I watched this aged ten and was compelled by the subject matter , scientists disappearing across the world , an apollo mission astronaut loosing his temper while being asked questions as to what he saw on a moon mission , and most disturbing of all secret NASA footage from Mars showing something alive burrowing just under the surface of the red planet . An absolutely shocking investigation . It wasn`t untill a few days later that I found out it was an April fool . I didn`t feel stupid about getting fooled , after all I was only a child , but I did feel very angry that there was no proof of life on Mars . Just think though , there must still be literally thousands of people walking around today who still believe this was a real investigative report
12 Reviews
Scared the bejesus out of me
smg00719 April 2006
Warning: Spoilers
I remember watching the original show when it aired on UK TV in 1977. I was only 10 at the time but my father and I watched a weekly science documentary show together each week. This was the final episode in the series and I certainly took the show as real.
I went to bed immediately after the show and missed the disclaimer that it was a hoax which was aired within a few minutes. Thankfully my dad woke me and told me straight away but even so this affected me to the extent that I still remember that evening after 30 years. I only tracked it down today, by chance, so now know what it was called but it still stirs bad memories.
I went to bed immediately after the show and missed the disclaimer that it was a hoax which was aired within a few minutes. Thankfully my dad woke me and told me straight away but even so this affected me to the extent that I still remember that evening after 30 years. I only tracked it down today, by chance, so now know what it was called but it still stirs bad memories.
Old school regional British telly at its best
Red-Barracuda17 September 2021
This faux documentary was made by Anglia (the regional TV station home to Sale of the Century and the rotating little knight on a plinth) and was initially scheduled to be broadcast on April Fool's day 1977 but was ultimately put back 'til June. Regardless its broadcast resulted in Anglia being inundated with calls from concerned viewers demanding further information on the outrageous claims being made. It takes the form of a fake news report detailing the mysterious disappearance of a number of people, the investigation then leads to climate change and the moon landings. More detail would reveal too many spoilers. It is a fascinating watch, which was pretty well executed. Conspiracy buffs and sci-fi fans should get a kick out of this one.
Here's a letter from the author
Major_Movie_Star1 February 2006
The film is associated with a book by a guy called Leslie Watkins. It was all meant as a hoax, but Watkins later decided that maybe he had accidentally hit on something. He published the following letter to the editor of Windwords magazine in response to certain questions from her:
Dear Ms. Dittrich:
Thank you for your letter, which reached me today. Naturally, I am
delighted by your interest in Alternative 3 and by the fact that you
plan to sell it in the Windwords bookstore. I will certainly
cooperate in any way I can.
The correct description of Alternative 3 was given to you by the
representative from Penguin Books. The book is based on fact, but
uses that fact as a launchpad for a HIGH DIVE INTO FICTION. In answer to your specific questions:
1) There is no astronaut named Grodin.
2) There is no Sceptre Television and the reported Benson is also
fictional.
3) There is no Dr. Gerstein.
4) Yes, a "documentary" was televised in June 1977 on Anglia
Television, which went out to the entire national network in
Britain. It was called Alternative 3 and was written by David
Ambrose and produced by Christopher Miles (whose names were on
the book for contractual reasons). This original TV version,
which I EXPANDED IMMENSELY for the book, was ACTUALLY A HOAX
which had been scheduled for transmission on April Fools' Day.
Because of certain problems in finding the right network slot,
the transmission was delayed.
The TV program did cause a tremendous uproar because viewers refused
to believe it was fiction. I initially took the view that the basic
premise was so way-out, particularly the way I aimed to present it in
the book, that no one would regard it as non-fiction. Immediately
after publication, I realized I was totally wrong. In fact, the
amazing mountains of letters from virtually all parts of the world-
including vast numbers from highly intelligent people in positions of
responsibility-convinced me that I had ACCIDENTALLY trespassed into a
range of top-secret truths.
Documentary evidence provided by many of these correspondents decided
me to write a serious and COMPLETELY NON-FICTION sequel.
Unfortunately, a chest containing the bulk of the letters was among
the items which were mysteriously LOST IN TRANSIT some four years when I moved from London, England, to Sydney, Australia, before I moved on to settle in New Zealand. For some time after Alternative 3 was
originally published, I have reason to suppose that my home telephone
was being tapped and my contacts who were experienced in such matters
were convinced that certain intelligence agencies considered that I
probably knew too much.
