Staring at dark skies is mesmerizing, especially given the amount of movement and the fact that some areas of the country, preserved as dark-sky reserves, have little to no light pollution. However, with the beauty comes an interest in the unknown and in how significant the universe is to us.
Filmmakers and researchers Clive Christopher and Dan Starkey, who focus on UFOs and UAPs (Unidentified Aerial/Anomalous Phenomena), have made a third in a series of documentaries, Skywatched, following Skywatcher and Skywatch. The film is set in the high-desert landscape of Sedona, Arizona, a familiar location for those who follow Christopher and Starkey and their work.
Skywatched opens with footage and imagery of the Sedona desert, where striking photography captures significant night-sky movement and racing light. The imagery shifts, and a figure quickly moves across the screen, almost at the blink of an eye, as if to make you question whether it is an alien or a blip. Sunsets and the rising moon, possibly with or without filters, seem to be the overall look of Skywatched. Is this real, or heavily designed to pique your curiosity and push your doubts about UFOs, energy fields, or something unearthly? No matter. It’s tough to stop watching or unhear the very alluring narration of Christopher at his desk, accessorized with a neon UFO and an alien head, and the probable happenings of Starkey, who speaks of the Skywatched adventure and experience from the bright day in a desert park space.
Since the idea of life beyond Earth is certainly possible, perhaps contact has occurred, is occurring, or is underway. For Skywatched, shifting one’s eye from the horizon to vertical changes the view and perhaps the question. This is how Christopher introduces “Incident 6,” in which unidentified lights in the night sky originated from the area of the elusive Bradshaw Ranch.
Clive Christopher discusses the investigation in Skywatched.
“…Christopher introduces ‘Incident 6,’ where unidentified lights in the night sky came from the area of the elusive Bradshaw Ranch.”
As Starkey drives the rocky, rumbling desert road to Bradshaw Ranch, which is surrounded by an unusually high fence and an official brown sign reading “Northern Arizona University Southwest Experimental Garden Array,” Starkey holds a type of monitor device the entire time. The clicks and sounds of equipment are constant as the duo walks around with flashlights and such, with Christopher not holding back his honest feelings about roaming the dark desert in what appears to be a deserted ranch property where an energy field exists and something lives—maybe not to be known.
Is a circle of chairs outside part of a meeting, union, or abandoned desert get-together—maybe a ritual? A flashlight passes over a window of a structure where a red spray-painted eyeball and the words “Am I Real” are large in what appears to be an uninhabited and wrecked “bunk house.” What has been discovered? Or is it staged — a great deal of work would have occurred for this.
Christopher is very descriptive and clear about what is happening during his narration, and when the narration cuts to the night footage, he appears more naive, feels eyes on him, and Starkey mentions how the energy around them is different. Nonetheless, one continues to watch even if nothing has been resolved.
The soundtrack and choice of mood music add to the wonder and fear of the unknown, while Starkey balances calm with interest in the night field, from the seat of his camp chair, as Christopher tells the play-by-play and connects with us all. In addition, the camerawork by Director of Photography David A. Murray makes Skywatched alluring and interesting in a place where not much is happening except for what’s in the dark.
An unusual, eyebrow-raising investigative documentary, Skywatched leaves one curious and waiting for perhaps another installment from this “skywatch” team.
For screening information, visit the Skywatched official website.
"…leaves one curious..."
