If aliens in our universe have some kind of "prime directive" limiting interference, then perhaps small towns are exceptions to that rule. Because, based on Fire In The Sky as well as other tales of encounters with UFOs and alien entities, many of those are in small towns or other isolated locales. And said locals seem to have one of three reactions. There are a few believers or those willing to give experiencers the benefit of the doubt. There are those who do not believe and further, often think those who encountered the strange are up to some kind of shenanigans. And then, there are those who could not care less about these strange encounters, as there are still bills to pay, kids to feed, lawns to mow. Besides, people are talking...
Fire In The Sky came out in 1993, based on a an incident of alleged alien abduction from the mid-70s. Travis Walton, played by D.B. Sweeney is out with his friend Mike Rogers (Robert Patrick) as well as some other friends on an evening of carousing and letting off steam. Driving out in the woods in Rogers' pickup, they see a strange light in the woods, at first seeming like a fire. As they get closer, they begin to doubt that theory. When they finally set eyes on what appears to be responsible, a strange craft hovering above a clearing, they don't know what to make of it. Walton decides to get out of the truck, walk up under the craft and yell at it. In response, the craft hits him with some kind of beam, sending him to the ground, unmoving. Rogers and crew panick and drive away. Though Rogers, overcome with guilt at leaving his friend, insists on driving back alone. He finds both craft and Walton gone. As Rogers and the others struggle with the aftermath, they have to put up with disturbed townspeople, distraught family members and suspicious law enforcement authorities. They go through a battery of tests to try to absolve themselves of suspicion, including a lie detector test, which they pass.
Then, one day, Walton reappears, naked and traumatized, physically and mentally. Eventually, his memories returns, and the tale he tells...
It is a good story, and pretty standard, horrific abuction affair, with Walton seemingly subject to torturous examinations and experiments, purpose unknown. Interesting that later, Walton is quoted when asked why they let him go, he says, seemingly half joking, "I don't think they liked me."
One thing that I did note about this story, and I have noted in a wide range of encounters with phenomenae outside the norm, it is often more trouble than it seems to be worth, as most people don't react well to things beyond every day experience. Not only do humans not like things which seem to disturb assumed and fastly wedded to assumptions about "reality" and how things work...regardless of the "reality" of the phenomenon, life still has to go on and it doesn't take well to being disrupted.
Good film about this kind of thing, though. And I've interviewed DB Sweeney on the air. Great interview, nice guy, and he sent me hooah coins to promote another film of his, Two Tickets to Paradise, also a good film, a guy-centric road trip.
Check them both out.
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