I'm sure people saw something they can not explain, but that's the only relevation. One guy talking about knowing and having encoubters at night in his bed, clearing describing sleep paralysis. People are suggestible and have very different interpretations of unusual events and novel experiences. Unexplained doesn't necessarily mean extraterrestrial. This series tilts toward conspiracy and apocalypse cultures merging, and a subtle anti or post scientific pov. People are reaching for connection and creating these hybrid belief structures to replace what they have lost in traditional belief structures. Poignant, credulous revelations from real people and one or two skeptics or experts per episode to make it all 'fair and balanced'. Considering who some of the creative and productive crew are, you might think the final product would be better, but in the end it's just a more refined version of the traditional unexplained phenomenon media presentation that H. G Wells and Orson Welles proved was possible.
38 Reviews
A missed opportunity or intentional ridicule?
mryang0127 September 2023
As a UFO-buff, I have been excited to watch this show since the trailer came out, especially because of the Ariel School UFO incident involving 60 school-children in Zimbabwe seeing 3 real aliens communicating with them telepathically.
Instead, we are introduced to a very vague "light in the sky" incident, without any compelling evidence at all. Disappointed and sad? No, it's more than that - this is intentional, to ridicule this topic as much as possible and cover this phenomena, which is as real as the nose on your face.
There are so many good encounters out there, such as the Nimitz incident, Travis Walton abduction, Ariel School, the Pascagoula incident, Phoenix Lights, Ingo Swann Moon Penetration, Philip Corso reverse engineering testimonies, Robert Salas Nuclear Missile Station incident, the list goes on and on and on and yet, they choose a "mysterious light in the sky"-incident as the first episode??
This is clearly intended to ridicule this topic further. I give it a 7, because we need to push this topic in the open, even though it means, doing it in a ridiculous way.
Instead, we are introduced to a very vague "light in the sky" incident, without any compelling evidence at all. Disappointed and sad? No, it's more than that - this is intentional, to ridicule this topic as much as possible and cover this phenomena, which is as real as the nose on your face.
There are so many good encounters out there, such as the Nimitz incident, Travis Walton abduction, Ariel School, the Pascagoula incident, Phoenix Lights, Ingo Swann Moon Penetration, Philip Corso reverse engineering testimonies, Robert Salas Nuclear Missile Station incident, the list goes on and on and on and yet, they choose a "mysterious light in the sky"-incident as the first episode??
This is clearly intended to ridicule this topic further. I give it a 7, because we need to push this topic in the open, even though it means, doing it in a ridiculous way.
Dulllllll
joshua-vdb-8528 September 2023
I was really excited for this, and having watched it in its entirety, I can say I am thoroughly disappointed. Maybe my expectations were too heavy. It just didnt really seem to be about what I thought it would be about. This was somehow the most boring show about UFOs that I've ever seen. Giving it a 5 for the aesthetic appeal. Obviously there was a lot of care that went into this project, but it just fell so flat for me!!! There's nothing that saves it for me or is worth a rewatch. Very empty feeling. Maybe it's just me. I've run out of ways to explain how much this disappointed me. If you enjoy, GREAT!
What it could have been
pulpfictionwestern28 September 2023
This is a well made documentary but the topic was not taken seriously enough for me. It might be intentional but not sure, maybe the director and producers aren't believers. What could have been two steps forward for disclosure and understanding just ended up being one step forward, then two steps backward. The pacing was okay but slowed in the final segment. I was entertained but as a believer that we have 'someone' with us from somewhere else, this was a let down. Hopefully any future documentaries will focus on the UAP phenomenon and not muddy the waters with offshoots of people with alternative thoughts and theories that can't at this time be corroborated.
Updates On Some Spectacular Encounters
AudioFileZ12 October 2023
The name "Encounters" is appropriate as it focuses on events with actual witnesses statements, but with Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment behind it there's a purposeful link to Spielberg's own Encounters of the Third Kind. Think of it as branding enhancement as one may be expecting more knowing Speilberg's long standing interest in UFOS/UAPS, even ETS. That said, I wonder how much input he really had?
