The Flying Saucers Are Real by Donald Keyhoe was a breakthrough bestseller that was the first serious attempt to investigate encounters between the human race and “unidentified flying objects”, commonly called “flying saucers”.  The book is relatively short, but pulls together evidence gathered from newpapers, magazines, personal interviews, and Air Force records. The central contention is that the Air Force had been actively investigating encounters and maintaining a policy of secrecy until 1949, when a policy of gradual and cautious public disclosure was adopted.  He further argued that the earth had been visited by extraterrestrials for two hundred years and that the explosion of the atomic bomb had prompted a sharp increase in visits. He speculated that the Air Force may have even attained and deployed some aspect of alien technology.

Keyhoe, who also wrote mysteries and spy novels, wrote the book in dramatic narrative style reminiscent of 1940’s film noir and 1950’s television dramas.  The book was published in 1950. The paperback edition by Fawcett sold for $0.25 and was a huge hit, selling over 500,000 copies.

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