So, summing up, the book is FICTION BASED ON FACT. But I now feel
that I inadvertently got VERY CLOSE TO A SECRET TRUTH. I hope this is of some help to you and I look forward to hearing from you again.
With best wishes,
Leslie Watkins
So, that's what leslie Watkins says. How extraordinary now that Global Warming transpires to be real, and may well destroy the world. I hope I won't be around to witness it.
Dear Ms. Dittrich:
Thank you for your letter, which reached me today. Naturally, I am
delighted by your interest in Alternative 3 and by the fact that you
plan to sell it in the Windwords bookstore. I will certainly
cooperate in any way I can.
The correct description of Alternative 3 was given to you by the
representative from Penguin Books. The book is based on fact, but
uses that fact as a launchpad for a HIGH DIVE INTO FICTION. In answer to your specific questions:
1) There is no astronaut named Grodin.
2) There is no Sceptre Television and the reported Benson is also
fictional.
3) There is no Dr. Gerstein.
4) Yes, a "documentary" was televised in June 1977 on Anglia
Television, which went out to the entire national network in
Britain. It was called Alternative 3 and was written by David
Ambrose and produced by Christopher Miles (whose names were on
the book for contractual reasons). This original TV version,
which I EXPANDED IMMENSELY for the book, was ACTUALLY A HOAX
which had been scheduled for transmission on April Fools' Day.
Because of certain problems in finding the right network slot,
the transmission was delayed.
The TV program did cause a tremendous uproar because viewers refused
to believe it was fiction. I initially took the view that the basic
premise was so way-out, particularly the way I aimed to present it in
the book, that no one would regard it as non-fiction. Immediately
after publication, I realized I was totally wrong. In fact, the
amazing mountains of letters from virtually all parts of the world-
including vast numbers from highly intelligent people in positions of
responsibility-convinced me that I had ACCIDENTALLY trespassed into a
range of top-secret truths.
Documentary evidence provided by many of these correspondents decided
me to write a serious and COMPLETELY NON-FICTION sequel.
Unfortunately, a chest containing the bulk of the letters was among
the items which were mysteriously LOST IN TRANSIT some four years when I moved from London, England, to Sydney, Australia, before I moved on to settle in New Zealand. For some time after Alternative 3 was
originally published, I have reason to suppose that my home telephone
was being tapped and my contacts who were experienced in such matters
were convinced that certain intelligence agencies considered that I
probably knew too much.
So, summing up, the book is FICTION BASED ON FACT. But I now feel
that I inadvertently got VERY CLOSE TO A SECRET TRUTH. I hope this is of some help to you and I look forward to hearing from you again.
With best wishes,
Leslie Watkins
So, that's what leslie Watkins says. How extraordinary now that Global Warming transpires to be real, and may well destroy the world. I hope I won't be around to witness it.
April Fools!!!
shark-4311 March 2002
Warning: Spoilers
SPOILERS: This cheeky, silly "documentary" is a lot of fun if you are in on the joke. Ahead of it's time, in the sense, that in an almost Blair Witch kind of way, this film tries to set up a serious, newsworthy tone as a British news program "Science Report" tries to uncover a government conspiracy about UFOs and discoveries of life on other planets. With the gritty, hand-held look way ahead of any COPS kind of shows, investigative reporters hound and follow scientists and other shadowy figures trying to get to the TRUTH. (Actually, now that i think about it, I wonder if Chris Carter, the creator of the X-FILES, ever saw this)?? At the very end of the program, they put up the actual air date, which reads April 1, 1977. So, they want you to follow along with this 60 Minutes type news show and then pull off the covers at the end and yell, "Gotcha!" Might be fun for conspiracy nuts who have a sense of humor (as if there really is such a thing).
popularized in America when unknown
meesalikeu12 September 2009
this brit TV movie got a lot of underground hype in the states when it was hilariously referenced in the movie 'slacker.' character actor jerry deloney as the ufo conspiracy nut, catches the 'alernative 3' on late nite austin TV and believes every word of it!
it's slow going and obviously a movie and not a documentary (i guess some people must have been pretty naive back then), but at least you can check it out online for free and it is definitely worth a watch.
highly recommended to all conspiracy fans. in fact you oughta watch it as a double feature with 'capricorn one' if for nothing else than just to keep the 70's vibes going.
they don't make'm like these anymore, in fact they only did in that awesome wild and woolly early to mid 70's era.
it's slow going and obviously a movie and not a documentary (i guess some people must have been pretty naive back then), but at least you can check it out online for free and it is definitely worth a watch.
highly recommended to all conspiracy fans. in fact you oughta watch it as a double feature with 'capricorn one' if for nothing else than just to keep the 70's vibes going.
they don't make'm like these anymore, in fact they only did in that awesome wild and woolly early to mid 70's era.
