94-545: This is a list, which includes a photographic gallery, of some of the remaining historic properties in the town of Casa Grande, Arizona . Some of the structures in the list were made of fieldstone by local stonemason Michael Sullivan. Many of the historic structures in this list are listed either in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) or the Casa Grande Historic Register. Also listed are two of
188-499: A wave of sightings followed. The 1952 sightings spurred Leonard H. Stringfield to form an early UFO investigation group called the "Civilian Investigating Group for Aerial Phenomena" and to publish research on UFOs. Albert K. Bender started his own "International Flying Saucer Bureau" in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1952. Influenced by these works, James W. Moseley began to tour the country interviewing witnesses and distributing
282-399: A June 26 radio interview, Arnold described them as "something like a pie plate that was cut in half with a sort of a convex triangle in the rear". Headline writers coined the terms "flying saucer" and "flying disk" (or "disc") for the story. Arnold later told CBS news that the early coverage "did not quote me properly [...] when I described how they flew, I said that they flew like they take
376-416: A dome or knob-shaped protrusion on the top side. Size estimates ranged from 20 feet to thousands of feet in diameter. Menzel found saucers reported in nearly every color, often glowing or flashing. The sightings had little consistency in reported movement or sounds. Some witnesses reported silent objects; others reported a roar or thunderclap. Sightings were most often during the night. If the saucer's crew
470-469: A female householder with no husband present, and 26.6% were non-families. 21.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.24. In the city, the population was spread out, with 30.9% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age
564-496: A flying disc. Throughout 1947, the saucers became increasingly associated with the idea of extraterrestrial life. The stories spread to other countries, where they were influenced by local political and social concerns. In Europe, which was still recovering from the Second World War , saucers were often reported with rocket-like features. German newspapers reported flying saucers that exploded or had tails of fire. The names for
658-538: A genre emerged that treated fantastical stories as either true or plausibly true. The debut issues of Mystic magazine asked readers, "When you read this story, you will tell yourself that it is fiction; the editors assure you that it is. But what if—it isn't?" The Fortec Conspiracy , a science fiction novel, both drew from and fed into the UFO rumors surrounding the Roswell incident debris. Aliens and flying discs were common in
752-544: A great height, like space. Each of the targets has a manhole with a cement cover and rebar handles. The manhole is located on the west arm of the cross. According to Gary Morgan, member of the Cold War Museum in Warrenton VA., the 6 pieces of rebar, which protrude at an equal distance from each other, may have been used to hold laser lighting to give a more accurate fix on each target. The targets were abandoned following
846-421: A hovering disc by tilting their own body. Video games have a long history of depicting flying saucers, typically as antagonists. In the arcades, the popular early shooting games Asteroids (1979) and Space Invaders (1978) featured flying saucers as "bonus" enemies that only emerged briefly. Super Mario Land , one of Nintendo 's launch titles for the original Game Boy , contained spaceships modeled on
940-516: A loan and the bank took possession of the property. The domes were abandoned and never completed. In later years, the iconic and crumbling structures, some which resemble flying saucers and giant caterpillars, became an attraction to vandals, graffiti artists and others. The domes were featured in Season 12, Episode 9 of the Travel Channel series " Ghost Adventures " In 2017, the county officials ordered
1034-678: A month of the first flying saucer reports, Crisman sent Palmer metal fragments and an account from his employee Harold Dahl about a malfunctioning flying saucer. Palmer recruited Kenneth Arnold to investigate Crisman and Dahl's Maury Island incident . The metal turned out to be slag from a local smelter, but the men in black that Crisman and Dahl claimed were following them would become a common element of later UFO accounts. Gray Barker popularized "men in black" who intimidate or silence UFO witnesses in his book They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers . Palmer launched Fate (magazine) in 1948, claiming to offer "the truth about flying saucers". It
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#17330928348441128-565: A newsletter for the growing saucer subculture. Within a decade of the first saucer sightings, reports had spread to many countries where local groups and ufologists emerged. Antonio Ribera started Centro de Estudios Interplanetarios in Spain, and Edgar Jarrold founded the Australia Flying Saucer Bureau . In France, UFO groups overlapped with occult groups and the anti-nuclear movement . Reports have been more often made in
