All language subtitles for Ariel.Phenomenon.2022.1080p.WEB-DL.x264-An0mal1

You’re tuned to the Zimbabwe

Broadcasting Corporation
Radio 1.

And here is
a special announcement.

If anyone has video footage
of the meteorite showers–or

whatever they were–please
get in touch with

Tim Leach of BBC Television
very urgently.

[on phone] BBC
Television News.

I was not so frightened
in the war zones

of Angola or Rwanda
as I was when this story hit.

Hundreds of people today
phoned the ZBC

and BBC correspondent in Harare
saying they sighted

an unidentified
flying object last night.

These things were flying
in a pattern

and there was no sound.

No wings, no nothing.
Shiny oval thing.

Hello?

Hello, my name’s Tim Leach
from BBC Television News.

I understand that you,
you had some strange experience.

Yes, that’s right.

It was a bright,
radiant light.

I’ve never seen anything
like it in my life.

It was the absence
of noise I didn’t like.

There has been much excitement
after hundreds of people

have reported seeing
a mysterious bright object.

We suddenly looked up
and we saw this thing

coming over the top of the hill.

As it sort of
came abreast of us,

it suddenly changed
from this glow to,

to let’s say
two big red-orange balls.

No sound.
[Crowd talking]

Look.

It’s going.
Is that what a meteorite does?

No way. No way.
It’s incredible.

Eyewitnesses say it had
a bright light at the front

and flew at great speed.

The object was also seen by two
international airline pilots

who reported it to air traffic
control at Johannesburg Airport.

There were three of us
that saw it,

myself, the copilot,
and the pilot

in another aircraft.

South Africa’s top
meteorologist says

there’s no rational explanation
for the bright light

and it could be one
of the most widely reported

unidentified flying objects
in recent time.

None of it made sense.
So I phoned the BBC in London

and I said,"What is this
meteorite shower?"

And they said,
"No, no, no, no, no,

it’s got not nothing to do with,
with Africa or Zimbabwe.

The meteorites come down
in an arc;

they don’t fly parallel
to the earth."

"What about the,

the, the, this Russian debris
that’s coming down?"

"No. That doesn’t work either.
Um, sorry." Well, what is this?

Viewers with more information
can either contact

the ZBC or BBC in Harare.

For at least three
or four days,

people from all over Zimbabwe
were phoning us at the BBC

to say,
"We’ve seen something weird."

It was a helicopter or a what?
No, no.

It was just a big, round ball.
The bottom was flat,

but it was round like
the top of my wall by my house.

And then I got this call
from Ariel School, Ruwa,

that the children had seen
this UFO landing

and these funny men in,
in body-clinging suits,

black suits.
Uh, weird.

I went roaring out there
in the car with my sound man.

[Beep] Ariel School,

19th September ’94,
12:12 local time.

[Children playing and singing]

Could you tell me
what you saw on, on Friday?

Well, it’s, it was just
glinting in the trees

and this, like, there was a man
and he walked towards us

and he walked back again.

And what did he look like?

His, his face was like this
and his eyes were down here.

Like, what,
further down his face?

Yeah. Much further
down than us,

because our eyes are here
and his are down.

You don’t think it was
somebody in fancy dress

doing a prank or something?
- No.

And how tall about?

About say there.
Sitting on the spaceship.

How did you know
it was a spaceship?

It wasn’t a helicopter
or something like that?

No.

Well, it looked like it
was like,

like a disc, like a round...

And whereabouts was it?
It was in the trees.

In the trees over there,
between the big pole.

And did you girls
see that as well?

Yes.
Yes.

We asked them to draw pictures
of what they saw on Friday

and after looking at those,

I definitely feel
that they did see something.

What do you
think that was?

I agree that it could be
something that we, um,

are not common with.

But to actually say
that it was a UFO,

I would be, uh, reluctant
to make a decision like that.

All the other journalists
in Harare

were not taking this seriously.

But I took it seriously
because this story

got bigger and bigger
and bigger and bigger and...

I need to know what was,
what was going on.

Who do I talk to?

And then I spoke
to some contacts

and they put me in touch
with Cynthia Hind,

the person for UFOs in Zimbabwe.

That Cynthia Hind’s coming out

and I believe she bringing
a Geiger counter.

She did mention it
on the telephone.

I think we’ll wait until she
comes and see what happens then.

Just come and sit
on these chairs along here.

All right,
these are the grade sevens,

the oldest children here
at the school

who say they saw something.

Did you all see something?
Yes.

What’s your name?

I, I, I’m Daniel Mandy and,
and I saw this,

this silver thing in,
in amongst this clump of,

of trees with this one thing
sitting on, on, on the side and,

and another thing sort of
like running up

and down the, the top.

It had a, a long top

and it then it was flat
like that along the sides.

What was around the sides?

Just a, um, sort of like
a platform coming down the side.

Platform.
Did you see anything else?

Yes. We saw a black man
running around. Just...

A little man or what?

From where we looked,
he was about this small,

but we were quite a way away.
So he was about our-size.

What did you see?

I saw something silver
on the ground amongst the trees

and a person in black.
And that’s all I saw.

You saw a person
alongside the silver thing?

Yes.

Have you heard about UFOs
before this?

No.

You didn’t know anything
about it?

So it was something
quite new to you?

- Yes.
- Were you afraid?

Yes.

Nobody should panic.
We don’t know what it is...

No, not at all.

...and it could be
just some...

There was Russian satellite
went up on the 27th of August

and it’s possibility
something came down.

But it would not account
for the figure you saw.

But I think for moment,
you should keep everybody away

until we’ve had some analysis,
you know, of what’s going on.

It was in between the gap
of this one building,

behind this pile of dirt.

Yes, I can see that.

Where did they think it was?

They, they told it was in
between these two poles here.

In between these two poles?
Yeah.

Gunther, can you try
the Geiger first?

Yeah, OK.
Do you want me to hold it?

What equipment
have you brought with you?

Well, Gunther is a highly
technical chap

and because it’s difficult and
very expensive in this country,

he’s made he’s made
his own Geiger counter.

We’re going to check it out

and see if there’s
any radioactivity there.

If there’s really some changes
the Geiger would

be going faster.
But, um...

So is this just normal
background radiation?

Yeah, this is about normal.

Yeah, I was helping Cynthia
out more on technical terms.

So Cynthia found me quite useful

in maybe explaining away
certain phenomena.

Maybe it was a certain time
of the year

where certain meteorologic
events occurred,

like the Leonid meteor shower
or the Perseid meteor shower.

So we used to try to eliminate
all the natural events

that might be happening
in the sky

before we thought maybe there
might be something more to it.

But how skeptical are you?

Well, I would like to see
some evidence.

You don’t think it would be
appropriate at the moment to...

No. I haven’t.

But from what I see
from some of the children,

I do believe
that something happened.

I’m not all that gullible.

But this to me
is a very typical case

and I’ve handled several
hundreds in southern Africa.

I certainly believe
the children.

There’s some extremely
interesting pictures

and there’s certainly
some of the things that tell me

they couldn’t have known about.
Impossible.

I can remember it like it
was yesterday.

It was easy to put down, because
that’s exactly what I had seen.

So, you know, it’s something
that I’ll never, ever forget.

In ’94 I was in grade 2
at the time at Ariel.

My teacher was Mrs. Chipo.

What I can remember was we were
playing around in the,

in the playground area.

It was one of those
rare occasions when the teachers

were having a staff meeting,
so it was quite a long break.

We were happy to have those
because there was more playtime.

And there was, like,
a flash of light.

And it was bright, bright silver
and everything. It shot past.

At the time, I mean,
I remember it well.

We were on the field playing our
football and a friend of mine,

Vimbai, said, "Hey, Luke,
do you see that in the sky?

What is that? What is that?"

So I was looking up
and I saw it.

