Ariel Phenomenon (2022) Movie Script

Youre tuned to the Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corporation
Radio 1.
And here is
a special announcement.
If anyone has video footage
of the meteorite showersor
whatever they wereplease
get in touch with
Tim Leach of BBC Television
very urgently.
BBC Television News.
I was not so frightened
in the war zones
of Angola or Rwanda
as I was when this story hit.
Hundreds of people today
phoned the ZBC
and BBC correspondent in Harare
saying they sighted
an unidentified
flying object last night.
These things were flying
in a pattern
and there was no sound.
No wings, no nothing.
Shiny oval thing.
Hello?
Hello, my names Tim Leach
from BBC Television News.
I understand that you,
you had some strange experience.
Yes, thats right.
It was a bright, radiant light.
Ive never seen anything
like it in my life.
It was the absence
of noise I didnt like.
There has been much excitement
after hundreds of people
have reported seeing
a mysterious bright object.
We suddenly looked up
and we saw this thing
coming over the top of the hill.
As it sort of
came abreast of us,
it suddenly changed
from this glow to,
to lets say
two big red-orange balls.
No sound.
Look.
Its going.
Is that what a meteorite does?
No way. No way.
Its incredible.
Eyewitnesses say it had
a bright light at the front
and flew at great speed.
The object was also seen by two
international airline pilots
who reported it to air traffic
control at Johannesburg Airport.
There were three of us
that saw it,
myself, the copilot,
and the pilot
in another aircraft.
South Africas top
meteorologist says
theres no rational explanation
for the bright light
and it could be one
of the most widely reported
unidentified flying objects
in recent time.
None of it made sense.
So I phoned the BBC in London
and I said,"What is this
meteorite shower?"
And they said,
"No, no, no, no, no,
its got not nothing to do with,
with Africa or Zimbabwe.
The meteorites come down
in an arc;
they dont fly parallel
to the earth."
"What about the,
the, the, this Russian debris
thats coming down?"
"No. That doesnt work either.
Um, sorry." Well, what is this?
Viewers with more information
can either contact
the ZBC or BBC in Harare.
For at least three
or four days,
people from all over Zimbabwe
were phoning us at the BBC
to say,
"Weve seen something weird."
It was a helicopter or a what?
No, no.
It was just a big, round ball.
The bottom was flat,
but it was round like
the top of my wall by my house.
And then I got this call
from Ariel School, Ruwa,
that the children had seen
this UFO landing
and these funny men in,
in body-clinging suits,
black suits.
Uh, weird.
I went roaring out there
in the car with my sound man.
Ariel School,
19th September 94,
12:12 local time.
Could you tell me
what you saw on, on Friday?
Well, its, it was just
glinting in the trees
and this, like, there was a man
and he walked towards us
and he walked back again.
And what did he look like?
His, his face was like this
and his eyes were down here.
Like, what,
further down his face?
Yeah. Much further
down than us,
because our eyes are here
and his are down.
You dont think it was
somebody in fancy dress
doing a prank or something?
- No.
And how tall about?
About say there.
Sitting on the spaceship.
How did you know
it was a spaceship?
It wasnt a helicopter
or something like that?
No.
Well, it looked like it
was like,
like a disc, like a round...
And whereabouts was it?
It was in the trees.
In the trees over there,
between the big pole.
And did you girls
see that as well?
Yes.
Yes.
We asked them to draw pictures
of what they saw on Friday
and after looking at those,
I definitely feel
that they did see something.
What do you
think that was?
I agree that it could be
something that we, um,
are not common with.
But to actually say
that it was a UFO,
I would be, uh, reluctant
to make a decision like that.
All the other journalists
in Harare
were not taking this seriously.
But I took it seriously
because this story
got bigger and bigger
and bigger and bigger and...
I need to know what was,
what was going on.
Who do I talk to?
And then I spoke
to some contacts
and they put me in touch
with Cynthia Hind,
the person for UFOs in Zimbabwe.
That Cynthia Hinds coming out
and I believe she bringing
a Geiger counter.
She did mention it
on the telephone.
I think well wait until she
comes and see what happens then.
Just come and sit
on these chairs along here.
All right,
these are the grade sevens,
the oldest children here
at the school
who say they saw something.
Did you all see something?
Yes.
Whats your name?
I, I, Im Daniel Mandy and,
and I saw this,
this silver thing in,
in amongst this clump of,
of trees with this one thing
sitting on, on, on the side and,
and another thing sort of
like running up
and down the, the top.
It had a, a long top
and it then it was flat
like that along the sides.
What was around the sides?
Just a, um, sort of like
a platform coming down the side.
Platform.
Did you see anything else?
Yes. We saw a black man
running around. Just...
A little man or what?
From where we looked,
he was about this small,
but we were quite a way away.
So he was about our-size.
What did you see?
I saw something silver
on the ground amongst the trees
and a person in black.
And thats all I saw.
You saw a person
alongside the silver thing?
Yes.
Have you heard about UFOs
before this?
No.
You didnt know anything
about it?
So it was something
quite new to you?
- Yes.
- Were you afraid?
Yes.
Nobody should panic.
We dont know what it is...
No, not at all.
...and it could be
just some...
There was Russian satellite
went up on the 27th of August
and its possibility
something came down.
But it would not account
for the figure you saw.
But I think for moment,
you should keep everybody away
until weve had some analysis,
you know, of whats going on.
It was in between the gap
of this one building,
behind this pile of dirt.
Yes, I can see that.
Where did they think it was?
They, they told it was in
between these two poles here.
In between these two poles?
Yeah.
Gunther, can you try
the Geiger first?
Yeah, OK.
Do you want me to hold it?
What equipment
have you brought with you?
Well, Gunther is a highly
technical chap
and because its difficult and
very expensive in this country,
hes made hes made
his own Geiger counter.
Were going to check it out
and see if theres
any radioactivity there.
If theres really some changes
the Geiger would
be going faster.
But, um...
So is this just normal
background radiation?
Yeah, this is about normal.
Yeah, I was helping Cynthia
out more on technical terms.
So Cynthia found me quite useful
in maybe explaining away
certain phenomena.
Maybe it was a certain time
of the year
where certain meteorologic
events occurred,
like the Leonid meteor shower
or the Perseid meteor shower.
So we used to try to eliminate
all the natural events
that might be happening
in the sky
before we thought maybe there
might be something more to it.
But how skeptical are you?
Well, I would like to see
some evidence.
You dont think it would be
appropriate at the moment to...
No. I havent.
But from what I see
from some of the children,
I do believe
that something happened.
Im not all that gullible.
But this to me
is a very typical case
and Ive handled several
hundreds in southern Africa.
I certainly believe
the children.
Theres some extremely
interesting pictures
and theres certainly
some of the things that tell me
they couldnt have known about.
Impossible.
I can remember it like it
was yesterday.
It was easy to put down, because
thats exactly what I had seen.
So, you know, its something
that Ill never, ever forget.
In 94 I was in grade 2
at the time at Ariel.
My teacher was Mrs. Chipo.
What I can remember was we were
playing around in the,
in the playground area.
It was one of those
rare occasions when the teachers
were having a staff meeting,
so it was quite a long break.
We were happy to have those
because there was more playtime.
And there was, like,
a flash of light.
And it was bright, bright silver
and everything. It shot past.
At the time, I mean,
I remember it well.
We were on the field playing our
football and a friend of mine,
Vimbai, said, "Hey, Luke,
do you see that in the sky?
What is that? What is that?"
So I was looking up
and I saw it.
And it was for want of
a better word, you know, a UFO.
