B. Darrach Jr. and Robert Ginna's article, "Have We Visitors from Space?" provided millions of readers with a non-threatening introduction to the hypothesis of an extraterrestrial origin for flying saucers.
However, the image used for the magazine's cover, was not of UFOs, but a photograph of Marilyn Monroe.
For good or bad, UFOs have been routinely marketed
with a sexual tease from 1947 up to today. We’ll close this entry on exploitation with
two more examples on the less serious side.
Actress Penny Edwards in a 1950s publicity still from Republic Pictures.
Finally, “Miss Flying Saucer” by legendary pin-up artist Bill Randall.
From the 1959 Date Book Calendar published by the Osborne Kemper
Thomas Calendar Company.
