Enter the New Era of UFO Documentaries
How Public Perceptions Are Changing Around the Phenomena
Oh how times have changed for UFO documentaries! I just watched two new documentary series, Encounters (Netflix) and U.F.O.s: Investigating the Unknown (National Geographic), and I was very impressed. To explain why these documentaries are such a leap forward from so many previous documentaries, it is important to examine how we got where we are in the UFO world.
Where Things Were
When I first started seriously studying paranormal history and lore for a graphic novel script several years ago, most of the documentaries you could find on Amazon or YouTube were passion projects made on a shoestring budget by less than competent filmmakers.
And I loved that!
Part of the charm of the UFO genre was watching ordinary people so passionate about understanding and explaining the phenomenon that they would reach beyond their means to create these films. More often than not, you would find sincere attempts to make a dramatic expose with all the resources available to someone with a video camera and a library card.
Again, I have nothing against the hard work and passion of these filmmakers working on a low budget. However, these films often undermined their own purpose of drawing more serious scientific interest by appearing unprofessional and amusing at worst.
I would usually find two types of low-budget UFO documentaries: 1) the people who were genuinely trying to find facts, expose the truth, and interpret meaning to the mysteries or 2) the people who were there to exploit others’ beliefs, create quasi science fiction passed off as truth, and make a buck with their websites and convention appearances. Because so much of the work was low quality and done on the fringes, it was often hard to tell which was which without diving deep into the sources to reveal faulty research and dubious motivations.
Of course, this is not to say there have never been big budget documentaries and movies made about the phenomenon. Hollywood has always known there was money to be made on the subject. In the 1970’s there was In Search Of with Leonard Nemoy and Spielburg’s Close Encounters. In the 1980’s and 90’s, shows like Unsolved Mysteries and Sightings were known for telling bizarre stories about real encounters. Regardless, such shows were rarely taken seriously by the general public, scientists, and, least of all, the U.S. government (seemingly.)
When placed alongside shows like the X-Files or sensationalized retellings of real experiencers like Travis Walton in Fire in the Sky, mainstream media made it clear the most profitable model for the topic was fiction stories and entertainment. Then when the era of pseudo-doc cable entertainment shows like Ancient Aliens began, all forms of critical thinking on the topic were simply thrown out the window.
In these shows, half-baked theories about an ancient cave drawing depicting aliens are presented with no alternative arguments or deeper understanding of the culture from which the images came. What’s worse, these theories are often given the illusion of credibility by placing them alongside actual paranormal witnesses telling their experiences between a barrage of reality tv sound effects and nauseating After Effects editing.
Against such predominant business forces in popular culture, the real work of seeking serious answers intelligently was being done by a small community of true believers. Often these researchers would appear on these shows like Ancient Aliens because there was simply no other alternative for larger audiences to see them. Outside of these shows, however, their real work was being delivered in books, podcasts, and conventions around the world. (See the Invisible College by Jacques Vallee.)
Where We Are Now
Enter the 2017 New York Times articles (12/16, 12/18) exposing the existence of a secret UFO congressional committee and leaked video evidence from the Navy. Since that bombshell, there has been a shift both in attitude and public interest toward the phenomenon.
Suddenly, people with amazing stories to tell could do so without being immediately written off as frauds or crazy people. If the Navy was taking these things seriously, it seemed news networks may finally be able to sell some papers and advertisements by taking it seriously, also. No more goofy jokes and eye rolls from news anchors or the X-files theme song leading into the commercial break.
In just the last few years, we’ve gotten a whole slew of new documentaries, television series, and movies about UAP (Unidentified Aerial or Anomalous Phenomena.) Large news organizations are booking more interviews with contactees, and even the quality of independent documentaries has increased exponentially. (See my reviews of Ariel Phenomenon, Moment of Contact, and The Phenomenon.)
The two series I just watched mark the beginning of a new chapter in documenting the subject because both come after there have been multiple recent hearings before the US Congress about the phenomenon. One hearing was with Pentagon officials tasked with creating a report on what our government knows and possesses on the matter. Another was with a whistleblower and former Navy pilots revealing what they saw first hand both in the sky and behind the walls of the Pentagon.