Encounters isn't too different than better made for TV documentaries on the subject of unexplained aerial phenomena. There is only a few new folks rolled out as witnesses so it's hardly groundbreaking. But, in the four events covered in the four episodes it does bring each up to speed. I will say I enjoyed not seeing the usual "talking heads" ,such as Nick Pope for instance, as in most cases these people suffer from over exposure with almost nothing important being said. Others in the same category often suffer from saying too much regarding "fringe" stories involving abductions and ways of establishing contact through intent. Yes, I'm referring to Steven Greer who has done as much to hurt the credibility of ETS and UFOS as he has to establish concrete inroads. That would be his famous National Press Club event which was a bonafide cry to the government to stop the ridicule and denial through dramatic testimonies by extremely credible people. Fortunately, there's not too much "fringe" stuff here.
With the docu-series focusing on four "big" events the viewer may find some more of interest than others. Personally, I did. My favorite was the update on the Stephenville Texas flap which I always felt was well documented by many credible witnesses and the concrete science of radar data. Deniers gonna deny, but this one has solid legs to stand on. I had previously found Steve Davis to be a believable and likable interview so catching up with his time since was definitely bittersweet as I think the unexplained nature of what he saw took his life over and now wholly for the best. Even so, he relays it was a blessing to have witnessed what he saw and vies to still find answers. In a nutshell this is the conundrum of the whole thing. You have to have some kind of actual experience to really believe UFOS are not of earthly origin...for the most part.
So, for those of us quite interested yet not ready to wholly buy into extraterrestial origins it pushes us a bit closer to thinking "perhaps?". By this measure the series largely succeeds and does bring each of these "encounters" up to the current time. I'd say it lacked the impact of James Fox's body of work while it adds some more needed credibility to remind the world of these widely witnessed events.
Encounters isn't too different than better made for TV documentaries on the subject of unexplained aerial phenomena. There is only a few new folks rolled out as witnesses so it's hardly groundbreaking. But, in the four events covered in the four episodes it does bring each up to speed. I will say I enjoyed not seeing the usual "talking heads" ,such as Nick Pope for instance, as in most cases these people suffer from over exposure with almost nothing important being said. Others in the same category often suffer from saying too much regarding "fringe" stories involving abductions and ways of establishing contact through intent. Yes, I'm referring to Steven Greer who has done as much to hurt the credibility of ETS and UFOS as he has to establish concrete inroads. That would be his famous National Press Club event which was a bonafide cry to the government to stop the ridicule and denial through dramatic testimonies by extremely credible people. Fortunately, there's not too much "fringe" stuff here.
With the docu-series focusing on four "big" events the viewer may find some more of interest than others. Personally, I did. My favorite was the update on the Stephenville Texas flap which I always felt was well documented by many credible witnesses and the concrete science of radar data. Deniers gonna deny, but this one has solid legs to stand on. I had previously found Steve Davis to be a believable and likable interview so catching up with his time since was definitely bittersweet as I think the unexplained nature of what he saw took his life over and now wholly for the best. Even so, he relays it was a blessing to have witnessed what he saw and vies to still find answers. In a nutshell this is the conundrum of the whole thing. You have to have some kind of actual experience to really believe UFOS are not of earthly origin...for the most part.
So, for those of us quite interested yet not ready to wholly buy into extraterrestial origins it pushes us a bit closer to thinking "perhaps?". By this measure the series largely succeeds and does bring each of these "encounters" up to the current time. I'd say it lacked the impact of James Fox's body of work while it adds some more needed credibility to remind the world of these widely witnessed events.
Left me feeling mostly skeptical but hopeful
magnoliacream29 September 2023
This documentary explores cases of UFO sightings in different places on earth, from giant noiseless orbs of light seen by over 300 residents of Stephenville Texas in 2008 to a spaceship and big-eyed man-in-black seen by 62 students of Ariel School outside Ruwa Zimbabwe in 1994, spaceships and tall long-armed men seen by residents of Broad Haven Wales in 1977 and lights seen over the Fukushima Power Plant after the nuclear accident in 2011.
Featuring interviews of witnesses including those conducted by psychiatrist John Mack of Harvard University who risked his career and reputation when he made sure the schoolchildren of Ariel School were heard, this series also airs dissenting views about the Ariel School sightings.
The opposing stand of one student from Ariel School is like a splash of cold water over the whole incident because it makes sense. As much as I would like to believe the professed UFO sightings by the other students, I can't ignore the fact that children tend to have overactive imagination. The same argument holds for the UFO sightings of school children in Broad Haven.
The Stephenville Texas sightings are the most credible as they are backed by radar data. And I like to believe the Japanese witnesses of the lights over Fukushima Power Plant who think that the lights reduced the severity of the damage and were generated by non-humans who are watching over us and cleaning after our mess.
Featuring interviews of witnesses including those conducted by psychiatrist John Mack of Harvard University who risked his career and reputation when he made sure the schoolchildren of Ariel School were heard, this series also airs dissenting views about the Ariel School sightings.
The opposing stand of one student from Ariel School is like a splash of cold water over the whole incident because it makes sense. As much as I would like to believe the professed UFO sightings by the other students, I can't ignore the fact that children tend to have overactive imagination. The same argument holds for the UFO sightings of school children in Broad Haven.
The Stephenville Texas sightings are the most credible as they are backed by radar data. And I like to believe the Japanese witnesses of the lights over Fukushima Power Plant who think that the lights reduced the severity of the damage and were generated by non-humans who are watching over us and cleaning after our mess.
Just a Note for Documentary Filmmakers
pauleky1 October 2023
When you start your documentary or documentary series about UFOs, or anything else really, with a religious fanatic, your credibility is almost immediately shot by most critically thinking individuals. One could argue that critically thinking people wouldn't watch a show like this, anyway, but that's not true. We are always looking for evidence. Expecting someone who believes in an invisible man of the sky is not the way to present it. This series doesn't really present anything else, either. If you are interested UFO phenomena, then watch it at least for that. Just don't expect anything new or evidentiary.
One of the Better UAP Shows
emagnuson-4745529 September 2023
After seeing several reviews about how the first episode is just about a few possibly crazy people seeing lights in the sky with no evidence, I actually had to check and make sure this was the same show I watched. The "few crazy people" were actually 100s of witnesses, including prominent members of the community who risked their jobs and reputation by going on record. And after the military said there was nothing on the radar but refused to release the data, a reporter still obtained it through FOIA -- and it corroborated exactly what the witnesses described. Obviously this doesn't mean it was aliens...but it was SOMETHING, and that's compelling enough for me.
The filming and storytelling are really great as well. It definitely had me hooked, and doing some Googling later. I'm not sure where such negative reviews are coming from on here, though. Unless they were expecting the filmmakers to interview an actual alien or something...
The filming and storytelling are really great as well. It definitely had me hooked, and doing some Googling later. I'm not sure where such negative reviews are coming from on here, though. Unless they were expecting the filmmakers to interview an actual alien or something...
Basically a documentary about John Mack
timmyhollywood7 October 2023
Here's the idea: what if "encounters" with aliens really wasn't about creatures with fantastic technology flying thousands of light years to earth to visit some school children in Africa?
What if, instead, aliens were more abstract than that? Or if the explanation for their presence was a bit kookier, a bit more muddled: they're beings from another dimension. They're sort of like angels. They're from a parallel universe. They're just something that exists we can't really fathom so we call them "aliens" and tell ourselves a story that they're from other planets.
I'm being a little cheeky, but it's actually kind of interesting. And this brief docuseries tugs that thread, and does so mainly by putting the late Harvard psychologist John Mack front and center.
Mack was almost rebuked from Harvard for his work with so-called abductees. He was sued for malpractice since he didn't treat abductees like mental patients in need of medicine. Instead, Mack takes their stories at face value. He even wrote a book about it, called Abductions. I have it.
The problem is the glaring oversight that people, while not necessarily suffering psychiatric problems, do experience occasional sleep paralysis, in which they can't move and might feel presences. Mack conspicuously never addresses this. Nor does he seem to understand how coincidental it seems when someone experiencing abuse simultaneously has an "encounter" where they're whisked away to a better place.
As far as any tech goes, any UAPs, it's probably our stuff, or it's from another country. But probably ours. We spend hundreds of billions every year.
Still, I keep an open mind. So many people have had experiences. They can't all be trauma induced, or sleep paralysis, right? 60 kids seeing something? Whole towns experiencing strange events? I do think there are "more things in heaven and earth," as the Bard tells us. And, as I said, this docuseries pulls at the thread. But that's about it.
What if, instead, aliens were more abstract than that? Or if the explanation for their presence was a bit kookier, a bit more muddled: they're beings from another dimension. They're sort of like angels. They're from a parallel universe. They're just something that exists we can't really fathom so we call them "aliens" and tell ourselves a story that they're from other planets.
I'm being a little cheeky, but it's actually kind of interesting. And this brief docuseries tugs that thread, and does so mainly by putting the late Harvard psychologist John Mack front and center.
Mack was almost rebuked from Harvard for his work with so-called abductees. He was sued for malpractice since he didn't treat abductees like mental patients in need of medicine. Instead, Mack takes their stories at face value. He even wrote a book about it, called Abductions. I have it.
The problem is the glaring oversight that people, while not necessarily suffering psychiatric problems, do experience occasional sleep paralysis, in which they can't move and might feel presences. Mack conspicuously never addresses this. Nor does he seem to understand how coincidental it seems when someone experiencing abuse simultaneously has an "encounter" where they're whisked away to a better place.
As far as any tech goes, any UAPs, it's probably our stuff, or it's from another country. But probably ours. We spend hundreds of billions every year.
Still, I keep an open mind. So many people have had experiences. They can't all be trauma induced, or sleep paralysis, right? 60 kids seeing something? Whole towns experiencing strange events? I do think there are "more things in heaven and earth," as the Bard tells us. And, as I said, this docuseries pulls at the thread. But that's about it.
Just testimonial interviews of witnesses
thejefflewis-9222830 September 2023
Encounters is a major disappointment; and this is coming from a UFO buff.
Documentaries have different styles. Options available to convey information are the following: use a narrator; use expert interviews; use testimonial interviews; use supporting graphics; and show footage of evidence. "Encounters" is almost exclusively use of testimonial interviews. And a lot of what they talk about are the emotions of the event, and the emotions of processing the event. There is very, very little UFO footage shown.
This style of documentary to me is hard to stay engaged. It feels like they interviewed a lot of people and then edited together the footage without a clear view of how to tell the story. It feels random.
Documentaries have different styles. Options available to convey information are the following: use a narrator; use expert interviews; use testimonial interviews; use supporting graphics; and show footage of evidence. "Encounters" is almost exclusively use of testimonial interviews. And a lot of what they talk about are the emotions of the event, and the emotions of processing the event. There is very, very little UFO footage shown.
This style of documentary to me is hard to stay engaged. It feels like they interviewed a lot of people and then edited together the footage without a clear view of how to tell the story. It feels random.
Well done documentaries
nathas-098386 October 2023
These are well done, more thorough documentaries, about subject matter that has been covered many times before. Yet I learned more from each episode than I had previously heard from previous telling's of these stories.. One reviewer said they were boring. They are NOT boring to the more intellectual person, who has an interest in the subject matter, & wants to find out as much as possible about this subject. And now finally, our own US government is finally admitting that there are "things" flying around in our skies, that they can't explain. It's a shame honest investigators, like John Mack were met with such resistance as he tried to get to the bottom of this, especially in the Zimbabwe incident. Moving forward, I hope more people can open their minds to look at different possibilities---which would be good advice in all aspects of life as well. If you are interested in this subject matter, I do recommend watching.
I'm a believer.
deloudelouvain26 November 2023
Encounters is perfect for people that believe we're not alone in the universe. You can count me as one of those people. In fact I really can't understand why anybody would think the opposite considering the billions of stars and galaxies. It's impossible we're just the only species. Encounters is four episodes long, each time a different story about witnesses in different countries. The interesting thing about these individual cases is that there were mass witnesses each times. Now, when you just hear one witness you might be doubting about the veracity, but when hundreds of people see the same thing it's difficult not believing them and that's what makes this specific documentary interesting. I never talk about what I witnessed thirty years ago in Belgium but I know what I saw and I'm not crazy or delusional so yes I'm a believer. Well made documentary, with interesting interviews from people that look legit but also from people you might doubt their stories so I guess we will keep on guessing until the governments tell us the truth. I think the world is ready for that by now. It would just end all religions and in my opinion that is a really good thing.
