UFO Crash at Roswell: The Genesis of a Modern Myth
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Saler, Benson / Ziegler, Charles A. / Moore, Charles, PUBLISHER: Smithsonian Books (DC), An intriguing look into how the mysterious Roswell Incident and other UFO stories became part of America's popular mythology. In the summer of , something mysterious crashed in the New Mexican desert near the town of Roswell. Whether it was an alien spacecraft manned by tiny humanlike beings or - the U.S. government's official explanation - a scientific research ballon has long been a subject of debate. True believers regard the so-called Roswell Incident as a massive effort by the government to conceal evidence of a UFO, and consider the Roswell Incident to be the single most important UFO incident in history. Since it gained widespread attention in the s, many versions of the story have circulated, the government conducted a lengthy investigation, and more than a quarter of American adults say they believe aliens have visited the Earth. Transcending the believer-versus-skeptic debate, anthropologists Saler and Ziegler contend that the Roswell story is best understood as a modern myth. Rather than trying to prove or disprove the UFO theory, they examine the story's similarities to traditional myths in transmission, structure, and motif, while also analyzing the tale's modern elements - faith in technology and distrust of the government. They show how, like a religious myth, the Roswell story provides an "unfalsifiable" narrative about the existence of superior beings. The UFO Crash at Roswell provides not only an examination of a myth's evolution, but a window into American beliefs and values.