The US government finally released a full report on Unidentified Flying Objects in early June, after much fanfare, notably from Tucker Carlson. The findings were shocking: there was no substantial evidence that any UFOs, such as the one that terrified the Navy pilots who recently testified with 60 Minutes, were flown by extraterrestrial beings. Everyone, please accept my apologies.
Of course, this isn’t to say that aliens haven’t been circling our planet. J.J. Abrams, through his business Bad Robot, is bringing a four-part documentary series about UFOs to Showtime at the opportune time. According to a press release, the show will examine “the history of the phenomena through cultural and political touchpoints, including horrifying testimony from eyewitnesses around the country,” and will premiere in its entirety on Aug. 8.
It will also investigate “our infatuation with unexplained flying objects,” as well as “what hidden influence the American government, lucrative commercial firms, and the military may have in concealing the truth about extraterrestrial phenomena in order to further their own goals.”
On the surface, this doesn’t sound like your typical UFO show, nor does it sound like the type of programming that would air on The History Channel and feature mostly crackpots. It appears to be adopting a more clinical approach, examining why individuals continue to believe in something for which there is no hard evidence, even if there is no clear explanation of what happened on Earth in certain cases.
Then again, Abrams does love to make movies and shows about aliens, doesn’t he? Sometimes the E.T.s are belligerent (the Cloverfield saga), sometimes they’re kindly (Super 8). So maybe he’ll go full Fox Mulder and tell us they’ve always been with us.
UFO will premiere on Showtime on Aug. 8.