And it was for want of
a better word, you know, a UFO.

I wasn’t sure what it was.

But it was a silver object
that was in the sky.

And we were both, like,
looking at it.

And I only saw it
for possibly a few seconds.

And it seemed to,

to move off a bit
and then suddenly vanished.

And we were, were both sort of
standing there looking up,

saying, you know,
"Geez, what was that?"

But didn’t put too much
thought to it

and obviously went straight back
to playing our football match.

A few minutes later, there’s a
whole sort of commotion going on

and there were
a whole bunch of kids

down at the bottom
of the, the playground.

We were sitting on one of
the logs that we always sat on,

eating our lunch,

and I noticed that people
were pointing at this one thing,

or something, in the bush.

And I got up to see
what was going on

because one person
actually started crying.

And, you know, like I said,

because we were the older group
on the playground,

we all, people in my year,
um, just were kind of concerned

about what was going on
with everyone else.

There was a big group of kids
all sort of gathered at,

right at the bottom
of the playing field pointing

and making a noise
and shouting and screaming.

And I went up to sort of see
what was going on,

try to, you know, um,
calm everybody down.

You know, and my initial thought

was somebody had hurt
themselves or something.

OK. So if I was there.

So, say, a couple of hundred
meters up it was right there.

So it seemed to be right
on the cross-country course.

I remember seeing
two flashing lights.

And I saw, like, a big silver,

like a saucer kind of thing
that was hovering.

And then it landed or hovered
on a, on a stone.

And I saw two figures come out.
Really black, but their face,

you could actually see
not much of their face,

but it was really,
really white in color.

The skin pigmentation
was very–I don’t,

I don’t know how your can...

Pale doesn’t even, it,
it looked plastic.

You know?
It looked like, uh,

someone who had
too much, too much Botox.

Now when I think about it,

I’m like, that’s,
that’s exactly what...

At the time I didn’t have
a color or word for it.

Um, but that’s exactly
what it looked like.

It was very smooth
and soft-looking.

It looked like it,
you’d slide right off

if you tried to touch him.
He had, just, yeah.

I suddenly realized that it,

that’s not,
he’s not quite normal.

I didn’t actually know about
UFOs and aliens at the time.

So I just thought
he was a strange person.

But it was the eyes that,
that made him.

So, that kind of shape.
I think the eyes were obviously

a lot more fluid,
round, shiny, protruded.

Almost like rugby balls
or America,

you know, American footballs.

Huge eyes on the,
on the side of his face.

And so I looked over
and sort of thought

I could see something unusual
going on in the bushes as well.

And I was like, yeah, there is.
There’s got to be something.

It looks like
there’s something there.

And the realization that there
was something moving–and

it appeared to be
coming towards us as well–that,

I felt scared at that point.

The panic spread.

I was looking for my
for my brother and sister

to make sure that they were OK.
And when I did have them,

then we continued
to look onward.

They just seemed confused.
Like, what is going on?

One moment we’re playing,
next moment everybody’s looking,

pointing and everybody’s
in a panic.

That was a little bit scary.

I just turned twenty eight.

I ended a relationship.
I was engaged for six years.

You know, this whole topic
definitely weighed

on our relationship.

So I moved in with my folks.

I’m thankful that
I’m here right now

and with my family
who supports me.

As for future goals,
plans, work, I have no idea.

But I feel alone.

[phone beeps]

[reading]

"Dear Emily,
I hope this finds you well.

As you may have seen
on our Facebook page, next month

we will be celebrating
our 25th year as a school.

I know it’s short notice
coming from Canada,

but we’d love
to have you join us.

If you can’t make it,

know that you are always welcome
to visit your old home.

Love, Judy."

[alarm sounds]

It brings up a lot for me.

It’s a reminder of pain,

of holding something inside.

I don’t want to hold
onto those feelings anymore.

We haven’t got all day.
This lady and gentlemen

are from South African
Broadcasting Corporation.

They’ve come to talk
to some of you.

Hi everybody. My name’s Nicki.

OK, and that’s Ivan
with the camera.

And we’re going to actually
speak to a few of you

who did see something that day

and ask you what happened,
what you felt when you saw it

and that sort of thing,
you know.

So very, very casual.

You must say exactly
what you want to say, OK?

What were you doing
on the day?

Well, I was walking and I saw
this maroon color in the sky.

And me and my friends
were following it.

And then we saw this light
in the in the Msasa trees.

Then I saw something shining
and somebody sitting on it.

And they were wearing
pure black.

We saw this black figure
running in a slow motion.

The strange thing
was it seemed to be

in very slow motion,

which to us seemed
very interesting

because Cynthia had come across
this kind of event

in some of our other cases
around the world

where she had reports of,
you know, alien encounters.

Cynthia, how long

have you been
investigating UFO phenomena?

Well, about 17 years.

I’m, I’m the continental
coordinator in Africa for MUFON.

MUFON has over 5,000 members,
most of whom are scientists.

You interviewed the children.
What was your conclusion?

I believe them.

I believe they saw
what they said they saw.

I think that perhaps some have
been influenced by others

and they’ve added a little bit
here and a little bit there,

but basically they put, drew in
their drawings many things

that I don’t think
that they could know about.

How big was the figure?

It was about as big
as a grade six.

How tall would have said?

Maybe about three
and a half feet.

There’s another one, he,
he, he was a bit short.

As an investigator
I’ve learned that

if they tell
exactly the same story,

then there’s corroboration,
they’ve got together

and they’re doing it.

But if they tell a similar story
but from different viewpoints,

to me, that’s the truth.

We saw two of them, one was
standing in front of the ship

and then the other one had,
um, long hair.

But the one was standing
in front

didn’t have any hair at all.

Show me with your hands
how big the eyes were.

They were shaped
like something like that.

Big head and big black eyes

and was dressed
in a black body suit.

What did you think it was?
I don’t know.

I just thought it was
some type of alien

from a different planet.

What are they talking about?
I had no experience of UFOs

or anything like that apart from
seeing Steven Spielberg’s film,

"Close Encounters
of the Third Kind" or whatever.

I just thought
they're all bonkers!

I was just a hard-assed
journalist, skeptical as,

as everybody would be!
What is this? I want to know.

I mean, the BBC want to know.
What is going on here?

There’s a truth behind,
you know,

your environment
shaping who you are.

For me, growing up in Africa
was normal. It was just home.

You’re growing up in an area

where you need to be aware
of your environment.

This is not living in America.

You’re in Africa.

You’re in Zimbabwe.

We didn’t grow up around TV.
People like to joke about.

"Oh, did you have
running water?" Yes.

That was,
that was luxury, actually.

That’s something
you were lucky to have.

Or electricity, because the
places that we went to a lot,

I mean, they’d have nothing.

You live in a mud hut.
Thatched roof.

You live every single day
to live and hope you can.

Yeah, so it was
completely different.

[lively music]

OK, mom, dad.
Do you remember this place?

We used to stop here
all the time.

This is really...
I feel at home.

If you go back to Ariel,

it means I get to go back
to the spot where it happened.

I don’t know
how I’m going to feel.

I don’t know what
it’s going to bring up.

But I feel really blessed to be
able to do that in my life.

My family’s religious

and we came to Africa
for mission work.

My brother and sister
also attended Ariel.

They were very traumatized
about the event.

Talking about it
in a religious environment

wasn’t something
that was allowed to be done.

I was very quickly removed
out of the situation,

so it was pack up everything
and we flew into Canada.

I didn’t get to have
the opportunity of growing up

with the friends
in that environment

who had had that occur to them.

[music]

I’m looking for to, uh,
reconnect again.

I haven’t been back to Ariel
for just over 20 years.

[music continues]

Oh, my gosh!

Holy... And the classrooms.

Hi!
How are you doing?

Good. How are you?

Good.
Emily.

