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Exclusive: The Manhattan Alien Abduction producer Story Films is expanding its team in the U.S. and UK.

The All3Media-backed indie has created a VP Development post in New York and brought in International Emmy-nominee Adnan Mohammed. As well as leading the development of all unscripted projects, Mohammed will spearhead further growth into the streamer market, focusing on limited series, feature documentaries and co-pro opportunities. He was recently development boss at October Films in the U.S. and was International Emmy-nominated for Waiting for Jasmin.

In the UK, Story has upped Executive Producer Unscripted Adam Hopkins to Head of Factual, overseeing the docs production slate and seeking to find crossover in the docs and drama teams, while Netflix’s Hell Camp: Teen Nightmare director Liza Williams has joined as EP. Williams won a BAFTA for The Yorkshire Ripper Files- A Very British Crime Story and worked with Story on Hell Camp.

The Netflix documentary The Manhattan Alien Abduction focuses on the abduction of Linda Napolitano, a woman whose claims sparked a lot of debate in the UFO community. Napolitano claims that in November 1989, three aliens abducted her from her New York apartment and did experiments. There were allegedly 23 witnesses to her abduction, which were documented by the prominent Ufologist Budd Hopkins. In the new three-part series by Vivienne Perry and Daniel Vernon, the abduction is explored through testimony from Napolitano and others. However, the real story behind the docuseries is one of tension thanks to the contradictory claims of Linda Napolitano, and Budd Hopkins' ex-wife.

The new Netflix docuseries The Manhattan Alien Abduction landed on the streamer's Top 10 list in its first week. The 3-part series focuses on the apparent abduction of New York woman Linda Napolitano. Along with Linda, both believers and skeptics of Linda's story are interviewed for the series, some scrutinizing the evidence that was presented at the time. For fans looking for another UFO watch, there's a Netflix docuseries from 2023 that takes a different approach to the UFO phenomenon and the impact it has on those who experience it.

Netflix's popular docuseries The Manhattan Alien Abduction debuted on October 30, 2024, instantly stirring online debate about the veracity of Linda Napoliatno's alleged extraterrestrial experience. In the series, Linda claims she was abducted by aliens from her Brooklyn apartment in 1989, with 23 eyewitnesses reportedly on hand to witness the phenomenon.

Less convinced is filmmaker and paranormal skeptic, Carol Rainey, whose husband and UFO expert Budd Hopkins supported Linda's claims over his wife's testimony. Viewers may not realize that Linda sued Netflix over the three-part documentary before it aired on Netflix, leaving many wondering where she is today and what she's been up to. Although Carol and Budd passed away before the documentary aired, it's time to catch up with Linda Napolitano in 2024 and beyond.

The Manhattan Alien Abduction

Release Date October 30, 2024Main Genre Documentary Who Is Linda Napolitano?

Netflix

Also known by the pseudonym Linda Cortile, Linda Napolitano is a New York...

Quick Links What Is The Manhattan Alien Abduction About? Old Grudges and Conflicts of Interest Strain Credulity in Netflix's Docuseries Why The Manhattan Project Is Polarizing, Explained

The Manhattan Alien Abduction debuted on October 30, 2024, instantly soaring atop Netflix's most-watched new TV shows. The docuseries retraces the time a woman named Linda Napolitano was allegedly abducted by aliens from her apartment window in 1989. Pushing back on Linda's testimony is renowned skeptic Carol Rainey, whose husband and paranormal investigator Budd Hopkins becomes consumed by Linda's case.

Despite shooting to the top of the Netflix TV charts upon its premiere, The Manhattan Alien Abduction has polarized viewers regarding Linda's account. Viewers either tend to side with Linda and believe her account or disbelieve her testimony and side with Carol. With zero persuasion toward the middle ground, it's worth wondering why such a show was made beyond reinforcing confirmation bias. More curious yet,...

Tyler Perry's new drama TV series Beauty in Black has reached the summit of the Netflix charts, despite a lukewarm Rotten Tomatoes rating. The show was created, directed, and executive produced by Perry - best-known to audiences for his Madea character - via his production company, Tyler Perry Studios. It follows a stripper as she gets entangled with the wealthy yet dysfunctional family behind a global cosmetics empire. The 8-episode series dropped on Netflix on October 24, and has quickly risen on the Netflix charts.