I wasnt sure what it was.
But it was a silver object
that was in the sky.
And we were both, like,
looking at it.
And I only saw it
for possibly a few seconds.
And it seemed to,
to move off a bit
and then suddenly vanished.
And we were, were both sort of
standing there looking up,
saying, you know,
"Geez, what was that?"
But didnt put too much
thought to it
and obviously went straight back
to playing our football match.
A few minutes later, theres a
whole sort of commotion going on
and there were
a whole bunch of kids
down at the bottom
of the, the playground.
We were sitting on one of
the logs that we always sat on,
eating our lunch,
and I noticed that people
were pointing at this one thing,
or something, in the bush.
And I got up to see
what was going on
because one person
actually started crying.
And, you know, like I said,
because we were the older group
on the playground,
we all, people in my year,
um, just were kind of concerned
about what was going on
with everyone else.
There was a big group of kids
all sort of gathered at,
right at the bottom
of the playing field pointing
and making a noise
and shouting and screaming.
And I went up to sort of see
what was going on,
try to, you know, um,
calm everybody down.
You know, and my initial thought
was somebody had hurt
themselves or something.
OK. So if I was there.
So, say, a couple of hundred
meters up it was right there.
So it seemed to be right
on the cross-country course.
I remember seeing
two flashing lights.
And I saw, like, a big silver,
like a saucer kind of thing
that was hovering.
And then it landed or hovered
on a, on a stone.
And I saw two figures come out.
Really black, but their face,
you could actually see
not much of their face,
but it was really,
really white in color.
The skin pigmentation
was veryI dont,
I dont know how your can...
Pale doesnt even, it,
it looked plastic.
You know?
It looked like, uh,
someone who had
too much, too much Botox.
Now when I think about it,
Im like, thats,
thats exactly what...
At the time I didnt have
a color or word for it.
Um, but thats exactly
what it looked like.
It was very smooth
and soft-looking.
It looked like it,
youd slide right off
if you tried to touch him.
He had, just, yeah.
I suddenly realized that it,
thats not,
hes not quite normal.
I didnt actually know about
UFOs and aliens at the time.
So I just thought
he was a strange person.
But it was the eyes that,
that made him.
So, that kind of shape.
I think the eyes were obviously
a lot more fluid,
round, shiny, protruded.
Almost like rugby balls
or America,
you know, American footballs.
Huge eyes on the,
on the side of his face.
And so I looked over
and sort of thought
I could see something unusual
going on in the bushes as well.
And I was like, yeah, there is.
Theres got to be something.
It looks like
theres something there.
And the realization that there
was something movingand
it appeared to be
coming towards us as wellthat,
I felt scared at that point.
The panic spread.
I was looking for my
for my brother and sister
to make sure that they were OK.
And when I did have them,
then we continued
to look onward.
They just seemed confused.
Like, what is going on?
One moment were playing,
next moment everybodys looking,
pointing and everybodys
in a panic.
That was a little bit scary.
I just turned twenty eight.
I ended a relationship.
I was engaged for six years.
You know, this whole topic
definitely weighed
on our relationship.
So I moved in with my folks.
Im thankful that
Im here right now
and with my family
who supports me.
As for future goals,
plans, work, I have no idea.
But I feel alone.
"Dear Emily,
I hope this finds you well.
As you may have seen
on our Facebook page, next month
we will be celebrating
our 25th year as a school.
I know its short notice
coming from Canada,
but wed love
to have you join us.
If you cant make it,
know that you are always welcome
to visit your old home.
Love, Judy."
It brings up a lot for me.
Its a reminder of pain,
of holding something inside.
I dont want to hold
onto those feelings anymore.
We havent got all day.
This lady and gentlemen
are from South African
Broadcasting Corporation.
Theyve come to talk
to some of you.
Hi everybody. My names Nicki.
OK, and thats Ivan
with the camera.
And were going to actually
speak to a few of you
who did see something that day
and ask you what happened,
what you felt when you saw it
and that sort of thing,
you know.
So very, very casual.
You must say exactly
what you want to say, OK?
What were you doing
on the day?
Well, I was walking and I saw
this maroon color in the sky.
And me and my friends
were following it.
And then we saw this light
in the in the Msasa trees.
Then I saw something shining
and somebody sitting on it.
And they were wearing
pure black.
We saw this black figure
running in a slow motion.
The strange thing
was it seemed to be
in very slow motion,
which to us seemed
very interesting
because Cynthia had come across
this kind of event
in some of our other cases
around the world
where she had reports of,
you know, alien encounters.
Cynthia, how long
have you been
investigating UFO phenomena?
Well, about 17 years.
Im, Im the continental
coordinator in Africa for MUFON.
MUFON has over 5,000 members,
most of whom are scientists.
You interviewed the children.
What was your conclusion?
I believe them.
I believe they saw
what they said they saw.
I think that perhaps some have
been influenced by others
and theyve added a little bit
here and a little bit there,
but basically they put, drew in
their drawings many things
that I dont think
that they could know about.
How big was the figure?
It was about as big
as a grade six.
How tall would have said?
Maybe about three
and a half feet.
Theres another one, he,
he, he was a bit short.
As an investigator
Ive learned that
if they tell
exactly the same story,
then theres corroboration,
theyve got together
and theyre doing it.
But if they tell a similar story
but from different viewpoints,
to me, thats the truth.
We saw two of them, one was
standing in front of the ship
and then the other one had,
um, long hair.
But the one was standing
in front
didnt have any hair at all.
Show me with your hands
how big the eyes were.
They were shaped
like something like that.
Big head and big black eyes
and was dressed
in a black body suit.
What did you think it was?
I dont know.
I just thought it was
some type of alien
from a different planet.
What are they talking about?
I had no experience of UFOs
or anything like that apart from
seeing Steven Spielbergs film,
"Close Encounters
of the Third Kind" or whatever.
I just thought
they're all bonkers!
I was just a hard-assed
journalist, skeptical as,
as everybody would be!
What is this? I want to know.
I mean, the BBC want to know.
What is going on here?
Theres a truth behind,
you know,
your environment
shaping who you are.
For me, growing up in Africa
was normal. It was just home.
Youre growing up in an area
where you need to be aware
of your environment.
This is not living in America.
Youre in Africa.
Youre in Zimbabwe.
We didnt grow up around TV.
People like to joke about.
"Oh, did you have
running water?" Yes.
That was,
that was luxury, actually.
Thats something
you were lucky to have.
Or electricity, because the
places that we went to a lot,
I mean, theyd have nothing.
You live in a mud hut.
Thatched roof.
You live every single day
to live and hope you can.
Yeah, so it was
completely different.
OK, mom, dad.
Do you remember this place?
We used to stop here
all the time.
This is really...
I feel at home.
If you go back to Ariel,
it means I get to go back
to the spot where it happened.
I dont know
how Im going to feel.
I dont know what
its going to bring up.
But I feel really blessed to be
able to do that in my life.
My familys religious
and we came to Africa
for mission work.
My brother and sister
also attended Ariel.
They were very traumatized
about the event.
Talking about it
in a religious environment
wasnt something
that was allowed to be done.
I was very quickly removed
out of the situation,
so it was pack up everything
and we flew into Canada.
I didnt get to have
the opportunity of growing up
with the friends
in that environment
who had had that occur to them.
Im looking for to, uh,
reconnect again.
I havent been back to Ariel
for just over 20 years.
Oh, my gosh!
Holy... And the classrooms.
Hi!
How are you doing?
Good. How are you?
Good.
Emily.
Ms. Bates is right in there.
How are you?
How are you?