Ms. Bates is right in there.

How are you?
How are you?

I’m good.

Yeah. And you?

Good. I’m really glad
to be back.

Bit of a shock to come...
...back.

Yeah.
Come home, whatever.

Home.
Yes, home.

It is!
’Tis.

Home.
Always.

Yes.

It’s good to see you.

Thank you. Oh, my goodness.

That’s Rachel.
This is Paul, my brother,

who also attended the school.
So we’re a family of three here.

So will someone be able
to show me around the school?

Victor is going
to show you around.

Oh, hi, Victor! Emily.

Nice, nice to meet you.
It’s nice to meet you, too.

I’m walking
where I used to step.

Yeah.
It, it feels incredible.

[Children singing "I’ll Fly
Away"]

Today we’ve got
a special visitor in our midst.

It’s Emily Trim

and she was here at
the Ariel School 21 years ago.

[Applause]

Was Mr. Mackie here
when you guys were here?

Yes.
Do you remember Mrs. Hwacha?

Yes.
Yes.

She was I think
my grade three teacher.

Was she?
Yes.

Then she came and,

sort of like stalking
in the supermarket, in SPAR,

when you were phoning me.
And the trolley was full of...

[conversation continues]

[music]

Are you having a good day?

Yes.

Yes? Is it lunchtime
right now for you?

Yes.
Yes. Wonderful.

There were the boundary
logs here.

And that field wasn’t there.
Uh, so it was all brush and...

And you were guys
went down to the logs?

Well, I was right on the log
when it actually happened.

You were there?
Yes. I was here.

And you saw them? You are
the ones who drew those...

Yes.
...funny pictures.

Yes.
Oh, OK.

Yeah.

Nice to meet you.
Where are you staying?

With Ms. Bates.
OK. OK. OK.

We have the shower
down there.

And this is your room here.
Everyone’s got a fan.

I don’t have mozzie nets,
I’m afraid.

You don’t have what?
Mosquito nets.

It’s OK.

And what did
your other friends say?

They were scared.

We wanted to tell the teachers
but some of us were too shy to.

We, we ran down
to the teachers

and we went into the office

and we started
telling the teachers.

And then they said
maybe there’s nothing.

And how did that make you feel

when they said
maybe there’s nothing?

Well, we felt very sad
because we did see something.

Cheryl, what was your reaction
when Candice and Teagan

told you about the UFOs

and the aliens
that they saw on Friday?

Um, I don’t know, really.
I found it very hard to believe.

I’ve always taught my children
seeing is believing

and unfortunately
I didn’t see,

so I don’t know if I believe.
We always joke

that the children saw
these little green men come out.

And they say, "No, mummy,
but we did see."

So I don’t know. I do believe
Candace to a certain extent."

What did the man look like?

Why would they make up
such a story?

And kids of that age,
6 to 9, 10,

they wouldn’t be able to
sustain such a story

for such a long time.

And one of them’s
going to crack.

And then it will be,

then it will be unrolling
a ball of string, you know,

all the rest of them would,
would, um, crack as well.

So would you want to talk
about it to friends

or other people you meet in
the future when you get older?

Or do you just want
to forget about it?

No, I don’t want
to forget about it.

I want to keep it in
because I know that it was true.

And I want to talk
to other people about it.

They were fascinated.

They accepted it
in their full stripe.

They knew what they’d seen.
They’re not stupid.

Children are so much
more open than adults.

I’ve always kept an open mind
about the life, the universe,

and everything, God, Buddha,
whatever you want to call it.

But this story was something
I hadn’t encountered before.

In October of 1983
I went to Zimbabwe

which was going
through massacres

and I went all over Africa
being a camera man,

doing what’s called "bang bang",
which is serious war zone.

I had done a lot.

I’d done Angola, Rwanda,
Liberia, Nigeria.

I’d done lots of war zones.

A lot of friends
and my crew were killed.

And I survived.
That was my job.

But this was a bolt
out of the blue.

I mean, I wasn’t expecting this
because I was, I was a realist.

It was totally out of my remit.

I could handle war zones but I
could not handle this UFO thing.

It just didn’t make sense.

And that’s when I had
to call in extra help.

Cynthia Hind put me in touch
with Dr. John Mack.

And, uh, I got his number
at Harvard University.

[on answering machine]
Tim Leach

from BBC Television News
in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Message for Dr. John Mack.

This concerns a UFO sighting
over a school

where it hovered, landed,
a black man got out.

But of course
we’re having difficulty

being taken seriously
despite it being the BBC.

Please call me as soon
as you can. Thank you.

I said, "Listen, I don’t know
what’s going on,

but this is way outside
my normal ballgame.

What do I do?"
And John Mack said,

"As soon as I can break away
I’m coming over."

And he did.

With his credentials

as head of the Department
of Psychiatry at Harvard,

I sat up and took notice.
That took it to another depth.

And their stories are
consistent...There’s

some details
that are not consistent,

like the boys saying
the two different days and...

Do you think it’s possible
that one, uh, imaginative child,

uh, had a story and kind of
stirred the, the rest of them?

No, I don’t believe.
I don’t believe.

I honestly believe
they saw something,

but for me to actually draw
a conclusion as to what it is,

I don’t think I could do that
at this point in time.

OK. How many of them reported
seeing the craft?

In other words...

Probably in the region
of about 60.

More of them could have seen it

and they’re just too embarrassed
to talk about it.

Or we haven’t, actually
haven’t had the grade ones

and twos involved.

You haven’t spoke...

So the six
and seven-year-olds.

Right. How long would you, uh,

estimate that the scene
actually lasted?

It took over about 10
to 15 minutes.

Really, that long?

Did they describe any other,
sensory experiences like smell

or sound
or anything of that kind?

Nothing at all actually.
Honestly nothing.

I don’t think anybody’s
actually asked on at question.

You’ve you’ve talked
with the BBC people

and with Nicki Carter
here before, right?

Yes. Yes.

OK.
But the experience

is still fresh
in your mind, is that right?

Yes.
OK.

What were you doing at the time?

Well, I was playing at,
in the playground

and then we just,
we saw something silver

and then we quickly ran
to the log, to the logs.

And then we saw a silver,
silver thing.

And we saw a man
standing next to it.

And what did he look like?

Well, he had big eyes that,
like, pointed.

Pointed, big eyes?
Yes.

Can, can you... Maybe you
could just draw the head.

What, what...
Do you like to draw?

Yes.

OK. Pull your chair up
and we’ll go.

And what, these are what?
What are you drawing here?

The eyes.
The eyes. OK.

And I couldn’t see his nose
and his mouth,

but his nose was pretty small.

So his eyes were large.

Is that right?
Yes.

Did you look into the eyes?

I mean, could you make, did you
have a sense that you were...

No. All we saw was his eyes.
They were black.

Black.
But, like, were looking at you

or were you at,
at, at, uh, at him?

Seemed that he was looking
at all of us.

Have you,
have you ever seen a UFO.

Have I? I never have, no.

And I didn’t see
anything over there.

No nose.
You didn’t see a nose?

No.

I just,
my heart kind of went faster

and then slower

and then faster and the slower
all at the same time.

Now was that...
That was excitement and...?

Yeah. Excitement
and scariness.

And scary. And how,
well you said happy too.

Yeah.
Yeah. Happy because?

Because...

I saw something strange
and something peculiar

and something
nobody had ever seen.

Haley, you,
something scared you.

Is that right?
Yes.

What, what scared you?
The noise.

What noise?

The noise that we heard
in the air.

You heard a noise in the air?
Yes.

What was it like?
Like a roar or a buzz or a hum

or what kind of a noise?

It was like someone
was blowing a flute.

And that scared you?

Yes.
Mm hmm.

And what did you do when,
when you were afraid?

Um, I ran away from it.

Mm hmm.

We told the teacher but
she said just forget about it.

