James Oberg's Pioneering Space

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"Folklore of the Future: Great Myths and Legends of Outer Space"

Throughout history, every physical frontier of human exploration has been accompanied by the robust spread of legends and folklore about mysteries encountered just at or slightly beyond the limits of human knowledge. Today' s 'Space Age' has its equivalents of the 'Golden Fleece', Scylla and Charybdis, mermaids and sea serpents, the 'Fountain of Youth' and the 'Seven Cities of Gold'. Have astronauts discovered alien structures on the Moon, or didn't they reach the Moon at all? What's the explanation for bizarre images from other planets and mysterious disappearances of space vehicles? Did NASA computers discover 'a missing day in time' that confirms an Old Testament miracle? Did space aliens beam back signals from a defunct Texas TV station to startled viewers in England in 1957? Why does space junk flaking off the Space Shuttle look so much like alien attackers, according to many current books, TV programs and websites, and why did Moscow's top scientists encourage the population to think that the rockets and satellites they saw in the skies were NOT of Soviet origin (as they were) but were genuine flying saucers? What's behind the UFO stories and cover-up accusations of Mercury-7 astronaut 'Gordo' Cooper, hero of the real history and of Hollywood's movie, 'The Right Stuff'? Oberg describes the widespread stories, the investigations into what caused them, and some real lessons for space enthusiasts and the general public.