While the rest of the world’s large nations have mostly acknowledged the existence of the phenomenon by opening decades of secret files to the public, the absolute secrecy and culture of ridicule for ufology researchers has remained a uniquely American trait. It was only with these leaks and whistleblowers forcing the hand of Pentagon officials that the needle began to move.
If you want a better understanding of why the United States attitude toward flying saucers has developed the way it did over decades, look no further than National Geographic’s U.F.O.s: Investigating the Unknown.
UFOs: Investigating the Unknown
Format: Documentary Series
Where to watch: Disney+
This 5-part series starts with the Nimitz encounter that was covered in the 2017 New York Times article. If you are unfamiliar, this was the story about Navy pilots in 2004 who captured the now infamous “tic-tac” UFO video. Since that story came out, the witnesses of the event have been seen and interviewed on multiple networks and documentaries. What may be new in this series to a more mainstream audience, however, are the interviews with Leslie Kean.
Kean had been a brave pioneer of reporting on ufology for years before getting the scoop that led to the New York Times article. Hearing how the article came to be provides a lot of insight into obtaining sources and the many challenges to getting a story of this kind published.
Each episode covers some of the most famous encounters of the 20th and 21st century, and the focus is primarily on journalists and researchers who covered the stories. Such encounters include the 2008 Stephenville, Texas UFO, the Hudson Valley sightings of the early 1980’s, the 2006 Chicago O’Hare sighting, and many others.
Between telling these more contemporary stories, Kean and other historians do a good job explaining the history of the US approach to the phenomenon starting in the 1940’s. By carefully examining the various agencies and attitudes that came in response to years of witness reports, it becomes apparent how and why the government’s approach turned into a policy of misinformation and ridicule—particularly in relation to the US position as the world’s largest superpower during the Cold War.
If you are new to the subject and only watch one of these documentaries, this is the one I would recommend.
Encounters
Format: Documentary Series
Where to watch: Netflix
If you are ready for the next level of paranormal weirdness, Encounters will get you there without taking you too deep down the “high strangeness” rabbit hole. Co-produced by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television, this show goes in depth on some amazing close encounters of the third kind from all over the world. It also touches on some of the more spiritual and psychological aspects of the phenomenon that are often ignored in other mainstream documentaries.
Encounters overlaps some of the same stories as U.F.O.s, but there is enough new information and differing perspectives that make it worth your time. The four part series mainly focuses on four of the biggest mass sightings of the 20th and 21st century: the 2008 Stephenville, Texas sighting, the 1994 Ariel School encounter in Zimbabwe, the 1977 Broad Haven encounters in the UK, and the 2011 tsunami disaster that caused the Fukushima nuclear meltdown in Japan.
I particularly enjoyed the Fukushima stories because it not only made some interesting connections between the UFO and ghost phenomenons, but it also speculated on the involvement of UFOs in managing our nuclear fallouts. This is all speculation, of course, but I like the willingness of this series to allow some fringe theories time for thought.
The show is not all kookiness and wild witness stories, though. The through line of the series are the real people left in the aftermath of these truly paradigm shifting events. While many are able to find some peace with the mysteries and move on with their lives, other more heartbreaking stories show how people’s lives can be devastated simply by being a witness.
The main stories are broken up by various professionals explaining their own career experiences both researching and sometimes having direct contact with the phenomenon. These included a CIA agent who was on the aircraft carrier when the famous “gimbal” video was filmed in 2015 and the author of one of my favorite books, D.W. Pasulka. Her book, American Cosmic, examines the phenomenon from the perspective of how it manifests in modern society with many of the same characteristics of religious followings.
For some great stories and deeper understanding as we move into this new era of UAP consciousness, both of these series will introduce you to some important history on the topic. More importantly, however, you will get to meet the real human faces of both experiencers and researchers as they share the challenges, hard work, and public shaming that often comes associated with this bizarre mystery.
BONUS DEEP DIVE:
Does “Encounters” Confirm the Ariel School Event was a Hoax?
Read more of my thoughts about this fascinating new perspective introduced in encounters can reveal more than you realize when you read between the lines.
Sterling Martin is a writer, artist, and designer living in Chicago, IL. His background includes drawing, writing, theatre, teaching, improv & sketch comedy, and whatever else he can get his hands on to be creative. You can find him on the internet at:
Instagram: @sterfest.art
Website: sterlingmartin.design
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