U.F.O. stands for "Unidentified Flying Object". The majority of UFOs can be easily explained as weather balloons or flocks of birds, but each year there are many sightings of objects in the sky that cannot be explained. The legend of UFOs has developed it's own unique legion of followers who believe that these unidentified flying objects are spacecraft from distant planets.
Dr. J. Allen Hynek penned the scientifically accepted term for UFO:
UFO sightings appear all through recorded history, Alexander the Great saw two airborne "silver shields" in 329 BC. In 1235 the Japanese army of Oritsume saw the "mysterious lights in the sky" and the British people reported many "mystery airships" from 1909 through 1913.
The modern day fascination with UFOs can be traced to American businessman Kenneth Arnold (see photo, inset) who claimed to see nine bright objects flying at "incredible speed" on June 24, 1947, near Mount Rainier, Washington. This led to the golden age of UFO stories, books and films like The Day the Earth Stood Still and Forbidden Planet . Around this time the first UFO-related spiritual sect also appeared, The Aetherius Society. In the 1970's and 80's, the films Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. opened wide the mind of Americans in regards to UFOs, as did popular television series' like Star Trek. In 2002, a Roper poll found that 56% of Americans thought UFOs were real craft and 48% believed that UFOs had visited the Earth.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - jones v
I don't know if this quite counts as a "UFO song" but Patti Smith has a song called "Distant Fingers" about her Martian boyfriend. Definitely some UFO action going on there.
2 - DrPat
Then there's the Spielbergian tune, whose name I never knew. You can all sing along with me:
boo BOO boo... boo BWAAAA
3 - orionworks
TITLE: Mr. Spaceman
Artist: The Byrds
A classic! How could that be not be included on the list!
Lyrics:
Woke up this morning with light in my eyes
And then realized it was still dark outside
It was a light coming down from the sky
I don't know who or why
Must be those strangers that come every night
Those saucer shaped lights put people uptight
Leave blue-green footprints that glow in the dark
I hope they get home all right
{Refrain}
Hey, Mr. Spaceman
Won't you please take me along
I won't do anything wrong
Hey, Mr. Spaceman
Won't you please take me along for a ride
Woke up this morning, I was feeling quite weird
Had flies in my beard, my toothpaste was smeared
Over my window, they'd written my name
Said, so long, we'll see you again
4 - Jeff
Here is one UFO song you missed:
"A Spaceman Came Travelling" by Chris DeBurgh which can be found on his 1976 album "Spanish Train and Other Stories" as well as several Greatest Hits collections.
5 - Jeff
Here's another one which mentions "other beings" from Space picking up our signals -- from Chris DeBurgh:
"Transmission Ends" from his 1984 "Man on the Line" album.
6 - JR
"Martian Boogie" - Brownsville Station
"E.T.I." - Blue Oyster Cult
"Come Sail Away" - Styx
7 - Robert
Thanks for the great additions! Please don't get pissed with me because I missed a song. I do my best with what I know. There are hundreds, if not thousands of UFO related songs missing and no one can know them all. That's why I invite you to post the missing ones.
8 - Scott
There's alot of songs about UFO's and aliens on "Bossa Nova" and "Trompe Le Monde" both of which are albums by the Pixies.
9 - Triniman
Sufjan Stevens - Concerning the UFO Sighting near Highland, Illinois.
10 - Tiffany Leigh
I could only find one direct to UFO track; the others are extrapolated a bit, rationalized for inclusion, or at least in the same galaxy as your entries:
1) "Unfunky UFO" from the album "Mothership Connection" by Parliament (George Clinton's funkadelic group that all think they're from another planet, natch);
2) "The Happening" from the album "Bossanova" by The Pixies; where the extraterrestials plan to put their ship "right down on the Vegas strip;"
3) "Motorway to Roswell," and "Planet of Sound," both from "Trompe Le Monde" by The Pixies; this band pretty much invented the outer space/punk/surf/pop sound in all their music;
4) "Major Tom (Coming Home)" by Peter Schilling - NOT to be confused with Bowie's hit - an 80's jetstreamed new-wave ditty that indirectly is about UFO's - the title character blasts off, is lost in space, then says "I'm coming home," so if you're being precise, then he *is* in fact an extraterrestial, so his rocketship is, in fact, an identifiable flying object. Oh dear, I've gotten off the track;
5) "Another Girl, Another Planet" by the Other Ones - a terrific song, maybe it's only obliquely space-related, or even metaphorical; but "space" runs though the narrator's blood, so I'm sure he's driving something out there;
11 - Vern Halen
Pretty much anything by 60's space case Roky Erikson fits the alien/UFO theme. Vampires as well.
