When asked what the first thing he wanted to know was when he came to office, former President Barack Obama replied, “where the aliens are!”. Belief in UFOs is strong, indeed the Sheffield Hallam University-led National Folklore Survey recently revealed that almost 25% of people living in England believe that some UFOs are alien in origin with 27% believing that alien visits have been covered up by governments. At the same time 32% believe that all sightings can be explained as natural, man-made or intentional hoaxes.

Curated by Andrew Robinson, this exhibition showcases more than 350 participant drawings alongside a treasure trove of UFO related images, publications, videos and artefacts from the researchers’ personal collections which explore our obsession with the unknown, our desire to believe and photography’s problematic role as visual evidence.

The exhibition explores our obsession with this popular mythology, which began in the post-war atomic age when the first satellites, space rockets and nuclear missiles drew our attention towards the heavens. Recent years have seen a rapid increase in the military and commercial exploitation of space, from Chinese spy balloons to NASA’s Artemis Moon programme to Elon Musk‘s SkyTrain. Yet, despite advances in optics and imaging the mystery of the UFO, UAP and flying saucer remains.

The ‘Saucermen’ suggested by the title of this exhibition are of earthly origin, SHU academics Dr David Clarke and Andrew Robinson who have spent the last three years researching the visual folklore of UFOs. Their project In the Eye of The Beholder has seen them host talks and participatory events at locations as far afield as Pennsylvania USA and Calvine, Scotland including The Miskatonic Institute of Horror in London, Todmorden’s Folklore Centre and the National Space Centre in Leicester.