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UFOs have been in the public’s imagination over the past years, especially since the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force submitted a report on the phenomenon of alien aircraft to Congress. However, by saying that they’ve been in the public’s mind in recent years, we’re kind of overlooking an obvious truth: aliens never seem to have been too far from our collective consciousness.
We see this most notably in popular culture, which has long used all things alien as a basis for storylines and experiences. While there are certainly plenty of people who claim to have seen UFOs, the majority of people’s interactions with alien aircraft are usually through a screen, either large or small.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at how those aliens have taken over the (screen) world, with a focus on movies, games, music, TV shows, and documentaries.
Big-Budget Movies
It must be very freeing to write a movie about aliens. Since we have no idea what they’re like, writers can basically come up with anything they like, secure in the knowledge that no audience can really question what they’ve created. After all, if something out of this world happens, then, well, that’s the whole point!
There have been plenty of great alien movies over the years. Most of them speak to mankind’s inherent fear of what those aliens would do if they ever came across our (presumably) inferior species on their intergalactic journey.
Some of the greatest alien movies of all time include the aptly named Alien (and its sequel, Aliens), The Thing, and Signs.
Gaming
Extraterrestrial beings and video games have a long history. For one thing, wasn’t it aliens who gave humans electricity? OK, that theory isn’t so well verified. What’s a bona fide fact, however, is that game developers have been getting inspiration from the skies for more than 45 years. One of the first widely popular arcade games, Space Invaders, was based on an alien invasion. More recently, on platforms like PokerStars Casino you can find titles which use extensive alien imagery as part of the gameplay, like Dr Toonz. If you’re looking for an alien-based game that is heavily inspired by Hollywood’s interpretation of what’s out there, however, then check out The Dig from LucasArts.
Given how much inspiration developers could get from UFO culture, it’s surprising that there aren’t more alien-based video game hits. There’s an upcoming VR game based on the Alien movies titled Alien: Rogue Incursion, however, which might be worth checking out.
Music
You expect to see aliens pop up in movies and video games, but in songs? How does that work? Well, those musical artists tend to have pretty vivid imaginations — the good ones, anyway — so you’d be surprised at how frequently UFOs pop up in songs. In fact, for some bands, like Blink-182, aliens pop again and again and again.
David Bowie famously went on a voyage into outer space in Starman, his song from 1972. There’s also a UFO adventure in Come Sail Away by Styx, while Blondie invoked the experience of an alien who found the human race too much to handle in Rapture from 1980.
TV Shows
There have been a lot of TV shows about aliens, though, it must be said, that the vast majority of them are pretty poor. Perhaps it’s because television shows have smaller budgets than movies, so the aliens they bring out always end up looking more comical than cosmic.
The absolute best UFO-related TV show has to be the incomparable The X-Files, which dove into all aspects of alien culture. The show first debuted in 1993, yet it remains remarkably watchable.
Into the Future
And what of the future? As we’ve seen, creatives are continually turning to aliens for inspiration, and that’s unlikely to change. Though perhaps the next great breakthrough will come if (when?) aliens touchdown on Earth, and we can begin to make media based on what they actually look like. Or maybe they’ll bring some of their own creations to show us!