Im good.
Yeah. And you?
Good. Im really glad
to be back.
Bit of a shock to come...
...back.
Yeah.
Come home, whatever.
Home.
Yes, home.
It is!
Tis.
Home.
Always.
Yes.
Its good to see you.
Thank you. Oh, my goodness.
Thats Rachel.
This is Paul, my brother,
who also attended the school.
So were a family of three here.
So will someone be able
to show me around the school?
Victor is going
to show you around.
Oh, hi, Victor! Emily.
Nice, nice to meet you.
Its nice to meet you, too.
Im walking
where I used to step.
Yeah.
It, it feels incredible.
Today weve got
a special visitor in our midst.
Its Emily Trim
and she was here at
the Ariel School 21 years ago.
Was Mr. Mackie here
when you guys were here?
Yes.
Do you remember Mrs. Hwacha?
Yes.
Yes.
She was I think
my grade three teacher.
Was she?
Yes.
Then she came and,
sort of like stalking
in the supermarket, in SPAR,
when you were phoning me.
And the trolley was full of...
Are you having a good day?
Yes.
Yes? Is it lunchtime
right now for you?
Yes.
Yes. Wonderful.
There were the boundary
logs here.
And that field wasnt there.
Uh, so it was all brush and...
And you were guys
went down to the logs?
Well, I was right on the log
when it actually happened.
You were there?
Yes. I was here.
And you saw them? You are
the ones who drew those...
Yes.
...funny pictures.
Yes.
Oh, OK.
Yeah.
Nice to meet you.
Where are you staying?
With Ms. Bates.
OK. OK. OK.
We have the shower
down there.
And this is your room here.
Everyones got a fan.
I dont have mozzie nets,
Im afraid.
You dont have what?
Mosquito nets.
Its OK.
And what did
your other friends say?
They were scared.
We wanted to tell the teachers
but some of us were too shy to.
We, we ran down
to the teachers
and we went into the office
and we started
telling the teachers.
And then they said
maybe theres nothing.
And how did that make you feel
when they said
maybe theres nothing?
Well, we felt very sad
because we did see something.
Cheryl, what was your reaction
when Candice and Teagan
told you about the UFOs
and the aliens
that they saw on Friday?
Um, I dont know, really.
I found it very hard to believe.
Ive always taught my children
seeing is believing
and unfortunately
I didnt see,
so I dont know if I believe.
We always joke
that the children saw
these little green men come out.
And they say, "No, mummy,
but we did see."
So I dont know. I do believe
Candace to a certain extent."
What did the man look like?
Why would they make up
such a story?
And kids of that age,
6 to 9, 10,
they wouldnt be able to
sustain such a story
for such a long time.
And one of thems
going to crack.
And then it will be,
then it will be unrolling
a ball of string, you know,
all the rest of them would,
would, um, crack as well.
So would you want to talk
about it to friends
or other people you meet in
the future when you get older?
Or do you just want
to forget about it?
No, I dont want
to forget about it.
I want to keep it in
because I know that it was true.
And I want to talk
to other people about it.
They were fascinated.
They accepted it
in their full stripe.
They knew what theyd seen.
Theyre not stupid.
Children are so much
more open than adults.
Ive always kept an open mind
about the life, the universe,
and everything, God, Buddha,
whatever you want to call it.
But this story was something
I hadnt encountered before.
In October of 1983
I went to Zimbabwe
which was going
through massacres
and I went all over Africa
being a camera man,
doing whats called "bang bang",
which is serious war zone.
I had done a lot.
Id done Angola, Rwanda,
Liberia, Nigeria.
Id done lots of war zones.
A lot of friends
and my crew were killed.
And I survived.
That was my job.
But this was a bolt
out of the blue.
I mean, I wasnt expecting this
because I was, I was a realist.
It was totally out of my remit.
I could handle war zones but I
could not handle this UFO thing.
It just didnt make sense.
And thats when I had
to call in extra help.
Cynthia Hind put me in touch
with Dr. John Mack.
And, uh, I got his number
at Harvard University.
Tim Leach
from BBC Television News
in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Message for Dr. John Mack.
This concerns a UFO sighting
over a school
where it hovered, landed,
a black man got out.
But of course
were having difficulty
being taken seriously
despite it being the BBC.
Please call me as soon
as you can. Thank you.
I said, "Listen, I dont know
whats going on,
but this is way outside
my normal ballgame.
What do I do?"
And John Mack said,
"As soon as I can break away
Im coming over."
And he did.
With his credentials
as head of the Department
of Psychiatry at Harvard,
I sat up and took notice.
That took it to another depth.
And their stories are
consistent...Theres
some details
that are not consistent,
like the boys saying
the two different days and...
Do you think its possible
that one, uh, imaginative child,
uh, had a story and kind of
stirred the, the rest of them?
No, I dont believe.
I dont believe.
I honestly believe
they saw something,
but for me to actually draw
a conclusion as to what it is,
I dont think I could do that
at this point in time.
OK. How many of them reported
seeing the craft?
In other words...
Probably in the region
of about 60.
More of them could have seen it
and theyre just too embarrassed
to talk about it.
Or we havent, actually
havent had the grade ones
and twos involved.
You havent spoke...
So the six
and seven-year-olds.
Right. How long would you, uh,
estimate that the scene
actually lasted?
It took over about 10
to 15 minutes.
Really, that long?
Did they describe any other,
sensory experiences like smell
or sound
or anything of that kind?
Nothing at all actually.
Honestly nothing.
I dont think anybodys
actually asked on at question.
Youve youve talked
with the BBC people
and with Nicki Carter
here before, right?
Yes. Yes.
OK.
But the experience
is still fresh
in your mind, is that right?
Yes.
OK.
What were you doing at the time?
Well, I was playing at,
in the playground
and then we just,
we saw something silver
and then we quickly ran
to the log, to the logs.
And then we saw a silver,
silver thing.
And we saw a man
standing next to it.
And what did he look like?
Well, he had big eyes that,
like, pointed.
Pointed, big eyes?
Yes.
Can, can you... Maybe you
could just draw the head.
What, what...
Do you like to draw?
Yes.
OK. Pull your chair up
and well go.
And what, these are what?
What are you drawing here?
The eyes.
The eyes. OK.
And I couldnt see his nose
and his mouth,
but his nose was pretty small.
So his eyes were large.
Is that right?
Yes.
Did you look into the eyes?
I mean, could you make, did you
have a sense that you were...
No. All we saw was his eyes.
They were black.
Black.
But, like, were looking at you
or were you at,
at, at, uh, at him?
Seemed that he was looking
at all of us.
Have you,
have you ever seen a UFO.
Have I? I never have, no.
And I didnt see
anything over there.
No nose.
You didnt see a nose?
No.
I just,
my heart kind of went faster
and then slower
and then faster and the slower
all at the same time.
Now was that...
That was excitement and...?
Yeah. Excitement
and scariness.
And scary. And how,
well you said happy too.
Yeah.
Yeah. Happy because?
Because...
I saw something strange
and something peculiar
and something
nobody had ever seen.
Haley, you,
something scared you.
Is that right?
Yes.
What, what scared you?
The noise.
What noise?
The noise that we heard
in the air.
You heard a noise in the air?
Yes.
What was it like?
Like a roar or a buzz or a hum
or what kind of a noise?
It was like someone
was blowing a flute.
And that scared you?
Yes.
Mm hmm.
And what did you do when,
when you were afraid?
Um, I ran away from it.
Mm hmm.
We told the teacher but
she said just forget about it.
People who have
these experiences
are very serious about them.