People who have
these experiences

are very serious about them.

And I think that generally
speaking when something

powerful, important,
exciting, scary has happened,

that it’s useful
to talk about it,

to have open discussion.

And it doesn’t mean you have
to impose a point of view.

It’s not about what we believe;
it’s what their experience is

and how they find the adults

around being receptive
to that experience.

And you said that, uh,
you saw two, um,

what would you call them?
Um...

Aliens.
Aliens, you call them.

And, and where the aliens
in relation to the to the craft?

I saw one over here.

And I saw one, one of these
men by, by the spaceship.

It looks like it was guarding
by the big spaceship.

And there was another one
running, running in the grass.

And how did he run compared to
the, say, a way a kid would run?

He ran normally like us
but bouncy

as if a human
would run on the moon.

As there were less gravity
and it seemed light. Is that...?

Yes. But not, not as much
as a human on the moon.

Not that extreme.
When he ran his distance,

he stopped and he looked
at us at for a while

and then he ran back again.

The one thing that
I’ve told everybody

is we are dealing
with children here.

Right.

Sometimes the imagination
can get carried away with them.

Yeah. OK.

How many of you still think
they were just making it up?

And what got me was that
there were no adults outside.

Nobody, none of us saw it.

We just happened to be
in a staff meeting.

I totally believe
the children.

They came running up here
in such a panic

and, I mean,
even if we had staged it

they could not have run
all together like that.

Just heard them screaming,
screaming, "Ah!"

and they were here. You know?
And a child can’t make that up.

And I mean, children know when
other children are conning them.

And they were, like, about
100 of them that just came here.

They didn’t see anything.
I think they said making,

make-believe story
that actually created.

That’s my feeling.

What do you think
started the story?

Since during that time,

there were the talk
about meteorites and all that.

I suppose they,
somebody created this story

and they sort of thought
maybe they had seen something.

You think that the
children’s imaginations

are getting carried with them.

But I became convinced
when I saw the drawings,

because so many of the drawings
were similar.

And also when they wrote their
stories in their storybooks.

They, they definitely
seem genuine because, I mean,

they all wrote
completely different stories

but they had seen
the same thing.

And I think
that’s what convinced me

because I think I was
as skeptical as everybody else.

It wasn’t just Ariel School.

There were a lot
of different occurrences

that happened over the,
the, probably that whole week.

I live here at the school,

so I try not to think
about it at all.

Because if I do
I have sleepless nights.

Then you have
sleepless nights?

I do!

I’ve had a lot of sleepless
nights since it happened.

So I tried to put it
out of my mind.

What do you think about
the reality aspect of it?

Seeing is believing.
I don’t know.

But then I’m also scared
of the unknown,

so it’s something
that I block off

because
I’d rather get on with school.

Do you think the kids
are telling the truth

or do you think they are,
they kind of...

I think they are

...embellished it,
imagined it?

Yeah. I think that I’d rather
not think about it...

You’d rather not?
...again, because

now if I think about it tonight

I’ll have another
sleepless night.

Because I’m waiting for an
alien to come through the walls.

So...

Some of the kids in my class
are so frightened.

I actually can see that.

It must have affected them
so much

that they sort of imagine
something will happen to them.

They’re still young
and you don’t know sort of,

how to act
and how to speak to them.

You’re a bit careful.

If we’re going to keep
discussing this,

the parents have been knocking
on my door every single day.

Yeah.

Um, I don’t think
you can generalize

when it comes
to something like this.

You got to be extremely careful

which way the parent
is going to jump.

If he’s going to jump the wrong
way, you’ve caused a problem.

Right.
You’ve caused a problem.

I think you’re all...
You’re not solving it.

You’re probably all aware
of this caution

that Colin is talking about.

We had one child who was very
upset by the whole thing.

Unfortunately he’s not
at the school anymore.

He’s actually gone
back to Canada.

He was having sleepless nights
and this was a 12,

13-year-old child.
Basically the cause of that

was his parents refused to
discuss the situation with him.

His parents were very religious
and according to them

this sort of thing
doesn’t happen.

Just down that road, yes.

Oh, my gosh.

I can’t believe
I’m going to see Mrs. Hwacha.

And she,
her name suits her, too.

Yes, it does. Yes, it does.
You know? Mrs. Hwacha.

Mrs. Hwacha. Watch!

Exactly!

I remember she was
very strict.

Was it, like, very, very strict.

Like, everything was done
by her book.

Yeah.

There we go.
Judge Hwacha.

That’s her car there, yeah?

Yes.
OK. Ms. Hwacha’s coming.

She’s coming out now.
Yeah. Emily Trim.

Yes! You remember?

Yes! Mrs. Hwacha!

Mrs. Hwacha!
I’m now old.

I'm now old. I know.

You don’t see me to be old?

No!
I missed you.

Pardon?

I missed you.
You missed me?

Mm hmm.

I was a little bit difficult.
Wasn’t I?

No. You?

Mm.

Oh. You were, you were strict.
[laughter]

You were strict!

That is exactly
what I wanted to hear!

Yes! You were strict.

But you were fair, you know?
You were fair.

I was very fair.

Yes.
But...

Strict. And it was beautiful.

Oh
Beautiful

There is this business of,

um, us being, asked
about the aliens.

Yeah.
Up to this end.

Mm hmm.

Yeah, because you saw that,
those things.

You saw those people?
Mm hmm.

We asked the children,
the school children

then to draw.

Yes.
You remember?

Mm hmm.
You also drew?

Mm hmm.

So Mr. Mackie asked us,

we put all the papers
according to the classes,

finished this class,
to the other, to the other,

to the other.
They were all the same.

Same.

We ended up concluding
that certainly we saw people.

They’re going? Where to?

Yeah.
How did they come there?

Mm hmm.

Who are they? Are they people?

We couldn’t tell.
That’s what this story is.

Yes.
That’s what you saw also.

Yes. I had kept
those papers myself.

You Did?

I don’t know
what happened to them.

Ah! I’m looking for mine.

I... You can’t find it?
I can’t find mine.

Same with me.

Because I had thought it was
something I must also hold onto.

I didn’t know what that meant.

Uh, these eyes,
did you look at them?

Yes.

What feeling did that give you
when you looked in the eyes?

It made me shake a little.

Made you shake.

It was a terrifying feeling.

A what?

A terrifying.

A terrifying feeling.
Yes.

And what made it terrifying?

The way he was looking at me.

How did he look at you?

Strangely, like and old woman
who hadn’t seen a kid before.

Like a what?

An old woman who hasn’t
seen a kid before.

An old woman
who hasn’t seen a kid before?

Yes. She stares like this.

OK, let me, I’m going
to ask you to do something.

Try to just be in that
feeling for a moment.

Try to remember
that terrifying feeling. OK?

Can you do that?

I know it’s unpleasant,
but nothing bad will happen. OK?

And just try to tell me
what that terror,

what’s in the terror.

See what,
what you find in the terror.

What, what,
what it might be about.

It was making me all scared
and my heart

was now starting to pump faster

and it was making me
all woozy now.

Like woozy, losing...
Yes.

Like, like you were going
to faint, you mean?

Yeah.
Did you faint?

No.
Yeah. Yeah.

And then I was looking
at him, right?

Yeah.

And then he was looking
at me back.

How could I just keep on
looking at him?

So I just stopped
and I looked sideways,

so he wouldn’t keep on
making me feeling faint.

But you kept looking?
Yes.

Why did you keep looking?

I don’t know. Something just
attracted me to look at him.

Something attracted you, huh?
Yes.

The other man, he,
his eyes looked at me as if, um,

"I want to..."
Things like that.

I want to what?
I want you.

I want you?
Yeah.

I want you in what?

Like, I want you
to come with me?

Yeah. I want you
to come with me.

I want you to come.

Did you go with him,
do you think?

No.
Only my eyes went with him.

Your eyes went with him?
And my feeling.

And your feeling
went with him.

So was there a part of you
that wanted to go with him?

Yeah.

That felt, like,
drawn to go with him?

Yeah.
OK.

Can you say what that felt like?

Again, scary
and a little excited.

Yeah.

And, and a little
I shouldn’t go.

Yeah. And yet I want to go?

Yeah.
Yeah.

John Mack seemed to have
brought out that information,

because we just took it out
in a very analytical way.

We just said,
"What did you see?"

and "What did the aliens
look like?"

"What did they do?"
But we never thought

there might be some kind of
emotional, deeper effect.

You know, it really
gave you goosebumps,

if I might put it that way.

You know, there’s something
more going on here

than what met the eye.

What made you scream?

I was just getting
very scared.

What were you
scared would happen?

Now don’t be afraid to make,
say,

even if you think
it’s not sensible,

just tell me what
you were afraid might happen.

Um, I thought
the aliens would attack me.

Would attack you? And do what?
Hurt you?

Yes.

How would they do that?
I don’t know.

Mm hmm.

It looked evil because it was
just staring at me.

With what? Starting at you
as if what? As if to do what?

As if it wanted to come
and take us.

I know this is hard.
I know it’s hard. Try to...

It’s hard to put into words
what you felt, I’m sure.

John did this public meeting
in Harare.

He did an incredible service
to the community

who were worried
and just wanted answers.

Dr. John Mack
is a true academic.

He’s a professor of psychiatry
at Harvard University.

I think we’re very, very lucky
in this country

to have somebody of his caliber.

So can we have a big hand
for Dr. Mack?

[applause]

Thrilled to be here tonight
to have a chance

to talk with you
about this phenomenon.

I’m trained in adult
and child psychiatry

and adult
and child psychoanalysis.

And I’m a relative newcomer
to the UFO field.

And the reason for this trip

is the incident that took place
in Ruwa at the Ariel School.

A number of you

I’m sure know something
about what took place there.

The children we talked
with clearly

were talking about a phenomenon

that occurred
in physical reality.

In other words,
their stories were consistent

and the way they talked about it

left virtually no question
in our minds

that what happened was just
about what they said happened.

I know it’s strange,
very weird.

Yeah. I just got so scared.

So, yeah.

If I had to describe that day,

the first thing that I remember
is the light

and sound is the main thing
that just strikes me.

And then the two shadows.

But especially the sound
and the light.

The light because it was
so bright,

the sound because it scared me.
So...

Yeah, we heard a sound
in that, that direction.

It was sort of like
a buzzing noise.

It was a very, you know,
it was like a buzzing.

The buzzing of what you would
hear at an electric station

or, um, anywhere close to that.

Like, something’s
being zapped almost.

I noticed that there was
a large shape amongst the trees,

which we couldn’t really
figure out what it was.

It looked like a, a big rock.

It looked like water
was trickling over it

and the sun was reflecting
in that water.

That’s the best way
I can describe it.

It didn’t look like a, a smooth
metallic object as you would,

you would think when you were
looking at a UFO on TV

as we depict them.
It looked natural.

It didn’t look like
anything man-made.

You saw it again appearing
in kind of like in spots.

You saw it and then
you didn’t see it.

You know,
and then you saw it again.

In the same general area,
but it was, that kind of was,

you know, like I said,
what made you think twice,

like, OK, did I, did I see it?
Didn’t I see it?

But when every, you know,
then everyone else

started saying, "Yes, I see it."
And it was the same thing

when we saw
whatever beings where there.

You know?

It wasn’t like they were just
standing and looking at you.

You would see them in various
places at various times.

So you didn’t know
if it was one,

if it was more than one.

He moved kind of strangely.
I’d say almost like,

say, a very graceful
sort of movement.

You know, not like he was
stumbling around or anything.

He, like, sort of like glided
from, while he was walking.

There wasn’t
any gravitational pull.

It was, uh, very fluid.

So when he was moving
it was very fluid and flowy

and it wasn’t
kind of jerky or...

Yeah.

The strange thing was it was
running in slow motion,

as if you would watch a replay
in a football match.

It was running in slow-motion
diagonally down the field.

And then suddenly
it would reappear in the corner

where it started
and do the same thing.

And then it would reappear
and do the same thing.

And that was frightening,
more frightening than seeing

what these things actually were,

was not being able to see them
long enough, I guess.

It really ripped my socks off.
It was unbelievable.

I’ve got to justify myself
to the BBC and...

How am I going to explain to
a serious BBC editor in London

that this is not an April Fool’s
joke in September?

The BBC always have this policy

that you don’t run
with one source.

You got to get two or three,
preferably three.

And I had 20, 30, 40.

Now I put a, a lot of stake
on the physical evidence.

But I don’t
primarily emphasize that not

because I don’t think
it’s critically important.

I think that physical evidence
is very valuable.

But for me my strongest suit

is my clinical investigative
approach to create trust,

to bring forth whatever it is,

and the memories and experiences
come flooding back.

Now the fact is that people
aren’t threatened

when they come forward
about this.

Children, very reluctant
to tell their parents,

and a mother or father
may say to a child,

"Oh, you must have been
making it up.

You, your imagination
is too, uh, too lively."

And then the child
sort of grumbles

and they go inside and they do
what I call "going underground".

They know what happened to them,
but they don’t tell anybody.

I mean you just felt
nobody really cared.

Who do you talk to?
How do you understand it?

The people in my life that were
supposed to be the closest

and, um, the support system,

it didn’t feel like
it was there.

There was nobody there to say,
"Now it’s OK to talk about it."

So we never did. And as children
you have a huge imagination,

so you see those sort of things
and not know what they are.

And you, you’re left with this,
well, "where am I?"

limbo state of
"Am I safe or am I not safe?"

So it was, I think as
a protective mechanism,

block it out, turn it off,
don’t, don’t go back to it.

I haven’t really talked
to anyone about it.

I usually kept it quiet,
you know,

because most people
probably think I’m a,

you know, a bit nuts.

You’re not exactly going to
bring up

this kind of conversation at a,
at a bar or a restaurant or...

You know?
People think you’re crazy.

It’s very hard.
It’s kind of strange, I guess,

because they don’t believe you.

Some of my close friends
know about it.

But it’s more like not a joke;
but they’re like,

’Huh, you’re crazy"
type of thing,

like laughter type of,

like it’s something funny to,
something to laugh about.

If this had been
ten years ago,

I wasn’t in a place where I
really wanted to talk about it.

I just didn’t want to be
associated with that.

I was very self-conscious.

So, yeah, it’s kind of hard
to talk about it. It is.

Because it’s not something
that I bring up to anybody ever.

My husband doesn’t
even know about it.

[music plays in earbuds]

Oh, true expression
of how it felt at times.

It’s really, really difficult
to face yourself.

That’s a scary time.
Very, very scary time.

A lot of this was done
in black at first,

because I think that’s
how I was really feeling.

This is me with my hands
over my eyes trying to hide away

from everything
that’s been going on.

It got really, really dark.
I love this piece.

It’s when I started using color.

It’s still a stern face,
but I think it’s more confident.

Yeah, this one.

So here, this is the mouth,
like, being zipped up.

This was, like, when all you
want to do is just talk

and you feel like
you have no one to talk to.

I didn’t realize that it
affected the children that much.

Mm hmm.

But it obviously has.
Yes.

It was quite difficult,
wasn’t it?

Because your mum and dad
would not have believed.

They, they believed
that something had occurred,

but it was very difficult
to integrate...

Very difficult to put
your religion and your,

see the Christian side of it
with that happening.

So, Mr. Sitoni, yes. Come in.

Oh, hi, Ms. Bates.
Hi!

How are you doing?

Oh, I’m OK, Mrs. Bates.
How are you?

