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U.F.O: The True Story of Flying Saucers (1956)
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Gord Green
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Joined: 06 Oct 2014
Posts: 2940
Location: Buffalo, NY

PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2018 2:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another review :

5.0 out of 5 stars
UFO contactees tell their stories, for better or worse
By Stephen J. Trieschon April 23, 2007

Format: VHS Tape

The 1950s flying saucer scares gave us the first generation of UFO contactees, people who claimed to be in communication with aliens, to act as interplanetary liaisons, and even to have ridden in spaceships. This 1998 Discovery Channel release is built around interviews with prominent surviving contactees, interspersed with film and newsreel footage from the 1950s.

It is a fascinating film as we try to decide if these people are charlatans, dupes of some cosmic trickster, or victims of an as yet unnamed psychological disorder in which the child's belief in his own imaginary world persists into adulthood.

Almost without exception, these contactees come across as articulate, intelligent, charismatic, idealistic, and - sad to say - ridiculous. It is a hard combination to digest.

So we see an aging and embittered Howard Menger, still nursing his dream of getting a government grant to build a 40-foot flying saucer, of which we are shown a two-foot model, replete with toy men to show us the scale. Things get a bit spooky when Menger brandishes a .45 caliber revolver, and boasts of the day when he allegedly scared off "the mob," who were intent on stealing the plans for his inventions. His attractive wife Connie provides some of the more articulate presentations of the contactee worldview.

Then there is Robert Short, founder of Blue Rose Ministries, an engaging raconteur who "channels" pompous messages from an alleged space entity.

We are also taken inside The Aetherius Society in Los Angeles, founded by Englishman George King, where a UFO-based religion incorporates elements of Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism. The various interviews with King reveal a man who is both charming and delusional about his role in the universe.

The most normal of the contactees is UFO researcher William Hamilton. Utterly sincere, intelligent, and articulate, Hamilton has nonetheless been sucked into the strange world of the contactees (to my knowledge, his claims of personal contact are very modest, involving no more than lights-in-the-sky sightings). He is a protegee of Daniel Fry, who claimed to have ridden in a flying saucer back in 1950.

The segments involving Fry probably should have been left out, in the name of charity. Aging and infirm, Fry mutters a few disjointed sentences before lapsing into a reverie where he begins whistling an old tune. He seems on the verge of dying on the spot. This is a moment filmmaker Robert Stone shouldn't be proud of.

Other contactees include Frank Stranges and the late George Adamski, shown in old news clips. Several of the contactees have invented dubious contraptions for communicating with space entities, and play embarrassing alien pronouncements recorded on primitive tape recorders.

The common thread uniting these contactees is their belief that the "space brothers" are offering a message of salvation for humanity, ultimately a religious message. Several of the contactees - King, Stranges, and Short - indeed present themselves as ministers of their own UFO cults. It is a fascinating mix of theology, philosophy, mysticism, science, pseudo-science and mythology.

There is an understated thread of mockery running through the film. Stone uses the classic film techniques to make people look bad - unnatural close-ups, holding the camera on the subject long after he has finished speaking, keeping embarrassing moments in the film rather than editing them out, and so forth. There is no commentary, so Stone uses the camera to interject his editorial opinion.

This is an intriguing look into the dying generation of contactees. It is getting hard to come by, so get it while you can.

Every UFO buff should have a copy.

_________________
There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.
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Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17020
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Mon Oct 15, 2018 6:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gord Green wrote:
Bud, I found my dvd copy of FAREWELL, GOOD BROTHERS so I'll make a DVD- copy for you and send it to you. My copy has the original ANGEL BABY theme.


I still have the DVD-R you sent me sitting on my coffee table. Let's watch that one in the chat room in a week or so! Very Happy
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____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17020
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Wed Dec 29, 2021 6:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Well, good brothers, here's a fare copy of the pro-UFO documentary I've heard so much about. So, I guess I'll have to get out the DVD-R which my friend Gord Green sent me quite some time ago and finally watch it.


__________________ Farewell, Good Brothers


__________


I'll try to suppress my UFO agnosticism and view the documentary with as little skepticism as I can muster. However, I must confess that my problem with the belief that UFOs are alien spaceships includes the following.

~ The distance between most of the stars in the galaxy seems much too distant to traverse in anything less then several centuries without going faster than light — and that is supposedly impossible. Sad

~ Most of the UFOs sited over the last 70+ years don't behave like advanced starships flown by highly intelligent beings. Frankly they behave more like stolen cars being driven by intoxicated teenagers!

~ In a world now filled with human beings who carry HD digital cameras around in their pockets, we still don't have a single truly convincing video of an alien spacecraft — much less one which was shot by dozens of witnesses from various locations.

And in broad daylight! Cool

Gentlemen, please consider this: On 9/11, a New Yorker captured a crystal clear video of the first plane crashing into the World Trade Center. That tragic event was totally unexpected — and it happened in seconds.

And yet . . . he got this.


______ WTC 9/11 | First Plane Hit in North Tower


__________


That said, here's my problem with the existing videos of alleged UFOs.

If even 1% of all the footage shot over the last 70 years actually did show alien spacecraft, Earth must be a mighty popular tourist attraction for ET's on vacation! Very Happy

And yet, the best fully authenticated videos we can get are like like the one below! Confused


Watch the Pentagon's three declassified UFO videos taken by U.S. Navy pilots


__________


Seriously, guys . . . I'm supposed to impressed by that? Shocked

On the the other hand, if somebody can show me an authentic video which includes something like this . . . THEN I'll be convince! Rolling Eyes






Folks, I know we all desperately want to discover that real alien beings have visited Earth. This would make all our childhood dreams come true!

But we might have to face the sad fact that our nearest alien neighbors are so far away that we'll never get to meet them face-to-face.
Sad
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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