Hours of interviews with basically no evidence
ajd-312569 November 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I do recognize that in the second episode that lawyer guy was like "we view eyewitness testimony as crucial in the legal world" which, sure... but we really shouldn't.
Lots of research has been done into human psychology over the years that shows that people's memories, especially over the long timeframes that are discussed by so many in these films, to be very suggestible and prone to mis-remembering details. People have what are called "flashbulb" memories where they remember key details that they believe stood out to them when the event happened. However, in plenty of cases, these memories never actually occurred. A common example of this is 9/11, where thousands of people have reported they remembered being in New York witnessing the planes crash into the towers, when in fact they were not in a position to do so.
Having studied Psychology, the vast majority of the people inside of this documentary (with the exception of a few of the Japanese people) seem to have had an experience that triggered a flashbulb memory experience for them, whether it be some kind of dream or nightmare, or in the case of that Navy Cryptologist guy, sleep paralysis. Most of the people didn't appear to have even an ounce of credibility as they discussed connections of their experiences to other parts of their lives, like one guy in the Zimbabwe incident who connected it to finding his "african-ness," the guy from Texas who kept connecting it to the bible and teaching his kids that angels were actually UFO's, to some of the Welsh kids who gave off the appearance that they were simply repeating what their fellow students were saying in order to fit in and look cool.
It really didn't help their case that they didn't offer a shred of evidence in any of these videos besides eyewitness testimony. The only one was the video of "lights" over Fukushima in the final section, but that video was debunked as fake back at the time of the actual accident occurring. It's not hard for a random person to make that kind of simple animation inside of AfterEffects and post it to YouTube.
I believe these people believe they experienced something. Whether that experience was a pure fabrication of their minds and memories or something that really happened is a purely open question. I don't find many of them very credible and the fact that the entire series is just hours of eyewitness testimony of people talking about events that happened decades ago does not make me feel inclined to believe them given what I know about how fallible human memory is. I came into this with an open mind prepared to learn more about this subject, but I was sorely disappointed.
Lots of research has been done into human psychology over the years that shows that people's memories, especially over the long timeframes that are discussed by so many in these films, to be very suggestible and prone to mis-remembering details. People have what are called "flashbulb" memories where they remember key details that they believe stood out to them when the event happened. However, in plenty of cases, these memories never actually occurred. A common example of this is 9/11, where thousands of people have reported they remembered being in New York witnessing the planes crash into the towers, when in fact they were not in a position to do so.
Having studied Psychology, the vast majority of the people inside of this documentary (with the exception of a few of the Japanese people) seem to have had an experience that triggered a flashbulb memory experience for them, whether it be some kind of dream or nightmare, or in the case of that Navy Cryptologist guy, sleep paralysis. Most of the people didn't appear to have even an ounce of credibility as they discussed connections of their experiences to other parts of their lives, like one guy in the Zimbabwe incident who connected it to finding his "african-ness," the guy from Texas who kept connecting it to the bible and teaching his kids that angels were actually UFO's, to some of the Welsh kids who gave off the appearance that they were simply repeating what their fellow students were saying in order to fit in and look cool.
It really didn't help their case that they didn't offer a shred of evidence in any of these videos besides eyewitness testimony. The only one was the video of "lights" over Fukushima in the final section, but that video was debunked as fake back at the time of the actual accident occurring. It's not hard for a random person to make that kind of simple animation inside of AfterEffects and post it to YouTube.
I believe these people believe they experienced something. Whether that experience was a pure fabrication of their minds and memories or something that really happened is a purely open question. I don't find many of them very credible and the fact that the entire series is just hours of eyewitness testimony of people talking about events that happened decades ago does not make me feel inclined to believe them given what I know about how fallible human memory is. I came into this with an open mind prepared to learn more about this subject, but I was sorely disappointed.
Wash, rinse, repeat
matijatatomirovic29 September 2023
Recycled stories for the 100th time without adding anything new. Mediocre audio work, and worst voice over work ever in the last episode. No wonder no one takes this topic seriously, oportunists do their best, or worst in this case, to squeeze every cent out of the UFO folclore. Most of the witnesses are clearly biased by personal beliefs, or even suffer from obvious personality and psychological disorders, making their interpretation of events ridiculous. Do yourself a favor, skip this one. Each of the topics has been covered by YouTube creators in much beter fashion. And you probably know already all there is to know about the events.