1222-618: A parallel social movement. Well-known Variety columnist Frank Scully published Behind the Flying Saucers in 1950. The book presents the Aztec, New Mexico crashed saucer hoax as the true account of an alien craft that "gently pancaked to earth like Sonja Henie imitating a dying swan" and was recovered by the United States government. It describes one of the hoaxers—who were convicted of fraud for selling nonfunctional dowsing equipment to
1316-617: A popular explanation in France. Flying saucers in popular media underwent a similar change in movement. Early films like The Flying Saucer (1950) and film serials like Bruce Gentry – Daredevil of the Skies (1949) show saucers streaking past at high speeds. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) mentions high speeds tracked by radar but also includes a slow landing scene. The 1960s television series The Invaders prominently features
1410-596: A prominent roadside flying saucer at its welcome center. UFO-shaped homes include the Futuro pods designed by Matti Suuronen , the former Sanzhi UFO houses from the Sanzhi District , New Taipei , Taiwan , and artist Harry Visser's iconic home in Roodepoort, Johannesburg. Flying saucers were a ubiquitous part of pop culture from 1947 into the mid 1970s. Flying disc motifs were used in toys and other novelties soon after
1504-434: A saucer and throw it across the water. Most of the newspapers misunderstood and misquoted that, too. They said that I said that they were saucer-like; I said that they flew in a saucer-like fashion." The circular shape of typical flying saucers may be due to reporters mistaking Arnold's "saucer-like" description of motion. Arnold's story incited a wave of hundreds of flying saucer reports . The next widely publicized report
1598-551: A slow landing scene in every episode. Many later iconic flying saucer films, including Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and Fire in the Sky (1993), depict hovering and slow movements. Since the late 1940s, flying discs have increasingly become associated with a cultural conception of aliens that reflects the social and political anxieties of the 20th century. Fictional flying saucers reflect concerns around atomic warfare ,
1692-700: A state of abandonment. The Domes were featured in Season 11, Episode 9 of the Travel Channel series " Ghost Adventures " Casa Grande ( Spanish for big house) is a city in Pinal County , which was founded in 1879 during the Arizona mining boom. Initially called Terminus it was an outpost and the end of the Railroad line for a while. Then. was named after the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument , which
1786-585: A stop in Eloy . The closest major airports to Casa Grande are Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Tucson International Airport . Casa Grande Shuttle provides an airport shuttle to Sky Harbor. Flying saucers A flying saucer , or flying disc , is a purported disc-shaped UFO . The term was coined in 1947 by the news media for the objects pilot Kenneth Arnold claimed flew alongside his airplane above Washington State . Newspapers reported Arnold's story with speed estimates implausible for airplanes of
1880-730: A subgenre of documentary photography , showing often blurry or abstract discs framed by otherwise everyday settings. Notable examples include the McMinnville photographs , the Passaic UFO photographs , and the photographs of contactee George Adamski. Some of the alleged flying saucer photographs of the era were hoaxes , done with everyday objects like hubcaps . German rocket scientist Walther Johannes Riedel analyzed George Adamski's UFO photos and found them to be faked. The UFO's "landing struts" were General Electric light bulbs with logos printed on them. UFO researcher Joel Carpenter identified
1974-710: A volunteer reading club for elementary school, internet access, and a talking book program. The main library is 16,000 square feet (1,500 m ), provides 75,000 volumes, and provides 38 public access computers with internet access. The Vista Grande Public Library, a branch of the Casa Grande Library System, opened in the summer of 2009. The Casa Grande Municipal Court is the judicial branch of Casa Grande City government and accepted 6,609 filings, conducted 2,486 arraignments and held 156 civil, criminal and jury trials in Fiscal Year 2006–2007. Most of Casa Grande
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#17330928348442068-620: Is actually located in Coolidge . "Casa Grande" is Spanish for "big house". Among resident English speakers, there is no consensus on how to pronounce the city's name. Casa Grande was founded in 1879 during the Arizona mining boom, specifically due to the presence of the Southern Pacific Railroad. In January 1880, the community of Terminus, meaning "end-of-the-line," was established despite consisting of just five residents and three buildings. In September 1880, railroad executives renamed
2162-466: Is actually located in Coolidge . The presence of the Southern Pacific Railroad contributed to the growth of the town. The Casa Grande Valley Historical Society was founded in 1964 to preserve and exhibit the history of the Casa Grande region. The city has numerous historic properties which have been listed either in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) or have been identified as historical by
2256-501: Is an outdoor mall, built on a 100-acre (0.40 km ) patch of desert, and contains nearly a million square feet. An additional $ 11 million was spent by the city to fund the reconstruction of the Florence Blvd./I-10 freeway overpass. Ehrmann Commonwealth Dairy operates a major dairy processing facility in the town that opened in 2013 and employs about 110 people. According to Casa Grande's 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,
