Experiencers - ABC TV Documentary

Aired on Thursday January 3, this was a no-frills look at stories of close encounters. Some were terrifying, some uplifting, but all branded a lasting imprint on the psyche of the individuals concerned. Opening with scenes from the late Dr John Mack’s funeral service and comments from astrophysicist Rudy Schild, viewers were treated to personal stories about the reported clashes of different realities that left some people traumatized, some with apocalyptic visions of the future, and some environmentally concerned and/or spiritually uplifted.

With an apparent focus on proving alien abductions to be a real physical event, or at least something to be taken seriously by science, the producer still seemed to be at odds with descriptions by individuals of being transported to other dimensions where our laws of physics no longer apply. As a result the documentary lurched from topic to topic, probably in much the same way that the producer’s mind must have lurched when faced with these incredible accounts.

The first half of the documentary seemed the most structured, focusing on Dr Mack’s researches and eventual conclusions as to the reality of the abduction phenomenon. Included were Dr Mack’s interviews with South African school children who witnessed a silver UFO hovering near their school, and at least one of its occupants. These interviews were the most compelling part of the documentary, coming from the mouths of innocent babes as it were, and telling the same frightening stories that have been told for years across the globe.

The second half of the documentary fizzled somewhat, lacking structure and going nowhere. An inordinate amount of time was spent, or wasted, on the experiences of a US family that were neither new nor unique in the annals of abduction scenarios. If the aim of this documentary was to initiate the novice to Ufology or simply bring the phenomenon to the public, then that might explain where it was going. But viewers still would have been left wondering what the point of the documentary really was, if indeed it had a point.

This documentary could have achieved so much more but it just sat there like a piece of clay waiting to take shape. Many documentaries rely on the content alone to tell their story, but the subject of close encounters doesn’t do too well with this approach since there is no established context for close encounters in western society. This film would have been greatly improved if that foundation, even briefly, had been mapped out first for viewers. As we could tell from the responses of the producer, he had nowhere to go with this, no paradigm in which to place it, and no point to make. Perhaps the best revelation that this documentary made was the need for us to redefine human responses to what may be a truly non-human problem.

One thing is for sure. We are living in a world where absolute certainties are being swept away with new discoveries and as Rudy Schild said - current scientific certainties are proving increasingly fragile. These days, thinking people everywhere are wondering what the heck is real anymore?

Tell us what you thought.