Flying machine (The War of the Worlds) far been depicted once on screen in Pendragon Pictures "H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds", where it makes an appearance after the battle with , which is later recounted from the perspective of the artilleryman. However, it appeared briefly in the live adaptation of "Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds", though the album itself does not make any reference to the flying machine. Many more of them appeared in the "New Generation" version of the stage show. Viewed edge on, the roughly boomerang-shaped war machines of George Pal's 1953 film, which bear no resemblance to
The War of the Worlds the 20th Century, including first contact and war between planets and their differing species. There were, however, stories of aliens and alien invasion prior to publication of "The War of the Worlds". In 1727 Jonathan Swift published "Gulliver's Travels". The tale included a people who are obsessed with mathematics and more advanced than Europeans scientifically. They populate a floating island fortress called Laputa, 4½ miles in diameter, which uses its shadow to prevent sun and rain from reaching earthly nations over which it travels, ensuring they will pay tribute to the Laputians. Voltaire's "Micromégas" (1752) includes two beings from Saturn