Excellent mini-series from Spielberg's Amblin Entertainent
bluecoronet774 October 2023
There are way too many negative reviews here from people whose personal expectations were not met by this series. To be frank, that's their problem, not a problem of this series, which is quite excellent.
If you want to get the most out of this series, leave your expectations at the door when it comes to: "evidence" - "UFO footage" - "something new," etc.
That's not what this series is about. It's about human encounters, human experience; not only about what happened in an experience, but also how the experience affected people's lives. In that sense, it's often more of a humanities series than the typical UFO series.
This is, hands-down, the best series I have seen on the subject of people's encounters with UFOs / UAPs. Kudos to Steven Spielberg and his Amblin Entertainment production company for making a mini-series that goes beyond the hundreds of other UFO series that are out there.
If you want to get the most out of this series, leave your expectations at the door when it comes to: "evidence" - "UFO footage" - "something new," etc.
That's not what this series is about. It's about human encounters, human experience; not only about what happened in an experience, but also how the experience affected people's lives. In that sense, it's often more of a humanities series than the typical UFO series.
This is, hands-down, the best series I have seen on the subject of people's encounters with UFOs / UAPs. Kudos to Steven Spielberg and his Amblin Entertainment production company for making a mini-series that goes beyond the hundreds of other UFO series that are out there.
Netflix crashes and burns...again
EODGhost30 September 2023
Probably the most pointless UFO docudrama I've seen in a long time. Zero evidence, zero footage other than the recycled "gimbal" footage. For a topic that has been so popular and interesting; something that deserves further, SERIOUS, investigation and proper research, this was a amateurish (at best) lame duck attempt in what was a pointless series.
Honestly, it seemed more of an attempt to ridicule witnesses and make fun of their religious convictions, lack of education, or perception of lack of education, in order to indirectly dismiss them as crazy, zealots, or just dumb hicks. It was frankly disingenuous to listen to their accounts, which seemed honest and heartfelt, then flash to a clip of people wearing tin foil hats, selling ET -home home T-shirts and and talking about little green men in thick country accents.
We see what you did there, and viewers are not impressed. Disinformation, distraction, and a dumbing down of an important topic. Whether these are actual extraterrestrials, or in many cases, terrestrial technology used as surveillance that are part of US, China, or other countrys', spy or military equipment, this shouldn't be discussed in a manner that this series conducted.
Episode 1, crazy hillbillies; Episode 2, crazy environmentalists "protect the planet", sprinkled with interviews from children, which we all know are Super credible. Again, interview "uneducated" third-world countrymen/women.
Dull, pointless, distracting and every other adjective I can think of, for waste of time. It's garbage, and shame on Netflix for not bothering to review such garbage before putting on your network.
Honestly, it seemed more of an attempt to ridicule witnesses and make fun of their religious convictions, lack of education, or perception of lack of education, in order to indirectly dismiss them as crazy, zealots, or just dumb hicks. It was frankly disingenuous to listen to their accounts, which seemed honest and heartfelt, then flash to a clip of people wearing tin foil hats, selling ET -home home T-shirts and and talking about little green men in thick country accents.
We see what you did there, and viewers are not impressed. Disinformation, distraction, and a dumbing down of an important topic. Whether these are actual extraterrestrials, or in many cases, terrestrial technology used as surveillance that are part of US, China, or other countrys', spy or military equipment, this shouldn't be discussed in a manner that this series conducted.
Episode 1, crazy hillbillies; Episode 2, crazy environmentalists "protect the planet", sprinkled with interviews from children, which we all know are Super credible. Again, interview "uneducated" third-world countrymen/women.
Dull, pointless, distracting and every other adjective I can think of, for waste of time. It's garbage, and shame on Netflix for not bothering to review such garbage before putting on your network.
Important
Somewhereinnonspacetime29 September 2023
Important stories to tell the world. It is not even the tip of the iceberg.
I hope this docuseries will continue to provide the opportunity for more voices to be heard, and expand beyond just encounters as this phenomenon is more than just witnesses. There are physical materials that need following up, places to study, expeditions to document and legislation to chase. Most importantly to connect all the dots across different people from different times and places.
