A couple of weeks ago I saw a sneak preview of the new film to be released this weekend, called OCTOBER SKY (Universal Pictures, Produced by Charles Gordon and Larry Franco, Directed by Joe Johnston). It is "based on an extraordinary true story" of Homer H. Hickam, Jr., and his book, "ROCKET BOYS," about a small mining town kid who dreams of becoming a rocket scientist when he sees Sputnik pass overhead in the October night sky, and he makes it! (Hickam now works for NASA and still is a rocket scientist--one of the cleverest t-shirts to come out of JPL/NASA here in Pasadena is one that says: "Why yes, as a matter of fact, I AM a rocket scientist.") In any case, this is a MUST SEE film that is pro science, pro technology, and pro education. Even the nerds some out on top. The story is wonderful (I won't spoil it here) and while I'm sure most of the dialogue is entirely made up, apparently the rough story outline is quite true. One of the best parts is after the film ends and they show actual film clips of all the real characters, including some of Hickam's actual rocket launches. A true delight. Don't miss it.

I do have one question someone out there can probably inform us on, and it is this: I have heard that it was not possible to actually see Sputnik because it was so small it would not have reflected enough light. Yet in the film there it is streaking across the sky. I can live with the inconsistency because the metaphor title works for the film, but I am curious about this.

Last night's 2-hour NBC "special" was not nearly as bad as I had feared. (Good news is so sparse in dealing with the media that we need to give credit where credit is due.) Most of the major UFO claims were countered with skeptical/scientific perspectives, and the sequence of the Mexican video showing a huge UFO going behind some distant buildings was beautifully debunked by a special effects artist who showed how this can now be done in an afternoon on a Mac with photoshop. The two still photos from the 1950s showing "hovering" UFOs are laughable now and I was surprised they even bothered, but they paraded these as two of the very best pieces of evidence UFOlogists have. If so, their case is more lame than I thought.

In the next issue of Skeptic (Vol. 6, #4, due out in about two weeks), we have a wonderful article in the Jr. Skeptic section on HOW TO FAKE A UFO PHOTO. Our Art Director, Pat Linse, and Jr. Skeptic magazine Editor Michael Gilmore, orchestrated the entire affair and shot it all in one afternoon on top of a mountain here in the foothills of Altadena where our offices are located. It is unbelievably simple and the photos, which we did with no practice and no special training in photography, look as good as, if not better than anything the UFOlogists present as "evidence." Wait until you see this one shot that for all the world looks like a giant UFO hovering over the earth's clouds as shot from the Space Shuttle. All we did was dangle a hub cap from a stick with magician's thread (very, very thin) against the background of clouds. Since it was taken over a cliff, the horizon is flat and out of focus. Turn the photo upside down and you've got yourself a genuine space shot. I was amazed at how easy it was. Then Pat had some fun with photoshop, plus we got some interesting flecks on the film negs, some light leakage, etc., and honest to God if we didn't have scruples we could start our very own UFO cult. (In addition to hub caps dangled or tossed into the air, slurrpy tops glued to a candy dish cover and all painted silver, is an awsome looking UFO, as are lots of other goodies in the kitchen once you start looking.)

Both Phil Klass and Joe Nickell did a good job as skeptics, although I always flinch when I hear Klass proclaim that EVERY claim he has EVER investigated has a prosaic explanation. I suppose we all do this when under the media gun, but it is simply not true. There are plenty of sightings for which we have no explanation, and the point is well made that ALL fields of study have anomalies that cannot be explained and that in science it is perfectly okay to say "I don't know," or "no one knows at this time." We do not have to explain EVERYTHING, and trying to can sometimes backfire.

It was nice to see Don Ecker of UFO Magazine, and John Mack from Harvard, both say, on camera, that they believe these to be actual visitations to Earth by ETs. In my dealings in the past on various shows, these guys like to argue that they are simply "open-minded researchers" just looking for "the truth." Ecker, whom I like very much, really chided me once for calling him a UFO "believer." He says he is simply a UFO "researcher." Yeah, well, last night he said he absolutely believes these photos and videos and blackened-government documents prove that aliens have visited the Earth. I rest my case. As for Mack, he's always waffled about what these abduction experiences really represent. Well, he was clear last night they he believes they represent real experiences OUTSIDE of the mind--that is, aliens are really and truly abducting humans (to the tune of millions of us--it is surprising more of the neighbors haven't noticed).

With regard to the 1991 space shuttle STS-48 zig-zag UFOs, these are debunked by newly-obtained NASA records at http://www.igs.net/~hwt/zigzag.html They are simply space debris floating about, then suddenly "zoomed" away by a burst from the small maneuver rockets. Deceptively simple.

I got the biggest laugh out of the disclaimer run at the beginning and a couple more times throughout the two-hour program:

"This program contains eyewitness claims of UFOs and alien beings. Whenever possible, actual footage is used to present these stories. In other cases, dramatic re-creations are utilized."

Well, that's interesting. It was ALL dramatic re-creations, with the exception of the grainy videos and blurry photos. There is not a single foot of footage, of course, of an alien abduction. So "dramatic re-creations" made up the entire show. Nevertheless, it was hard to keep from laughing, on the heals of Clinton spermgate, through the various tales of alien sex, alien probes inserted through all orifices, aliens taking guys' sperm and women's eggs, etc., all at night, in bed, while asleep. Gee, let's put on our thinking caps here--what could possibly be going on. Oh, can you say ... wet dream?!