Forgive me for straying somewhat far afield from my usual cadre of killers and creatures, on behalf of Ariel Phenomenon, a riveting BBC documentary by Randall Nickerson. To be honest, I feel I’d be forsaking my curatorial responsibilities if I were to ignore what might be the most important film of all time.
If you believe the testimony from the dozens of Zimbabwean schoolchildren, who reported contact with an alien craft and its strange crew, then you have no choice but to accept the idea that we definitely aren’t alone in the universe.
Shouldn’t be difficult if you grew up with Star Trek.
The incident took place in 1994, at a parochial learning center in rural Zimbabwe called Ariel School. As many as 60 students on recess witnessed the appearance of a large silver saucer in the jungle brush near their playground.
The vessel was guarded by small men, with large almond-shaped eyes, dressed in skintight black material. Though the encounter couldn’t have taken more than 15 minutes, some of the schoolchildren claim to have communicated telepathically with one of the aliens.
The kids, mostly between the ages of six and twelve, were asked to draw pictures of what they saw, with the resultant artwork revealing an unnerving consistency.
All this might have gone unnoticed, but a BBC reporter named Tim Leach got wind of the story, leading to the arrival in Zimbabwe of Dr. John Mack, a Pulitzer Prize winning psychiatrist from Harvard, who agreed to interview several of the children.
His findings? These children are telling the truth.
Consider those implications, why dontcha?
Through an abundance of documentation connected to the incident and investigation, director Nickerson presents a provocative picture of a society (just 20-odd years ago) that isn’t ready to consider the possibility of extraterrestrial contact.
Dr. Mack became a punchline for media pundits, portraying the noted scientist as a crackpot who believes in little green men. As a result of the controversy stirred up by Mack’s conclusions, Harvard publicly withdrew its support for his research.
Mack authored a book on the subject in 1999, Passport to the Cosmos: Human Transformation and Alien Encounters.
As for the students themselves, we see them interviewed in historical footage with Dr. Mack and then again later as adults, still unshaken in their conviction that something unique and wonderful happened to them.
In the end, Ariel Phenomenon makes a compelling case for visitors from outer space. And just like Star Trek, where the Vulcans come to Earth and wisely advise us not to annihilate each other, these travelers bear a message about human devotion to technology.
With Artificial Intelligence knocking on our door, we’d best pay attention.
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