Hollywood vs. The Aliens: The Motion Picture Industry's Participation in UFO Disinformation

by Bruce Rux

Film historian Bruce Rux posits that the film industry has long collaborated with a government disinformation campaign about UFOs, shaping and controlling knowledge about documented UFO activity. The book uncovers the conspiracy roots of government involvement in science-fiction/horror movies, from pulp-fiction and Lost World romances to films dealing with flying saucers, the planet Mars, mind control, abductions, transdimensional journeys, and extraterrestrials.

Written in a mock-serious tone reminiscent of Rod Sterling's Twilight Zone TV Series, and illustrated with old movie stills and posters, Hollywood Vs. the Aliens is a fascinating, fun read, yet delivers some startling findings. Rux reviews the facts known about UFOs and ancient technologies, and how they came to be discovered. Then he investigates the period between the 1930s and 1950s, focusing on CIA Robertson Panel's recomendation that Hollywood be used as a deflectionary tool against popular interest in UFOs. Government involvement in Orson Welles' 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast is discussed, as are the Disney and United Artists studios' early connections to patriotic propaganda. Early '50s movies like The Thing from Another World and The Day the Earth Stood Still show UFOlogical facts that only government sources could have known at the time. From there the book goes on to discuss recent releases and the ongoing depictions of aliens and UFOs, right up to Independence Day , Men in Black , and Mars Attacks!

Genres: Nonfiction, Conspiracy Theories, Film

696 pages, Paperback

First published January 9, 1998

Reviews

[Richard Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ignore the title. The Hollywood/UFO connection only lasts the first few chapters. Read it as a compendium of Sci. Fi movies and television from the '30's through the early 60's. Contains plates of posters and photos from the periods. Makes for great reminiscing.

[Manuel Chavarria]

Sometimes life is just too fuckin' short

[Scott Waldyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

On the whole, this book's thesis about the government's infiltration of Hollywood fails in providing detailed support. Its facts are unfounded conclusions or suggestions implied by the author from some historical information on the filmmakers. If a filmmaker had previous history within the military during a major war or even simply "may have" been in the army, Rux uses those notions to pad his theory. I've read quite a few UFOlogical and government conspiracy books, some of which have been far better in painting a picture with much more detailed, researchable information.

On the plus side, this book did highlight one interesting idea. Rux's intense study of film and television found an interesting rhythm with regard to political party administration and types of science fiction or alien films being made. His conclusions state that, on the whole, most films during Republican administrations have been malevolent alien films while those in Democratic administrations were more benevolent. This carried on up until the Clinton administration, where the films being made during Clinton's watch maintained the same tone of the previous two presidents. While I found that particular idea interesting, it's not worth reading a near 600 book for.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taken at face value, this is a zero-star work. The premise that Hollywood has long been infiltrated by a government campaign to spread disinformation about UFO's and their robot occupants fails to convince. While it is true that many (maybe even most) science fiction productions have been laughably poor, this does not necessitate the conspiracy the author sees -- it is much more likely the average quality of sci-fi media results from the audience's low expectations.

However, I am giving this three stars. The author has seen pretty much every science fiction film and television series in existence. His survey of the genre is comprehensive and entertaining. Few books will discuss individual episodes of shows like "Space: 1999" or "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea". If you can get past the ufological elements (or happen to believe in them), this is a great read.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this for my history paper. It's about the media's involvement in disinformation about aliens. It's sometimes interesting, but other times it seems so ridiculous that it's funny. At points it's "facts" are reduced to a six degrees of separation like web (James Person wrote a book about an alien while his best friend starred in a film with Beth Lady who is married to a UFO witness). It was a strange and difficult read, but it helped with my paper. If you ever feel in the mood to take on a 500+ page book about government conspiracies, well then I guess it would have to be this one. Since I just cannot think of another.