And I think that generally
speaking when something
powerful, important,
exciting, scary has happened,
that its useful
to talk about it,
to have open discussion.
And it doesnt mean you have
to impose a point of view.
Its not about what we believe;
its what their experience is
and how they find the adults
around being receptive
to that experience.
And you said that, uh,
you saw two, um,
what would you call them?
Um...
Aliens.
Aliens, you call them.
And, and where the aliens
in relation to the to the craft?
I saw one over here.
And I saw one, one of these
men by, by the spaceship.
It looks like it was guarding
by the big spaceship.
And there was another one
running, running in the grass.
And how did he run compared to
the, say, a way a kid would run?
He ran normally like us
but bouncy
as if a human
would run on the moon.
As there were less gravity
and it seemed light. Is that...?
Yes. But not, not as much
as a human on the moon.
Not that extreme.
When he ran his distance,
he stopped and he looked
at us at for a while
and then he ran back again.
The one thing that
Ive told everybody
is we are dealing
with children here.
Right.
Sometimes the imagination
can get carried away with them.
Yeah. OK.
How many of you still think
they were just making it up?
And what got me was that
there were no adults outside.
Nobody, none of us saw it.
We just happened to be
in a staff meeting.
I totally believe
the children.
They came running up here
in such a panic
and, I mean,
even if we had staged it
they could not have run
all together like that.
Just heard them screaming,
screaming, "Ah!"
and they were here. You know?
And a child cant make that up.
And I mean, children know when
other children are conning them.
And they were, like, about
100 of them that just came here.
They didnt see anything.
I think they said making,
make-believe story
that actually created.
Thats my feeling.
What do you think
started the story?
Since during that time,
there were the talk
about meteorites and all that.
I suppose they,
somebody created this story
and they sort of thought
maybe they had seen something.
You think that the
childrens imaginations
are getting carried with them.
But I became convinced
when I saw the drawings,
because so many of the drawings
were similar.
And also when they wrote their
stories in their storybooks.
They, they definitely
seem genuine because, I mean,
they all wrote
completely different stories
but they had seen
the same thing.
And I think
thats what convinced me
because I think I was
as skeptical as everybody else.
It wasnt just Ariel School.
There were a lot
of different occurrences
that happened over the,
the, probably that whole week.
I live here at the school,
so I try not to think
about it at all.
Because if I do
I have sleepless nights.
Then you have
sleepless nights?
I do!
Ive had a lot of sleepless
nights since it happened.
So I tried to put it
out of my mind.
What do you think about
the reality aspect of it?
Seeing is believing.
I dont know.
But then Im also scared
of the unknown,
so its something
that I block off
because
Id rather get on with school.
Do you think the kids
are telling the truth
or do you think they are,
they kind of...
I think they are
...embellished it,
imagined it?
Yeah. I think that Id rather
not think about it...
Youd rather not?
...again, because
now if I think about it tonight
Ill have another
sleepless night.
Because Im waiting for an
alien to come through the walls.
So...
Some of the kids in my class
are so frightened.
I actually can see that.
It must have affected them
so much
that they sort of imagine
something will happen to them.
Theyre still young
and you dont know sort of,
how to act
and how to speak to them.
Youre a bit careful.
If were going to keep
discussing this,
the parents have been knocking
on my door every single day.
Yeah.
Um, I dont think
you can generalize
when it comes
to something like this.
You got to be extremely careful
which way the parent
is going to jump.
If hes going to jump the wrong
way, youve caused a problem.
Right.
Youve caused a problem.
I think youre all...
Youre not solving it.
Youre probably all aware
of this caution
that Colin is talking about.
We had one child who was very
upset by the whole thing.
Unfortunately hes not
at the school anymore.
Hes actually gone
back to Canada.
He was having sleepless nights
and this was a 12,
13-year-old child.
Basically the cause of that
was his parents refused to
discuss the situation with him.
His parents were very religious
and according to them
this sort of thing
doesnt happen.
Just down that road, yes.
Oh, my gosh.
I cant believe
Im going to see Mrs. Hwacha.
And she,
her name suits her, too.
Yes, it does. Yes, it does.
You know? Mrs. Hwacha.
Mrs. Hwacha. Watch!
Exactly!
I remember she was
very strict.
Was it, like, very, very strict.
Like, everything was done
by her book.
Yeah.
There we go.
Judge Hwacha.
Thats her car there, yeah?
Yes.
OK. Ms. Hwachas coming.
Shes coming out now.
Yeah. Emily Trim.
Yes! You remember?
Yes! Mrs. Hwacha!
Mrs. Hwacha!
Im now old.
I'm now old. I know.
You dont see me to be old?
No!
I missed you.
Pardon?
I missed you.
You missed me?
Mm hmm.
I was a little bit difficult.
Wasnt I?
No. You?
Mm.
Oh. You were, you were strict.
You were strict!
That is exactly
what I wanted to hear!
Yes! You were strict.
But you were fair, you know?
You were fair.
I was very fair.
Yes.
But...
Strict. And it was beautiful.
Oh
Beautiful
There is this business of,
um, us being, asked
about the aliens.
Yeah.
Up to this end.
Mm hmm.
Yeah, because you saw that,
those things.
You saw those people?
Mm hmm.
We asked the children,
the school children
then to draw.
Yes.
You remember?
Mm hmm.
You also drew?
Mm hmm.
So Mr. Mackie asked us,
we put all the papers
according to the classes,
finished this class,
to the other, to the other,
to the other.
They were all the same.
Same.
We ended up concluding
that certainly we saw people.
Theyre going? Where to?
Yeah.
How did they come there?
Mm hmm.
Who are they? Are they people?
We couldnt tell.
Thats what this story is.
Yes.
Thats what you saw also.
Yes. I had kept
those papers myself.
You Did?
I dont know
what happened to them.
Ah! Im looking for mine.
I... You cant find it?
I cant find mine.
Same with me.
Because I had thought it was
something I must also hold onto.
I didnt know what that meant.
Uh, these eyes,
did you look at them?
Yes.
What feeling did that give you
when you looked in the eyes?
It made me shake a little.
Made you shake.
It was a terrifying feeling.
A what?
A terrifying.
A terrifying feeling.
Yes.
And what made it terrifying?
The way he was looking at me.
How did he look at you?
Strangely, like and old woman
who hadnt seen a kid before.
Like a what?
An old woman who hasnt
seen a kid before.
An old woman
who hasnt seen a kid before?
Yes. She stares like this.
OK, let me, Im going
to ask you to do something.
Try to just be in that
feeling for a moment.
Try to remember
that terrifying feeling. OK?
Can you do that?
I know its unpleasant,
but nothing bad will happen. OK?
And just try to tell me
what that terror,
whats in the terror.
See what,
what you find in the terror.
What, what,
what it might be about.
It was making me all scared
and my heart
was now starting to pump faster
and it was making me
all woozy now.
Like woozy, losing...
Yes.
Like, like you were going
to faint, you mean?
Yeah.
Did you faint?
No.
Yeah. Yeah.
And then I was looking
at him, right?
Yeah.
And then he was looking
at me back.
How could I just keep on
looking at him?
So I just stopped
and I looked sideways,
so he wouldnt keep on
making me feeling faint.
But you kept looking?
Yes.
Why did you keep looking?
I dont know. Something just
attracted me to look at him.
Something attracted you, huh?
Yes.
The other man, he,
his eyes looked at me as if, um,
"I want to..."
Things like that.
I want to what?
I want you.
I want you?
Yeah.
I want you in what?
Like, I want you
to come with me?
Yeah. I want you
to come with me.
I want you to come.
Did you go with him,
do you think?
No.
Only my eyes went with him.
Your eyes went with him?
And my feeling.
And your feeling
went with him.
So was there a part of you
that wanted to go with him?
Yeah.
That felt, like,
drawn to go with him?
Yeah.
OK.
Can you say what that felt like?
Again, scary
and a little excited.
Yeah.
And, and a little
I shouldnt go.
Yeah. And yet I want to go?
Yeah.
Yeah.
John Mack seemed to have
brought out that information,
because we just took it out
in a very analytical way.
We just said,
"What did you see?"
and "What did the aliens
look like?"
"What did they do?"
But we never thought
there might be some kind of
emotional, deeper effect.
You know, it really
gave you goosebumps,
if I might put it that way.
You know, theres something
more going on here
than what met the eye.
What made you scream?
I was just getting
very scared.
What were you
scared would happen?
Now dont be afraid to make,
say,
even if you think
its not sensible,
just tell me what
you were afraid might happen.
Um, I thought
the aliens would attack me.
Would attack you? And do what?
Hurt you?
Yes.
How would they do that?
I dont know.
Mm hmm.
It looked evil because it was
just staring at me.
With what? Starting at you
as if what? As if to do what?
As if it wanted to come
and take us.
I know this is hard.
I know its hard. Try to...
Its hard to put into words
what you felt, Im sure.
John did this public meeting
in Harare.
He did an incredible service
to the community
who were worried
and just wanted answers.
Dr. John Mack
is a true academic.
Hes a professor of psychiatry
at Harvard University.
I think were very, very lucky
in this country
to have somebody of his caliber.
So can we have a big hand
for Dr. Mack?
Thrilled to be here tonight
to have a chance
to talk with you
about this phenomenon.
Im trained in adult
and child psychiatry
and adult
and child psychoanalysis.
And Im a relative newcomer
to the UFO field.
And the reason for this trip
is the incident that took place
in Ruwa at the Ariel School.
A number of you
Im sure know something
about what took place there.
The children we talked
with clearly
were talking about a phenomenon
that occurred
in physical reality.
In other words,
their stories were consistent
and the way they talked about it
left virtually no question
in our minds
that what happened was just
about what they said happened.
I know its strange,
very weird.
Yeah. I just got so scared.
So, yeah.
If I had to describe that day,
the first thing that I remember
is the light
and sound is the main thing
that just strikes me.
And then the two shadows.
But especially the sound
and the light.
The light because it was
so bright,
the sound because it scared me.
So...
Yeah, we heard a sound
in that, that direction.
It was sort of like
a buzzing noise.
It was a very, you know,
it was like a buzzing.
The buzzing of what you would
hear at an electric station
or, um, anywhere close to that.
Like, somethings
being zapped almost.
I noticed that there was
a large shape amongst the trees,
which we couldnt really
figure out what it was.
It looked like a, a big rock.
It looked like water
was trickling over it
and the sun was reflecting
in that water.
Thats the best way
I can describe it.
It didnt look like a, a smooth
metallic object as you would,
you would think when you were
looking at a UFO on TV
as we depict them.
It looked natural.
It didnt look like
anything man-made.
You saw it again appearing
in kind of like in spots.
You saw it and then
you didnt see it.
You know,
and then you saw it again.
In the same general area,
but it was, that kind of was,
you know, like I said,
what made you think twice,
like, OK, did I, did I see it?
Didnt I see it?
But when every, you know,
then everyone else
started saying, "Yes, I see it."
And it was the same thing
when we saw
whatever beings where there.
You know?
It wasnt like they were just
standing and looking at you.
You would see them in various
places at various times.
So you didnt know
if it was one,
if it was more than one.
He moved kind of strangely.
Id say almost like,
say, a very graceful
sort of movement.
You know, not like he was
stumbling around or anything.
He, like, sort of like glided
from, while he was walking.
There wasnt
any gravitational pull.
It was, uh, very fluid.
So when he was moving
it was very fluid and flowy
and it wasnt
kind of jerky or...
Yeah.
The strange thing was it was
running in slow motion,
as if you would watch a replay
in a football match.
It was running in slow-motion
diagonally down the field.
And then suddenly
it would reappear in the corner
where it started
and do the same thing.
And then it would reappear
and do the same thing.
And that was frightening,
more frightening than seeing
what these things actually were,
was not being able to see them
long enough, I guess.
It really ripped my socks off.
It was unbelievable.
Ive got to justify myself
to the BBC and...
How am I going to explain to
a serious BBC editor in London
that this is not an April Fools
joke in September?
The BBC always have this policy
that you dont run
with one source.
You got to get two or three,
preferably three.
And I had 20, 30, 40.
Now I put a, a lot of stake
on the physical evidence.
But I dont
primarily emphasize that not
because I dont think
its critically important.
I think that physical evidence
is very valuable.
But for me my strongest suit
is my clinical investigative
approach to create trust,
to bring forth whatever it is,
and the memories and experiences
come flooding back.
Now the fact is that people
arent threatened
when they come forward
about this.
Children, very reluctant
to tell their parents,
and a mother or father
may say to a child,
"Oh, you must have been
making it up.
You, your imagination
is too, uh, too lively."
And then the child
sort of grumbles
and they go inside and they do
what I call "going underground".
They know what happened to them,
but they dont tell anybody.
I mean you just felt
nobody really cared.
Who do you talk to?
How do you understand it?
The people in my life that were
supposed to be the closest
and, um, the support system,
it didnt feel like
it was there.
There was nobody there to say,
"Now its OK to talk about it."
So we never did. And as children
you have a huge imagination,
so you see those sort of things
and not know what they are.
And you, youre left with this,
well, "where am I?"
limbo state of
"Am I safe or am I not safe?"
So it was, I think as
a protective mechanism,
block it out, turn it off,
dont, dont go back to it.
I havent really talked
to anyone about it.
I usually kept it quiet,
you know,
because most people
probably think Im a,
you know, a bit nuts.
Youre not exactly going to
bring up
this kind of conversation at a,
at a bar or a restaurant or...
You know?
People think youre crazy.
Its very hard.
Its kind of strange, I guess,
because they dont believe you.
Some of my close friends
know about it.
But its more like not a joke;
but theyre like,
Huh, youre crazy"
type of thing,
like laughter type of,
like its something funny to,
something to laugh about.
If this had been
ten years ago,
I wasnt in a place where I
really wanted to talk about it.
I just didnt want to be
associated with that.
I was very self-conscious.
So, yeah, its kind of hard
to talk about it. It is.
Because its not something
that I bring up to anybody ever.
My husband doesnt
even know about it.
Oh, true expression
of how it felt at times.
Its really, really difficult
to face yourself.
Thats a scary time.
Very, very scary time.
A lot of this was done
in black at first,
because I think thats
how I was really feeling.
This is me with my hands
over my eyes trying to hide away
from everything
thats been going on.
It got really, really dark.
I love this piece.
Its when I started using color.
Its still a stern face,
but I think its more confident.
Yeah, this one.
So here, this is the mouth,
like, being zipped up.
This was, like, when all you
want to do is just talk
and you feel like
you have no one to talk to.
I didnt realize that it
affected the children that much.
Mm hmm.
But it obviously has.
Yes.
It was quite difficult,
wasnt it?
Because your mum and dad
would not have believed.
They, they believed
that something had occurred,
but it was very difficult
to integrate...
Very difficult to put
your religion and your,
see the Christian side of it
with that happening.
So, Mr. Sitoni, yes. Come in.
Oh, hi, Ms. Bates.
Hi!
How are you doing?
Oh, Im OK, Mrs. Bates.
How are you?
Yes.
Hello.
Hi, how are you?
Its good to see you.
Its good to see you, too.
Back to your roots, are you?
Absolutely.
All right. I know.
Thats beautiful.
Yeah, connecting and seeing,
seeing the school again
and, you know, the event
that occurred here in 1994.
Oh, yes, the aliens
and all that. All right.
Yes.
Beautiful.
So thats,
thats what Im here for.
Oh, thats wonderful.
Yeah.
Maybe, if youre in tomorrow,
if you dont mind...
Yeah.
...we can do the
tradition thing. Do you mind?
I would love to do that.
Ah, youd love to. OK.
Yeah, because culture
is a huge part of this.
Introduce you to a few people?
Ill walk you out and you can
visit all the sacred places
and you can talk to them.
And you can then,
so when you come back here,
like, wow.
Yes!
Yeah, OK. No, beautiful.
Thank you.
Good to see you, isnt it?
Good to see you, too.
Later. Ms. Bates.
Thanks, Mr. Sitoni.
I saw these beings
and they have black eyes.
Weve, weve got those ones.
We experience quite a lot.
A lot?
Yeah.
Is it the same description
as how I describe it, with...
Yes.
...that?
Yeah, they come, they come
in different versions, yeah.
They come in different versions.
I dont know
what youve heard.
Im supposed to talk about
with, not,
its not, you know, not for...
Yes.
The sacred shrines.
Yes.
So its really
important that...
Mm hmm
Mm hmm
Did you hear about it?
Sure.
With Ariel when it happened?
Can you point to us where
the Ariel school is from here?
Oh my gosh!
Had you had those thoughts
before this experience?
No.
No. And did, how did
those thoughts come to you?
Did they come to you
from the craft or from...
From the man.
The man.
And the man, did the man say
those things to you?
How did he get that
across to you?
Well, he never said anything.
Its just that
the face, his, the eyes.
Fungai, what do you imagine
is his reason for
visiting earth?
I think its about something
thats going to happen.
Something thats
going to happen?
Yes.
Like what?
Um, its pollution
or something.
Pollution?
Yes.
And how did he get that idea
of pollution across to you?
Um, the way he was staring.
The way he was staring?
Yes.
Somehow there was a message
about pollution
from the way he was staring?
Yes.
I think they want, um,
people to know
that were actually making harm
on this world
and we mustnt get
too technologed.
How did that get
communicated to you?
I dont know.
But somehow it did?
Yeah. It came through my head.
Through your head?
Did it talk, like,
through words or...?
My conscience, I think.
Your what?
My conscience told me.
It came to you through your,
your conscience told you.
Yeah.
You mean while you were
in contact with the being,
you mean or what?
While I was... While the being
was looking at me.
While it was looking at you.
It was like this lake
of calmness in his eyes.
I was compelled to look at him.
It wasnt like I,
I wanted to look away from him.
Time became very still
and very bizarre.
In my mind, technology...
and, and not, not good feelings
about technology either.
It was like technology
was a bad, dirty word.
I think that he was saying
to me, beware of the technology.
Dont go into it too heavy
because its, its not going
to be good for you.
It was only when I was
looking at him and his face
and his eyes that I got that.
As soon as I looked
away from him,
thats when all of reality and,
and everything
that was happening came back to.
And thats when I realized
that something really strange
is happening here.
It's fascinating.
This was imagery coming through
from them communication,
but its done through,
right in your brain.
You, you were saying
that you thought that they maybe
were trying to tell us something
like, uh, about the future.
Can you say more of what your
thought is? What was it like?
It was like on the world,
all the trees will just go down
and,
and there were will be no air
and people will be dying.
I think that in space theres
no love and down here there is.
There is love?
Yes.
Mm hmm.
Is there anything
we can do with that love,
as far as taking care
of the earth?
You talked about the,
that they, their message,
that we dont take
care of the earth.
No.
Why not?
Several of them talked
about, uh,
a message being transmitted
through the eyes,
that the beings were trying
to tell us something.
What gave that
a certain edge of sincerity
was they werent offering
solutions,
like weve got to become
environmentally conscious
and, you know,
do something about the earth.
So Id say, "Well, what
are we supposed to do?"
And they would say, "Well, no.
Thats not what they were doing,
what they were conveying.
They, they were simply telling
us that this is whats going on
and they felt very upset
about it."
But it wasnt like a,
you know, ecological,
uh, political program
or something.
So that, that gave it
this kind of authenticity.
At first no news coverage
took it seriously.
And I leave you to check
for little green men
and flying saucers and...
And then when Reuters got hold
of it, it got very serious.
There was a bit of a buzz
and it was in the news
and everything.
You had people that knew
about the school from all over,
not just in Zimbabwe,
but it was all over the world.
On the other side
of the world,
an unusual visitor called into
a Zimbabwean playground.
Unexplained Mysteries;
Something major has
happened in Africa
a unique mass encounter
between aliens
and school children.
Hello, welcome back. Someone
who started off as a skeptic,
and youre a Pulitzer prize
winner and all the rest of it,
have actually been convinced
that the people you interviewed
at great length
and talked to about
their encounters with aliens,
they were actually
telling the truth.
There is something out there
trying to contact us.
Yeah, theres some kind
of authentic mystery here,
which my training in psychiatry
just hasnt prepared me for.
With all the skill
that you have,
youre a top American
psychiatrist at Harvardyou
would be able to tell
when people were telling fibs.
Thats what Im supposed
to be trained to do,
is to distinguish
between fantasy,
dreams, psychosis,
or authentic experience.
And this is, has all the marks
of authentic experience.
So we just stared at it.
And we heard this flute,
sort of like a flute noise.
Then I saw this black figure
running in slow motion
and then I didnt want
to see it, so I looked away.
And I looked again
and it wasnt there anymore.
When you looked
at those children,
they were absolutely credible.
And you can look at their faces,
even on television
you can look at their faces
and know if theyre
bullshitting or not.
And they werent.
We came away convinced
that an extraordinary event
occurred here.
Uh, one of, uh, quite unique,
I think, in UFO history.
If theres anything
that could convince a skeptical,
closed-minded public
that some kind of intelligence
that is not,
as the headmaster said,
"of this world", than this event
should persuade people.
I believe overall this
is a phenomenon of enormous
complexity, meaning, and value
for understanding of ourselves,
who we are in the universe.
And were just beginning
to grasp what this is about.
Welcome back
to Larry King Live.
Hes a Harvard psychiatrist
and though he was once skeptical
that beings visited
from other planets,
he now believes differently.
John Mack has been
a psychiatrist
at Harvard University
for more than 30 years now.
he won a Pulitzer Prize
two decades ago
for writing a psychological
biography of Lawrence of Arabia.
But these days his writings
have placed him
on the academic fringe.
Meet Dr. John Mack,
a believer in aliens
from outer space.
What would the academics
up at Harvard University
think about all this?
We started to hear that John
was getting to be in trouble.
His practice was beginning
to be largely
about the investigation
of these strange phenomena.
He had started support groups
so that the various people
who had reported
these strange phenomena
could hear the stories
from each other
and begin to feel
a little bit normal.
No matter how I looked at it,
they were talking the way people
talk about something
that's happened to them.
I was stuck with this dilemma.
what do you do at that point?
Do you say, Well, Im sorry.
Theres got to be
some kind of mental illness
Ive ever heard of before?
Or do you say maybe
what I thought was possible
wasnt complete.
It seems to me its clinically
and humanly more honest
to say theres something
I dont know here
and to follow
your clinical instincts.
