Belief, Disbelief, and Contested Meanings in American Ufology William J
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University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository American Studies ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2-8-2011 Occam's Beard: Belief, Disbelief, and Contested Meanings in American Ufology William J. Dewan Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/amst_etds Part of the American Studies Commons Recommended Citation Dewan, William J.. "Occam's Beard: Belief, Disbelief, and Contested Meanings in American Ufology." (2011). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/amst_etds/10 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in American Studies ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. OCCAM'S BEARD: BELIEF, DISBELIEF, AND CONTESTED MEANINGS IN AMERICAN UFOLOGY BY WILLIAM J. DEWAN B.S., Anthropology, James Madison University, 2000 M.A., Anthropology, East Carolina University, 2002 DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy American Studies The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico December, 2010 iii ©2010, William J. Dewan iv Acknowledgements This dissertation represents the culmination of research conducted over the course of nearly ten years. Over that span of time, a countless number of individuals provided me with the support, guidance, resources, and encouragement fundamental to completing this endeavor. I would first like to express my deepest appreciation for my committee members: Rebecca Schreiber, Alyosha Goldstein, Jane Young, and Holly Mathews. Dr. Schreiber provided unbridled support throughout the process, and her oversight of both the initial chapters and the overall structural layout proved to be invaluable. Dr. Goldstein graciously stepped into a suddenly vacant committee seat and helped see the project through. Dr. Young was the key stabilizing force in the project, and without our biweekly meetings (and her near instantaneous feedback), this dissertation would undoubtedly have remained in limbo. Her dedication to her students cannot be understated. Finally, I remain indebted to Dr. Mathews, who throughout my graduate career has somehow maintained the perfect balance between ―good cop‖ and ―bad cop‖ in terms of my writing and theoretical focus. Furthermore, Chapter 6 of this dissertation remains as much her work as mine. Sandy Rodrigue deserves my gratitude for her willingness to cheerfully assist me with nearly every logistical matter conceivable, from deadline reminders to paperwork to printing issues to fielding calls and emails from various UFO enthusiasts. Completion of this dissertation simply would not have been possible without her. In this vein, I also wish to sincerely thank Susan Pinter for helping to format this manuscript. v Special thanks are also in order for Jake Kosek, who provided the initial research questions and literary recommendations for Chapter 7, and the late Tim Moy, who oversaw an earlier version of Chapter 2. There remain many other individuals who have assisted me with my research at various points in time, and I wish to thank them here in no particular order: David Hufford, Thomas Bullard, James McClenon, George Hansen, David Griffith, Robert Bunger, James Kirkland, the late Karen Baldwin, Brenda Denzler, Antonio Garcez, James Moseley, Gabriel Melendez, Hannah Gilbert, Alison Fields, Gabriel Waters, Roy Durfee, Pablo Agua, Kristian Simcox, Andrew Marcum, Carolyn Kuchera, Chuck Jurich, Clare Daniel, Kara McCormack, Lee Doyle, Melanie Armstrong, Jennifer Richter, Melanie Cattrell, Mike Smith, Dan Sanford, Jode Nyboer, Tessa Cordova, Kelly Roney, Terri Russ, Tara Bregger, Richard Kyanka, Ken Marold, Tita Berger, Susan Deese-Roberts, Matthew Petrunia, Amanda Cobb, Gerald Vizenor, Eric Castillo, Kelly Sloane, Carol Ann Short, Willy Carleton, Jane Sinclair, Rick Nathanson, V.M. Kenkre, Dave Thomas, and the forum moderators at ufocasebook.conforums.com, alienhub.com, and alien-ufos.com. I also wish to acknowledge the continued presence in my life of my parents, Tom and Pat Dewan, who have done nothing but support me in everything I have ever attempted, and my partner, Erica Entrop, who above all others has patiently listened to all of my frustrations and exaltations on a daily basis. Finally, this dissertation would be truly impossible without the anonymous survey participants and interview respondents who were gracious enough to take the time to share their experiences with me. I have striven to ensure their accounts remain in their own words, regardless of my commentary. OCCAM'S BEARD: BELIEF, DISBELIEF, AND CONTESTED MEANINGS IN AMERICAN UFOLOGY BY WILLIAM J. DEWAN ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy American Studies The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico December, 2010 vii OCCAM’S BEARD: BELIEF, DISBELIEF, AND CONTESTED MEANINGS IN AMERICAN UFOLOGY BY WILLIAM J. DEWAN B.S., Anthropology, James Madison University, 2000 M.A., Anthropology, East Carolina University, 2002 Ph.D., American Studies, University of New Mexico, 2010 ABSTRACT The purpose of this dissertation is to critically examine the emergence, maintenance, evolution, and dissemination of belief traditions in New Mexico and the United States that are most commonly associated with the UFO phenomenon. This critical analysis incorporates theoretical frameworks from a multitude of interrelated disciplines, including folklore, history, anthropology, popular culture studies, sociology, and psychology. The primary goal of this dissertation involves the attempt to formulate a typology of UFO accounts in American culture, and how said accounts are interpreted, communicated, and publicly evaluated. To achieve this end, a database of UFO-related experiences was compiled in New Mexico and accompanied with a sample of extensive firsthand interviews from New Mexico and other parts of the United States, collected from 2007 to 2009. These data were analyzed for both their correlation to socio-demographic variables, and for patterns and variations in narrative form and content. viii The findings of this dissertation suggest that personal experience narratives—or memorates—containing UFO-related content remain relatively common among a sample New Mexican population. Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach, the overarching explanation for this commonality involves the complex interplay of a variety of social factors, including: the continued presence of Cold War-related anxieties and cultural paranoia; the ubiquitous presence of UFO and alien imagery in American popular culture; broad-based public mistrust in the scientific establishment; the usefulness of the phenomenon in modern ―technospiritual‖ reconciliations; the occasional presence of a seemingly core experience comprised of near universal characteristics, and the influence of UFO-centric cognitive models in the perceptions, interpretations, and reconsiderations of said experiences. These findings further suggest that many proponents of UFO-based belief traditions publicly position their opinions against a hostile skeptical community. To gain further insight into this competing perspective, a sampling of self-professed skeptics were interviewed in 2008. Their attitudes about the UFO phenomenon and other anomalous belief systems generally supported the idea of a broad competition in which proponents and skeptics grapple over cultural authority regarding public consensus on normative belief and experience in American life. The UFO phenomenon remains a key component in this public struggle, while continuing to symbolize deeper social anxieties involving issues of scientific ethics, governmental secrecy, racial disharmony, and spiritual hybridity. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures ......................................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1 Introduction: Situated Aliens .............................................................................1 Chapter 2 Flying Saucers, the Cold War, and Cultural Paranoia ..................................19 Paranoia and the Atomic Bomb ...................................................................................20 The Rise of the UFO Phenomenon ..............................................................................33 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................61 Chapter 3 New Religions and Celluloid Invaders .............................................................63 New Age Reconciliations ............................................................................................63 Popular Culture, Collective Memory, and the Cultural ―Other‖ .................................74 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................99 Chapter 4 A Survey of UFO and Paranormal Experiences in New Mexico.................101 Privileging Experience ...............................................................................................101 Method and Design ....................................................................................................107 Participants .................................................................................................................108 General Results ..........................................................................................................109