Way Out Costume Party

Judging from this photo, the Man from Planet X is feeling like a wallflower. He just can't seem to find a willing dance partner.

Rocket Scientist

Dr. Werner Von Braun with model of rocket rover
Photographer: Ralph Crane
by the photographers of LIFE magazine

The Day Hollywood Stood Still

Baseball, Apple Pie, originally uploaded by Kiel Bryant.

Who couldn't delve into the subject of the Flying Saucer phenomenon in the Atomic Age without referring to the iconic contributions made by Hollywood? And so, here it is . . .


The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
My all, all-time fave. I can still remember being huddling in front of our tiny black and white set as a wee youngster, staring wide eyed as Gort makes his appearance down the ramp. Brimming over with one memorable scene after the other.

Stars Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Billy Gray and Lock Martin as Gort.

	Day The Earth Stood Still-Bernard Herrmann - Gort - The Visor - The Telescope .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Also see:

• Gort! - Be a Friend of Gort
• hulu.com/the-day-the-earth-stood-still - Movie clips
• The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951 film) @ Internet Movie Database
  
• Site Guide - The Day the Earth Stood Still
  
• The Day the Earth Stood Still - Radio Broadcast
• TCM - The Day the Earth Stood Still
  
• Harry Bates-Farewell-to-the-Master - The original story that inspired the movie
• Fred Barton Productions, Inc. - Own your own Gort

War of the Worlds (1953) - Most memorable moment is Anne's encounter, with the creature's hand on her shoulder. Also quite arguably the best saucer design ever seen on celluloid.
War of the Worlds (1953) Trailer


Invasion of the Saucer-Men (1957)
Humorously played with a short appearance by Frank Gorshin. And who can resist the iconic bug-eyed men in this one.
Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957) movie trailer


Earth vs the Flying Saucers (1956)
Hugh Marlowe as a hero scientist. But this movie is flooded with saucer imagery. Most memorable scene(s) is the saucer crashing into the Washington D.C. memorial of your choice.
Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers (1956) Trailer


Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1957)
Pods from space take over an unsuspecting town's populace. Not a saucer movie, but definitely an otherworldly invasion flick.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1957) Trailer


It Came From Outer Space (1953)
Another hero scientist to the rescue tries to make peace with a stranded menace from outer space. I like the ending when one of the bug-eyed creatures disguised as the lead love interest shoots deadly sparks from her wand.
It Came From Outer Space


Invaders From Mars (1953)
I don't know... it seems like the movie runs on about 30 minutes longer than it really needs to be, but it's considered a classic, plus an original storyline told from a child's perspective.


The Blob (1958)
Steve McQueen, an infectious title tune, and a big gob of man-eating space goo.
The Blob (1958) - Theatrical Trailer


This Island Earth (1955)
Not exactly an invasion storyline, but it does go in to quite a bit of detail into the sad story of Exeter and his dying other-worldly race. And there's saucers, the "interocitor", the "mu-tants" and a hero scientist.
This Island Earth (1955) - Theatrical Trailer

The THING (from Another World) (1951)
A giant carrot-man (played by James Arness) from space terrorizes a polar research outpost. My favorite scene is the beginning when the search-party forms a wide circle around an object they find under the ice, then realize they've found a crashed saucer.
The Thing (1951) movie clip

- - -

This Flying Saucer featurette is also published on the blog Atomic Living

They Came from Out of the Toy Box

With the imminent possibility of an outer space menace threatening to invade American soil, your first priority is to assure your family's survival. “A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them."

It is with the highest priority that we teach our sons and our daughters these words:

"Watch Out!" "Always be alert" and to "Always be prepared."

Ideally we should begin our children's training at the youngest possible age...

We do this through their toys.