12 - Robert
Thanks for filling in the blanks all!
I did already include "Unfunky UFO". But keep em' coming! Is there anything by ELO, their stage show was certainly UFO obsessed in the 70s.
13 - Tiffany Leigh
Ooops- just saw the P-funk reference. Sorry!
14 - Al Barger
Does Kanye West's "Spaceship" count?
15 - Tim Hall
I don't believe UFO ever did any songs *about* UFOs, but I might be wrong.
Frank Zappa's "Inca Roads"
BOC's "Take me away"
Megadeth's "Hangar 18"
And you have to include GZR's "Area 51"
"The Aliens are Coming!"
"The Earth is Succumbing!"
"Flying saucers have landed on earth!"
"The Aliens are Coming"
16 - Vern Halen
Hank Flamingo, a country act from the early 90's did "Redneck Martians Stole My Baby."
17 - uao
Jefferson Airplane: Have You Seen The Saucers?
Blue Oyster Cult: E.T.I. (Extraterrestrial Intelligence)
John Lennon: Nobody Told Me (has a line about UFO's)
Paul Kantner: Blows Against The Empire (almost any song)
18 - John
Frank Black - Parry The Wind, High Low
Nina Hagen - UFO
Nina Hagen - Gods of Aquarius
Nina Hagen - Flying Saucers
KMFDM w/ Nina Hagen - Witness
The Ramones - Zero Zero UFO
19 - Hans-Ulrich Neumann
There is a band from El Salvador "OVNI" (Spanish for UFO) with 4 CDs (1 Live). Their lyrics are all about UFOs and Aliens. It's prog rock like the old Genesis!
20 - Robin Bird
I like making theme cd's for family and friends and found your site looking for alien / UFO music. Here's a couple more:
Loving the Alien - David Bowie
I've Seen the Saucers - Elton John
Lawyers in Love - Jackson Browne has the lines:
"God sends his spaceships to America, the beautiful
They land at six o'clock and there we are, the dutiful
Eating from TV trays, tuned in to Happy Days"
21 - Me
"Come Sail Away" by Styx
"Children of the Sun" by Billy Thorpe
22 - Kevin Cortez
!
You failed to mention my friend's UFO songs. UFO Phil is the greatest UFO song writer period!
Heh, still, love the list.
23 - Kevin Cortez
Erm, also, Cannibus - Channel Zero is a pretty good UFO song. It's a conspiracy song about grey aliens and flying crafts. He's a pretty weird Hip-Hop artist 0.o.
24 - Jet in Columbus
Robert You have faulty research-Calling Occupants of interplanetary Craft if by Klaatu-The Carpenters covered it much later... and not very well I might add.
Also we have this...
From the 70s Rock Group Klaatu (famous for "Calling Occuppants of Interplanetary Craft before the Carpenters ruined it) we have this little ditty...
Late last night
While wishing on a star
Down from the sky
Came a man in a car
He said "Get in Jackson
Come on, let's go for a ride"
Outta sight
Sitting in a cockpit
Strapped down in a chair
I said "Hey, tell me
What's that over there?"
He said "Meet my computer
He's a friendly son-of-a-gun"
And we're having fun
Playing cards on Venus
In a cloudy room
Pass a glass of ammonia
I've got to get off soon
Sunbathing on Mercury
Or jamming on Jupiter
Which do you prefer?
It's getting pretty late
I got to go home
Nice to have met you
What's your telephone?
Maybe soon I'll call you
If I can afford the fare
It's long distance out there
Anus of Uranus
He's a friend of mine
He's a first rate party
And a real fine time
25 - godoggo
Birdland by Patti Smith
Maybe Starship by Sun Ra/MC5