Beauty in Black has performed well despite a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 47%, and, per Netflix, is the most watched English-language TV show globally over the past week, with more than 8.7 million views, and 57.4 million viewing hours for the week of October 28 through November 3. It ranked above titles such as Territory season 1, The Diplomat season 2, This is the Zodiac Speaking, The Lincoln Lawyer season 3, The Manhattan Alien Abduction,...

Beauty in Black. (L to R) Taylor Polidore Williams as Kimmie, Amber Reign Smith as Rain in episode 101 of Beauty in Black. Cr. Calvin Ashford/Netflix © 2024 Thrillers were a clear favorite this week, with several gripping titles dominating the charts. Tyler Perry’s first Netflix series, Beauty in Black, captivated audiences and seized the #1 spot on the English TV list with 8.7 million views. Meanwhile, Don’t Move, starring Kelsey Asbille and Finn Wittrock, held strong as the most-watched English film for the second week in a row, racking up an impressive 28 million views. Y2K slasher Time Cut, featuring Madison Bailey and Antonia Gentry, also resonated with viewers, debuting at #2 on the English Films list with 22.9 million views. International thrillers also made their mark, with Polish series Go Ahead Brother topping the Non-English TV list, alongside Thai horror Don’t Come Home and the Korean hit Hellbound. Returning favorites continued to draw in viewers,...

After debuting as Netflix’s fourth-most-watched series in its first four days of availability, Tyler Perry’s “Beauty in Black” has risen to the top of the streamer’s TV chart for Oct. 28 to Nov. 3, hitting 8.7 million views in its first full week of streaming.

That’s a 55% increase from the 5.6 million views it achieved on last week’s Netflix Top 10, when it came behind “The Lincoln Lawyer” Season 3, “This Is the Zodiac Speaking” and “Territory.” During the Oct. 28-Nov. 3 viewing window, those titles fell further down the chart: “Territory” took second place, “This Is the Zodiac Speaking” took fourth, both in their first full weeks of availability, and “The Lincoln Lawyer” landed in fifth place in its second full week.

The No. 3 title was “The Diplomat,” which returned with its second season and hit 5.6 million views in its first four days of streaming.

There were only two more debuts...

A recent Netflix docuseries has captured the attention of subscribers, and it's one that deserves a slightly deeper dive. "The Manhattan Alien Abduction" tells the alleged true story of a woman named Linda Napolitano, who claims to have been abducted by aliens in the late '80s. This series attempts to get to the bottom of it all. The true story behind the documentary is, as one would expect, a bit messy, given that we're dealing with an uncertain phenomenon. That said, it's worth going over the history of this case for viewers who are either reckoning with what they just witnessed or who are looking to ride the wave of popularity surrounding this doc right now.

Netflix using true stories to craft popular television is nothing new. The success of stuff like "Files of the Unexplained" on the streaming service is proof enough of that, but there are near-countless examples.

It is always a contentious topic when it comes to the credibility of paranormal, cryptid, or extraterrestrial sightings. Undoubtedly, there is a sense of thrill and excitement involved with the possibility of the discovery of the unknown, and people can’t help but get a sense of pride from having their name associated with it. According to statistics, one in every ten citizens of the United States claims to have seen UFOs or extraterrestrial objects without any solid proof or evidence, and a good number of them have featured in interviews on national television, which really drives home how strong the allure of fame is. Such was the case of Manhattan-based housewife Linda Napolitano, whose claim of having been abducted by aliens back in 1989 was allegedly the most well documented, evidence-backed case, which, according to the believers, was definitive proof of extraterrestrial existence in the universe.

But was it indeed...

It's the first weekend of November, and Halloween's officially in the past. While that doesn't mean that you have to stop watching horror movies and other spooky things, a lot of people will be following the orders of Mariah Carey, who has declared that "it's time" to start celebrating Christmas.

On the first day of November, Netflix drops nearly a dozen recent Hallmark Christmas movies, including Bethany Joy Lenz's A Biltmore Christmas and Lacey Chabert's Haul Out the Holly and its sequel. The over-sized drop of holiday rom-coms leads to the kickoff of Netflix's original Christmas movie spree throughout the month, beginning next week.

