If we look at space toys, especially vintage ones, beside the rockets and astronauts and moon crawlers we will always find the flying saucer. The term 'Flying Saucer' was popularised after airman Kenneth Arnold saw a squadron of 'aircraft' with
glass cockpits skipping across the sky like saucers on water in 1947.
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| Kenneth Arnold showing object he saw at Mount Rainier, Washington |
The fifties and sixties were full of popular accounts of UFO's and flying saucers and many B movies memorably featured them, such as 'Earth Vs the Flying Saucers' and the original 'Day the Earth Stood Still'. The 1957 classic 'Forbidden Planet' featured Earth Cruiser C57D as a beautiful saucer shaped craft.
Many people claimed to have seen saucers and quite often their occupants, but few made quite such an impact on society as polish born George Adamski. He claimed to have seen a large alien mothership hovering overhead as early as 1946 and continued to be contacted by alien beings from Venus for a number of years. In December 1952 he presented the photograph of a venusian 'scoutship' which he alleged was piloted by his friend and mentor 'Orthon' a tall nordic looking humanoid.
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| Classic Adamski photograph and orthographic projection showing probable shape. |
Skeptics naturally criticised Adamskis fabulous claims and the photograph of the ship was said to be part of an ice cream machine, a chicken brooder and just a fabricated model. Adamski wrote several books and achieved a cult following. The shape and style of the saucer is still referred to as the 'Adamski'
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| George Adamski with painting of his Venusian friend |
In 1967 the tv series 'The Invaders' introduced Roy Thinnes as architect David Vincent who discovers a secret alien invasion and sets about trying to convince people of the threat. Aurora produced a fabulous model of the titular saucer, complete with removable cockpit cover and detailed interior. The kit was rei
ssued several times over the next few years.
The Invaders saucer bears a strong resemblance to the classic Adamski design, with some slightly modern streamlining.
Meanwhile life was busily imitating art in the development of various secret projects in the aerospace industry. Avro Aircraft in Canada drafted in designer John 'Jack' Frost to produce a new type of aircraft which would exploit the 'coanda effect' (put an upturned spoon under a flowing tap to see it in effect) which meant that ducted air running over a convex surface would be concentrated beneath the craft. Several designs were considered and recently declassified government documents from 1956 show a 'Project 1794' complete with nifty saucer logo, which detail the development of a saucer shaped fighter with internal turbofans directing ducted thrust through vents in the edges.
The project anticipated the vehicle to exceed Mach 4, but despite several developmental trials, the project was cancelled. In 1959, the Avrocar, a working 'proof of concept' testbed vehicle was built. Unfortunately, dangerous stability and engine problems meant that the craft could not rise much further than a few feet from the ground and even then, the thrust induced a destabilising wobble which proved the vehicle to be impractical and the project was quickly scrapped.
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| AVROCar and Silverbug models |
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| Avrocar |
