Joe's accidental snapshot of a paper plate blown by a breeze, is mistaken for a picture of a UFO. However, Moe and Larry take the credit for the photo, and are paid a huge sum while Joe is reduced to the status of their servant. Moe and Larry are arrested when their UFO picture is revealed to be a fraud by the government. Angered, the older woman servant, banishes joe for causing the arrests of both Moe and Larry, Joe isolated himself with a camping trip, only to meet two genuine and beautiful aliens from Planet Zircon who allow Joe to photograph them. Moe and Larry are released from jail briefly on probation to allow themselves to pay back the government for the fraudulent photo, when Joe arrived with the great news, in which the other stooges don't believe, and repeatedly strike Joe, until joe manages to strike both stooges and the older woman unconsciously. Moe and Larry are put in straitjackets and incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital while Joe becomes a national hero, celebrating his photo achievement with his beautiful aliens.
Production notes
Flying Saucer Daffy features Moe and Larry's more "gentlemanly" haircuts, first suggested by Joe Besser. However, these had to be used sparingly, as most of the shorts with Besser were remakes of earlier films, and new footage had to be matched with old. Besser later reported that Flying Saucer Daffy was his favorite Stooge comedy. The short features stock footage from Earth vs the Flying Saucers. Over the course of their 24 years at Columbia Pictures, the Stooges would occasionally be cast as separate characters. This course of action always worked against the team; author Jon Solomon concluded "when the writing divides them, they lose their comic dynamic." In addition to this split occurring in Flying Saucer Daffy, the trio also played separate characters in Rockin' in the Rockies, He Cooked His Goose, Gypped in the Penthouse, Cuckoo on a Choo Choo and Sweet and Hot.
End of an era
Though Flying Saucer Daffy was not the last short subject released by the Stooges, it was the last one produced. Filming took place on December 19–20, 1957. Several hours after filming wrapped, the Stooges were unceremoniously fired from Columbia Pictures after 24 years making low-budget shorts. Joan Howard Maurer, daughter of Moe Howard, wrote the following in 1982:
