Extraterrestrials and the American Zeitgeist: Alien Contact Tales Since the 1950s

Since the 1950s, there have been men and women around the world claiming to have had contact with human-like visitors from space. This book explores how the "Contactee" subculture has critiqued political, social and cultural trends in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. Not merely quaint relics of the 1950s Atomic Age, Contactees have continued their messages of political and cultural transformation into the 21st century. Regardless of whether these alleged contacts took the form of physical meetings or channeled paranormal psychic communications, or whether they actually happened at all, Contactees have provided a consistently relevant source of commentary on this world and beyond.