Alien Encounters in Woodinville: Flying Saucers and the Cold War

Did you know that term “flying saucer” was coined by aviator Kenneth Arnold in 1947 when he made the first widely-reported claim of an unidentified flying object (actually, nine objects) in the skies near Mount Rainer?

His claim went viral and launched an alien craze throughout the United States. Hollywood jumped on the bandwagon producing science fiction films that capitalized on the idea of aliens from outer space. At the same time, the Cold War begun

Film critic and lecturer Robert Horton will talk about the political and social anxiety subtext of the alien invasion stories of those 1950s science fiction movies at KCLS on Sunday, July 22, at 2 p.m. Horton will include movies that warrant thoughtful analysis, such as the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and goofy films such as Earth vs. the Flying Saucers.

Horton has spent more than 25 years talking and writing about film. He reviews movies for the Herald in Evertt and is a popular film commentator on KUOW in Seattle. He also runs two film blogs, The Crop Duster and What a Feeling (where he revisits films he had to review in the 1980s). Horton also curates the Magic Lantern, a film-discussion series at the Frye Art Museum.

His Woodinville appearance is sponsored by King County Library System and humanities Washington.