2350-869: Is in the Casa Grande Elementary School District , while a portion is in the Toltec Elementary School District . All of Casa Grande is in the Casa Grande Union High School District . The following schools are located in Casa Grande. Public Elementary Public Middle School Public High School Charter High School Charter Schools Private Colleges These highways serve Casa Grande. The City of Coolidge operates Central Arizona Regional Transit (CART), which provides transportation between Florence , Coolidge , Central Arizona College and Casa Grande. Greyhound serves Casa Grande from
2444-462: Is often referred to as the "Jetsons look". Architect Frank Lloyd Wright , who collaborated on the design of the flying saucer in "The Day The Earth Stood Still", went on to use the flying saucer as an architectural motif. Wright's circular Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin , United States, is capped by a flattened dome over a hundred feet across. Spaceships are also one of
2538-589: Is seen as a symbol of 1950s culture. The motif is common in Googie architecture and Atomic Age décor. Notable flying saucer structures include Seattle's Space Needle and Los Angeles International Airport's Theme Building . Googie architecture in California, like the Chemosphere home, influenced the futuristic structures in the 1960s cartoon The Jetsons . The cartoon popularized the style to such an extent, that it
2632-485: Is that the idea of space vehicles shaped like flying saucers was imprinted in the national psyche for many years prior to 1947, when the Roswell incident took place. It didn't take much stretching for the first observers of UFOs to assume that the unknown objects hovering in the sky had the same disk shape as the science fictional vehicles. The modern flying saucer concept, including the association with aliens, can be traced to
2726-499: The Denison Daily News printed an article in which John Martin, a local farmer, reported an object resembling a balloon flying "at wonderful speed". The newspaper said it appeared to be about the size of a saucer from his perspective, one of the first uses of the word "saucer" in association with a UFO. During the 1940s, allied pilots reported encountering foo fighters they believed were advanced axis aircraft. Many aspects of
2820-501: The tokusatsu tradition in mid-50s films like Fearful Attack of the Flying Saucers and Warning from Space . Indian cinema began to incorporate alien invaders in the 1960s, starting with the Tamil-language Kalai Arasi . An adaptation of Bankubabur Bandhu by Satyajit Ray was never completed but may have influenced other works of science fiction. In Spain, alien-themed television shows became popular in
2914-547: The Cold War , loss of bodily integrity , xenophobia , government secrecy, and whether humanity is alone in the universe. No correlation has been found between the release of major UFO films and spikes in sightings. A disc, often domed or shining down a ray of light, has become visual shorthand for aliens. It has been used in modern times to signify pop culture aliens. The aerial disc motif has been misinterpreted in much older art, created when it had different connotations. In 2017,
List of historic properties in Casa Grande, Arizona - Misplaced Pages Continue
3008-569: The Daleks in Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. or the Cybermen in " The Tenth Planet ". Aliens in the film Independence Day (1996) attacked humanity in giant city-sized saucer-shaped spaceships. As the flying saucer was surpassed by other designs and concepts, it fell out of favor with straight science-fiction moviemakers, but continued to be used ironically in comedy movies, especially in reference to
3102-549: The Gila River War Relocation Center . Two notable people that were interned there were future actor Pat Morita and baseball player Kenichi Zenimura , who constructed a baseball field and set up a league in the relocation camp. Casa Grande is home to Francisco Grande Hotel & Golf Resort, former spring training location for the San Francisco Giants . Then owner, Horace Stoneham , began developing
3196-463: The Mantell UFO incident , a pilot died while pursuing an unknown round object that was later identified as a Skyhook balloon. Beginning in the mid 1950s, psychologists began to study why people believed in flying saucers if the evidence was so limited. French psychiatrist Georges Heuyer considered the movement to be a kind of global folie à deux , or shared delusion, used to navigate anxieties. In
3290-821: The Most SNP in Bratislava , and The Flying Saucer in Sharjah , United Arab Emirates . The Westall UFO was commemorated with the Grange Reserve UFO Park, featuring a UFO with red slides modeled after the reported sighting. Roswell, New Mexico , is a UFO tourist destination in the Southwestern United States. Many structures in the town, including the streetlights and the McDonald's, are designed around alien themes. Moonbeam, Ontario has an alien for its mascot and
3384-613: The Pacific Southwest Baseball League . According to the United States Census Bureau , Casa Grande has a total area of 112.01 square miles (290.1 km ), all land. Casa Grande has a hot desert climate ( Köppen climate classification BWh), typical for the Sonoran Desert . The city experiences long, extremely hot summers and brief winters consisting of mild afternoons and chilly evenings. Along with
