U.S. Air Force monitored 1956 UFO docudrama

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. 

You can watch UFO: The True Story of Flying Saucers, in full, right here:

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.