Nancy dreams that a pair of flying saucer jockeys, each with a serious case of diverticulitis, knock on her door, enter her home, and present themselves as in possession of a crashed UFO and are in need of tools.
This causes Nancy — after she wakes up — to levitate about a foot above her bed. She floats there, for hours.
Ernie Bushmiller appears to have made contact with the outer limits in this strip.
“Do you have a nuclear ionizer or a superconducting magnetic vortex inducer we could borrow? And if you had a flux capacitor you could spare that would be just dandy!”
This strip is dated September 29, 1950. Bushmiller was an early adopter of the term “flying saucer” in this kind of usage as it had been popularized only a little over three years earlier.
There are isolated uses of the term as early as 1878, but in general they were used to describe objects of known origin and were merely one term among many in use. An early example was known to be a meteor fall and even the people using the term were not imagining alien spacecraft.
So where did the early uses come from? The use of clay pigeons in skeet shooting. The clay targets were saucer shaped.
The first use to describe objects that were imagined to be alien vehicles by a sizeable contingent of the public came in June of 1947. An amateur pilot named Kenneth Arnold used the words in reference to the what he took to be “unconventional aircraft” he had seen near Mt. Rainier.
But even then, he was not talking about the shape of the things, but their apparent movements. He said that they moved “like a saucer if you skipped it across water.”
Most people think of flat stones or bivalve mollusk shells when considering this “skipping” phenomenon. Can you imagine if he had said “like skipped oyster shells”? Would we have been talking for the next many decades about aliens in seashells from outer space?
As is often the case, careless reporting in newspapers was the origin of the problem. Reporters at a local paper mistakenly stated that he had referred to the objects as “saucer shaped.” When the news was carried in papers nationwide, they merely repeated the error, and soon there was no undoing the notion in the public consciousness.
Auntie Clockwise almost 4 years ago
Weird Dream Content!
Nancy dreams that a pair of flying saucer jockeys, each with a serious case of diverticulitis, knock on her door, enter her home, and present themselves as in possession of a crashed UFO and are in need of tools.
This causes Nancy — after she wakes up — to levitate about a foot above her bed. She floats there, for hours.
Ernie Bushmiller appears to have made contact with the outer limits in this strip.
harkherp almost 4 years ago
Nancy has been hitting the vanilla extract again!
top cat james almost 4 years ago
“We have come to probe the earthling designated Fritzi Ritz.”
jagedlo almost 4 years ago
See, Nancy, that’s why you don’t eat just before you go to bed!
Gent almost 4 years ago
Been watching too much of Giorgio’s shows, eh, Nancy?
grassler almost 4 years ago
I also had a nightmare last night….small world
dlogotop83 almost 4 years ago
I didn’t know Nancy lives in Roswell.
Auntie Socialist almost 4 years ago
“Do you have a nuclear ionizer or a superconducting magnetic vortex inducer we could borrow? And if you had a flux capacitor you could spare that would be just dandy!”
Another Take almost 4 years ago
Probably those dang teenage aliens who are always burning crop circles with their hot rod space ships.
jimmjonzz Premium Member almost 4 years ago
This strip is dated September 29, 1950. Bushmiller was an early adopter of the term “flying saucer” in this kind of usage as it had been popularized only a little over three years earlier.
There are isolated uses of the term as early as 1878, but in general they were used to describe objects of known origin and were merely one term among many in use. An early example was known to be a meteor fall and even the people using the term were not imagining alien spacecraft.
So where did the early uses come from? The use of clay pigeons in skeet shooting. The clay targets were saucer shaped.
The first use to describe objects that were imagined to be alien vehicles by a sizeable contingent of the public came in June of 1947. An amateur pilot named Kenneth Arnold used the words in reference to the what he took to be “unconventional aircraft” he had seen near Mt. Rainier.
But even then, he was not talking about the shape of the things, but their apparent movements. He said that they moved “like a saucer if you skipped it across water.”
Most people think of flat stones or bivalve mollusk shells when considering this “skipping” phenomenon. Can you imagine if he had said “like skipped oyster shells”? Would we have been talking for the next many decades about aliens in seashells from outer space?
As is often the case, careless reporting in newspapers was the origin of the problem. Reporters at a local paper mistakenly stated that he had referred to the objects as “saucer shaped.” When the news was carried in papers nationwide, they merely repeated the error, and soon there was no undoing the notion in the public consciousness.
So flying saucers they became.
Zebrastripes almost 4 years ago
Dat was startling! Hmmmm wonder what planet they’re from…..
Major Matt Mason Premium Member almost 4 years ago
Problem is, Nancy has SAE tools and the aliens are Whitworth.
Kip W almost 4 years ago
You know she’s really upset when she calls for her dad.
billyk75 almost 4 years ago
At least she woke up.
brklnbern almost 4 years ago
BLM marchers. That is scary.
rs almost 4 years ago
They can’t borrow any tools, there are no Democrat street rabble living there.