3478-566: The poverty line , including 21.2% of those under age 18 and 12.3% of those age 65 or over. The economy of Casa Grande was historically based on rural, agricultural industries, such as cotton and dairy farms. Over time, the city has become home to many Phoenix or Tucson urbanites who own homes in Casa Grande. Most residents either commute north to work in the Phoenix metropolitan area, or to the south, to work in Tucson. This trend has contributed to growth in
3572-455: The "flying saucers" concept in the fantasy artwork of the 1930s pulp science fiction magazines, by artists like Frank R. Paul . One of the first depictions of a "flying saucer", by illustrator Frank R. Paul appeared on the cover of the November 1929 issue of Hugo Gernsback 's pulp science fiction magazine Science Wonder Stories . Science fiction illustrator Frank Wu wrote: The point
3666-627: The 1800s included details like metal hulls, propellers, searchlights, and large wings. The 1947 sightings—occurring months before Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier —emphasized the "incredible speed" of flying saucers. The majority of 1947 reports emphasized speed. This fell to 41 percent in 1971, and 22 percent in 1986. In the 1950s, hovering flying saucers were associated with contactees and hoaxes; by 1986 almost half of reported UFOs were claimed to hover slowly or motionlessly. The majority of flying saucer and broader UFO reports have been identified with known phenomena . Investigations by
3760-494: The 1947 Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting . On June 24, 1947, businessman and amateur pilot Kenneth Arnold landed at the Yakima, Washington airstrip. He told staff and friends that he'd seen nine unusual airborne objects. Arnold estimated their speed at 1,700 miles per hour, beyond the capabilities of known aircraft. Newspapers soon contacted Arnold for interviews. The East Oregonian reported his supposed aircraft as "saucer-like". In
3854-484: The 1950s science fiction comics that flourished after the Golden Age of Comic Books . The comic book anthology UFO Flying Saucers , launched in the 1960s, published illustrations of supposedly real sightings. The opening to its first issue declared, "Our scientists have seen them! Our airmen have fought them!" Advertisements in the 1950s and 1960s referenced flying saucers as purported alien spacecraft and reflected
List of historic properties in Casa Grande, Arizona - Misplaced Pages Continue
3948-401: The 1950s, musicians like Billy Lee Riley , Jesse Lee Turner , and Betty Johnson released novelty songs about flying discs and alien invaders. Bill Buchanan and Dickie Goodman released the first break-in record , " The Flying Saucer ", which took the form of a mock news broadcast covering an alien invasion. Disneyland introduced Flying Saucers , an attraction where guests could pilot
4042-548: The 1960s, they waned in popularity. Discs ceased to be viewed as the standard shape for alien spacecraft but are still often depicted, sometimes for their retro value to evoke the early Cold War era. Reports of fantastical aircraft predate the first flying saucers. In antiquity, mysterious lights in the sky were interpreted as spiritual phenomena. In the 1800s, many newspapers reported massive airships with glowing lights and humming engines. These are often seen as precursors to "flying saucer" and "UFO" sightings. On January 25, 1878,
4136-624: The 1960s. Flying saucers quickly spread to other genres. In Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 's big-budget Forbidden Planet , a futuristic 1956 adaptation of William Shakespeare's play The Tempest , humans travel through space in the United Planets Cruiser C-57D , a ship resembling a 1950s flying saucer. The Twilight Zone episodes "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street", "Third from the Sun", " Death Ship ", " To Serve Man ", " The Invaders " and " On Thursday We Leave for Home " all make use of
4230-488: The 1970s, French UFO researcher Michel Monnerie examined reports that were later identified and reports that remained unidentified. Monnerie found no difference in the frequency of paranormal phenomena reported alongside the sightings identified later as mundane known objects. This led him to develop the thesis that the saucer-specific experiences were a "psychosocial" process of myth-making triggered by but not caused by aerial phenomena. This Psychosocial UFO hypothesis became
4324-635: The Arizona Department of Health. This allowed the CGFD to expand by 26 members. Just prior to that he had added a full-time Ladder company (12 new firefighters) to the Department. In 2023, Chief Kean got funding for a new Fire Station 503 at a cost over $ 13.4 million dollars. This is the first new fire facility in over 14 years. The Casa Grande Public Library provides the standard services of access to reading materials, as well as some special services, including
4418-502: The British government in th 1950s found the vast majority of reports to be misidentifications or hoaxes. Some causes of saucer sightings include Venus, ice crystals, balloons, and airborne trash. The US Government and General Mills launched thousands of top-secret Skyhook spy balloon during the 1950s. These massive balloons floated at high altitudes, making it difficult to judge their speed, and were widely reported as flying saucers. During
