UFO Cover-Up?: Live!

I recently found this program repackaged as something a bit different, including 80's era blanking out the 'live' in the title. The guy who played B.J. in MASH hosted a two hour program on UFO sightings and alien abductions, discussing many different stories including the Gulf Breeze, Florida sightings. I remember going through channels and stopping at this show after seeing the animated sequence before and after commercial break of the perspective of the grey aliens zipping by.

The thing to remember about this show is that although the topics mentioned are old from our current perspective (Bud Hopkins, Streiber, various encounters, Area 51, Roswell) it was a round up of various interesting content usually only seen in the brief sequences in 'Unsolved Mysteries' and then years later on X-Files starting in 1993. A considerable amount of time was devoted to information on the 'greys' throughout the program. Still interesting to watch to see the perspective of then and now, twenty years later.

I watched the original live broadcast of this program on TV. Many prominent figures in the UFO investigative community of the day make appearances, and much fascinating and, at the time, new information was presented. The first I had ever heard of the now-infamous Area 51 was on this telecast. The space-age sets and flashy music score were widely criticized at the time, as it tended a bit toward sensationalism, but, in retrospect, those aspects have mellowed, while the content still carries its full original force. The best part was the segment in which one of two mystery men, code-named: "Falcon", gave intriguing and very detailed information on the aliens -- even down to their favorite foods and music! Probably the biggest drawback to the show was doing it live. The axiom: "have something to say, and say it on cue", dictated by the live TV format, killed much of the natural demeanor of the participants. Not without its flaws, but definitely a unique and very noteworthy media event in UFO-lore.

As pointed out, doing this live was both exciting and a draw back. I watched it live and thought it was very good because of the scope of the material. Basically everything was scripted so what you had were people stepping on each other, missing their cues. But the information was quality on the subject with respected scientists and retired military officers describing cases that have yet to be explained as of today. They also contacted people from all over the world. Hoaxes were also touched upon. One of the reasons for this special was the then current flap in Gulf Breeze and the recent best seller on abductions, Communion. Some footage of abductees under hypnosis was also shown. The great thing about this program was that it focused on the best cases and had the best experts to outline the cases along with retired Air Force officers that were involved with Blue Book. If you are interested in the subject, you need to try and find a copy to watch.