Tuesday, January 29, 2013

UFO: The Permanent Marker

The UFO mystery endures, but this 1956 documentary motion picture reposes in relative obscurity as its existence and historical importance go mostly unnoticed by a world in pursuit of routine matters and, all too often now, danger or frivolity.  Should this be your first visit here, welcome aboard -- and be sure to start way, way back at the beginning to gain a full and consistent appreciation for the movie.  Because nearly 60 years have elapsed since the film’s release, I guess you could consider this a museum, but always keep in mind that antiquities sometimes shine a beacon on the future.  Along the way you will find letters from major participants with whom I communicated, in addition to photos, posters, lobby cards and press book material.  If the U.S. government's own investigation in the late forties and early fifties demonstrated that UFOs are real -- and these were refreshing times when officials were briefly forthright and honest about the evidence, unlike later on -- what are we to think?  UFOs were a mystery then, and remain so.  -- Robert Barrow