The Saucer Fleet: A Detailed Look at the Saucer in the Media

Today’s guest author is Lars Liljeblad who happens to be a scifi fan, an award-winning model builder, and my husband all at the same time.  He’s reviewing the new book The Saucer Fleet by Jack Hagerty & Jon Rogers.

Take it away. . . Lars!

I must say, my initial attraction to this book was the wonderful cover art by Kristen Harber; the iconic and familiar shapes of the C57-D from Forbidden Planet as well as the most famous of all flying saucers, the Jupiter 2 from TV’s Lost in Space. So, judging this book by it’s cover, I decided to look inside and I’m glad I did. I was instantly amazed by the detailed text and the hundreds of photos, many of which are rare behind the scenes stills. As both a scifi fan and a model builder, this was the perfect book for me.

The Saucer Fleet examines the history of the flying saucer in pop culture from early comics and news reports through six of the most significant science fiction films to feature flying saucers, delivering the back story and production history in amazing detail.

The book opens with insight into the origins of flying saucers, a concept that came into our culture in 1947 and has stayed with us to this day. They look at the aviation pioneers — the human kind — who attempted flight with a different kind of airplane, which eventually fell victim to the UFO panic of the era.

Next they examine an early syndicated cartoon strip called “Twin Earths.” This comic told the story of flying saucers coming to Earth from twin planets behind the sun.

An overview of the power of the movie medium follows with their ability to create reality out of fantasy, to transport movie goers from Earth to planets unknown. The first film showcased is “The Day the Earth Stood Still.“  Klaatu. . Barada. . .Nikto is pointed out as being the most recognized alien phrase in pop culture today. The book talks about the original story “Farewell to the Master” by Harry Bates and there are dozens of great photos from the film.

George Pal’s magnum opus, “War of the Worlds” is also covered in great detail. Again, there are many, many, rare photos of the miniature sets, behind the scenes stills, art work and the infamous Martian war machines which were designed by Albert Nozaki.

“This Island Earth” is also given special attention. This movie is known for its production quality and great story but it’s not well-known outside of the scifi fandom. I was pleased to see it covered in such detail, with the authors pointing out many of the movies virtues and artistic merit.

The godfather of all science fiction films of the fifties is, without a doubt, “Forbidden Planet.” This elaborate MGM space opera has stood the test of time. Let’s face it, Robby the Robot has remained on of the most iconic images in the genre. The book really does this film justice depicting the scope, beauty and imagination of this classic film.

Each film in the book is accompanied by a “Vehicle Morphology” and an “Archeological Report” detailing Jon Rogers research as he prepared the scale drawings of the ships. His attention to detail is impressive with coverage of both interiors and exteriors of these classic saucers. If you’re a modeler like me, there’s a section called “Modelers Note” which show cases the commercial kits that were made for each property and includes some photographs of build-ups.

One of my favorite, and unexpected, parts of the book is a look at the Disneyland Flying Saucer ride. Described as the bumper cars of the future, this ride was in the park from 1961-1966. Photos here include shots of Walt Disney himself testing a prototype of the ride and a great shot of the author’s father giving a saucer a go.

As if that wasn’t enough, The Saucer Fleet has a good number of pages on Irwin Allen’s “Lost in Space.” This groundbreaking classic scifi series is a personal favorite and I was excited to see the show covered with such careful detail and with such excellent photos. The premise of the series can be traced back to the classic novel “Swiss Family Robinson.” Irwin Allen’s influences and adaptation of the series are covered here as well as the development of the “Gemini XII” which became the “Jupiter 2.”

Another underrated series that’s covered in this book is Quinn Martin’s The Invaders. Talk about an iconic flying saucer! That’s a model kit that’s hotter today than it ever was.

The Saucer Fleet is an excellent book for space buffs, scifi fans and particularly model builders. It’s a huge, hardcover book with 400 photos and drawings and believe me, it’s more than you’ll ever need to know about the history of flying saucers in the movies and on TV.

The Saucer Fleet is published by Apogee Books, an imprint of Collector’s Guide Publishing. Visit their website to get your copy and tell them SFUniverse sent you.

Book cover courtesy of Collector’s Guide Publishing