Oi Aliens! We’re Over Here!

Editorial Assistant Daniel Palmer traces the complex relationship between the Australian cultural landscape and the phenomenon of paranormal activity.

The paranormal is a phenomenon intrinsically borne from suspicion. With rumours in America of strange aircraft flying, and a growing cultural paranoia aimed at both foreign and domestic governments, a new suspicion took shape. As the Cold War’s disquieting malaise seeped into everyday life, a new form of the phenomena surged in popularity, and UFO mania was born in earnest. From the conception of UFO mania, the movement was inherently ingrained in American ideals. Crop circles in Arkansas fields and crashed unidentified objects in New Mexico deserts whisked away in the dead of night by mysterious suited men. Rumours of shadowy meetings between President Eisenhower and extraterrestrial governments, and top secret bases in Nevada. Alien visitors sure did have a penchant for popping up in the land of liberty. Australia did have a place in this extraterrestrial phenomena, but nothing nearly as large or frequent, or simply as significant as America. The few intriguing cases that did pop up in Australia would almost always include a vague mention of American interference: Pentagon officials confiscating material from the RAAF [1], or CIA agents interrogating Australian police officers [2]. Even in our own backyard, the link between America and UFO mythology prevailed. This was no accident; it was a reflection of the post-war division of cultural power, a showcase of the extent to which belief itself is shaped by a nation's power. 

The emphasis on America as a hotbed of paranormal activity was an assertion of the global importance of America. The idea that aliens would choose to primarily appear within America, and that the American government would be able to, to some degree, control, hide and classify such paranormal events, perpetuated an ideal of American global greatness and dominance [3]. During this time, with the Cold War in full swing, a significant reshaping of the Australian cultural landscape was taking place. As Australia’s political relationship with the US strengthened, so did our cultural reliance. With America asserting itself as a cultural powerhouse, a conscious soft-power effort, Australian cultural dependence was redirected from Britain, on whom the long-standing Australian cultural cringe had centred [4], to the US [5]. This cultural dependence was adopted, and an influx of American modernity, cultural standards, and political ideals created a new wave of aesthetics. Australia in the mid to late 1970s saw a rebuttal against this cultural dependence on America. The push against this was shown through a concerted and conscious effort to establish Australian culture and identity as “equal” to American and British culture [6].

This cultural swing would soon find a new battleground in the paranormal. As American culture bled into Australia, so too did an increased interest in the paranormal; Australian paranormal-focused zines and tabloids had a surge of popularity. In 1980, a young legal-aid lawyer named Mark Plummer saw a need for an Australian-based platform for rebuttal. In an open letter to the American-based Skeptical Inquirer, he asked for other interested parties to contact him. He would soon get a response from Australia’s own technology icon, Dick Smith, who offered to sponsor a visit to Australia by James Randi, an American professional magician-turned-paranormal debunker. As word of this got out, Richard Carlton and Phillip Adams, both renowned Australian journalists and intellectual TV-personalities, put their hats in the ring. The unlikely trio bankrolled a prize to anyone who could bring irrefutable proof of the paranormal, a challenge which still stands undefeated today and boasts a $100,000 prize, further bankrolled by the likes of CSIRO chairmen and anonymous benefactors [7]. The fact that multi-millionaires and cultural commentators were deciding to weigh in on the paranormal phenomena shows they understood the topic as a cultural debate, as well as a scientific debate. From this, The Skeptic was officially founded, a tabloid newspaper aimed at debunking paranormal claims in Australia. 

The Skeptic, from its inception, utilised elements of comedy and wit blended with scientific intellectualism. Larrikinism, ockerism and that classic Aussie laconic wit were finally gaining ground as mainstays of Australian culture. The incorporation of these, and their anti-establishment subtext, into the Australian paranormal field was a huge contrast to the self-importance of the American approach. The Skeptic didn’t come into the field with a sense of national grandiosity. It was snarky, self-deprecating and humorous: thoroughly and unashamedly Australian.

This thoroughly Australian approach can be seen so often throughout The Skeptic. In ‘Alien Honeycomb Tested’ [8], Mark Plummer deconstructs a claim that a UFO had exploded over a property in Queensland, the pieces of which had promptly been confiscated by the RAAF and shipped off for study at the Pentagon. The two individuals purporting this claim stated that they had pieces of the crashed craft that had been missed by the authorities, and that they would only allow the United Nations to test it. Plummer finishes his deconstruction and debunking of this story with a cheeky dig at the high hopes of the claimants:

“The Australian Skeptics understand that the United Nations General Assembly has yet to debate Messrs Pinkney and Ryzman's request for the UN to test and evaluate their samples of alien ‘honeycomb’ [8].” 

The Australian wit can also be seen in a later article titled ‘Unfair… We Haven’t Been Kidnapped!’ [8]. In this, discussing a lack of Australian UFO abduction cases, Tim Mendham bemoans: 

“What's wrong with Australians, we ask. Aren't we good enough for the aliens? Can we report this to the Anti-Discrimination Board? Is it something that even our best friends wouldn't tell us? But I use a deodorant [8]!” This self-deprecating lament uses Australian larrikinism to highlight a weakness in all abduction stories. Why on earth would aliens care enough to abduct and then drop off everyday random people? Or, more particularly, American people? 

The most potent of this wit is on show in Dr Anthony Wheeler’s ‘A UFO Has Landed – A Satire’ [9]. I encourage everyone to read this in The Skeptics archive edition “The Second Coming” [9]. Lampooning council and state governments, ANZACS, the Australian media, traffic wardens and immigration standards, as well as the Australian Skeptics themselves, Wheeler leaves no holds barred in this shining example of the cultural elements of the phenomena as Aliens land in Brisbane and are quickly shooed away by a bizarre mix of disgruntled and thoroughly Australian stereotypes, who seem to be unable to care less about the significance of first contact [9]. 

Discussion of the paranormal can reveal a lot about human nature and how we understand our place in the universe, but also how Australia views its place on the global stage. In The Skeptic particularly, our cultural identity shines through in an unapologetically Australian way. 

[1] Pinkney, J., & Ryzman, L. (1980). Alien Honeycomb. Pan.

[2] Eaton, M. (2021, June 26). Australian Defence Department not looking at UFOs despite landmark report on topic handed to US Congress. ABC. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-26/australian-defence-dept-says-it-is-not-looking-at-ufos/100246652

[3] Dean, J. (1998). Aliens in America. Cornell University Press.

[4] Phillips, AA. (1950). The Cultural Cringe. Meanjin, 9(4), 299-309. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.692761906212773 

[5] Turner, G. (1993). National Fictions: Literature, film and the construction of Australian narrative (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003116547

[6] Cunningham, Stuart. (1992). Framing culture : criticism and policy in Australia / Stuart Cunningham. Allen & Unwin.  

[7] Edwards, H. (1994). A mighty oak from a tiny acorn grew: A brief history of the Australian Skeptics. The Skeptic, 14(3), 48. https://www.skeptics.com.au/wp-content/uploads/magazine/The%20Skeptic%20Volume%2014%20%281994%29%20No%203.pdf

[8] Williams, B, et al. (1990). In the beginning : the first five years of The Skeptic. Australian Skeptics. https://www.skeptics.com.au/wp-content/uploads/magazine/In%20the%20Beginning%20-%20the%20first%20five%20years.pdf

[9] Williams, B, et al. (1990). The Second Coming - UFOS. Australian Skeptics. https://www.skeptics.com.au/wp-content/uploads/magazine/The%20Second%20Coming%20-%201986%20to%201990%20collection%20-%20UFOs.pdf