You won't find the answers to the jigsaw puzzle without looking at every piece of the puzzle. This here is a puzzle across a loooooong time.
I hope this docuseries will continue to provide the opportunity for more voices to be heard, and expand beyond just encounters as this phenomenon is more than just witnesses. There are physical materials that need following up, places to study, expeditions to document and legislation to chase. Most importantly to connect all the dots across different people from different times and places.
You won't find the answers to the jigsaw puzzle without looking at every piece of the puzzle. This here is a puzzle across a loooooong time.
I became a disbeliever
juanquaglia6 October 2023
I should say that before watching this documentary I was open-minded in regards to the UFO phenomena. But this piece of "documentary" convinced me all the depicted events are more based on fables and imagination than reality.
In part I feel sorry for the people behind this series. I suspect they started truly interested in researching every case in depth, but they kept encountering there was not much to say, nor much evidence to support anything.
Among the testimonies, we find some of them are truly absurd, of the kind "I was in bed half asleep and I dreamed that I was abducted". Or "If we can believe Jesus walked on water, why don't we believe in aliens? We have whitnesses to support both".
The episode about the Fukushima UFOs sightings was particularly embarassing. They claim hundreds of people saw the UFOs, but they were only able to provide 1 blurry and shaky video that only lasts around 3 seconds. And they spend a big part of the episode discussing Astro Boy in the Japanse culture, for no reason whatsoever.
Not something I'd recommend anyone watch.
In part I feel sorry for the people behind this series. I suspect they started truly interested in researching every case in depth, but they kept encountering there was not much to say, nor much evidence to support anything.
Among the testimonies, we find some of them are truly absurd, of the kind "I was in bed half asleep and I dreamed that I was abducted". Or "If we can believe Jesus walked on water, why don't we believe in aliens? We have whitnesses to support both".
The episode about the Fukushima UFOs sightings was particularly embarassing. They claim hundreds of people saw the UFOs, but they were only able to provide 1 blurry and shaky video that only lasts around 3 seconds. And they spend a big part of the episode discussing Astro Boy in the Japanse culture, for no reason whatsoever.
Not something I'd recommend anyone watch.
Nothing to see here
Xavier_Stone27 September 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Eyewitness accounts, expert interviews and new evidence. Evidence should be in quotes, as there is none. Unless you are willing to classify witness testimony as evidence.
Zero physical proof. Imagine being a production assistant on this series and interviewing 100's of people in different locations and not actually getting one piece of physical proof. One photograph or video, some mysterious metal or crop circle to investigate.
There comes a time when every amazing story should be required to have more than just a person's words as proof that it happened.
Sadly, in the years since the 2008 Stephenville sightings we have a entire hour dedicated to people talking and not one iota of anything.
1/10, disappointing in it's entirety. Oh, and lets show the gimbal footage again and again.
Zero physical proof. Imagine being a production assistant on this series and interviewing 100's of people in different locations and not actually getting one piece of physical proof. One photograph or video, some mysterious metal or crop circle to investigate.
There comes a time when every amazing story should be required to have more than just a person's words as proof that it happened.
Sadly, in the years since the 2008 Stephenville sightings we have a entire hour dedicated to people talking and not one iota of anything.
1/10, disappointing in it's entirety. Oh, and lets show the gimbal footage again and again.
Thought-provoking conversations about UFOs
Favourini4 October 2023
Judging by some of the comments here, this series seems to be making some people quite angry. It's as if they expected the filmakers to produce actual aliens and interview them on camera. For the less literal-minded, Encounters is an interesting and occasionally moving set of four programmes looking at reports of strange phenomena from mainly rural communities in the UK, US, Zimbabwe, and Japan. The approach is sensitive, agnostic and non-judgmental, allowing people who think they saw extraterrestrial or paranormal events to speak for themselves, together with some more academic input from scientists and researchers. The episodes from Texas and Zimbabwe were the best in my view because the interviewees were so varied in terms of background, beliefs (or lack of) and personality, which made the cumulative effect of the testimony more compelling. I was less impressed by the Japanese episode, which included a yoga teacher who seemed to be living on another planet to begin with, but that's a minor point. In general this is well worth a watch.
