UFOs have dotted the landscape and skies of America and other countries, creating a subculture and phenomenon that eludes many and yet intrigues others into a frenzy state of wonderment, conspiracy theories running amok and the several thousand sci-fi films. Director J. Michael Long created this Reality Entertainment documentary to recap the alien encounters that plague the United States of America and design especially for those keenly aware of these foreigners and for the curious nature individuals. For those uninformed about Reality Entertainment, this company mainly provides documentaries on paranormal entities and locations, crypto zoological incidents such as Loch Ness and Bigfoot and extraterrestrials. This film provides an in depth look at alleged UFO sightings, abductions and crash landings from the late 1800s until the present, all done for the enthusiasts of this culture.
Three major incidents find themselves on display for the viewers, starting with Battle of Los Angeles, California, in 1942, which had stock images about an aerial object (which has never been determine as to its origin) and consequently triggered the order to the fire of hundreds of thousands of anti-aircraft rounds. Sadly, the documentary never provides any new information on this incident, or any interviews, odd that no soldiers ever sit down to share their story, with the filmmaker. The second and most well known UFO occurrence of 1947 is none other than “Roswell” in New Mexico, in which misinformation and the truth both found themselves crisscrossing with the media, and with great success. The media then did not question the authority to a great deal, nor was the instant media circus of today present then, no captivation of the audience, news extremely well controlled. The UFO, for this incident quickly displace as a down weather balloon with humanoid dummy passengers. The documentary never follows up, providing a glossary context for the viewer, leading one to believe that this introductory video on the topic. Lastly, in 1975, the alien abduction of Travis Walton, near the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, Arizona, happened leaving him missing for five days and his friends accused of murder. This incident gave the film the ability to volley into the subject of ‘abductions by aliens’ or more commonly referred to as the close encounter of the fourth kind, hinting to a rough outline of the Modus operandi. The aliens capture the victim, then move into an examination and other worldly procedures, including a telepathically conferencing, and finally return them to the surface, with a large chuck of time loss. It is the abductions that make most individuals discount the entire subject material with silly jokes and references to indulgences to narcotics. Long’s film again, does not provide any interviews for the abductions or visits to any the possible locations, seeking the discovery to support the film and finding the opposition to pose questions to them about the subject material.
Although, the documentary sounds the alarms, with references to UFOs flying over the White House twice, once in 1952 and 1963 and then again with the bizarre reasoning behind the abductions, the aliens seek Humans for commodities and consumption, no evidence just common stock footage and referral to sci-fi films. Then directs attention to world leaders, for knowing about the impending dangers of the alien race, encounters and invasion, yet kept it secret since the Aurora incident of 1892. Once again, no collaborating interviews, or support for the bold claims, a few photocopied documents appear with thick blackened out lines of data, appear for a few seconds, but with questionable authenticity.
Long’s documentary clocks in at a scant 61 minutes, leading to one have brief overview of the subject of aliens and their UFOs, a subject that comes with raised eyebrows and smirks, about hints that these encounters are similar to today’s archeologists who seek out history from ancient civilizations, cultures and bodies.
If you believe in this subject and very new to discovering about Roswell or aliens in general then this film provides a wonderful starting point for one to engage and search other related materials. However, if you are keenly aware of the material then this is nothing but a crib-note version of repeated, rehashed and rekindling old thoughts on an undiscovered solar system past ours that we know very well.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3314120/
IMDb Rating: 4.6/10
Baron’s Rating: 4.5/10
This review was originally published in August 2014 on the now defunct Rogue Cinema website.