ISO story where man fakes a war from space to unite earth and jump start space exploration

[Jhoskins]

Howdy
I'm looking for a story where a man fakes a war from space to unite earth and jump start space exploration. I read it in my childhood (1970s), but I think it was from the 50s.
At first I thought it was "the man who sold the moon" , but after reading summaries online, I don't think it is the one I am looking for..
Any help is appreciated.
John

 

[Cayleb]

'The Flying Saucer' by Bernard Newman, published in 1950.

 

[hitmouse]

It is also a central theme in the graphic novel Watchmen by Alan Moore, though this is clearly not your book.

The Man Who Sold The Moon is quite unrelated to your quest.

 

[otistdog]

"The War Against the Moon" by Andre Maurois? It's a 1920s story but in at least one notable collection from the 1950s (Groff Conklin's The Omnibus of Science Fiction). As I recall, the main plot is to attempt to unite mankind by inventing an external enemy, but the twist is that the moon is actually inhabited and fights back.

 

[PaulMmn]

The "alien attack" was also the plot of an episode of 'The Outer Limits' back in the 1960s. Only it was a team of people creating the alien and its technology.
Another story had a group that 'escaped' after being discovered-- their car was chased up the entrance ramp to an expressway, and kept going up, flying away. Mankind examines the group's headquarters and finds some interesting stuff... and it forces man to behave and work together (IIRC).
--Paul E Musselman

 

[clovis-man]

The "alien attack" was also the plot of an episode of 'The Outer Limits' back in the 1960s. Only it was a team of people creating the alien and its technology.

And a good one it was:

"The Outer Limits" The Architects of Fear (TV Episode 1963) - Plot Summary - IMDb