The Flying Saucer Poetry Review is the first-ever literary journal devoted exclusively to poetry and artwork about the UFO phenomenon. Webzine. Published irregularly.
“Thank you for adding a literary voice to the experience.”
— Dr. Vali Hawkins Mitchell
* * * recently listed by Locus: The Magazine of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Field * * *
Editor’s Note: We are working towards establishing a quarterly publishing schedule for this journal. A print version is in development.
This journal seeks intriguing and enthralling writing and art that presents and attempts to process the seemingly inexplicable and leaves us unsure of what just happened, much like the UFO phenomenon itself. Unbounded creativity in the exploration and treatment of this subject matter is highly prized.
If you love poetry and artwork that is 100% UFO-centric then you have most certainly come to the right place! The name of this literary journal obviously embraces the subject matter, using the term which was popularly applied to describing the phenomenon in the early days especially, but it is also very specifically a nod to Ray Palmer’s Flying Saucers magazine of the 1950s–1970s. As well, it directly references The Flying Saucer Review, a Seattle-based publication of the 1950s that, you guessed it, covered the UFO phenomenon and Flying Saucer Review, a London-based publication of the 1960s and 70s that explored fortean and UFO phenomena.
To the very best of our knowledge, this is the first and only literary journal of its kind, dedicated exclusively to poetry and artwork about the UFO phenomenon. We would like to think of UFO poetry as being a sub-classification of speculative poetry, but that implies that UFOs are beyond reality and of that, we cannot say, and it might also imply that the UFO phenomenon itself is purely fictional, which, of course, it is not. Perhaps, though, UFO and poetry should be combined to form a new word, UFOpoe (or maybe UFOpo), with this portmanteau serving the dual purpose of honoring Edgar Allan Poe, who is widely considered to be the “father of speculative poetry.”
Unidentified flying objects. UFOs. Flying saucers. It can be a positively enthralling moment when one first learns of them, potentially laying the foundation for a lifetime of fascination in the subject. If you’re reading this, such may hold true for you. Maybe this literary journal will be exactly what you were looking for, the creative outlet for that UFO obsession of yours. It is just that for us, that’s why we put this thing together in the first place!
The rebranding of unidentified flying object (UFO) to unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) by the Pentagon is the newest iteration in this long and mesmerizing tale. It will be interesting to see how all of this develops in the coming years. In the meantime, let’s write some poetry and create some artwork about UFOs!
The Academy of American Poets does a great write up on serious poets who have delved into writing about the UFO phenomenon in an article titled “Poems about Aliens,” published July 1st, 2007, in anticipation of that year’s World UFO Day. It’s a great read.
If you have not seen the fascinating 2003 feature-length documentary film, Out of the Blue, about the UFO phenomenon, we would highly recommend that you do so; it will provide a source of inspiration and fascination. We have not yet viewed The Phenomenon, a 2020 documentary film about, you guessed it, the UFO phenomenon, also by James Fox, and it’s supposed to be excellent.
Back to UFO poetry and artwork. Perhaps writing a poem or creating artwork about your own personal UFO experience would be cathartic, allowing you to express the sense of awe, sheer terror, mystifying intrigue or some combination thereof that you may have felt during such an experience. Or, write a poem or create artwork about what you would imagine such an experience to be like, it could be an expansive foray into your creativity. Alternatively, you might take a more philosophical approach and poetically divine the possible outcomes of a universally acknowledged alien visitation. Would our traditional belief systems fall and blink out of existence like so many sparks hammered from the soul of humanity upon the cataclysmic anvil of colliding civilizations; or might it evolve the state of our spirituality and strengthen our religious convictions? Are less technologically advanced civilizations always doomed to be conquered in ruinous fashion by those more advanced? Might alien contact bring us closer together as a species, even in the absence of a The War of the Worlds type of scenario, unifying us in a shared sense of humanity and home planet or perhaps divide us even further? The questions and possibilities are profound in their nature and scope and pretty well unlimited.
While the following brainstormed list pertaining to the UFO phenomenon is by no means exhaustive, it should serve to shine a spotlight on what you already likely know, namely, what a remarkably rich source of material and inspiration this phenomenon provides to poets and artists who are so inclined to pursue this particular pathway through their imagination. It may serve to further fuel your obsession with writing UFO poetry and creating UFO artwork or it may inspire you to write your first UFO poem or paint your first UFO. So much amazing material for creative expression is provided by this phenomenon that it positively boggles the mind. This literary journal exists to explore every facet of this fascinating phenomenon with you through poetry and artwork.
