Saucers and Sputnik

Whether by accident or design, following the former Soviet Union’s successful launch of Sputnik 1 in October 1957, there was an immediate and dramatic upswing in the number of UFO encounters reported from within the borders of the USA. While those of a distinctly skeptical nature might very well give much consideration to the possibility that many such reports were merely due to over excitement, Cold War nerves, public hysteria and anxiety, and very understandable concern over the surprise Russian launch, other UFO connected events could not be dismissed with such apparent ease and logic.