The Martians don't want you to watch this film.
F Gwynplaine MacIntyre9 December 2007
I saw 'Alternative 3' when it was originally transmitted on 20 June 1977. It was indeed intended originally for transmission on All Fools' Day: however, the reason for the delay was a labour dispute. (Wot, in Britain? Impossible!) This notorious hoax film has been banned from repeat transmissions in Britain ever since, thus unintentionally adding fuel to the cover-up theories. It's now (as I write this) resurfacing at long last, in a DVD edition, just in time for the annual spaghetti harvest.
Tim Brinton had been a genuine news-reader with Auntie Beeb for more than 20 years, so his presence in this hoax film lent it an air of authenticity. All the other 'real' people interviewed in this alleged documentary are in fact actors speaking scripted lines (some of them with dodgy Yank accents); the end credits include a conventional cast list (i.e., conventional for a FICTION film), which ought to have tipped the wink to viewers. Evidently it didn't.
Basically, presenter Brinton reveals 'evidence' that the space race and the cold war between the Yanks and the Soviets are both fake: the two super-powers have been secretly co-operating to build a colony on Mars. The alleged Apollo moon landings were, in fact, camouflage to cover-up what NASA are really doing on the moon: building a launch platform for the trips to Mars.
It seems that the people in charge of the United States and the Soviet Union are aware that the Earth is about to choke on its own pollution (I can certainly believe THAT part), and -- rather than attempt to clean up their own mess -- the people in charge have plumped for a third (sic) alternative: namely, they're going to up sticks and move to Mars with a selected population of the elite, leaving the rest of us behind. After all these years, I can't recall if there was a SECOND alternative offered by Brinton; I think that the people who wrote this thing just felt that 'Alternative 3' sounded more dramatic than 'Alternative 2'.
Some authentic footage is put to cheeky misuse: the view from a helicopter landing in a Terran desert shows up here as the view from a Mars lander approaching the Red Planet. All of the 'interview' footage is faked, as is some other footage: a shot of some subterranean Martian life-form burrowing through the Martian soil is actually the director's forearm buried in sand. The new DVD is chock-full of extras, rumbling the fakery.
As might be expected, a lot of viewers were taken in by this. Comparisons to the Orson Welles radio broadcast are inevitable. By the way: I've always felt that Welles's broadcast received a bad rap. Supposedly, Welles's Martian invasion caused a nationwide panic. I believe that, in fact, only a small number of people panicked ... but they were spread across the entire United States, thus constituting a 'nationwide' panic. In the case of 'Alternate 3', after the hoax was confessed, a lot of believers refused to accept that they'd been hoaxed ... and they downplayed the confession as proof of a cover-up.
Since this film has been unavailable (in Britain, at least) for so long, people's memories of it have become unreliable. Several people who viewed the same broadcast that I saw have described to me in detail the realistic UFOs which they remember seeing in this programme: too real to be faked, they assert. Except that, in fact, there *aren't* any UFOs on offer in this film, genuine or otherwise.
Bearing in mind that this film is faked, it definitely succeeded in what it set out to accomplish ... and I'll rate 'Alternative 3' a full 10 out of 10. Surrender, earthlings!
Tim Brinton had been a genuine news-reader with Auntie Beeb for more than 20 years, so his presence in this hoax film lent it an air of authenticity. All the other 'real' people interviewed in this alleged documentary are in fact actors speaking scripted lines (some of them with dodgy Yank accents); the end credits include a conventional cast list (i.e., conventional for a FICTION film), which ought to have tipped the wink to viewers. Evidently it didn't.
Basically, presenter Brinton reveals 'evidence' that the space race and the cold war between the Yanks and the Soviets are both fake: the two super-powers have been secretly co-operating to build a colony on Mars. The alleged Apollo moon landings were, in fact, camouflage to cover-up what NASA are really doing on the moon: building a launch platform for the trips to Mars.
It seems that the people in charge of the United States and the Soviet Union are aware that the Earth is about to choke on its own pollution (I can certainly believe THAT part), and -- rather than attempt to clean up their own mess -- the people in charge have plumped for a third (sic) alternative: namely, they're going to up sticks and move to Mars with a selected population of the elite, leaving the rest of us behind. After all these years, I can't recall if there was a SECOND alternative offered by Brinton; I think that the people who wrote this thing just felt that 'Alternative 3' sounded more dramatic than 'Alternative 2'.
Some authentic footage is put to cheeky misuse: the view from a helicopter landing in a Terran desert shows up here as the view from a Mars lander approaching the Red Planet. All of the 'interview' footage is faked, as is some other footage: a shot of some subterranean Martian life-form burrowing through the Martian soil is actually the director's forearm buried in sand. The new DVD is chock-full of extras, rumbling the fakery.
As might be expected, a lot of viewers were taken in by this. Comparisons to the Orson Welles radio broadcast are inevitable. By the way: I've always felt that Welles's broadcast received a bad rap. Supposedly, Welles's Martian invasion caused a nationwide panic. I believe that, in fact, only a small number of people panicked ... but they were spread across the entire United States, thus constituting a 'nationwide' panic. In the case of 'Alternate 3', after the hoax was confessed, a lot of believers refused to accept that they'd been hoaxed ... and they downplayed the confession as proof of a cover-up.
Since this film has been unavailable (in Britain, at least) for so long, people's memories of it have become unreliable. Several people who viewed the same broadcast that I saw have described to me in detail the realistic UFOs which they remember seeing in this programme: too real to be faked, they assert. Except that, in fact, there *aren't* any UFOs on offer in this film, genuine or otherwise.
Bearing in mind that this film is faked, it definitely succeeded in what it set out to accomplish ... and I'll rate 'Alternative 3' a full 10 out of 10. Surrender, earthlings!
Alternative 3 - my experiences !
excalibur130823 February 2006
I well remember the alleged 'Science Report' of June 1977 about disappearing scientists and secret bases on the Moon.
At a UFO conference in a London hotel August 1979 (I met and had a chat with J.Allen Hynek) someone told me that the people who made that episode - Alternative 3 had a lot of trouble now finding work. Almost 'Black Listed' ?
Then a friend who's father was a senior engineer for the Royal Navy was asked by my friend about 'Alternative 3' - I was reading the Granada paperback at the time(sadly poorly written).
My friend's father hit the ceiling ! And shouted,"It's not that number anyway!"
Back in the early 1980's when 'La Thatcher' was in charge there was a girl in my local pub who bore a marked resemblance to 'Lady T'. I used to pull her leg about it as she pulled the pints. Chatting to her one day it transpired that she worked in a Financial Library in her day-time job. She was complaining about the snooty attitude of the highly qualified degree people who worked there. Anyway we somehow got chatting about 'Alternative 3' (too much beer on my part).
She said,"Alternative 3 sent a shudder right around the Financial Community. Whilst it was not completely true it closely paralleled the real thing. I shouldn't be telling you this because I have signed secrecy papers."
Interesting ?
At a UFO conference in a London hotel August 1979 (I met and had a chat with J.Allen Hynek) someone told me that the people who made that episode - Alternative 3 had a lot of trouble now finding work. Almost 'Black Listed' ?
Then a friend who's father was a senior engineer for the Royal Navy was asked by my friend about 'Alternative 3' - I was reading the Granada paperback at the time(sadly poorly written).
My friend's father hit the ceiling ! And shouted,"It's not that number anyway!"
Back in the early 1980's when 'La Thatcher' was in charge there was a girl in my local pub who bore a marked resemblance to 'Lady T'. I used to pull her leg about it as she pulled the pints. Chatting to her one day it transpired that she worked in a Financial Library in her day-time job. She was complaining about the snooty attitude of the highly qualified degree people who worked there. Anyway we somehow got chatting about 'Alternative 3' (too much beer on my part).
She said,"Alternative 3 sent a shudder right around the Financial Community. Whilst it was not completely true it closely paralleled the real thing. I shouldn't be telling you this because I have signed secrecy papers."
Interesting ?
Alternative 3 (1977)
FoundFootageFanatic2 March 2023
This presents itself as a documentary show which starts by covering recent disappearances of scientists. It goes on to broadcast the contents of a recovered video tape which shows U. S. & Soviet astronauts partnering together on space missions. Finally, it shows a mission to Mars.
I thought this one was neat. They did a decent job with the found footage contents. The acting was good. It held my attention.