4512-517: The California-based electronics manufacturing company InnerConn Technology Inc's new headquarters. The company's then-current headquarters in Mountain View, California was to become a branch plant. At the ground breaking event for the domes in 1982, owner of InnerConn Technology Patricia Zebb stated: InnerConn opened one office in the structures, but production never started after it defaulted on
4606-729: The Casa Grande Historic Preservation Program. The Historic Preservation Office works together with the Historic Preservation. They determine which properties meet the criteria for inclusion in the Casa Grande Historic Property Register. However, the preservation office does not have the ability to deny a demolition permit. Therefore, owners of a property listed in the National Historic Property Register may demolish
4700-589: The City of Casa Grande. The Casa Grande Fire Department operates out of 4 Fire Stations and an Administrative Headquarters at the Public Safety Building. CGFD is serving 109.65 square miles with over 60,000 residents. Dave Kean is the Fire Chief for the City of Casa Grande. In 2021-22 Chief Kean led the fight for the City to form their own ambulance transportation service and obtain a “Certificate of Necessity” from
4794-501: The Cold War. The 1949 film serial Bruce Gentry – Daredevil of the Skies featured a man-made flying saucer, and the 1950 film The Flying Saucer focused on Cold War espionage. The first novel to explicitly use the term "flying saucer" was Bernard Newman 's The Flying Saucer , released in 1950. The novel's craft was a hoaxed alien ship intended to end military tension by giving humanity a common enemy. Two early 1950s films, The Day
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#17330928348444888-596: The Corona Satellite Calibration Targets built in the 1960s in the desolate desert, in and around Casa Grande that helped to calibrate satellites of the Corona spy satellite program . Included are the images of the Casa Grande Domes which were built in the 1970s for a computer manufacturing company, but were never completed. The Domes, some of which resemble flying saucers and giant caterpillars, are in
4982-465: The Earth Stood Still and The Thing from Another World , were financial successes that established the market for an "alien visitor" subgenre of science fiction that merged flying saucers into existing space opera tropes. Slowly hovering discs, like the one from the landing scene in The Day the Earth Stood Still , appeared throughout science fiction including It Came from Outer Space (1953), Earth vs.
5076-545: The Flying Saucers (1956), Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957), and the television series The Invaders . While contactees described aliens as benevolent messengers, Hollywood films often depicted them as monstrous antagonists. Other localities adapted the largely American phenomenon at different times, adding elements of the local culture. Early British films were low-budget productions like Devil Girl from Mars (1954) and Stranger from Venus (1954). Japanese filmmakers incorporated flying discs and alien invaders into
5170-541: The body of Adamski's "flying saucer" as the lampshade from a 1930s pressure lantern. Flying saucers are now considered retro and emblematic of the 1950s and of B movies in particular. The term "flying saucer" was gradually supplanted by "UFO" and later "UAP". Discs ceased to be the standard shape in UFO reports, and a broader variety of objects were reported. Recent reports more often describe spherical and triangular UFOs . Flying saucer sightings differ in their descriptions of appearance, movement, and purpose of
5264-427: The city was 49.9% non-Hispanic White , 4.27% Black or African American , 4.91% Native American , 1.17% Asian , 0.10% Pacific Islander , 21.09% from other races , and 3.56% from two or more races. 39.13% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 8,920 households, out of which 37.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.3% were married couples living together, 15.1% had
5358-510: The countries where UFO groups are in operation, such as the United States, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Chile, and Argentina. By the end of the decade, The Case for the UFO author Morris K. Jessup reflected on his field, "This embryonic science is as full of cults, feuds, and dogmas as a dog is of fleas. There are probably more opinions about the nature and purpose of UFO's as there are Ufologers." UFO photography emerged as
5452-437: The demolition of the dilapidated domes. On January 9, 2023, demolition of the domes began. Casa Grande, Arizona Casa Grande ( O'odham : Wainom Wo:g ) is a city in Pinal County , approximately halfway between Phoenix and Tucson in the U.S. state of Arizona . According to U.S. Census estimates, the population of the city is 55,653 as of 2020. It is named after the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument , which
5546-804: The descriptions shifted over the decades to the objects mostly hovering. They are generally said to be round, sometimes with a protrusion on top, but details of the shape vary between reports. Flying saucers have been described as silent or deafening, with lights of every color, flying alone or in formation, and twenty to thousands of feet in diameter. Sightings are most frequent at night. The majority of reported saucers have been identified with known phenomena including astronomical objects like Venus , airborne objects like balloons, and optical phenomena like sun dogs . 1950s pop culture embraced flying saucers. These discs appeared in film, television, literature, music, and other minor aspects like toys and advertising. The shape became visual shorthand for alien invaders. During
