Dan Aykroyd Unplugged on UFOs (2005)

Director:

David Sereda

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

A UFO enthusiast interviews Dan Aykroyd on the subject of extraterrestrials visiting Earth.

Plot Keywords:

UFO | Interview | Conspiracy Theory | Astronaut | Videotape

Cast

Dan Aykroyd	...	Himself
David Sereda	...	Himself
Gordon Cooper	...	Himself
Paul Hellyer	...	Himself
Ronald Reagan	...	Himself (archive footage) (as President Ronald Reagan)
Ken Storch	...	Himself (as Ken Storch USAF Retired)
John F. Schuessler	...	Himself
John Hutchison	...	Himself
Patrick Uskert	...	Himself
Stephen Bassett	...	Himself
Richard Dolan	...	Himself
Grant Cameron	...	Himself
Lynne Kitei	...	Herself (as Dr. Lynne Kitei)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Graviton Entertainment

Quotes:

David Sereda: 2001 was a real space odyssey for me. Instead of flying on a spaceship to the moon, Jupiter, or beyond the solar system, I met Dan Aykroyd for the first time to talk about UFOs. That's when I knew I had to sit him down in front of the camera and just let him talk about the truth...

Movie Connections:

References 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

UFOs anyone?

What can one say about the UFO scene? There have been times I have been intrigued enough re the phenomenon to read books on the subject and even attend the odd meeting, but in the end it seemed to be a case of death by boredom. Nothing seems to really happen - I personally have never seen a UFO, though I would like to.

I remember writing once to a prominent public figure (Philip) who is a hardcore commentator on significant world events on radio and in the print media(and who is about as far as one can imagine from the likes of David Letterman et al). He daily (it seems) rubs shoulders with leading politicians, scientists, philosophers, artists of all persuasions from countries all around the world. I sent him an article from The Times (London) re a couple of British Airway pilots who had seen a strange triangular craft zip down the side of their commercial airliner - literally "out of this world". it took a great deal of courage for the pilots to make this report. Anyway Philip kindly and politely explained to me how he was in almost daily contact with leading scientists etc. and if there were even a hint that Earth was in some way in contact with ET, they would be shouting it from the rooftops. He also went on to say how the motivation for UFO pronouncements was usually fun or profit. Some people just enjoyed fooling others while others saw it as a chance to make a buck (though a rather hard way to so do, I would have thought).

My wife's mother, who is a very level headed person who successfully raised 8 children, says she saw a UFO during WWII - "like a silvery plate", it apparently hovered for a time before departing at speed. She and I are unfortunately unable to communicate directly due to language so I could not question her directly on this.

I suppose it is a bit like ghosts - there have been so many reports of them over the years it must be true...

As to the film itself, some of the material was interesting. I found the method of presentation irritating, like most current science shows, where unless you keep the audience entertained with gimmicky text and psychedelic presentation, you fear they will lose interest. Ackroyd's presentation was polished and coherent (of course he is an actor) - much of what he said made sense. His closing grin at the end when the interviewer praised him as one of the "greatest minds in the world" tells me he (Dan) didn't take that too seriously.

UFO sightings captured on films or video always remind me of words from the movie Hellboy: Why is is that footage of UFOs, the Yeti, Hellboy... are always blurry and indistinct? Some of the video of vague silvery blobs looks remarkably like a 747 viewed front-on and seen at a great distance through heat haze.

The presentation in the film was repetitious not particularly inspired or comprehensive, and its gaudy irritating manner implied many in the the audience could not think for themselves. Some of the STS footage was interesting though, as was testimony from prominent figures like astronaut Cooper and politician Hellyer. Of course they might be sincerely deluded.

I remain open on the subject of UFOs. With the proliferation of cam-corders with powerful optical zoom lenses, I would expect (if the phenomenon is real) to see significantly better quality footage in the years to come (Yeah, let's bring 'em down to the White House lawn). Nobody seems to really be in charge on Planet Earth so maybe it's time for a helping hand...