It has become almost cliché to point out that the Internet has changed the way Americans get information, but it is true. The average American has easy access to news, history, shopping and more. Vast virtual archives now exist that allow researchers, students and scholars to access books and other materials that was once difficult to find. This easy access to information makes it easy to forget that only a few years ago if someone developed an interest in something such as UFOs but their town did not have a bookstore or library that carried anything but the most basic books, the interested probably died. Now that tablets and smartphones have made the Internet portable it is easy for people to access even the most trivial information at their whim. What was the name of that girl who replaced Suzanne Somers for a season in Three’s Company? Check the IMDB app. Can you still get Sea Monkeys? Try Amazon. Who sings that song in that commercial right now? You don’t even need to know the title, just hold your phone up to the TV and there’s an app that will recognize the music and give you all the relevant information.
As amazing as the Internet revolution has been, it is not without precedent. Sixty years ago 
American families were starting to purchase televisions in large numbers. Ninety years ago those same families welcomed radio, with instant access to news, into their homes. Before that there was the telegraph, newspapers and even the printing press. All of these advancements brought more and more access to information. Before the Internet, information was available but the user’s ability to select it, particularly in a timely manner, was limited. Books, clubs, magazines and newsletters spread information slowly to those initiated into the subject, of course, but even without the Internet, television and radio allowed both the casually interested and well versed access to UFO information. Let’s take a minute to revisit the films, documentaries and television series of yesterday, which were an entry point for so many people into the world of UFOs and allowed viewers everywhere to see the evidence for the first time.
Probably the most famous and influential television program in the paranormal field was In Search Of… narrated by Leonard Nimoy. Although it did not limit itself to stories of UFOs the series was born out of a television special created when Rod Serling’s narration was dubbed over the West German documentary Chariots of the Gods (based on the Erich von Däniken book of the same name) to create a TV special called In Search of Ancient Astronauts. The original film was actually nominated for an Oscar in the Best Feature Documentary category in 1970 (it lost to Woodstock). The television production was followed by another Rod Serling narrated special titled In Search of Ancient Mysteries and this grew into the syndicated series by 1976. In five years almost 150 episodes were produced that covered everything from Jack the Ripper murders to the Loch Ness monster. The series continued to re-run in syndication through the 1980s and was eventually revived in 2002 by the Sci-Fi Channel (now SyFy). This version, hosted by X-Files alumni Mitch Pileggi, only lasted for a single season.
Just before the Internet really took off Fox found success by producing a number of paranormal series and specials. The X-Files was, of course, a huge hit but was a work of fiction. Before the X-Files, though, Fox found success with Sightings, a paranormal news and investigation show. Like In Search Of… before it, Sightings began as televised specials. After three 60-minute specials, Fox ran two seasons of the show in a 30-minute format from ’92 to ’93. