A lot of the content, script and info seems to come directly from Future Fantastic, originally a BBC creation and narrated by Gillian Anderson. Updated and watchable but without question at the very least a plagiarism of the earlier work. Anderson and Ryan both have excellent voices for the content and their intonations are on point with the content. I don't know there are more in the series of UFO's and Aliens with Jeri Ryan but I will without doubt look for then.
4 Reviews
An overly skeptical, mechanistic, and quadrate examination of the UFO phenomenon
take2docs16 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
It's a three-parter, divided into segments roughly 50 minutes in length:
1. "Making Contact" 2. "Alien Life Forms" 3. "Saucer Tech"
In segment 1 the question is raised: What would happen if SETI were to receive a signal from an astral civilization? My guess would be, they'd probably be one of the last group of people to realize that contact has been made.
Segment 2 focuses in large part on the Alien Abduction phenomenon. (Budd Hopkins is featured here.)
Segment 3 is mostly tech talk and some discussion related to theoretical physics. (Stanton Friedman is featured in this one.)
How best to summarize UFOS & ALIENS: THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH?
For those just new to this area of study, it's a satisfactory introduction enough, but for those who have done their research into UFOs or who have had a close encounter experience, very little new information is presented.
The documentary examines its subject matter pretty fairly but with a slight undertone of derision. According to the majority of people that are heard from in this, UFOs are nothing more than a cultural myth, created by and for people who feel alone in the universe, and who would like very much for ETs to exist so as to fill in the emotional void. (That certainly explains horrific Alien Abduction experiences now, doesn't it?) This is the kind of overly simplistic nonsense we have to periodically listen to throughout the course of the program.
It is why I cannot give this documentary anymore than a 5 star rating. The skeptical view, clearly not all that thought out, has it grasping at straws, and sometimes to a risible extent. Answers to all the arguments used here by the skeptics are thoroughly and persuasively answered elsewhere, as with the apparent problems posed by intergalactic travel. It touches briefly on zero point energy and anti-matter, so at least it tries at times to think outside of the known scientific box.
When in segment 2, the topic of the Phoenix Lights is given some exposure, how can it not fall on the side of the amazing eyewitness reports that it includes? One eyewitness reports having seen military jets that were scrambled in pursuit of the unknown object. (Those were some flares!) Enter the expert debunker to bury his head in the sand and dismiss the entire event as a mass misperception.
The several skeptics that appear in this documentary are of the opinion that if contact is made with ET, it will be by way of space telescopes and other astronomical equipment; that the ufonauts will undoubtedly be far more advanced than humans (technologically speaking); and that the earthshaking news of the ET presence would either lead to worldwide panic or deification among the peoples of the earth.
One of the skeptical interviewees alludes to the fact of how he finds it difficult to belief in space aliens because the majority of them which are reported are described as being humanoid. (What, not little and green?) This person clearly has not done his research, otherwise he would know that of all the varieties of ETs that have been reported since about the 1960s, that humanoids are the least mentioned of all; but when they are, does it not make a strong case as to our possible alien origins?
In segment 1 the question is raised: What would happen if SETI were to receive a signal from an astral civilization? My guess would be, they'd probably be one of the last group of people to realize that contact has been made.
Segment 2 focuses in large part on the Alien Abduction phenomenon. (Budd Hopkins is featured here.)
Segment 3 is mostly tech talk and some discussion related to theoretical physics. (Stanton Friedman is featured in this one.)
How best to summarize UFOS & ALIENS: THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH?
For those just new to this area of study, it's a satisfactory introduction enough, but for those who have done their research into UFOs or who have had a close encounter experience, very little new information is presented.
The documentary examines its subject matter pretty fairly but with a slight undertone of derision. According to the majority of people that are heard from in this, UFOs are nothing more than a cultural myth, created by and for people who feel alone in the universe, and who would like very much for ETs to exist so as to fill in the emotional void. (That certainly explains horrific Alien Abduction experiences now, doesn't it?) This is the kind of overly simplistic nonsense we have to periodically listen to throughout the course of the program.
It is why I cannot give this documentary anymore than a 5 star rating. The skeptical view, clearly not all that thought out, has it grasping at straws, and sometimes to a risible extent. Answers to all the arguments used here by the skeptics are thoroughly and persuasively answered elsewhere, as with the apparent problems posed by intergalactic travel. It touches briefly on zero point energy and anti-matter, so at least it tries at times to think outside of the known scientific box.
When in segment 2, the topic of the Phoenix Lights is given some exposure, how can it not fall on the side of the amazing eyewitness reports that it includes? One eyewitness reports having seen military jets that were scrambled in pursuit of the unknown object. (Those were some flares!) Enter the expert debunker to bury his head in the sand and dismiss the entire event as a mass misperception.
The several skeptics that appear in this documentary are of the opinion that if contact is made with ET, it will be by way of space telescopes and other astronomical equipment; that the ufonauts will undoubtedly be far more advanced than humans (technologically speaking); and that the earthshaking news of the ET presence would either lead to worldwide panic or deification among the peoples of the earth.
One of the skeptical interviewees alludes to the fact of how he finds it difficult to belief in space aliens because the majority of them which are reported are described as being humanoid. (What, not little and green?) This person clearly has not done his research, otherwise he would know that of all the varieties of ETs that have been reported since about the 1960s, that humanoids are the least mentioned of all; but when they are, does it not make a strong case as to our possible alien origins?
Simple but scientific look at UFOs and Aliens
moysant11 June 2009
I've just watched a DVD call "UFOs and Aliens" with Jeri Ryan as narrator (she played 7 of 9 in the Star Trek: Voyager TV show) and I'm assuming this IMDb entry is the same show (although the version I watched was dated 2003, but it could just be a re-edition of the 1999 US version. I don't know).
Anyway, this is a good basic show that probably won't make the pure sceptics or the hard-core believers happy because it takes the middle ground ('we can't prove or disprove UFO visitations').
It has 3 main chapters (about 50 mins each) that cover alien encounters, UFO technology, the search for aliens through the SETI program and other scientific theories such as interstellar time/space travel.
The part I found fascinating was the hypnotist called 'Kreskin the Amazing' who convinced a test group that they could see UFOs and aliens out in the garden! One poor woman suddenly 'remembered' being probed by an alien as a child in her bedroom and how she has seen them many times since and they have messages for her which she'll now consider writing a book about (the show implies she had no prior interest in aliens). This obvious example of the unreliability of human psychology and perception is balanced by alien abduction experts who state abductees tell such a consistent story that there must be something going on.
The Extras has a short summary on the US military investigations (Project Blue Book, etc) from the 1950s onward, where the military (yes, the actual military) came to the startling conclusion that they should cover-up genuine UFO encounters because it could lead to human society being subsumed by a superior alien culture (presumably because aliens would run the earth better than the US government!).
The Extras also includes some movie moments from "Encounter of the Third Kind", "The Day the Earth Stood Still", and "ET" to show how popular culture has shaped our ideas of aliens. I just hope real aliens haven't watched these movies because we tend to want to blow them up a lot.
I'd recommend this even if it does seem a bit cheesy and clunky (the animation is a bit dated). If you are a believer it won't convince you to stop, but if you are a total sceptic it might convince you to reconsider your view.
And it is not really scary or anything, so if aliens creep you out this is a good place to start to get a well-balanced primer.
Anyway, this is a good basic show that probably won't make the pure sceptics or the hard-core believers happy because it takes the middle ground ('we can't prove or disprove UFO visitations').
It has 3 main chapters (about 50 mins each) that cover alien encounters, UFO technology, the search for aliens through the SETI program and other scientific theories such as interstellar time/space travel.
The part I found fascinating was the hypnotist called 'Kreskin the Amazing' who convinced a test group that they could see UFOs and aliens out in the garden! One poor woman suddenly 'remembered' being probed by an alien as a child in her bedroom and how she has seen them many times since and they have messages for her which she'll now consider writing a book about (the show implies she had no prior interest in aliens). This obvious example of the unreliability of human psychology and perception is balanced by alien abduction experts who state abductees tell such a consistent story that there must be something going on.
The Extras has a short summary on the US military investigations (Project Blue Book, etc) from the 1950s onward, where the military (yes, the actual military) came to the startling conclusion that they should cover-up genuine UFO encounters because it could lead to human society being subsumed by a superior alien culture (presumably because aliens would run the earth better than the US government!).
The Extras also includes some movie moments from "Encounter of the Third Kind", "The Day the Earth Stood Still", and "ET" to show how popular culture has shaped our ideas of aliens. I just hope real aliens haven't watched these movies because we tend to want to blow them up a lot.
I'd recommend this even if it does seem a bit cheesy and clunky (the animation is a bit dated). If you are a believer it won't convince you to stop, but if you are a total sceptic it might convince you to reconsider your view.
And it is not really scary or anything, so if aliens creep you out this is a good place to start to get a well-balanced primer.
Quite good actually, in depth dated *late 1990s) but you might learn a few new things :)
sidewind69-195-2687872 May 2018
Jerry Ryan from Star Trek-TNG is on board as the main narration
but there are many in depth interviews with scientist and it doesn't just cover UFOs but theory and our relationship with what could be or not real, overall well balanced, it leaves you wondering, a sense of wonderment
i like it
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