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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Radio Mystery Theater predicts UFO abductions

During my youth I was absolutely fascinated with the nightly show, The CBS Radio Mystery Theater. It was on AM radio at 11:07 each weeknight, and I would lie in bed and listen to the drama on my clock radio. There were stories of the paranormal, ghosts and monsters. The show was hosted by E.G. Marshall, who had a hauntingly beautiful voice.

This story is a fictional re-telling of a series of UFO abductions. The original air-date was November 25, 1974, well before the proliferation in the media of abduction accounts. The set of plot points closely matches many of the elements of the typical UFO abduction account (including mind control, telepathy and implants) and I find this fascinating.

I had a missing time event in the fall of 1974, (I don't know the exact date) and this story was first aired shortly after that experience, potentially only a few weeks later.

Episode title: The Sighting

Plot: A husband and wife witness the landing of a UFO. The husband wants to pretend it didn't happen, but the wife begins getting extraterresial visits from these mysterious aliens. The wife is played by Kim Hunter, the sympathetic ape from the original PLANET OF THE APES.
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7 comments:

  1. Mike Clelland!October 18, 2011 at 9:09 AM

    Good Grief! That opening bit of audio, with the creaking door and the moody music - Yikes - I'm having a hyper-vivid flashback to my old bedroom of my youth!

    Oh how I loved this show!

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  2. trishOctober 18, 2011 at 3:14 PM

    MORE TO LISTEN TO! LOVE IT. THANKS, MIKE.

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  3. Red Pill JunkieOctober 18, 2011 at 4:59 PM

    Man, that alien scout was something of a mixed bag. Sure, he implanted a mind-controlling device on that poor lady, but he was always polite enough to ring on the door bell before entering :P

    I wonder if this is the first reference to alien implants in pop culture. Probably not, since I don't think these radio show writers would have had much time for innovation.

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  4. Mike Clelland!October 18, 2011 at 5:14 PM

    Reply to RPJ:

    The 1953 film INVADERS FROM MARS has alien implants as a very creepy plot element.

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  5. David LorellOctober 19, 2011 at 6:43 AM

    I remember listening to CBSRMT from about the age of ten, under the covers with a transistor radio and a curly wired ear bud. Though they were often times boring as hell, the creaking door intro and voice of EG Marshall was compelling enough to make listening a ritual.

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  6. Professor PanOctober 19, 2011 at 12:26 PM

    I loved this show, and also listened under my covers on a tiny radio. Seems to be a commonality here :-)

    I had an unusual, potentially missing time experience around the same time as yours (1974) though it may be off by a few years. It was terrifying—I woke up at the bottom of the stairs in the basement. The basement always scared the hell out of me, so waking up there was deeply disturbing.

    P.S. I noticed that the two characters in this episode share my last name (Hughes).

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  7. TrishOctober 19, 2011 at 3:58 PM

    MIKE - HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THIS?
    http://maximkammerer.blogspot.com/2011/10/new-ufo-hypothesis-artificial.html
    It mentions mac tonnie.

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Hi there. I am eager to hear your comments, especially if you have similar stories. I'm happy to answer any questions you have.

And - I reserve the right to delete any comments that are offensive or excessively harsh.