In my co-authored article
A History of Government Management of UFO Perceptions through Film and Television - which appears
in the Spring 2011 issue of the peer-reviewed North American Studies journal 49th Parallel - I mention an intriguing case from the mid-1950s
in which the U.S. Air Force (USAF) saw fit to closely monitor the production process and audience reception of a major UFO-themed docudrama
entitled UFO: The True Story of Flying Saucers (1956).
The USAF believed that the docudrama would stir up a “storm of public controversy” and had prepared a special case file that,
if required, would have served to debunk every last one of the real-life UFO sightings dramatised during the film's 90-minute running time.
As it turned out, however, the USAF had little to worry about: upon its release, the film did not generate mass-saucer-hysteria,
only respectable box-office returns.
For further information about UFO: The True Story of Flying Saucers, check out researcher Robert Barrow's
excellent blog,
which is solely dedicated to the film and features a huge amount fascinating historical material associated with its production
and reception, including articles, original newspaper clippings, photographs, interviews and much more - essentially everything
you could ever hope to know about the film.
Source
Silver Screen Saucers.
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