What did you say?
What did you tell your mom?
This is Kayleigh talking now.
Go ahead.
I said, "Mummy, I saw
an alien at school."
Then they, my mummy said, um,
she, my mum never believed me.
Yeah? Does that upset you when
your mom didnt believe you?
Yeah. Sometimes.
Kayleigh!
Hi!
Hi!
How are you?
Im good. How are you?
Good.
Oh, its so nice to see you.
I know!
How does it feel?
Its crazy.
Right?
It is.
So do you want
to take a little walk?
Oh, my gosh. And, I mean...
I know, we have to look.
OK, lets look.
OK.
I was trying to find mine.
And Ive been looking
to find all my pieces
because I dont have
my drawings as well.
See, like these ones
you cant see.
I know!
Thats why Im like, oh.
Right?
Its not here.
Well, we could keep going.
Tell me what you remember.
See, I was playing
rugby over here.
In this open part over here.
With the little boys.
Yeah.
And then all the logs
were down there.
Were all here.
I dont know why I remember a
huge tree like this down there.
Because that was,
that field wasnt there.
This is where I kind of remember
it happening.
Like standing over there.
I then ran, I must have
run there, closer to...
I remember being close
to the tuck shop.
Well, thats why,
I remember right here.
And I remember Lisil
and I right there.
So it must be there.
And, yeah.
Emily!
Yes
Ms. Bates found
some of the drawings.
Ms. Bates found
some of the drawings?
Theyre in an envelop
on the desk.
Oh!
Up in the office there.
But I think theres been
such a runaround this morning.
Theyre trying to do things.
They just let us know
theyre there.
Oh, how exciting.
Right?
I hope mines there.
I, I really hope
mines there, too.
I think theyre both there.
I havent opened anything.
I havent looked.
Oh, my gosh.
You must be kidding me!
Im scared.
Im kind of scared, too.
You dont have to be scared.
OK, you open it with me.
Open it together.
Well do it together.
Lets take a peek.
Oh, my gosh!
Oh, my gosh!
You see, Im sure...
You cant see it very nice,
but Im sure this was the tree.
Ive drawn this again.
Like, like, exactly like this.
You see silver
shining as well.
Uh huh.
I mean, I said I saw,
like, a crazy light.
Oh, my gosh!
With this coming down.
I think
I blocked out a lot, man.
You remember, and like we keep
saying, like,
I think we blocked out a lot.
I really do as well.
Yeah. Holy shit!
Wow!
I know. Think it a lot of
people, like, didnt believe us.
Its beautiful.
Its so peaceful.
Yes.
I have the best memories here.
Me, too.
Of us.
Ive been so terrible.
Well, Ms. Bates is,
she wants...
So terrible.
...she wants to see you.
Shes a, shes a little hurt
because she feels like...
I know.
...the students have avoided
this place
for a such a long time.
Well, you see,
thats the thing, is, like...
I know.
...what happened.
I know.
I think thats why
Ive never come back.
I dont want to deal with...
Deal with it.
...coming here and remembering
all the stuff.
I think thats honest,
the honest Gods truth
of why I didnt come.
Yeah.
So 20 years later...
We still have the same story.
But thats the funny thing,
is, like, Im adamant
about this tree and the light.
And there on my picture,
which I dont even remember
drawing, its there!
Its there!
And I drew that.
I cant wait to show my mum.
You have to see it
to believe it.
If, if somebodys a staunch
believer that its not,
how is me
telling them my experience
going to change what they think?
It will change
what they think about me.
Its not going to change what
they think about the universe.
And I dont need that.
But with 60 of us
all saying it together,
that will change what that one
person thinks of the universe.
Many of you are going to think
my guests today
have lost their minds
To be honest, their stories
do sounds really crazy.
But we were intrigued
by this man.
He is Dr. John Mack,
who does believe their stories.
The presidents lawyer said,
"What do you think its like
for the dean
for the medical school
to see one of his professors
on Oprah Winfrey
saying that men, women,
and children are being taken
by little green men?"
It does reflect, I think,
the anxiety that this caused.
Doctor, is the profession
embarrassed
when one of your colleagues
puts forward theories like this?
Oh, yes.
Were very embarrassed.
Embarrassed for the profession
and a little worried
about John himself.
What?
Hes gone of the rails a bit?
Well, John is a man of great
gift and great intelligence,
but hes also a man of,
who tends to take
on enthusiasms.
And this times hes gone,
yeah, gone too far.
Were worried about him.
We hope hell pull himself
together, come back.
I sensed that I ought to try
to get ahead of the curl on,
on the high exposure that I had.
But I was too late.
There was something afoot.
They were putting together
a committee
to look into the work
and see if I had maintained
the standards
of the Harvard Medical School.
I am, uh, Arnold Relman.
I am a physician.
I was asked by the dean
of the Harvard Medical School
to look into Johns activities
in view of all the publicity
and the fact that John was using
the Harvard Medical Schools
name quite liberally,
and implied
the Harvard Medical School
was somehow sponsoring
what he was doing,
the dean wanted to know,
what is he doing?
His research is
shattering preconceptions
about alien abductions.
Hes studied over 100 people
and is convinced
they are telling the truth.
John, you have
a very high profile.
And the fact that youre
a professor at Harvard tends
to make people believe you.
And do you think you could be
seriously misleading people
about whats going on here?
The concern is what is his
relationship to the subjects?
Is their psychological welfare
being protected?
And is this a violation of
medical standards?
I miss this place so much.
You know, just after talking
to Ms. Hwacha
and, you know, just kids
and the school.
Because we were
listening to music.
And the music in the...
You tear up.
Im like, whats going on?
Its a horrible feeling
to feel alone.
But you've got us now.
Youve got the whole Ariel
family, like, everybodys there,
like, looking out for you.
Tracy said hell be
on the other side.
And everybodys there for you.
Everybodys looking out for you.
God, I needed that,
you know, so badly.
They forget that theres a human
being behind all of this
and nobody asked
for it to happen.
Theres Lisil.
Lisil, Fungai, Grant.
I remember her, too.
I remember the face,
but I dont remember the name.
There are many people
who probably are not going
to believe certain things
until they happen
to them, period.
That probably is even
more pronounced in the West
compared to many other cultures
because we have advanced
so far technologically,
because our technology,
which is, you know,
based in science
is so dramatically powerful
that people start thinking
that must be all there is.
A lot of the criticism
about John and Johns work
pre-supposed
that it was simply impossible
that people could be visited
by aliens,
that aliens even exist,
To reduce knowledge of reality
to purely the physical world,
what about the whole emotional
world, the spiritual world.
When you go into
subatomic reality,
there is not material world.
Theres only possibility
and probability.
The new findings in physics,
if you take them seriously,
are just as undermining
of the dominant worldview
as anything Im talking about.
Baloney!
Old-fashioned physics,
new-fashioned physics,
quantum mechanics,
string theory,
you got to have evidence.
You have to be able
to measure something.
I am morally
and virtually certain
that what were dealing with
is some kind of internal
psychological phenomenon.
It is inconceivable to me
that these people
are being abducted by aliens.
If they were,
then the whole world
as we know it is upside down.
Harvard University was
the kind of global champion
of the classical
liberal worldview.
And that he was trying to
propose an alternative worldview
with the reality of
extra-terrestrial intelligence.
A worldview is
a kind of psychic glue.
It sort of orients you.
Its what allows people to think
they know
who they are in the worlds
that matter to us, family,
groups that were in,
institutions, schools.
Whats possible
is a matter of worldview.
