The Bigger Question...

[pickles]

Why do kids (did kids) gravitate towards the subject to begin with? I know that I was fascinated by the subject in a way that other things like dinosaurs, volcanoes, and other "kid stuff" couldn't match. Today, kids have a hard time being fascinated by anything, with the media and information saturation prevalent in everything we do. Total connectivity kind of removes mystery.

But, given that there shouldn't have been any reason for kids of my generation (mid-30's), what was the impetus? Really, most UFO stuff was based around stupid 50's B-movie genre stuff, with Close Encounters being the lone exception.

For me, it felt like a natural draw and inescapable fascination that seemed to lack a firm external driver.

 

[Sean Elifritz]

Yeah, I've noticed around here that quite a few got into the subject when they were kids. That wasn't the case for me, happened in my early 20s. When I was a kid all I really cared about was getting in trouble and when I was a teenager all I cared about was parties and girls. I didn't discover I had a remotely intellectual side until my twenties.

I don't really agree with the 50s movies thing though. Seems to me that the sighting reports got going and then Hollywood took over from there, not the other way around.

 

[pickles]

I don't really agree with the 50s movies thing though. Seems to me that the sighting reports got going and then Hollywood took over from there, not the other way around.

I guess my point was that at age 5 or 6, I never really noticed those things. It just seemed a natural draw.

 

[Randall]

You can sum up the answer in two words ... video games.

j.r.