Beams From Flying Saucers
There's something about the old-school "flying saucer" UFO.
I've covered a wide range of classic sci-fi spaceship art, but the flying saucer is in a class by itself. It's mysterious, eerie, unknowable, even horrific. Cryptic and a cryptid.
There's only one thing that could make it spookier: If it's shining an alien spotlight or tractor beam straight at you.
Here's a classic example of what I'm talking about, from the uncredited cover to a non-fiction book Ultimate Encounter: The True Story of a UFO Kidnapping, by Bill Barry.
I'm not sure what year that edition is from, although I do know the title was first published in May 1978 with this cover:
"True" stories of alien visitors were a great source for UFO beam art. Here's Jim Nichols' 1991 cover for The Promise.
Here's Larry Elmore's 1996 cover art for Strange Deliverance, by Mary Brown. Elmore is more known for his fantasy illustration, but that makes him a great fit for the supernatural aura carried by UFOs and Stonehedge-like ruins.
The alien tech behind tractor beams has no limits, as Vincent Di Fate's album cover art for Star One's debut 2002 album Space Metal makes clear.
Aliens may have been dolphins all along, judging from this 1996 artwork by Gage Taylor & Uriel Dana, titled "Ascension." Perhaps their lack of arms explains the need for a tractor beam in the first place.
This 1971 Moebius comic book panel depicts a flying saucer that's taking a more destructive approach to a body of water. I hope the dolphins aren't around for this!
Romas Kukalis' 1981 cover to Fire Throne Mountain, by E. Rew Bixby, features a similar scene over a river.
The UFO on Clyde Caldwell’s 1979 cover to Saucer Hill, by Paul Adler, is beaming up the title of the book itself.
Why stop at one beam? Jim Lamb's 1979 album art for Flo Price's Christmas 2001: A Space-Age Adventure depicts a group of well-lit kids having a great time.
Speaking of album art, I'd be remiss not to include Pete Watson's 1982 cover art for A Flock Of Seagulls' "I Ran" Synth-pop single.
Interestingly, the group of flying saucers on the back illustration is a different but very similar group when compared to the version seen through the goggles on the front cover.
Tim White did more than a few great UFO beams in his time. Here are three examples.
Tim White wasn't the only one to realize that shadowy figures in robes fit perfectly with a mysterious UFO beam: Here's Stephen Youll's sick 1991 cover to Isaac Asimov's Second Foundation.
Bruce Pennington's many UFO illustrations don't typically have beams, but here's one that depicts a reign of destruction: His 1978 cover to The Heaven Makers, by Frank Herbert.
The situation isn't looking great on Joe Petagno’s 1974 cover to Dangerous Visions 1, edited by Harlan Ellison.
This lesser-known Angus McKie illustration was used as the 1984 cover to 40 Educational Games for the Atari, by Vince Apps.
I feel like I wind up including Dale M. Figley's May 1981 illustration from Future Life Magazine #26 in all my posts about UFOs, but it fits the bill here as well!
This 1971 Dean Ellis cover is another classic, to me.
Let's end on a weird one: David Darrow's cover for a 1985 issue of PROFILES magazine, for a story titled "The ZSystem: A close encounter."
Wait, actually, let's end on this awesome 1980 art from Exploring UFOs, by Jonathan Rutland. True to the shadowy legacy of the unidentified flying object, the artist behind this one is uncredited – and now seemingly lost to time.
Cool Links
Iron Maiden: The secrets of the Somewhere In Time album artwork revealed - Louder
Here's an entire article that does nothing but list the hidden details in Derek Riggs' incredibly complex 1986 cover art for Iron Maiden's Somewhere In Time. It apparently contains the TARDIS and Batman, among much more.
Children with Rideable Suitcases - Chris Fleming
It recently occurred to me that I can just recommend whatever I want in this section. Anyway, this comedian's really funny.
Music rec: Here's a YouTube playlist of "Sexy Spy Crime Jazz"
Next Time: Strange Dragons