A culture decides whats real.
Whats real in this culture
is completely different
than whats true
in other cultures.
I really think human egoism
in the broadest sense
is what is at stake,
our sense of value,
our sense of who we are.
Are we powerful, are we in
charge of our own fate.
Freud said theres three
big blows to human egoism.
And the first was the discovery
by Copernicus and Galileo
that the Earth was not
at the center of the cosmos.
Second was Darwins finding that
were not particularly different
from the other animal species.
Freud claimed his was the third,
that were not really in charge
of our own individual lives.
And this, I think,
could be a fourth.
Were far from being
the most intelligent
or advanced creatures
in the cosmos.
I think in the broad scheme
of things,
its not a socially
good thing to do.
It promotes
the cult of mysticism
and magic and superstition.
You know, the X-File
kind of mentality.
Theyre, theyre out there
and the government wont,
wont let us find out about it.
Its childish.
And its not good
for the American public.
Why should this
be so remarkable
when we claim to believe in God
and all kinds of spirits,
and yet theres something about
this one which takes a form
that is particularly
disturbing to us?
Theres a lot of harrumphing
that goes on.
"Well, we dont really want
to be identified
with this kind of science.
Its OK to be identified
with other bizarre views
that might emanate.
But we have our limits, too."
Remember, were a university
that has a divinity school.
We know the boundaries.
Theology is OK,
but extra-terrestrials, no.
Angels, yes.
Extra-terrestrials, no.
Lets just sit down
and rationally,
objectively talk it through,
because theres a lot
we dont understand.
theres a lot we worship
in our various religions
thats meaningful
and inexplicable.
You cant just rule stuff
out willy-nilly
because there is a magical side
of life that is very precious.
Im a Christian in my beliefs,
but that doesnt mean to say
that I think,
um, theres no other types of,
or forms of life
that exist in the universe.
There is a God, but theres
also other things around
that cant be explained.
You know?
Its, its another creature.
They teach you theres
no such things as aliens
because, I mean,
God created just human beings.
Thats what I was taught;
thats what I grew up thinking.
The universe is so big
so I cant completely say
its fact
that theres no such thing
as life outside
of Earths solar system.
The universe is a beautiful,
strange place
and were just human beings
and we cant know everything.
Maybe we dont have
the capacity to understand it.
We may be just exploring
the limited reaches of space.
Beyond that we absolutely know
nothing in terms of life
or how life exists elsewhere.
Maybe its too disturbing.
In the beginning of my
going public with this,
I received absolutely
no general acceptance.
There were no particular
advantages to be gained
and every disadvantage.
And there were assaults
from every direction
in terms of the main part
of my profession.
If it was an opportunity,
it was an opportunity
to commit professional suicide.
Its a dirty subject.
If you want to sustain
a career in the BBC
after having been
in many war zones,
you dont suddenly come up
with a UFO story
which was absolutely waterproof.
Then they just said, "No.
Tims suffering from the stress
and the strains
of all the war zones hes done.
Hes lost the plot.
Hes gone bonkers."
I think thats when my career
with the BBC ended.
Gone. I think I, I,
I lost my credibility,
because you dont talk
about these things.
When I was in residency,
Johns office
was on the main floor
of the psychiatric wing.
When I came back in 2004
his office was offsite.
And I actually took that
as a sort of metaphor
for him being pushed out
and extruded in a certain sense.
Finally the dean of the
medical school wrote a letter
to John basically apologizing
and saying that they were,
that it was unfortunate
that he had misconstrued
what it was
that they were trying to do.
And as I say, and reiterated
this totally foolish position
that they had that all the dean
was trying to do
was to get some information
so he could respond to calls
that he was getting.
And so that they ended up
dropping the entire thing
and letting him go back
to doing his normal work
at the university.
I accept, Dr. Macks
statements at face value.
He is inquiring and probing and
he has the right to be wrong.
The most fundamental right that
any academic has
is the right to be wrong.
Prove that hes wrong.
Thats the job
of other academics.
He became the iconic figure
of someone
from inside a major institution
who was willing
to take the risks
and pay the consequences
for what he believed in.
My respect for Dr. John Mack
for his courage,
for the difficulties
that hes undergone.
And I think any human being
would have to admit
that if the UFO phenomenon
is occurring
as the reports suggest,
its the most important
event in human history.
Were going
to Canada with you.
We can fit in one suitcase!
Im going to miss you
when you go.
Youre going to miss me
when I go?
Yes!
Oh, my gosh!
Im going to miss all of you!
I really thank you
for everything.
I know, I felt so welcome here.
We do our best.
Yes.
Healing process, eh?
Come on, youll be fine.
I know.
Absolutely fine.
Mommy!
Its a very precious
thing to me,
to be able to have
this drawing again
and look at it
and say after 21 years
Im still depicting it
exactly the same way
and I can put it
with the rest of them.
I have probably over 300 pieces
and it started here.
I dont know what it means
for me further down the road,
but I feel more confident.
Its a stepping stone forward
to go out, show my art,
share my story,
and feel good about it.
With my family, theyve been
extremely supportive
throughout this whole thing.
And theyve understood
that this is something
that Ive had to go through.
My mother has started
speaking a bit about it.
My father for the first time at
the dinner table brought it up.
But I dont know
if this is something
that theyll ever be able
to accept completely,
but I know that they love me
and they trust me.
They know because they were
there that something happened.
Id like to introduce to you,
Emily Trim,
one of the witnesses
at Ruwa, Zimbabwe, in 1994.
"That was the day
my world shattered.
And my outlook on the world
became something
completely brand new to me.
Im thankful for going through
such a process
and a journey in life
which has led me to discover,
look deeper into the meanings
of things,
and become more self-aware.
And I appreciate you taking
the time to allow me to speak
and thank you for
your understanding in something
so very personal."
I dont know why
it had to be Ruwa,
a small, rural, farming town.
I truly dont.
But for whatever reason, it did.
It, it happened.
Id like to know
what wed seen
and find out what it wanted.
Why us? Why us kids?
You know?
It was a wonderful
experience actually,
because I know definitely
Im not going to see
something like that ever again.
Maybe. Who knows?
And its something that I will
pass on to my kids one day.
They might be just here
as observers.
Were just an interesting part
of the local community,
like we go to safari in Africa
or see this other creature
that is unique to that world.
For some people it is scary,
very scary,
because it kind of
makes them feel humanity
is not in complete control
of our destinies
and we think we are the dominant
species on the planet.
But maybe, maybe we are the
dominant species on the planet,
but maybe not
the dominant species
in this corner of the universe.
I think its certainly
open-minded.
I think its a bit arrogant
to say that we are the only life
in the galaxy or the universe.
Yeah, I think its good to speak
about it, speak about it.
If there was one experience
Id like to relive,
it would be
that particular experience.
I dont really say
"I swear, man! It was there!"
That sort of thing, you know?
Like, you dont
have to believe me.
Im sure a lot of people
whove seen it
barely believe themselves.
I dont think that
the answers out there.
I dont think that Im going to
find an answer from Googling it
or from talking
to others about it.
I think its a, its a, its
a long story, is the answer.
I think the answer will come
maybe in this lifetime,
maybe in the next.
I dont know.
Im glad I was there.
It really stretched my mind
and gave me a new perspective
on life, the universe,
and everything, really.
I would not have missed that
for the world.
Thats all I can say.
Would you like to
see him again?
Yes.
You would like to
see him again.
And if you saw him again,
what would you do?
Ill ask him some questions.
What would you like
to ask him?
Ill ask him what is
he doing on earth
and what does he want
with us?