Yes.
Hello.

Hi, how are you?
It’s good to see you.

It’s good to see you, too.
Back to your roots, are you?

Absolutely.

All right. I know.
That’s beautiful.

Yeah, connecting and seeing,
seeing the school again

and, you know, the event
that occurred here in 1994.

Oh, yes, the aliens
and all that. All right.

Yes.
Beautiful.

So that’s,
that’s what I’m here for.

Oh, that’s wonderful.
Yeah.

Maybe, if you’re in tomorrow,
if you don’t mind...

Yeah.

...we can do the
tradition thing. Do you mind?

I would love to do that.
Ah, you’d love to. OK.

Yeah, because culture
is a huge part of this.

Introduce you to a few people?

I’ll walk you out and you can
visit all the sacred places

and you can talk to them.

And you can then,
so when you come back here,

like, wow.

Yes!
Yeah, OK. No, beautiful.

Thank you.
Good to see you, isn’t it?

Good to see you, too.

Later. Ms. Bates.

Thanks, Mr. Sitoni.

I saw these beings
and they have black eyes.

We’ve, we’ve got those ones.
We experience quite a lot.

A lot?
Yeah.

Is it the same description
as how I describe it, with...

Yes.
...that?

Yeah, they come, they come
in different versions, yeah.

They come in different versions.

I don’t know
what you’ve heard.

I’m supposed to talk about
with, not,

it’s not, you know, not for...

Yes.

The sacred shrines.
Yes.

So it’s really
important that...

Mm hmm

Mm hmm

Did you hear about it?
Sure.

With Ariel when it happened?

Can you point to us where
the Ariel school is from here?

Oh my gosh!

Had you had those thoughts
before this experience?

No.

No. And did, how did
those thoughts come to you?

Did they come to you
from the craft or from...

From the man.
The man.

And the man, did the man say
those things to you?

How did he get that
across to you?

Well, he never said anything.

It’s just that
the face, his, the eyes.

Fungai, what do you imagine

is his reason for
visiting earth?

I think it’s about something
that’s going to happen.

Something that’s
going to happen?

Yes.
Like what?

Um, it’s pollution
or something.

Pollution?
Yes.

And how did he get that idea
of pollution across to you?

Um, the way he was staring.
The way he was staring?

Yes.

Somehow there was a message
about pollution

from the way he was staring?

Yes.

I think they want, um,
people to know

that we’re actually making harm
on this world

and we mustn’t get
too technologed.

How did that get
communicated to you?

I don’t know.

But somehow it did?

Yeah. It came through my head.

Through your head?

Did it talk, like,
through words or...?

My conscience, I think.
Your what?

My conscience told me.

It came to you through your,
your conscience told you.

Yeah.

You mean while you were
in contact with the being,

you mean or what?

While I was... While the being
was looking at me.

While it was looking at you.

It was like this lake
of calmness in his eyes.

I was compelled to look at him.

It wasn’t like I,
I wanted to look away from him.

Time became very still
and very bizarre.

In my mind, technology...

and, and not, not good feelings
about technology either.

It was like technology
was a bad, dirty word.

I think that he was saying
to me, beware of the technology.

Don’t go into it too heavy

because it’s, it’s not going
to be good for you.

It was only when I was
looking at him and his face

and his eyes that I got that.

As soon as I looked
away from him,

that’s when all of reality and,

and everything
that was happening came back to.

And that’s when I realized
that something really strange

is happening here.

It's fascinating.

This was imagery coming through
from them communication,

but it’s done through,
right in your brain.

You, you were saying
that you thought that they maybe

were trying to tell us something
like, uh, about the future.

Can you say more of what your
thought is? What was it like?

It was like on the world,
all the trees will just go down

and,

and there were will be no air
and people will be dying.

I think that in space there’s
no love and down here there is.

There is love?
Yes.

Mm hmm.

Is there anything
we can do with that love,

as far as taking care
of the earth?

You talked about the,
that they, their message,

that we don’t take
care of the earth.

No.
Why not?

Several of them talked
about, uh,

a message being transmitted
through the eyes,

that the beings were trying
to tell us something.

What gave that
a certain edge of sincerity

was they weren’t offering
solutions,

like we’ve got to become
environmentally conscious

and, you know,
do something about the earth.

So I’d say, "Well, what
are we supposed to do?"

And they would say, "Well, no.

That’s not what they were doing,
what they were conveying.

They, they were simply telling
us that this is what’s going on

and they felt very upset
about it."

But it wasn’t like a,
you know, ecological,

uh, political program
or something.

So that, that gave it
this kind of authenticity.

At first no news coverage
took it seriously.

And I leave you to check
for little green men

and flying saucers and...

And then when Reuters got hold
of it, it got very serious.

There was a bit of a buzz

and it was in the news
and everything.

You had people that knew
about the school from all over,

not just in Zimbabwe,
but it was all over the world.

[Dutch news segment]

On the other side
of the world,

an unusual visitor called into
a Zimbabwean playground.

Unexplained Mysteries;

Something major has
happened in Africa

a unique mass encounter
between aliens

and school children.

Hello, welcome back. Someone
who started off as a skeptic,

and you’re a Pulitzer prize
winner and all the rest of it,

have actually been convinced

that the people you interviewed
at great length

and talked to about
their encounters with aliens,

they were actually
telling the truth.

There is something out there
trying to contact us.

Yeah, there’s some kind
of authentic mystery here,

which my training in psychiatry
just hasn’t prepared me for.

With all the skill
that you have,

you’re a top American
psychiatrist at Harvard–you

would be able to tell
when people were telling fibs.

That’s what I’m supposed
to be trained to do,

is to distinguish
between fantasy,

dreams, psychosis,
or authentic experience.

And this is, has all the marks
of authentic experience.

So we just stared at it.

And we heard this flute,
sort of like a flute noise.

Then I saw this black figure
running in slow motion

and then I didn’t want
to see it, so I looked away.

And I looked again
and it wasn’t there anymore.

When you looked
at those children,

they were absolutely credible.
And you can look at their faces,

even on television
you can look at their faces

and know if they’re
bullshitting or not.

And they weren’t.

We came away convinced

that an extraordinary event
occurred here.

Uh, one of, uh, quite unique,
I think, in UFO history.

If there’s anything
that could convince a skeptical,

closed-minded public
that some kind of intelligence

that is not,
as the headmaster said,

"of this world", than this event
should persuade people.

I believe overall this
is a phenomenon of enormous

complexity, meaning, and value
for understanding of ourselves,

who we are in the universe.

And we’re just beginning
to grasp what this is about.

Welcome back
to Larry King Live.

He’s a Harvard psychiatrist
and though he was once skeptical

that beings visited
from other planets,

he now believes differently.

John Mack has been
a psychiatrist

at Harvard University
for more than 30 years now.

he won a Pulitzer Prize
two decades ago

for writing a psychological
biography of Lawrence of Arabia.

But these days his writings
have placed him

on the academic fringe.

Meet Dr. John Mack,

a believer in aliens
from outer space.

What would the academics
up at Harvard University

think about all this?

We started to hear that John
was getting to be in trouble.

His practice was beginning
to be largely

about the investigation
of these strange phenomena.

He had started support groups
so that the various people

who had reported
these strange phenomena

could hear the stories
from each other

and begin to feel
a little bit normal.

No matter how I looked at it,

they were talking the way people

talk about something
that's happened to them.

I was stuck with this dilemma.

what do you do at that point?
Do you say, Well, I’m sorry.

There’s got to be
some kind of mental illness

I’ve ever heard of before?

Or do you say maybe
what I thought was possible

wasn’t complete.

It seems to me it’s clinically
and humanly more honest

to say there’s something
I don’t know here

and to follow
your clinical instincts.

What did you say?
What did you tell your mom?

