UFO CRASH AT ROSWELL - Hardcover

SALER BENSON

3.47

36 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1560987510 ISBN 13: 9781560987512

Publisher: Smithsonian, 1997

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An anthropological study of the alleged UFO crash in Roswell, New Mexico, treats the story as a modern myth that reflects popular beliefs in the omnipotence of technology, the duplicity of governments, and the existence of superior beings. UP.

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About the Author:

Benson Saler is professor emeritus of anthropology at Brandeis University and the author of Conceptualizing Religion. Charles A. Ziegler is a senior research associate in anthropology at Brandeis University. Charles B. Moore is professor emeritus of atmospheric physics at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.

From Publishers Weekly:

It's not just skeptics who will relish this examination of the supposed crash of a UFO near Roswell, N. Mex., in 1947, and of the myth that has grown up around it. The crash and the alleged ensuing cover-up by the U.S. government has become a lynchpin among conspiracy theorists and those who believe in invading aliens. The three authors, all university professors, never deny the possibility that there was in fact a crash of an alien spacecraft, with alien victims (though they point toward the crash of a military balloon as a more likely explanation for the Roswell phenomenon). They argue, however, that the Roswell "technomyth" serves several functions as a "folk narrative," including the reinforcement of beliefs in omnipotent beings, and the channeling of anti-government sentiment. The myth, they say, is carefully and contentiously tended by a community of "ufologists" who act as "culture heroes" in attempting to liberate the truth from the government's clutches. One chapter further argues that the myth and community have many of the hallmarks of a religion. Despite its impeccable explanations about myths, however, the book's turgid prose will do little to dissuade the vast number Americans who believe that extraterrestrials have landed on Earth.

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