Rating: B
Dir: Bram Roza
It often seems that the UFO phenomenon is an American-centric one. Most of the most famous cases and locales come out of the US, from Roswell through Betty and Barney Hill to Pascagoula and Area 51. But other countries have had their share of events which are difficult to explain – they just haven’t received quite the same degree of coverage. In Britain, there was the 1980 Rendlesham Forest incident, where soldiers reported encountering something in the woods outside RAF Woodbridge. This Dutch documentary discusses a series of encounters in that country, about which I hadn’t heard. The situation is somewhat similar to Rendlesham, in that the events experienced often involved military personnel, sometimes with multiple witnesses, and took place around an air-force facility. But the reports here cover a period of several decades.
It’s a very down-to-earth, often prosaic approach, and that’s the film’s greatest strength. A good part of it is simply people retelling their experiences, without embellishment, beyond some simple animations and graphics (top). There are no abductions, encounters with aliens, medical experiments or implants. No ongoing contact, or messages from advanced civilizations. Just everyday Dutch folk, describing encounters with unusual craft, of triangular or oval shape, behaving in ways incompatible with conventional technology. The most extreme things get, is an effect on the witnesses’ vehicles, making for a close encounter of the second kind. None appear to have profited from books or lectures; many seem to have been reticent about their experience, from a fear of ridicule. It all adds up to create impressive credibility.
The triangle shaped object was particularly interesting, as it paralleled what Chris saw during the famous Phoenix Lights of 1997. There were two events that night: the famous hovering orbs, but before that and less heralded (but, to me, more interesting), a dark, triangular craft was reported seen travelling across much Arizona. It appears some of the observers in Soesterberg got a closer look at a similar vehicle. But the film carefully avoids coming to any conclusions on what might have been seen. Advanced US military tech? Surveillance by the Soviets? Or something not of this Earth? No claims are made, more extreme than that Soesterberg might have been used as a storage facility for nuclear weapons. Which could perhaps explain interest, from both Russia and beyond.
I note that, despite the status of many witnesses, and official reports being made, the authorities largely deny all knowledge in regard to these incidents. Blasé government apathy? Or something more sinister??? Sorry. Got carried away for a moment there. Inevitably, there’s no particular conclusions reached, and with the amount of time since many of these events, it’s unlikely there ever will be. However, it appears the area continues to be a hot-spot for activity, the last report featured being from 2018. It certainly feels as if the area deserves further investigation. You will likely end this with no fewer questions than at the start. Yet this is a really solid documentary, which should give the most sceptical pause for thought, providing they’re open-minded enough.
Screened on Phoenix FearCon night at the Albuquerque Film Festival