THE DIVIDE

Let's just get this out of the way: yes , I know ghost hunting is a pseudoscience. No, I don't fully buy into it, just like I don't fully buy into the popular UFOlogical or cryptozoological lore. Most ghost photos are reflections, most "orbs" (especially orbs. Like, 99% of orbs) are specs of dust, and most EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena, or audio recordings of ghosts) recordings are the results of pareidolia: essentially, the misidentification of something mundane as significant in some way.  Most recordings alleged by ghost hunters to be voices of the dead end up having earthly explanations. I'm especially unimpressed with recordings not taken in a controlled environment. If you're talking, moving, or shuffling around, your recorder is going to pick up all sorts of random sounds and white noise that you might not pick up on in the moment. Generally, if you're having to guess at what's being said, it's probably not worth scrutiny. EVPs that ar

I was probably eight or nine when I saw my first UFO. The sun had set an hour earlier, and the hills of rural upstate New York were shrouded in darkness; the sky filled with twinkling stars. I was sitting in the passenger seat of my dad's car as we drove through what I semi-fondly referred to as "the middle of nowhere," a stretch of Route 88 that meanders through seemingly endless rolling hills and miles of farmland as far as the eye can see. An alien landscape to a child whose only perception of New York is a massive city bustling with people. My eyes were transfixed out the window, trying to keep myself occupied during the long, five-hour road trip to my dad's new house, farther outside of New England than I had ever been before. A portion of Route 88 in Worcester, NY (via Google Maps) We were driving along a ridge, with only a guardrail to separate the road (and us) from a cliff that dropped off almost immediately. This gave us a wide view of the adjacent valley. S

In 1999, a little horror film with a minuscule budget took the world by storm. The Blair Witch Project ignited audiences' imaginations and kickstarted a genre with its shaky-cam, "found footage" format, less-is-more approach, and incredible improvised performances. I wouldn't fault anyone for thinking The Blair Witch Project was the first of its kind; its reputation is certainly deserved as it distilled and perfected the found footage horror genre we know today. However, there are a couple of films that predate The Blair Witch Project , including the ultraviolent Italian cannibal film Cannibal Holocaust (1980) and the low-budget crime thriller The Last Broadcast (1998), which both include "found footage" elements. However, the former also incorporates a traditionally-filmed narrative angle and the latter is closer to a faux-documentary. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFO_Abduction_(film)) Watching these films, one wouldn't be able to see much in comm

I don't have too much to add to my previous comments regarding Episode 1 of Skinwalker Ranch Season 2. I think a lot of my criticism still applies, however I did see a upward trend of improvement towards the back half of the second episode. The show really seems to be establishing that, presumably due to the complete randomness of the events, the experiments and investigations will be similarly jumbled. For instance, we seem to have completely dropped the previous episode's investigation of the disappearing water mystery, however, we're introduced to what is clearly a set of glyphs carved into a rock on the mesa as well as the continuing investigation of last season's mysterious cow death. Like I said, it's pretty clear that the glyphs are carved into a rock using some sort of tool. They bring on an expert to analyze them, and he concludes that they portray some sort of portal. Hmm. Playing into the lore of the area, perhaps? I found Travis Taylor's theory of th

As soon it was announced, I knew History Channel's newest investigative TV show The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch would prove to be controversial. Until recently, the northern Utah ranch had been something of an enigma: there wasn't a whole lot of information about it beyond Colm Kelleher and George Knapp's 2005 book Hunt for the Skinwalker , already a controversial work itself. Claims of UFOs, Men in Black, Werewolf-like creatures, portals, and of course, the ranch's legendary namesake: the shapeshifting demons of Navajo folklore known as Skinwalkers surrounded the ranch, but there was little proof of any of these events beyond the word of Knapp, Kelleher, Robert Bigelow, and anonymous NIDS scientists. To this day I don't think we've gotten any sort of tangible findings from NIDS' activities on the ranch beyond Hunt for the Skinwalker.   (https://flixable.b-cdn.net/hulu/large/the-secret-of-skinwalker-ranch.jpg) I was quite surprised when the new owner of the

It's been a while since we got a proper "boots on the ground" investigative docu-series exclusively on UFOs from one of the major television networks. Since the abrupt and allegedly mysterious cancellation of Bill Birnes' excellent 2008 series UFO Hunters, and the unfortunate failure of National Geographic's maligned Chasing UFOs, UFO reality shows have mostly followed a standard narrative documentary format, relying heavily on talking head interviews and cinematic recreations. (https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/52903/ufo-witness) While we've seen a little bit of deviation from this trend here and there—notably, Unidentified: Inside America's UFO Investigation features some on-location investigation and eyewitness interviews—shows that follow a person or team of investigators as they look into mysterious sightings have been mostly ghost and Sasquatch-related.  The truth is, UFO investigations are the hardest to mold to this format. You can go to a haunted hous

Over twenty years of hard work, three films, and a National Press Club conference finally led to The Phenomenon , James Fox's most recent film and undoubtedly a crowning achievement in the world of UFO documentary films. On top of it being a top-notch production, it has also managed to breach the mainstream. In his numerous interviews and podcast appearances, including on the hugely popular Joe Rogan Experience, Mr. Fox has mentioned that officials in both the Trump and upcoming Biden administration were provided copies of the film in advance of its October 6th, 2020 release date. It also reached the top spot on iTunes' list of most popular documentary films. The film is still one of the hottest topics in the field today, and if you're interested in the subject and haven't seen it yet, you're missing out. (https://www.cinemaclock.com/images/posters/1000x1500/69/the-phenomenon-2020-us-poster.jpg) Anyone who has listened to Mr. Fox's interviews knows that he is a