This is early for the FF genre! I believe this is the first FF to feature space travel. I can really only find 2 other earlier FF examples. This was the first for TV.
This was interesting to watch and I think once was enough but it was cool.
I thought this one was neat. They did a decent job with the found footage contents. The acting was good. It held my attention.
This is early for the FF genre! I believe this is the first FF to feature space travel. I can really only find 2 other earlier FF examples. This was the first for TV.
This was interesting to watch and I think once was enough but it was cool.
One of the all-time classic hoax programmes
marksimmons2313 September 2018
I distinctly remember the impact of Alternative 3 at the time of its broadcast, as the effect it had on our parents and adults was the talk of the playground. Watching it now I can see why. Closely mimicking the news documentary format of the time, which albeit primitive in our internet age, was trustworthy to everyone in the 70s , the programme played as a realistic expose of themes that most people then found frightening. A coming global catastrophe, secret elites, murderous conspiracies, media cover-ups, a dash of cold hard space paranoia, and that pre-instant playback feel of "what exactly did I just see on my TV", must have been a heady mix. No wonder people were annoyed when it was revealed as an April Fool fiction.
Book was better.
R_C_Olson10 August 2005
I've just listened to an internet broadcast of "Alternative 3," which in paperback, as well as the internet-down-loadable version, was authored by Leslie Watkins. {N.b.: the original British television series had no affiliation with Ms. Watkins, currently banished, retired, or removed to New Zealand, however the book was an alleged extension and elaboration of material presented in the "Science Report" broadcast.} That the book was banned or suppressed and yet made it's way onto the internet, thence to be translated to a variety of languages, might give credence to the program, or the book which derived from it. Yet there was no astronaut Bob Grodin, either as an Apollo moon walker, or with any affiliation with NASA.
The author herself, in a letter to the online bookseller which bought up all copies remaining, said: "The book is based on fact, but uses that fact as a launchpad for a HIGH DIVE INTO FICTION.", etc. ..Further: "So, summing up, the book is FICTION BASED ON FACT. But I now feel that I inadvertently got VERY CLOSE TO A SECRET TRUTH."
So much for the credibility of either the book or the series which preceded it. I might have given a moment's thought to a conspiracy designed to cultivate greater study of the sciences in the U.K., but have thought better of it.
The author herself, in a letter to the online bookseller which bought up all copies remaining, said: "The book is based on fact, but uses that fact as a launchpad for a HIGH DIVE INTO FICTION.", etc. ..Further: "So, summing up, the book is FICTION BASED ON FACT. But I now feel that I inadvertently got VERY CLOSE TO A SECRET TRUTH."
So much for the credibility of either the book or the series which preceded it. I might have given a moment's thought to a conspiracy designed to cultivate greater study of the sciences in the U.K., but have thought better of it.
A fun mix of fact and mostly fiction
klausming10 September 2013
Warning: Spoilers
UK 52m Colour Director: Christopher Miles; Cast: Tim Brinton, Gregory Munroe, Carol Hazell, Shane Rimmer, Richard Marner
A fun mix of fact and mostly fiction, Alternative 3 was a hoax documentary that featured Tim Brinton, a well-known presenter on British television who lent the production a degree of credibility. Comparable to the War of the Worlds radio broadcast, Alternative 3 connected the UK "brain drain" to issues of global warming and NASA's Apollo missions to a global conspiracy to relocate earth's intelligentsia to Mars from a space station based on the Moon. In the history of space-based conspiracy theories, Alternative 3, followed by a 1978 novel of the same name, played an important role in the growth of conspiracy-based productions which have been popularized by films such as Capricorn One (1978), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Moon (2001) and Apollo 18 (2011) (Klaus Ming July 2013).
A fun mix of fact and mostly fiction, Alternative 3 was a hoax documentary that featured Tim Brinton, a well-known presenter on British television who lent the production a degree of credibility. Comparable to the War of the Worlds radio broadcast, Alternative 3 connected the UK "brain drain" to issues of global warming and NASA's Apollo missions to a global conspiracy to relocate earth's intelligentsia to Mars from a space station based on the Moon. In the history of space-based conspiracy theories, Alternative 3, followed by a 1978 novel of the same name, played an important role in the growth of conspiracy-based productions which have been popularized by films such as Capricorn One (1978), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Moon (2001) and Apollo 18 (2011) (Klaus Ming July 2013).
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