Tom Corbett Space men Figures - These two are definitely up to no good

Tin litho Target Game to become a sure-shooting Space Ace

Captain Video space men figures

- - -

This Flying Saucer featurette is also published on the blog Atomic Living

Flying Discs on the Turntable

Yes indeedy, the flying saucer men have invaded our country, our lives, and perhaps most shocking of all -- they came, they saw, and they conquered our beloved vinyl. Here's a modest selection for your listening pleasure:

INVASION of the SAUCER SONGS

1. Flying Saucer Rock 'n' Roll by Bille Lee Riley
2. Beware of the Blob by The Five Blobs (1958)
3. (When You See) Those Flying Saucers by Buchanan Brothers (1947)
4. The Boppin' Martian by Dick Robinson
5. Purple People Eater by Sheb Wooley
6. The Martian Monsters by Disney Halloween (1964)
7. Our Favorite Martian by Bobby Fuller Four
8. Flying Saucer Boogie by Eddie Cletro
9. The Martian Hop by The Ran-dells (1963)
10. Rollicking Man From Mars by Scotty MacGregor
11. The Little Space Girl by Jessie Lee Turner
12. My Favorite Martian Theme by ???
13. Flying Saucer Lands by Fibber McGee and Molly (1950)
14. Man from Mars by Ferrante and Teicher
15. The Flying Saucer Buchanan & Goodman

Some Honorable Mentions

• Man from Mars - Butch Paulson (1961)
• Flying Saucers by The Mell-O-Tones (pcplanets.com link)
  
• Two Little Men in a Flying Saucer - Ella Fitzgerald (Lala.com link)
• The Martian Band - the Wild Tones
• Flying Saucers Rock'n Roll - Love Brothers (1958) (youTube link)
• Flying Saucer - Solid Senders
• Mopity Mope - Bosstones (1961)
  

This Flying Saucer featurette is also published on the blog Atomic Living

Business-End of the TWA Moonliner

TWA Moonliner Disneyland, originally uploaded by flimflam1500.

The TWA Moonliner at Disneyland, or rather the business end of this rocket mock-up. It looks like the designers based their dummy engine on the V-2's with the steerable direction vanes jutting directly into the rocket exhaust.

Skyrocket Drop from Mothership

X-2, originally uploaded by amphalon.

The swept-winged rocket-powered Douglas Skyrocket (incorrectly identified as the Bell X-2) drops from its mothership on it's way to another record-breaking flight.

Space Race

Space Race, originally uploaded by Space Commander.

Bonestell, Up Close

Closeups of the work of Chesley Bonestell paintings, based upon the ideas of Wernher von Braun. From the photographers of LIFE magazine.

Space Monsters in London

space monsters, originally uploaded by hastingsgraham.

Space Boy in a Bubble Helmet

space boy, originally uploaded by hastingsgraham.

What a lucky lad. He means business as he's out to save the solar system with his official Space Patrol bubble helmet and Super Beam Signal Ray gun. Notice that the wallpaper in his bedroom is space-themed with rockets, planets and stars.

Space Girl

The Cars of the Future

1954 GM XP-21 Firebird

1956 Buick Centurion

1959 Cadillac Cyclone

Space Dog Pluto

Space dog Pluto
Iron-on transfer
Walt Disney Productions

Electric Robot & Son

In the 1950's Electric Robot and Son were manufactured in the U.S.A. by Louis Marx in response to the immensely popular Robert the Robot by rival manufacturer Ideal Toys. Electric was just different enough from Robert to avoid copyright infringement, yet the strong similarities undoubtedly appealed to young buyers with smaller budgets.

This toy robot was molded with a black plastic body (there was also a rare silver-brown version) with moveable red head and arms was electrically powered by two batteries, allowing Electric to illuminate his bulb eyes, run along on manually steerable rubber wheels (forward and reverse), and make loud buzzings through a morse code button on his back (a nifty code guide was inscribed on the back of his head). Also on his head is an extendible antennea with an adjustment knob, knobs for right and left arm movement and from his chest opens a small draw with tools (aka the tool chest for a hammer, wrench & scewdriver).

