Intimate alien : the hidden story of the UFO / David J. Halperin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Halperin, David J. (David Joel), author.

Series:

Spiritual phenomena

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Halperin, David J. (David Joel).

Halperin, David J.

Unidentified flying objects--Mythology.

Unidentified flying objects.

Unidentified flying objects--Psychological aspects.

Unidentified flying objects--Sightings and encounters--History.

Social psychology--United States.

Social psychology.

Ufologists.

Unidentified flying objects--Sightings and encounters.

History.

Mythology.

United States.

Ufologists--United States--Biography.

Genre:

Biographies.

History.

Physical Description:

292 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, [2020]

Summary:

"UFOs became part of our cultural landscape in 1947, and they've been with us ever since. Debunked innumerable times, they refuse to go away. Made the subject of great expectations by their believers, they invariably disappoint. They've been called a myth, both in disparagement and, more properly, in appreciation of their power and significance. This book argues that they are actually a mythology, as gripping and profound as the great mythologies of antiquity to which they're linked. The question it asks about them is not, "What are they?" nor "Where do they come from?" but "What do they mean?" Halperin begins his exploration with his own longish teenage foray into the UFOs that he began to believe in as his mother lay dying of cancer. Despite the fact that he was only a high school student, Halperin joined and then became the director of "New Jersey Association on Aerial Phenomena" (NJAAP), an organization of amateur observers with members across the States. He goes on to revisit a range of famous cases of UFO sightings and abductions while introducing his own approach, which is informed by the study of religion, folklore, and Jungian psychology. Ultimately arguing for UFOs as evidence of the inner trauma of individuals as well as entire societies, he posits that the rise of the UFO in post-World War II America coincides with that moment in the nuclear age when we first became capable of imagining our death as a species"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Approaching the UFO. Confessions of a teenage UFOlogist

Scenes from Magonia

Inside the UFO. The abductions begin

The lure of the unremembered

Ancient abductees

The UFO, terrestrial. "Three men in black"

Shaver mystery

Roswell, New Mexico

Epilogue : John Lennon in Magonia

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Halperin, David J., Intimate alien

ISBN:

9781503607088

1503607089

OCLC:

1110446587