The UFO phenomenon would necessarily include subphenomena, or phenomena by extension — like the seemingly nefarious activities of aliens that have egressed their spacecraft and tools that help us to analyze the phenomenon, like the extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH), the Drake equation, the Fermi paradox, the Lincoln index and the Kardashev scale. Here’s the partial list: UFO sightings & visitations, historical UFO sightings, worldwide UFO sightings, flying saucers, UFO personal experiences, UFO/alien contact/contactee(s), alien abduction/abduction phenomenon/alien abduction syndrome/UFO abduction, UFO hoaxes, UFO crop circles, extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH), governmental and military UFO coverups, conspiracies and misdirection, alien control of the government, U.S. government complicity with aliens, the UFO policies of other governments, aliens among us, ufology, Project Sign/Project SAUCER, Project Grudge, Project Blue Book, the Robertson Panel, the government-funded Condon Committee/University of Colorado UFO Project, Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects/the Condon Report, Area 51, the COMETA Report, 1561 celestial phenomenon over Nuremberg, mystery/phantom airship sightings, the Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting, the Roswell UFO incident, the 1952 Washington, D.C. UFO incident, Edwards AFB UFO sighting, the Rendlesham Forest UFO incident, the Hudson Valley UFO sightings, the Belgian UFO wave, the Phoenix Lights UFO mass sighting, the lights above the New Jersey turnpike mass sighting, the Passaic, NJ UFO photo, the McMinville UFO photos, the 2006 O’Hare International Airport UFO sighting, the Stephenville UFO sightings, the Lubbock Lights, the Marfa Lights, the Westall UFO, UFOs and our nukes, Nazi/UFO technology, foo fighter, flying orbs, Scandinavian ghost rockets, the history of the UFO phenomenon, the sociocultural impact of the UFO phenomenon, World UFO Day, Hollywood/the entertainment industry and UFOs, supernatural UFO theories, UFO mass hysteria theory, humans from the future UFO theory, UFO subterranean bases, UFO ocean bases, UFO bases in Antarctica, the dark side of the moon UFO bases, alien/UFO invasion, alien/UFO emissaries, alien/UFO explorers, warring alien races, Grey aliens/Zeta Reticulans/Roswell Greys/Grays, Nordic aliens/Tall whites, Reptilians/Reptiloids, Martians, Little Green Men, the Kelly–Hopkinsville encounter/Hopkinsville Goblins Case/Kelly Green Men Case, close encounters, close encounters of the third kind, Hynek’s scale, Bloecher subtypes, extensions of Hynek’s scale, extraterrestrial beings, interdimensional beings, ancient astronauts/aliens hypothesis and past human-extraterrestrial contact, impact of contact with ancient aliens/astronauts and UFO sightings on human civilization, Erich von Däniken and Chariots of the Gods?, human-alien hybridization programs, UFOs from advanced alien civilizations, The X-Files, black triangle UFOs, cigar-shaped UFOs, military concern about UFOs, military/government UFO research, UFO reverse engineering, UFO whistleblower Bob Lazar, rebranding of UFO to UAP, the U. S. Navy’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force, U.S. Navy UAP/UFO USS Nimitz encounter w/ video and the East Coast GO FAST encounter w/ video, the Pentagon’s Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, Luis Elizondo, The New York Times article about such, journalist Leslie Kean, To the Stars… Academy of Arts & Sciences, Sen. Harry Reid, Bigelow Aerospace, Canada’s ex-defense minister Paul Hellyer, NASA live feed UFO sightings, astronaut UFO sightings, cosmonaut UFO sightings, MUFON, SETI, extraterrestrial intelligence, ufologist Dr. Steven Greer, the Drake equation, modifications to the Drake equation, the Kardashev scale and extraterrestrial civilizations, the Fermi paradox, the Lincoln index/Lincoln-Petersen method, UFOs and sidereal time — the list goes on and on!
Time to write some UFO poetry and create some UFO artwork!
Check out the UFO Poetry & Artwork Submission Guidelines in the dropdown menu.
