UFOs and Close Encounters

This set from Reality Films contains 8 hours of UFO related material in a 3 dvd boxset, with the tag line ‘The most amazing encounters of Alien Abductions, UFO visitations and Government Cover-Ups in History!’

Disc 1

This set from Reality Films contains 8 hours of UFO related material in a 3 dvd boxset, with the tag line ‘The most amazing encounters of Alien Abductions, UFO visitations and Government Cover-Ups in History!’

Disc 1
After some introductory death metal over the credits the DVD onscreen menu reveals that this is a repackaged disc titled Reality UFO Series 6. The content however seems to be mainly footage culled from the International Scientific & Metaphysical Symposium held in Brisbane, Australia on August 2nd-3rd, 2003 .

Aliens and the Scalpel
This DVDs set starts off with a lecture by Dr Roger Leir, a podiatrist and self proclaimed alien implant specialist. The doctor presents slides showing his removal of what he considers to be alien implants, showing rather blurry close-ups of what he has found in a handful of abductees that have come to him. His rather glib style leads to him rushing through slides with little explanation or focusing on expensive equipment that has been donated to him. The film then cuts to his talking about star children, skipping through the slides and reading out a letter from a self confessed star kid, until, without warning, the presentation fades out after an hour without concluding.

Travis Walton is on next at the same symposium, talking of his 5 day abduction experience in November 5, 1975, whilst working as a member of a tree logging work crew in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona. He comes across as sincere and choked up at times talking about his experience. Some confusion was experienced as he introduced slides of his work colleagues, as well as pictures of actors from the movie ‘Fire in the Sky’ that recounted his abduction, and offered comparisons with the movie throughout his presentation. However after 45 minutes of his talk, the footage annoyingly faded out without finishing and left a lot of unanswered questions about what he underwent.

The Billy Meier Case
Rather than a slide presentation, this is a 45 minute interview that begins with no introduction as to who the female Australian interviewer is or the interviewee. Called Michael, at the end of the interview, he has dealt with Swiss farmer Billy Meier. Without offering any of the proof that he may have received, or even showing examples of Billy’s photos that gained him fame and notoriety, he repeats some of Billy’s extraordinary claims as an alien contactee.

Disc 1 ends with a return to the 2003 Symposium with a lecture from freelance writer Kathleen Anderson about Ancient Archeology and UFOs.  Starting off with the big questions she doesn’t profess to have the answers to, Kathleen launches in to the aliens as gods scenario, lecturing on the myth and mystery of Planet X: when it began, what we know and what the future holds.

Disc 2
Confusingly disc 2 is branded onscreen as Reality UFO Series v2

First up is a lecture from the International Scientific & Metaphysical Symposium 2003 by Dr Richard Boylan entitled Star Kids.  The slide show starts with the cover of a classified Top Secret CIA document but then crop circles, lizards and pencil drawings of aliens are talked about as if they were examples of a hidden reality. Then Richard turns to the theme of hyper evolved children, or Star Kids, as proof of alien involvement in our evolution. A letter is read out by a self confessed star kid, amongst other anecdotes, without any real focus or attempts at proving his ideas beyond appealing to the true believers. Psychic abilities are portrayed in young children as proof of Star Children whilst Richard talks of his attempts to contact children by psychic means which was, quite frankly, disturbing. The video then fades out after 50 minutes.

Freddy Silva, author and crop circle investigator is interviewed by Robert Frola of UFOlogist Magazine. Freddy talks about comparisons of circles around the world and their meaning. His argument is that crop circles aren’t all faked because it would be too hard to make complex circles with a plank of wood in a field in the dark with the risk of being arrested. However, the people who have made complex crop circles are being influenced by unknown alien forces offering messages of our future age of Aquarius. This cyclic argument continues amidst some baffling new age jargon until the interview fades out without finishing.

Peter Khoury talks about his personal experiences in a 2000 video lecture.  The quality of the sound is quite poor but he presents a slide show lecture of his abduction as a child by hooded figures from his home in Sydney, Australia during July 1988. Later he saw the cover of Whitley Strieber’s alien abduction book ‘Communion’ featuring the image of a ‘grey’ alien and afterwards Peter linked his own abduction to aliens.  In July 23, 1992 at 7:30 in the morning, while he was in bed, he then experienced a sexual encounter with two female aliens. Peter then goes on to talk about other witnesses to UFO and alien sightings in his work as a ufo investigator before returning to his encounter. Without a conclusion, the video skips to the end of his lecture.

Paranormal Aspect of the UFO Phenomenon 1975 – 1999 by Keith Basterfield from 2000. Keith has been established as a UFO investigator since 1968 in the UK and his new home in Australia. In 1981 he published “Close Encounters of an Australian Kind” and in 1997 a revised version “UFOs: A Report on Australian Encounters” was released.

The link to psychic experiences during UFO encounters is usually anathema to America UFO researchers who prefer to focus on nuts and bolts space ships piloted by extra terrestrials. Keith concentrates on the paranormal aspects of UFO sightings, from psychic powers to poltergeist activity and name checks many well known UFO investigators, from Jenny Randles to Philip J Hynek to who have investigated the phenomena. Sadly, the screen prematurely fades to black before the conclusion of the lecture.

Disc 3
Disc 3 is labelled onscreen as Lloyd Pie and consist of one lecture by Lloyd on Human Origins and the Intervention theory. He argues against Darwin’s theory of evolution and the teaching of it in schools, and offers support for alien involvement in explaining the ‘missing links’of our evolution as humans This involves Bigfoot sightings, Egyptian pyramid building and a ‘star child’ skull. The presentation ends with Lloyd asking for cash donations to continue his research.

Conclusion
Reality is what you make it, goes the film makers tag line – In this case, the reality is a repackaged and abridged selection of old lectures and interviews, edited with a heavy hand. A series of videos of speakers, microphone in hand, talking to an unseen audience is not a set to inspire anything but curiosity, incomplete as it is. The video segments are replete with audience coughing and mobile phones ringing with nearly every section cut short. The whole DVD set seems like nothing more than a collection of video tasters for a cult audience of believers in the involvement of aliens in development of human life. Only Travis Walton and Keith Basterfield offer moments of lucid reflection and straight talking, but the unfinished nature of the presentations on the DVDs is unforgivable. Better to buy a book and gain more complete, uninterrupted insight into UFO experiences – maybe by one of the authors Keith Basterfield quotes. For entertainment you are better off with the movie ‘Fire in the Sky’ about Travis Walton’s abduction experience. Hollywood it may be, but it offers a less distorted view of reality than this DVDs box set does.