Objective truth gained an esoteric, almost occult status along with subjects such as ghosts, bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, pagan paediatrics and other unexplained phenomena. Many didn't believe that objective truth even existed.
The dwindling numbers of people who insisted that real facts were 'out there' were pushed to the fringes of society and labelled conspiracy theorists. They saw it as their duty to promote even the most rudimentary facts and reintroduce them into the public arena.
One area of so-called "arcane knowledge" concerned IFOs (Identified Flying Objects), which eventually caught the public imagination, or rather the lack of it. Sensationalised books and magazines about the topic flooded newsagents and bookshops (see pages above and below from The IFO Phenomenon (Corgi, 1977) and a pull-poster from IFO Monthly magazine). By the end of the decade, many people claimed to have had a "close encounter" with an IFO. Some even reported that they had been taken aboard such craft.
(click to enlarge)
For more information about the suppression of facts in public discourse, see the Truth Reform Act of 1976 and mandatory de-education classes.
I want to disbelieve.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I saw one of these objects in Reading, Berkshire last year and a I remember how distinguishible looked an how calm I felt.
ReplyDeleteIt got so bad they put Peking duck on the menu in the foreign takeaways.
ReplyDeleteOne of your best yet! Perhaps because I remember those books and magazines so well. There was a whole section on the rack for them in Canada. (Home to many identifiable phenomena.)
ReplyDeleteYes, the True Jesus
ReplyDeleteis in our hearts -
a real IFO.
trustNjesus, dear.
ALWAYS.
God bless your indelible souls.
Don't watch the skies, we know they're not out there (when they're parked).
ReplyDelete