This is the definitive documentary on Alien Abduction. A careful fact-based study of the most credible cases, hoaxes, military historical involvement, and expert interviews.
This surprisingly straightforward documentary sets out an ostensibly logical case examining the prospect of whether alien abductions deserve credence, based on accounts by those who assert first-hand experience. While the filmmakers and experts interviewed on camera indicate that abductees may number in the hundreds or even thousands, one might also reasonably wonder how many people continue to believe the world is flat. Nevertheless, most of those interviewed appear reliable, indeed, often well dressed and coifed.
UFO sightings apparently occur worldwide on a somewhat regular basis, if less frequently these days than previous decades. Perhaps the human tendency to shoot at almost anything that moves plays a role in the decline. Frequent testing and periodic use of atomic weapons might constitute another.
Accounts of abduction run the gamut, both positive and negative, with reports going back to at least the late 1800s. Not surprisingly, hallucination often receives much of the blame for the victims’ wild stories.
Clearly, those who claim to be victims set themselves up for potential ridicule. Randy Quaid’s character from “Independence Day” invariably comes to mind in this regard. He looks crazy during the first half of the film, but once vindicated gets the opportunity to fly a fighter jet and attack the alien mother ship, where he gleefully remarks on the way in, “Hey boys…I’m back!” The documentary does not adequately resolve the basic premise concerning whether interstellar travel is even possible. Still, aircraft carriers that operate for 18 years without refueling would have seemed silly as recently as the 1950s. Today they exist in significant numbers.
We can infer precedent for the possible outcome of alien contact from our own history. Indigenous populations in the New World and other isolated geographies experienced first contact by Europeans possessing strange customs, impressively large transport ships, and other advanced technology. For the most part, the natives did not fare well. Along those same lines, some on earth question the wisdom of sending space probes into the universe with so much information about humanity. Voyager 1 and 2 probes, launched in 1977, recently passed beyond the heliosphere, offering aliens a detailed look at the diversity of life and culture on earth. Radio and television signals inadvertently send information out into the universe as well, to who knows what eventual outcome.
Do aliens visit the planet with regularity? Are they benign? While the documentary tries to make its case by assessing the quality of evidence from various sources, it ultimately fails to pass the smell test on both counts. Nonetheless, Arthur C. Clarke’s thoughts on the matter prove insightful. He once commented that “Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” “Beyond The Spectrum: Being Taken” may not provide a lot of satisfying answers, but it makes for interesting viewing regardless.
Available to stream on Amazon Prime Video
