Popular Culture: How do movies, television, and literature shape public perception of UFOs and extraterrestrials?

UFOAlienpopular cultureUFOsMediapublic perception
Views: 0Created At: 9/8/2025Updated At: 9/17/2025
舞 花子
舞 花子
Amateur astronomer and lifelong enthusiast of alien theories and space exploration.

Alright, let's dive into this topic.

This is actually quite interesting: for most of us, our first impressions, and even some deeply ingrained perceptions, of UFOs and aliens don't come from scientific reports or news, but from movies, TV shows, and novels. Popular culture acts like a "filter," shaping how we view these mysterious phenomena.

1. Shaping the "Standard Image" of Aliens

Think about it: when you hear "alien," don't a few classic images pop into your head?

  • Little Green Men/Big-Headed Beings (Grays): The most classic is the "Gray" alien image: a large head, big black eyes, a small body, and gray or green skin. This has almost become the aliens' "standard ID photo." Descriptions in shows like The X-Files and many UFO sighting reports align with this. How did this image come about? It's the result of countless sci-fi movies and stories repeatedly popularizing it.

  • Terrifying Monsters: Another category consists of hideous, drooling monsters intent on conquering Earth. Examples include the alien creatures in the movie Alien, or the invaders in Independence Day who arrive in massive spacecraft to wreak havoc. This image primarily caters to our fear of the unknown, portraying aliens as "enemies."

  • Friendly Companions or Deities: Of course, there are good ones too. Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial featured an adorable, kind E.T. that made a generation believe aliens could be our good friends. In Close Encounters of the Third Kind, aliens arrive with benevolent intentions, imbued with mystery and a sense of the divine.

You see, we haven't even met real aliens, yet we already have so many preconceived images in our minds, all thanks to popular culture.

2. Defining the "Standard Procedure" for UFO Incidents

Popular culture not only defines what aliens look like but also sets up an entire "script" or narrative for UFO incidents.

  • Flying Saucer = UFO: When we think of a UFO, the first thing that comes to mind is a disc-shaped "flying saucer." Although a UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) can be any shape, movies have favored this design since the 1950s, and over time, flying saucers became synonymous with UFOs.

  • Government Conspiracy Theories: "The truth is out there!"—this was the core theme of The X-Files. This show greatly popularized the idea that "the government knows the truth but isn't telling us." Area 51, the Roswell incident—these became globally recognized cultural symbols through their portrayal in films and TV shows, moving beyond just a niche topic among UFO enthusiasts. Now, whenever there's UFO news, many people's first reaction is: "The authorities must be hiding something again."

  • Alien Abduction: Movies and TV shows often depict a beam of light descending, people being pulled into a spaceship, experimented on, and then having their memories erased... This "standard procedure" is deeply ingrained in people's minds, even influencing the "memories" of some who claim to have been abducted. Their descriptions are strikingly similar to movie plots, which actually forms a "cultural feedback loop": works of art depict abductions, then some people claim to have experienced similar events, and these experiences, in turn, provide inspiration for new works of art.

3. The Shift from "Invaders" to "Thinkers"

Popular culture's attitude towards aliens hasn't been static.

  • Early Period (Cold War Era): Aliens were often symbols of "invaders," representing external threats (e.g., fear of the Soviet Union). The core of the stories was confrontation and war.

  • Mid-Period (1970s-1990s): More diverse portrayals began to emerge. There were friends like E.T., and mysterious beings with unclear motives like those in The X-Files. People began to ponder, "We are not alone," and the attitude towards aliens evolved from simple fear to something more complex, filled with curiosity and awe.

  • Recent Period: Contemporary sci-fi works, such as the movie Arrival and the novel The Three-Body Problem, delve deeper into the discussion of aliens. They no longer dwell on what aliens look like or whether they're here to attack us, but rather explore higher-level questions:

    • If contact truly occurs, how will human civilization change?
    • Are our languages and ways of thinking universal in the cosmos?
    • How should we confront a civilization far more advanced than our own?

These works elevate UFOs and aliens from simple "folklore" or "urban legends" to a philosophical and anthropological level.

In Summary

Simply put, popular culture is our "primary educator" and "chief image consultant" when it comes to UFOs and aliens.

It has provided us with a visual and narrative template, ensuring we're not left completely clueless when facing this ultimate unknown. It has shaped our fears, our hopes, and defined the language and "memes" we use when discussing the topic (e.g., "The truth is out there").

So, the next time you see UFO news or discuss aliens, consider how many of the ideas in your mind come from facts, and how many were subtly instilled in you by Steven Spielberg, H.G. Wells, or the writers of The X-Files.

Created At: 09-08 13:58:28Updated At: 09-08 14:35:46