This is Kayleigh talking now.
Go ahead.

I said, "Mummy, I saw
an alien at school."

Then they, my mummy said, um,
she, my mum never believed me.

Yeah? Does that upset you when
your mom didn’t believe you?

Yeah. Sometimes.

Kayleigh!
Hi!

Hi!
How are you?

I’m good. How are you?

Good.

Oh, it’s so nice to see you.
I know!

How does it feel?

It’s crazy.

Right?
It is.

So do you want
to take a little walk?

Oh, my gosh. And, I mean...

I know, we have to look.
OK, let’s look.

OK.
I was trying to find mine.

And I’ve been looking
to find all my pieces

because I don’t have
my drawings as well.

See, like these ones
you can’t see.

I know!
That’s why I’m like, oh.

Right?
It’s not here.

Well, we could keep going.

Tell me what you remember.

See, I was playing
rugby over here.

In this open part over here.
With the little boys.

Yeah.

And then all the logs
were down there.

Were all here.

I don’t know why I remember a
huge tree like this down there.

Because that was,
that field wasn’t there.

This is where I kind of remember
it happening.

Like standing over there.

I then ran, I must have
run there, closer to...

I remember being close
to the tuck shop.

Well, that’s why,
I remember right here.

And I remember Lisil
and I right there.

So it must be there.
And, yeah.

Emily!

Yes

Ms. Bates found
some of the drawings.

Ms. Bates found
some of the drawings?

They’re in an envelop
on the desk.

Oh!

Up in the office there.

But I think there’s been
such a runaround this morning.

They’re trying to do things.

They just let us know
they’re there.

Oh, how exciting.
Right?

I hope mine’s there.

I, I really hope
mine’s there, too.

I think they’re both there.

I haven’t opened anything.
I haven’t looked.

Oh, my gosh.
You must be kidding me!

I’m scared.

I’m kind of scared, too.

You don’t have to be scared.

OK, you open it with me.
Open it together.

We’ll do it together.

Let’s take a peek.

Oh, my gosh!
Oh, my gosh!

You see, I’m sure...

You can’t see it very nice,
but I’m sure this was the tree.

I’ve drawn this again.

Like, like, exactly like this.

You see silver
shining as well.

Uh huh.

I mean, I said I saw,
like, a crazy light.

Oh, my gosh!
With this coming down.

I think
I blocked out a lot, man.

You remember, and like we keep
saying, like,

I think we blocked out a lot.

I really do as well.
Yeah. Holy shit!

Wow!

I know. Think it a lot of
people, like, didn’t believe us.

It’s beautiful.
It’s so peaceful.

Yes.
I have the best memories here.

Me, too.
Of us.

I’ve been so terrible.

Well, Ms. Bates is,
she wants...

So terrible.

...she wants to see you.

She’s a, she’s a little hurt
because she feels like...

I know.

...the students have avoided
this place

for a such a long time.

Well, you see,
that’s the thing, is, like...

I know.

...what happened.

I know.

I think that’s why
I’ve never come back.

I don’t want to deal with...

Deal with it.

...coming here and remembering
all the stuff.

I think that’s honest,

the honest God’s truth
of why I didn’t come.

Yeah.
So 20 years later...

We still have the same story.

But that’s the funny thing,
is, like, I’m adamant

about this tree and the light.
And there on my picture,

which I don’t even remember
drawing, it’s there!

It’s there!
And I drew that.

I can’t wait to show my mum.

You have to see it
to believe it.

If, if somebody’s a staunch
believer that it’s not,

how is me

telling them my experience
going to change what they think?

It will change
what they think about me.

It’s not going to change what
they think about the universe.

And I don’t need that.

But with 60 of us
all saying it together,

that will change what that one
person thinks of the universe.

Many of you are going to think
my guests today

have lost their minds

To be honest, their stories
do sounds really crazy.

But we were intrigued
by this man.

He is Dr. John Mack,
who does believe their stories.

The president’s lawyer said,
"What do you think it’s like

for the dean
for the medical school

to see one of his professors
on Oprah Winfrey

saying that men, women,

and children are being taken
by little green men?"

It does reflect, I think,
the anxiety that this caused.

Doctor, is the profession
embarrassed

when one of your colleagues
puts forward theories like this?

Oh, yes.
We’re very embarrassed.

Embarrassed for the profession

and a little worried
about John himself.

What?
He’s gone of the rails a bit?

Well, John is a man of great
gift and great intelligence,

but he’s also a man of,

who tends to take
on enthusiasms.

And this times he’s gone,
yeah, gone too far.

We’re worried about him.

We hope he’ll pull himself
together, come back.

I sensed that I ought to try
to get ahead of the curl on,

on the high exposure that I had.

But I was too late.

There was something afoot.

They were putting together
a committee

to look into the work
and see if I had maintained

the standards
of the Harvard Medical School.

I am, uh, Arnold Relman.

I am a physician.

I was asked by the dean
of the Harvard Medical School

to look into John’s activities
in view of all the publicity

and the fact that John was using
the Harvard Medical School’s

name quite liberally,

and implied
the Harvard Medical School

was somehow sponsoring
what he was doing,

the dean wanted to know,
what is he doing?

His research is
shattering preconceptions

about alien abductions.

He’s studied over 100 people
and is convinced

they are telling the truth.

John, you have
a very high profile.

And the fact that you’re
a professor at Harvard tends

to make people believe you.

And do you think you could be
seriously misleading people

about what’s going on here?

The concern is what is his
relationship to the subjects?

Is their psychological welfare
being protected?

And is this a violation of
medical standards?

I miss this place so much.

You know, just after talking
to Ms. Hwacha

and, you know, just kids
and the school.

Because we were
listening to music.

And the music in the...

You tear up.
I’m like, what’s going on?

It’s a horrible feeling
to feel alone.

But you've got us now.
You’ve got the whole Ariel

family, like, everybody’s there,
like, looking out for you.

Tracy said he’ll be
on the other side.

And everybody’s there for you.
Everybody’s looking out for you.

God, I needed that,
you know, so badly.

They forget that there’s a human
being behind all of this

and nobody asked
for it to happen.

[somber music playing]

There’s Lisil.

Lisil, Fungai, Grant.
I remember her, too.

I remember the face,
but I don’t remember the name.

There are many people
who probably are not going

to believe certain things

until they happen
to them, period.

That probably is even
more pronounced in the West

compared to many other cultures

because we have advanced
so far technologically,

because our technology,
which is, you know,

based in science
is so dramatically powerful

that people start thinking
that must be all there is.

A lot of the criticism
about John and John’s work

pre-supposed
that it was simply impossible

that people could be visited
by aliens,

that aliens even exist,

To reduce knowledge of reality
to purely the physical world,

what about the whole emotional
world, the spiritual world.

When you go into
subatomic reality,

there is not material world.

There’s only possibility
and probability.

The new findings in physics,
if you take them seriously,

are just as undermining
of the dominant worldview

as anything I’m talking about.

Baloney!

Old-fashioned physics,
new-fashioned physics,

quantum mechanics,
string theory,

you got to have evidence.

You have to be able
to measure something.

I am morally
and virtually certain

that what we’re dealing with

is some kind of internal
psychological phenomenon.

It is inconceivable to me

that these people
are being abducted by aliens.

If they were,

then the whole world
as we know it is upside down.

Harvard University was
the kind of global champion

of the classical
liberal worldview.

And that he was trying to
propose an alternative worldview

with the reality of
extra-terrestrial intelligence.

A worldview is
a kind of psychic glue.

It sort of orients you.

It’s what allows people to think
they know

who they are in the worlds
that matter to us, family,

groups that we’re in,
institutions, schools.

What’s possible
is a matter of worldview.

A culture decides what’s real.

What’s real in this culture
is completely different

than what’s true
in other cultures.