But if you're not quite ready to get festive for a December holiday quite yet, there's plenty of Netflix new releases on the menu that have nothing to do with Halloween, Christmas, or even Thanksgiving. The Diplomat returns with its second season, a new...

Netflix's The Manhattan Alien Abduction revisits the alleged 1989 alien kidnapping of Linda Napolitano from the 12th floor of her Manhattan apartment. At about 3 a.m., November 30th that year, she insists that three gray-colored bipedal aliens removed her from her bedroom using a blue light stream that paralyzed her before lifting her into the sky and onto a reddish-orange spacecraft, which then veered off toward the Brooklyn Bridge. Once aboard their craft, these other-worldly beings, claims Napolitano, performed a series of unspecified experiments on the housewife by inserting a metallic device in her nose, before returning her to her home in New York.

She described the aliens as having black eyes; they were allegedly able to communicate with her telepathically - telling her in some strange language to be quiet - before she wound up unable to move as the blue beam lifted her into the night sky and onto the ship.

The Netflix documentary The Manhattan Alien Abduction dives into a case that’s fascinated people for decades. It tells the story of Linda Napolitano, a woman from Manhattan who had a truly astonishing experience in 1989. Linda claims she was in her apartment one night when aliens appeared and abducted her. They subjected her to strange medical exams before returning her, leaving her with puzzling physical effects.

Linda’s account first came to light because of Budd Hopkins, a passionate researcher of unexplained phenomena. He believed people’s stories of alien encounters and used therapeutic techniques like hypnosis to help them recover detailed memories. This led him to help Linda relive and explain what happened to her that night.

Of course, not everyone was convinced. Carol Rainey strongly disagreed with Budd’s ideas and doubted Linda’s story. She had an intimate view of the case as Budd’s partner at the time.

Warning: Contains Spoilers for The Manhattan Alien Abduction.Netflix's The Manhattan Alien Abduction (2024) documentary revisits the abduction of Linda Napolitano, who claims to this day that three aliens forcibly removed her from her New York apartment in November 1989. The story generated some headlines in the early 90s, but gained traction with the publication of UFO investigator Budd Hopkins' book Witnessed: The True Story of the Brooklyn Bridge Abduction, in 1997. Hopkins' book attracted significant skepticism over Mrs Napolitano's claims but also garnered a degree of support when he suggested more than 20 observers had come forward to say they'd witnessed the abduction first-hand.

Hopkins himself had become convinced after receiving a letter from two bodyguards claiming to have seen a woman floating through the air over Brooklyn Bridge on the night in question, while they were on protection duty. Netflix's own alien abduction miniseries has now stepped in, providing an examination...

The Netflix documentary The Manhattan Alien Abduction is yet another tale of an American citizen who claimed to have had an alien encounter back in 1989. In fact, in this case, the victim (if you may call her that) went a step further and said that she had been abducted by the aliens. Growing up, I always felt very jealous of the people living in the United States of America. It seemed like, just like the rest of the world, the aliens also wanted to go to a country where the economy was booming and where there were better opportunities and living standards than anywhere else. What set The Manhattan Alien Abduction apart was the fact that this time around, it was claimed there was evidence to prove that the aliens actually came to Earth. It was called the alien abduction of the century for a reason. So, let’s find...

No matter how many times the U.S. government tells us there’s nothing to see in the skies, we just can’t seem to shake the feeling that something out there is watching.

Even after the Department of Defense’s latest attempt to debunk UFOs, pop culture’s love affair with aliens shows no signs of slowing down.

TV and movies, especially, are practically begging us to believe we’re not alone.

(Fox/Screenshot)

Whether it’s little green men or sleek, mysterious ships, the alien invasion is alive and well in entertainment.

The X-Files might have laid the groundwork for modern UFO obsession, giving us that classic mix of government conspiracies and out-of-this-world mysteries, but it’s far from the only show keeping the flame alive.

Even now, Unsolved Mysteries has jumped back into the UFO conversation (and received some flak for it) with new episodes focused on alien encounters,...