When Prophecy Fails published

When: 1956
Sources: 2 public sources

Festinger, Riecken and Schachter published their study of a Chicago-area group whose leader predicted a cataclysm and rescue by flying saucer in December 1954. It became a foundation of cognitive dissonance theory; a 2025 paper drawing on Festinger's unsealed papers disputes its account.

Sources

PressIt's One of the Most Influential Social Psychology Studies Ever. Was It All a Lie? (opens in a new tab)Mother Jones (Anna Merlan) / 2025-11-25
OtherWhen Prophecy Fails (Leon Festinger, Henry W. Riecken, Stanley Schachter), catalog record (opens in a new tab)University of Minnesota Press (record at East Carolina University Libraries) / 1956

How sources are chosen and tiered

Where it fits

Earlier in Close encountersKelly-Hopkinsville encounter21 Aug 1955 Later in Close encountersNICAP incorporated in Washington24 Oct 1956

See it on the timeline More in Close encounters