5640-507: The direct instruction of an extraterrestrial. Some existing religions began to incorporate flying saucers. The Nation of Islam taught that the end of the world would be brought about by the "Mother Wheel" or "Mother Plane", a flying saucer half a mile wide. During the same time that Margaret Murray 's "Old Religion" or witch-cult hypothesis was being discredited in academic circles, its core idea—a lost civilization remembered in myth—was being embraced in pulp fiction, occult groups, and
5734-512: The discs were largely derived from the English "flying saucer" including the French soucoupe volante , Spanish platillo volante , Portuguese disco voador , Swedish flygande tefat , German fliegende Untertasse , and Italian disco volante . Flying saucer reporting declined by the end of summer. Newspapers had reported hoaxes by those looking to profit from the saucers and the Roswell incident , which
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#17330928348445828-401: The diversity of attitudes towards their plausibility. The major attitudes towards UFOs invoked in print advertisements were the potential for advanced technology, awe towards their potential pilots, and skepticism about hoaxes. Much of the former pulp reader base shifted their attention to the growing medium of television during the 1950s. Many early portrayals of flying saucers linked them to
5922-469: The earliest reports. The frisbee was introduced in 1948 and initially branded the "flying saucer". Flying saucer candy was introduced in the 1950s when a Belgian producer of communion wafers had a dip in sales. Along with other vintage candies, they have since seen renewed interest from customers as "retro". In the 1950s and early 1960s, Japan was a major manufacturer of tin toys often with space themes like robots, rockets, and flying discs. Throughout
6016-431: The end of the program in 1972. About half of the targets were either destroyed or demolished. Pictured are two of the remaining targets which have survived. The first one pictured (Y47) is located on the southeast corner of South Montgomery and West Cornman Roads and the second (Y4-) one on the northeast corner of West Cornman Road and Carmel Blvd. The Casa Grande Domes, located on South Thornton Road, were built in 1982 for
6110-589: The first in a series of UFO investigations by the US Government . In the following years, other national governments would follow suit. Canada began Project Magnet and the United Kingdom launched the Flying Saucer Working Party in 1950, which attributed saucer reports to meteorological phenomena, astronomical phenomena, misidentification, optical illusions, misconceptions, or hoaxes. By 1950,
6204-476: The flying saucer emoji was added to Unicode . There were several precursors to the modern flying saucers in science fiction literature, like The Shaver Mystery . Richard Sharpe Shaver's stories about a secret technologically advanced civilization of "detrimental robots" inside the earth were published as a true account of his life. Backlash from the science fiction community carried over to UFO literature. Saucers did appear in conventional science fiction, but
6298-606: The growing UFO movement. Several authors speculated that ancient astronauts piloting UFOs were the cause of myths and religions. Schoolteacher Robert Dione wrote God Drives a Flying Saucer to reframe biblical miracles and the Miracle of the Sun as the work of humanoid aliens piloting flying saucers. Later, Erich von Däniken released Chariots of the Gods? , a work of pseudoscience that attributed ancient artifacts and monuments to its purported ancient astronauts. Ufology developed as
6392-461: The historical property. Among the properties which are listed in the NRHP and which have been demolished are the following: The Arizona Preservation Foundation is an agency which identifies critically endangered cultural resources of major historical significance to the state. In 2012, the foundation identified the following properties in Casa Grande as endangered: The following is a brief description with
6486-551: The iconic saucer from Forbidden Planet . The C-57D was followed by other disc-shaped spaceships in broader science fiction, like the Jupiter 2 from the television series Lost in Space (1965-1968). Saucers appeared in the television series Babylon 5 (1994-1998) as starships used by a race called the Vree . Doctor Who has featured different designs of flying saucers, like those used by
6580-402: The images of the buildings listed. Michael Sullivan was a local stonemason who in the 1920s built various structures of fieldstone in Casa Grande. The stones collected from the surface of fields where it occurs naturally. The stones used as fieldstones are building construction materials which are collected from the surface of fields where they occur naturally. Sullivan's last completed project