A retrospective look at ufo
yahaira-729-69470130 September 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I like the interviews with the experiencers many whom have been ridiculed and abused by the un -experienced. The constant quest by the unbelievers to either explain or debunk the experiecers gets tedious. The focus on Dr. John Mack's findings and psychiatric analysis gives a element of rational to the experiencers. Perhapsca validation for all experiencers. This docu-drama might help non experiencers open their minds to the phenomena around them. That is that other beings existing alongside us is not new. As it shows that folklore shows the history of these beings. The Japanese segment is interesting with the channeled of "light language".
A Sure Cure For Insomnia
WereWolf177628 September 2023
This miniseries was so slow and so boring! The Texas lights' story was like watching paint dry. Everyone that told their story was so uninteresting. The English school children's account was also super slow and not believable. In addition, the lady who owned the hotel was also very boring as she was showing us old photos of her mother. Why? Watching this monotonous garbage was like being trapped at a friend's house as they show you old home movies! This was not worth my time and I would rather sit and read than have to suffer through this boring drivel. Netflix you can do better and if you can't then please stop putting out content. This was awful!
Disappointed
cow-5310828 September 2023
Warning: Spoilers
It felt so flat for me. I just couldn't believe what I was watching.. I think instead of convincing the audience it actually made them more meh.. especially the Zimbabwe incident.. why in the world was the guy brought in to refute the evidence of the 60+ kids that they were lying. He didn't have any reference from new footage that he was interviewed by John Mack.. he looked like a bum they dragged off the street just to give an alternative view for the sake of it? Disappointed narrative. Could have been so much stronger. Even the teachers were introduced as skeptics.. and had one teacher who was abducted 3 times after the incident.. this story element was introduced out of left field. Just made p people more confused.
For the ones who don't think there's Life out there.
kjeffers-5054229 September 2023
Former Army here, on deployment, and in basic/AIT me and several of my former soldiers have seen UAP's, it chilled us to the bone, and scared us. This show... is exactly what needs to be seen, and shared. It explains a lot of feelings, factors, and other ways people don't know how to approach, and or talk about it. This is a must see, a must recommend, and a good show to wrap your mind around and think "Are we alone..?" "Is there really life out there..?" Back in 1997 I seen the phoenix lights, I was a child but I did, my whole family did. We didn't believe before then, we did after, one last thing... DONT TRUST THE GOVERNMENT! They'll lie to you, and play games. Who else would scramble F16's to something they deny? They're here, they've been here, they will make themselves known!
Mildly Interesting, Nothing Profound
andrewobriandunlap15 October 2023
Mostly interviews of alleged eyewitnesses, hardly any compelling evidence. These are not exactly rational skeptics. We hear from several people who are clearly mentally disturbed, feeling the presence of extraterrestrials in their bedroom at night, hearing alien voices in their head, and even claiming to communicate with them using some language of strange noises.
Nearly all of the interviewees are very religious and/or superstitious, which says a lot about their willingness to believe things on faith without empirical evidence. Throughout the series we're often told that if we believe in angels, demons, and spirits then why not believe in aliens too? What a rationale! Other witnesses endured a natural and nuclear disaster. But I'm sure traumatic events never influence people's perception, right?
Rarely and briefly in this series we do hear from a couple of seemingly level-headed researchers and an eyewitness with an alternate explanation. The best I can say is that a few of the witnesses did see something and simply told their story. But overall, unless you like hearing a mixture of rehashed UFO stories and tall tales of alien abduction from kooky attention seekers, I would not recommend this series.
Nearly all of the interviewees are very religious and/or superstitious, which says a lot about their willingness to believe things on faith without empirical evidence. Throughout the series we're often told that if we believe in angels, demons, and spirits then why not believe in aliens too? What a rationale! Other witnesses endured a natural and nuclear disaster. But I'm sure traumatic events never influence people's perception, right?
Rarely and briefly in this series we do hear from a couple of seemingly level-headed researchers and an eyewitness with an alternate explanation. The best I can say is that a few of the witnesses did see something and simply told their story. But overall, unless you like hearing a mixture of rehashed UFO stories and tall tales of alien abduction from kooky attention seekers, I would not recommend this series.
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