I really think human egoism
in the broadest sense

is what is at stake,

our sense of value,
our sense of who we are.

Are we powerful, are we in
charge of our own fate.

Freud said there’s three
big blows to human egoism.

And the first was the discovery
by Copernicus and Galileo

that the Earth was not
at the center of the cosmos.

Second was Darwin’s finding that
we’re not particularly different

from the other animal species.
Freud claimed his was the third,

that we’re not really in charge
of our own individual lives.

And this, I think,
could be a fourth.

We’re far from being
the most intelligent

or advanced creatures
in the cosmos.

I think in the broad scheme
of things,

it’s not a socially
good thing to do.

It promotes
the cult of mysticism

and magic and superstition.

You know, the X-File
kind of mentality.

They’re, they’re out there
and the government won’t,

won’t let us find out about it.

It’s childish.

And it’s not good
for the American public.

Why should this
be so remarkable

when we claim to believe in God

and all kinds of spirits,

and yet there’s something about
this one which takes a form

that is particularly
disturbing to us?

There’s a lot of harrumphing
that goes on.

"Well, we don’t really want
to be identified

with this kind of science.

It’s OK to be identified
with other bizarre views

that might emanate.
But we have our limits, too."

Remember, we’re a university
that has a divinity school.

We know the boundaries.

Theology is OK,
but extra-terrestrials, no.

Angels, yes.
Extra-terrestrials, no.

Let’s just sit down
and rationally,

objectively talk it through,

because there’s a lot
we don’t understand.

there’s a lot we worship
in our various religions

that’s meaningful
and inexplicable.

You can’t just rule stuff
out willy-nilly

because there is a magical side
of life that is very precious.

I’m a Christian in my beliefs,

but that doesn’t mean to say
that I think,

um, there’s no other types of,

or forms of life
that exist in the universe.

There is a God, but there’s
also other things around

that can’t be explained.

You know?
It’s, it’s another creature.

They teach you there’s
no such things as aliens

because, I mean,
God created just human beings.

That’s what I was taught;
that’s what I grew up thinking.

The universe is so big
so I can’t completely say

it’s fact
that there’s no such thing

as life outside
of Earth’s solar system.

The universe is a beautiful,
strange place

and we’re just human beings
and we can’t know everything.

Maybe we don’t have
the capacity to understand it.

We may be just exploring
the limited reaches of space.

Beyond that we absolutely know
nothing in terms of life

or how life exists elsewhere.

Maybe it’s too disturbing.

In the beginning of my
going public with this,

I received absolutely
no general acceptance.

There were no particular
advantages to be gained

and every disadvantage.

And there were assaults
from every direction

in terms of the main part
of my profession.

If it was an opportunity,

it was an opportunity
to commit professional suicide.

It’s a dirty subject.

If you want to sustain
a career in the BBC

after having been
in many war zones,

you don’t suddenly come up
with a UFO story

which was absolutely waterproof.

Then they just said, "No.
Tim’s suffering from the stress

and the strains
of all the war zones he’s done.

He’s lost the plot.
He’s gone bonkers."

I think that’s when my career
with the BBC ended.

Gone. I think I, I,
I lost my credibility,

because you don’t talk
about these things.

When I was in residency,

John’s office
was on the main floor

of the psychiatric wing.

When I came back in 2004

his office was offsite.

And I actually took that
as a sort of metaphor

for him being pushed out
and extruded in a certain sense.

Finally the dean of the
medical school wrote a letter

to John basically apologizing
and saying that they were,

that it was unfortunate
that he had misconstrued

what it was
that they were trying to do.

And as I say, and reiterated
this totally foolish position

that they had that all the dean
was trying to do

was to get some information
so he could respond to calls

that he was getting.

And so that they ended up
dropping the entire thing

and letting him go back

to doing his normal work
at the university.

I accept, Dr. Mack’s
statements at face value.

He is inquiring and probing and
he has the right to be wrong.

The most fundamental right that
any academic has

is the right to be wrong.
Prove that he’s wrong.

That’s the job
of other academics.

He became the iconic figure
of someone

from inside a major institution

who was willing
to take the risks

and pay the consequences
for what he believed in.

My respect for Dr. John Mack
for his courage,

for the difficulties
that he’s undergone.

And I think any human being
would have to admit

that if the UFO phenomenon

is occurring
as the reports suggest,

it’s the most important
event in human history.

[bell rings]

[upbeat music]

We’re going
to Canada with you.

We can fit in one suitcase!

I’m going to miss you
when you go.

You’re going to miss me
when I go?

(together) Yes!

Oh, my gosh!
I’m going to miss all of you!

I really thank you
for everything.

I know, I felt so welcome here.

We do our best.
Yes.

Healing process, eh?
Come on, you’ll be fine.

I know.
Absolutely fine.

[piano music plays]

Mommy!

It’s a very precious
thing to me,

to be able to have
this drawing again

and look at it
and say after 21 years

I’m still depicting it
exactly the same way

and I can put it
with the rest of them.

I have probably over 300 pieces
and it started here.

I don’t know what it means
for me further down the road,

but I feel more confident.

It’s a stepping stone forward
to go out, show my art,

share my story,
and feel good about it.

With my family, they’ve been
extremely supportive

throughout this whole thing.
And they’ve understood

that this is something
that I’ve had to go through.

My mother has started
speaking a bit about it.

My father for the first time at
the dinner table brought it up.

But I don’t know
if this is something

that they’ll ever be able
to accept completely,

but I know that they love me
and they trust me.

They know because they were
there that something happened.

I’d like to introduce to you,
Emily Trim,

one of the witnesses
at Ruwa, Zimbabwe, in 1994.

[applause]

[reading] "That was the day
my world shattered.

And my outlook on the world

became something
completely brand new to me.

I’m thankful for going through
such a process

and a journey in life
which has led me to discover,

look deeper into the meanings
of things,

and become more self-aware.

And I appreciate you taking
the time to allow me to speak

and thank you for
your understanding in something

so very personal."

[applause]

I don’t know why
it had to be Ruwa,

a small, rural, farming town.
I truly don’t.

But for whatever reason, it did.
It, it happened.

I’d like to know
what we’d seen

and find out what it wanted.

Why us? Why us kids?
You know?

It was a wonderful
experience actually,

because I know definitely

I’m not going to see
something like that ever again.

Maybe. Who knows?

And it’s something that I will
pass on to my kids one day.

They might be just here
as observers.

We’re just an interesting part
of the local community,

like we go to safari in Africa

or see this other creature
that is unique to that world.

For some people it is scary,
very scary,

because it kind of
makes them feel humanity

is not in complete control
of our destinies

and we think we are the dominant
species on the planet.

But maybe, maybe we are the
dominant species on the planet,

but maybe not
the dominant species

in this corner of the universe.

I think it’s certainly
open-minded.

I think it’s a bit arrogant
to say that we are the only life

in the galaxy or the universe.

Yeah, I think it’s good to speak
about it, speak about it.

If there was one experience
I’d like to relive,

it would be
that particular experience.

I don’t really say
"I swear, man! It was there!"

That sort of thing, you know?

Like, you don’t
have to believe me.

I’m sure a lot of people

who’ve seen it
barely believe themselves.

I don’t think that
the answer’s out there.

I don’t think that I’m going to
find an answer from Googling it

or from talking
to others about it.

I think it’s a, it’s a, it’s
a long story, is the answer.

I think the answer will come
maybe in this lifetime,

maybe in the next.
I don’t know.

I’m glad I was there.
It really stretched my mind

and gave me a new perspective
on life, the universe,

and everything, really.

I would not have missed that
for the world.

That’s all I can say.

Would you like to
see him again?

Yes.

You would like to
see him again.

And if you saw him again,
what would you do?

I’ll ask him some questions.

What would you like
to ask him?

I’ll ask him what is
he doing on earth

and what does he want
with us?