6674-476: The images of the houses listed: The Corona Satellite Calibration Targets refer to two hundred and seventy two ( 272 ) concrete markers, built in the 1960s in the desolate Arizona desert, in and around Casa Grande, Arizona that helped to calibrate satellites of the Corona spy satellite program. They are large concrete crosses in the ground with a resemblance of a large Maltese Cross. The targets are only visible if one walked up to them or passed over them from
6768-460: The low-budget B movies , which often featured saucer-shaped alien craft. The 1964 Italian comedy Il disco volante centered around a flying saucer. The image is often invoked retrofuturistically to produce a nostalgic feel in period works, especially in comic science fiction. For example, Mars Attacks! (1996) draws on the flying saucer as part of the larger satire of 1950s B movie tropes. The sleek, silver flying saucer in particular
6862-436: The oil industry based on the claim that it was derived from alien technology—as a doctor with "more degrees than a thermometer". Donald Keyhoe took a more serious "nuts and bolts" approach to the idea of the government covering up alien life in his 1950 book The Flying Saucers Are Real . When the popular and respected Life magazine ran " Have We Visitors From Space? " in 1952, taking seriously ideas of alien visitors,
6956-716: The period. The story spurred a wave of hundreds of sightings across the United States, including the Roswell incident and Flight 105 UFO sighting . The concept quickly spread to other countries. Early reports speculated about secret military technology, but flying saucers became synonymous with aliens by 1950. The term has gradually been supplanted by the more general military terms unidentified flying object (UFO) and unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP). In science fiction , reported UFO sightings , UFO conspiracy theories , and broader popular culture, saucers are typically piloted by nonhuman beings. Descriptions in reported sightings vary considerably. Early reports emphasized speed but
7050-538: The property in 1959. The first exhibition game was played in Casa Grande in 1961, with Willie Mays hitting a 375-foot (114 m) home run . The San Francisco Giants no longer play at Francisco Grande, but the pool in a baseball bat and ball shape remains in memory of the past ballgames. During the Cold War , Casa Grande was the location of the Casa Grande Photogrammetric Test Range . These targets consisted of concrete arrows located in and to
7144-546: The rest of southern Arizona, the community is prone to dust storms and in the summer months is affected by the North American Monsoon , which brings high winds and heavy rain. As of the census of 2010, there were 48,571 people, 22,400 households, and 6,547 families residing in the city. The population density was 523.7 inhabitants per square mile (202.2/km ). There were 11,041 housing units at an average density of 229.2 per square mile (88.5/km ). The racial makeup of
7238-409: The saucer. In a 1963 overview of flying saucers, astronomer Donald Howard Menzel found some broad traits across sightings, but noted that "no two reports describe exactly the same kind of UFO." Menzel found saucers were usually reported as round, but included objects shaped like dining saucers, teardrops, cigars, kidney beans, the planet Saturn , and yarn spindles . Saucers often were reported with
7332-538: The saucers and brought back messages for humanity. New religions and institutions arose around the contactees. Van Tassel's Aetherius Society built the Integratron , a domed structure near Landers, California , intended to facilitate further contact with aliens, physical rejuvenation, and time travel . According to George King , he founded the Ashtar Command —a new religious movement influenced by theosophy —at
7426-557: The service industry of Casa Grande. Many new businesses such as restaurants, gas stations, and retail outlets are opening throughout the city in order to keep up with demand from the growing population. A retail shopping mall operates in southern Casa Grande. Phase one of The Promenade at Casa Grande opened on November 16, 2007. Built by Westcor and the Pederson Group, it is similar to Desert Ridge Marketplace (an outdoor shopping center in northeast Phoenix ). The Promenade at Casa Grande
7520-462: The settlement Casa Grande, after the Hohokam ruins at the nearby Casa Grande Ruins National Monument . Casa Grande grew slowly, and suffered several setbacks both in 1886 and 1893, when fires ravaged the town, destroying all wooden housing structures within it. When the mining boom slowed in the 1890s, the town was nearly abandoned, but with the advent of agriculture, the town remained alive and well, and
7614-500: The south of the city, which calibrated aerial cartographic cameras. Casa Grande has also played a prominent role in semi-pro and collegiate baseball. The Casa Grande Cotton Kings , who were founded in 1948, qualified to play in the National Baseball Congress World Series ten straight times by winning Arizona state championships in the 1940s and 1950s, and were reactivated in the 2000s. They are now members of
7708-414: The stories were presented as a true account of Shaver's life. Until the magazine ceased printing Shaver's stories, Amazing Stories' s letter column was regularly full of readers sharing their own purportedly true sightings of the robots. Before the term "flying saucer" was coined, fantasy artwork in pulp magazines depicted flying discs. Commentators like Milton Rothman have noted the appearance of
