UFO researchers and character assassination through Hollywood

In her recent guest article for Silver Screen Saucers, Linda Moulton Howe described how in 1980 a Hollywood producer had sought to use the title of her animal mutilation documentary – A Strange Harvest – for a big screen adaptation of her work and had even requested the right to lift from her documentary entire excerpts of real witness testimony.

Linda had serious reservations, however, and was concerned that the use of her factual but bizarre animal mutilation information in the context of a "Friday-night sci-fi flick" would not only damage her reputation as a serious journalist, but also the credibility of the mutilation phenomenon itself.

Linda ultimately denied the producer her requests. It was a wise decision, as the resultant movie – Endangered Species (1982) – distorted the facts as documented in A Strange Harvest out of all recognition and effectively pushed the idea of animal mutilations further into the realm of cinematic fantasy. And perhaps that was the point: take a serious and controversial idea, then rubbish it in the public mind through the process of ‘Hollywoodisation.’

Linda’s ‘near-miss’ with Hollywood has clear echoes of a case from the mid-1950s involving Donald Keyhoe – then a jagged thorn in the side of the US government’s UFO secret-keepers. A group of Hollywood producers had approached Keyhoe seeking to buy the rights to his non-fiction book, Flying Saucers from Outer Space (1953), telling him their film was to be a serious documentary about UFOs. Although initially suspicious, Keyhoe eventually went along with the deal. Big mistake. Upon its completion in 1956, the "documentary" turned out to be the schlock sci-fi B-movie Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers. Keyhoe was outraged and demanded that his name be removed from the film's credits, but to no avail.

As suspicious as all of this may sound, it should be noted that - as far as I can tell - there are no clear links to the US government from the producers of either Endangered Species or Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers. The same can be said for the writers and directors of these two movies. It could be argued, however, that if any such links were plain to see, then the government's propagandists would be undeserving of their paychecks. In short, more research is required into not only the backgrounds and professional associations of the key individuals involved in these movies, but also the precise structure and financing of the production companies and studios that backed them. Although I myself am currently engaged in such research, finding satisfactory answers is a laborious process - all the more so considering most of the individuals involved in these movies are either retired or dead, and that their production companies no longer exist. Still, if and when I find anything of note, I'll report it here at Silver Screen Saucers.