Picturing Extraterrestrials: Alien Images in Modern Mass Culture

It's more or less common knowledge these days to be able to describe the physical appearances of an alleged extraterrestrial. They're everywhere nowadays, with their large heads, black eyes, thin bodies, short stature, et cetera. We all "know" what it looks like. Which is very odd, indeed. Because there are no real proofs of all the talked-about close encounters. And no one has even seen an extraterrestrial. Except for abductees and contactees. All we have are tales, pseudoscientific literature, stories; no real and physical evidence. Yet, "everybody" more or less "knows" that an extraterrestrial looks the way he, she, or it does. And why is that? Well, that's the question asked (and answered) by art historian John F. Moffitt in his little more than 550 page long book Picturing Extraterrestrials. But it's not a simple read. Quite the opposite. The language is difficult, very academic, often flavoured with long and extensive quotes, sentences in Latin, and terms basically only known to devoted art historians. But at the same time it's very personal; Moffitt has a unique style of writing which makes the reading experience something out of the ordinary. Sometimes it even feels as if one is having an oral conversation with him instead of actually reading his words. One gets the feeling that it is spoken language, but the academic touch never completely disappears, and the mix between strict scholarly language and down-to-Earth everyday language becomes a challenge while it at the same time becomes pure entertainment. Moffitt is a skeptic, and unfortunately he - along with many other skeptics - uses the term "ufologist" in a somewhat derogatory manner. People such as the late John Mack, Whitley Strieber, David Jacobs, and Budd Hopkins - all representing the fringe side of ufology - get to represent more or less the entire discipline, which is highly unfortunate. Moffitt is completely ruthless in his criticism. He doesn't hesitate to call Betty Andreasson and other contactees "pathetic", and he uses strong evidence to disregard the usage of hypnosis in order to encounter regressed memories. After all, Moffitt says, the postmodern idea regarding the traditional extraterrestrial is neither new nor very unexpected. Quite the opposite, it's a natural result from mankind's constant longing for the spiritual, the inconceivable, mystical, and occult. Large portions of the book do not deal exclusively with extraterrestrials or UFOs, but instead focus on the origin and need of such matters as the occult, mysticism, mass hysteria, divine iconography, Swedenborgian philosophy, the input infotainment has on people in general, and much, much more. However, at the end of the day he always returns to the contemporary belief in extraterrestrial life and presence on Earth, and one of his conclusions is that it's all imagination and wishful thinking, simply due to the fact that mankind has always believed in similar stories. The True Believer can say that this fa

John F. Moffitt's Picturing Extraterrestrials: Alien Images in Modern Culture is unique in the literature debunking the myths of alien abductions, visitations and encounters of all kinds. For anyone not already familiar with many prosaic explanations behind the fantasies of UFO phenomenon, Area 51, flying saucers, missing time, etc. this book serves as an excellent primer for the work done by investigators and skeptics all over the world. You'd have to read an entire shelf of individual exposés to cover all the ground that Moffitt includes in his comprehensive survey. But that's not the chief reason for owning this valuable work. Aided by a very dry wit and a wonderful sense of humor -- something that most authors, skeptic and believer alike seem to abandon as soon as they tackle this `controversial' subject -- it is Moffitt's detective work as an art scholar and historian that makes this fascinating study truly unique. Taking the current classic image of the alien visitor that we are all so familiar with, Moffitt examines the visual roots and history of this now universally accepted `face.' What he finds will startle and surprise you. He offers other examples of how mass culture has created iconic images for religious, commercial and artistic purposes and skillfully traces their development. From Santa Claus to Jesus to the grey-skinned, black-eyed alien head on your key ring, poster, video game or made-for-TV film, you'll learn how such images are created, developed and distributed. His art-historical approach could be used to examine other iconic images in contemporary culture to equal effect. Congratulations are due Moffitt's trail blazing work in this area. I hope that others may follow in his path, to continue and extend this type of investigation. I've read most of the scientific and rational examinations of the alleged `extraterrestrial' phenomenon, from Klass to Sagan and while those books certainly have their merits, if you want a single book to help `explain it all' you could not do better than this one. I enjoy sci-fi as much, if not more, than the next fellow but after reading Picturing Extraterrestrials you'll have to conclude that this is a very Earth-bound, `terrestrial' activity. Visiting entities from the Pleiades are not required to explain this.

Doctor Moffitt has written an amazing and thorough study of the UFO phenomena. Before reading this wonderfully detailed study of contacts from space, I was unaware of so many references and publications deserving the insight provided by the author.Rather than getting bound up in details that could easily be a ponderous effort to read, Dr. Moffitt adds a light touch of pervasive humor to his 600 pages. The book is divided nicely into reference chapters and may be read in random order. Each chapter is its own reward.