Completing Electric's gadgetry is a smaller "baby" version of himself, all red, and clad in a silvery diaper who the proud Father could swing from one of his silver clawed graspers.

Phoning Outer Space

"Operater, give me Space, dahling...."
"Hello? ahh Dahling! How is everything on Pluuuuto?"

The Great Zeiss Projector

The Great Zeiss Projector at Hayden Planetarium

from The Mystery of Other Worlds Revealed, 1952

Spa-a-a-ce Patrol!

Space Patrol: an entertaining space adventure radio program primarilly aimed at kids, starring Buzz Cory and Cadet Happy. There was also a version which simultaneously aired on television.

Broadcast History: September 18, 1950 - March 19, 1955 (129 episodes) ABC, 30 minutes, Mondays and Fridays at 5:30 pm.

"This is Earth - the year 2100. New York is the headquarters of Space Patrol and men from Earth, Mars and Venus live and work there as guardians of peace. This is the story of those men, whose courage and daring make the universe safe for us all."

Space Patrol outlined the exploits of Commander Buzz Corey (Ed Kemmer), who was placed in charge of a thirtieth-century police-keeping force operating from a man-made planet known as Terra. The jurisdiction of the Patrol included Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Mercury, collectively known as the United Planets. Assisting Corey was his protégé Cadet Happy (Lyn Osborne), a youthful sidekick prone to uttering the exclamation “Smokin’ rockets!”

Space Patrol debuted as a series on television before also becoming a popular radio program. The show was one of a myriad of kiddy adventures that dotted television’s landscape back in the 1950s, along with its outer space brethren Captain Video and his Video Rangers, Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, and Tom Corbett, Space Cadet. It debuted as a fifteen-minute local show on KECA-TV in Los Angeles on March 9, 1950 and made its radio debut over ABC beginning September 18th as a twice-a-week (Mondays and Fridays) offering at 5:30 pm until January 8, 1951. It then returned to radio Saturday evenings at 7:00 pm beginning on August 18th before switching to a 10:30 am morning timeslot about a month later; remaining there until its final airing on March 19, 1955. The television version ended July 2 the previous year succombing to the trendy cowboy western.

Listen: Space Patrol Radio

The Collier's Space Flight Series

For the early part of the decade a series of stories featured in eight issues of Colliers, penned by the brightest rocket scientists of the day and brilliantly illustrated by Chesley Bonestell, sparked the imagination of the American public. For a summary of the Colliers series of articles concerning the possibilities of manned spaceflight, launch: The Ugly Spaceship.

Man Will Conquer Space Soon (March 22, 1952)

Man on the Moon/The Journey/Inside the Moon Ship (Oct 18, 1952)

(not featured on cover)
Man on the Moon/Inside the Lunar Base (Oct 25, 1952)

World's First Space Suit (Feb 28, 1953)

(not featured on cover)
Testing the Men in Space (March 7, 1953)

How Man Will Meet Emergency In Space Travel (March 14, 1953)

Baby Space Station (June 27, 1953)

Can We Get to Mars?/Is There Life on Mars? (April 30, 1954)

Dimension X & X Minus One

Dimension X aired on NBC radio from 1950-51.

X Minus One aired on NBC radio from 24 April 1955 until 9 January 1958 for a total of 124 episodes during its run.

X Minus One was an extension of Dimension X . The first fifteen scripts used for X Minus One were scripts used in the airing of Dimension X; however, it soon found its own little niche. The stories for the show came from two of the most popular science fiction magazines at the time; Astounding and Galaxy.

Dimension X was first heard on NBC April 8, 1950, and ran until September 29, 1951. This program was the first true series dedicated to the science fiction genre. Until the premiere of Dimension X -- a full two decades after network radio was established -- there were no major science fiction series of broad appeal to adults.

Special Thanks to OTRR and Internet Archive for offering these radio programs free for download to the public:

• Dimension X
• X Minus One