Author Jason Colavito said the Betty and Barny Hill, UFO abduction case was partly based on this movie. I saw it and I have to admit he does have a point. It's also a surprisingly surreal and scary movie for the 1950s.
This movie scared the shit out of my dad. He started checking the back of my grandpa's neck every morning to make sure he wasn't taken over by aliens that night.
Dad also pointed out one of the very period themes of the movie, when the army attacks the alien base, is that in the 1950s people assumed that the US military could kick anything's ass. Also that aliens were vulnerable to a good old fashioned knuckle sandwich.
These "Invaders from Mars" anecdotes brought to you by my Dad.