7802-583: The subjects of novelty architecture . Novelty architecture, also known as mimetic architecture, is the practice of creating structures shaped like other existing objects. The Communist-era Kielce Bus Station in Kielce, Poland, was designed by architect Edward Modrzejewski to resemble a UFO. Other modernist and brutalist UFO structures include the Ukrainian Institute of Scientific, Technical and Economic Information, Bulgaria's concrete Buzludzha monument ,
7896-632: The term flying saucer was widely associated with extraterrestrial life. In a 1950 interview on flying saucers, Kenneth Arnold said, "if it's not made by our science or our Army Air Forces, I am inclined to believe it's of an extra-terrestrial origin". This extraterrestrial hypothesis was accompanied by a range of other unusual theories. Meade Layne speculated that they came from an alternate dimension. Under editor Ray Palmer, Amazing Stories had run Richard Sharpe Shaver 's purportedly true stories. Fred Crisman had written to Palmer about fighting Shaver's purported evil beings in an underground cavern. Within
7990-476: The top employers in the city are: On November 29, 2016, officials from the state and the Lucid Motors car company announced a $ 700 million manufacturing plant would be constructed in Casa Grande that would employ up to 2,000 workers by 2022. The Lucid car manufacturing plant opened in November 2020. The Casa Grande Fire Department (CGFD), ISO Class 2, provides fire protection and emergency medical services to
8084-584: The typical flying saucer first appeared in science fiction. French sociologist Bertrand Méheust noted, for example, Jean de La Hire 's 1908 novel La Roue fulgurante [ fr ] ( The Lightning Wheel ). In the novel, a flying disc-shaped machine abducts the protagonists via a beam of light. Science fiction magazine Amazing Stories began publishing "The Shaver Mystery" in 1945. Written by Richard Sharpe Shaver and edited by Raymond A. Palmer , they were science fiction tales about technologically-advanced "detrimental robots" that abducted humans, but
8178-408: Was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $ 36,212, and the median income for a family was $ 40,827. Males had a median income of $ 34,858 versus $ 23,533 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 15,917. About 12.4% of families and 16.0% of the population were below
8272-420: Was described by the witness, they were usually extraterrestrial . Flying saucers have been consistently described and depicted as ahead of contemporary technology. When comparing the 1947 saucer reports to the mystery airships of the 1800s, sociologist Robert Bartholomew found that the claimed observations "reflected popular social and cultural expectations of each period". The mystery airship sightings of
8366-420: Was divided on the potential origin of the saucers. Newspapers initially reported that Arnold suspected them to be experimental Soviet aircraft. A Gallup Poll found that 90% of Americans were aware of the saucer stories, 16 percent believed they were secret military weapons, and less than one percent believed they were alien craft. One report from Seattle, Washington, described a hammer and sickle painted onto
8460-558: Was eventually incorporated in 1915. One of the founding fathers of Casa Grande was Thompson Rodney Peart. Peart Road, Peart Park, and the Peart Center, all of which are notable fixtures of Casa Grande, are named after him. Casa Grande was home to a collective farm society which was part of the Farm Security Administration . From 1942 to 1945, a Japanese-American relocation camp was set up outside of Casa Grande, known as
8554-529: Was quickly retracted as balloon debris. In the July 7 1947 Twin Falls saucer hoax , a widely reported crashed disc from Twin Falls, Idaho, was found to have been created by four teenagers using parts from a jukebox . The Air Force's Air Materiel Command collected over a hundred reports at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base , Ohio . Air Force General Nathan Twining established Project SAUCER, later renamed Project Sign ,
8648-483: Was the sighting by a United Airlines crew on July 4 of nine more disc-like objects pacing their plane over Idaho . On July 8, the Army Air Force base at Roswell, New Mexico issued a press release saying that they had recovered a "flying disc" from a nearby ranch, the so-called Roswell UFO incident , which was front-page news until the military issued a retraction saying that it was a weather balloon. The public
8742-501: Was the Pvt. Matthew B. Juan monument in the town of Sacaton, Arizona . Sullivan did not see the dedication of this monument as he died on February 25, 1928, of a heart attack while en route to Sacaton for a visit. Among the structures which he built are the following: The following are the houses of religious worship in Casa Grande listed in the NRHP: The following is a brief description with
8836-588: Was the first in a wave of non-fiction paranormal magazines that would thrive in the 1950s. A flying saucer movement developed during the 1950s. It was influenced by scientific research, occult practices, pop culture, existing religions, and earlier myths. In reports and in popular media like the 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still , saucers and their pilots were characterized as messengers. The first wave of so-called contactees, George Hunt Williamson , George Van Tassel , Truman Bethurum , George Adamski , and Orfeo Angelucci claimed to have ridden aboard
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