Director James Fox unearths scores of top-secret intelligence in the form of memorandums from back in the day, as well as audio and video recordings with high-ranking members of the military, that make it difficult not to at least entertain the notion that something peculiar is going on in the skies above. Fox interviews a vast array of eyewitnesses, including Evelyn Trent, whose husband took photos of a UFO in 1950, the images of which became a national phenomenon, and former NASA astronaut Gordon Cooper. These folks speak with such conviction regarding their observations that not to believe them absolutely seems to be the crazier prospect, especially since they recall with astute clarity something they witnessed decades ago.
Most incredible is Fox’s climactic account of an incident at the Ariel School in Ruwa, Zimbabwe, in 1994 that, according to Peter Coyote’s teacherly narration, “some believe is the most significant close encounter in modern history.” On this occasion, a group of schoolchildren underwent what can only be described as “first contact.” Immediately following the episode and with barely enough time to register what they had seen, the children were besieged by reporters demanding their stories. For The Phenomenon, Fox organized a reconvening of the children and discovered that each adult’s recollection of events remains just as lucid now as the experience was almost twenty years ago.
“…I perhaps understand more clearly why…UFOs and interplanetary communication has amassed such fascination…”
After having seen The Phenomenon, I perhaps understand more clearly why the famous War of the Worlds broadcast in 1938 and ensuing interest in UFOs and interplanetary communication has amassed such fascination in the public’s psyche. The truth is, there are no answers, despite the government’s insistence that the matter is closed. Sure, some theories may point to attempted breaches of national security or, considering the situation of the Cold War during the height of UFO phenomena, nuclear warfare.
But in the end, The Phenomenon does not offer a tidy resolution, and all we have are theories about UFOs, extraterrestrial beings, and what, if anything, they want from us.
"…this isn’t your average episode of Alien Encounters..."
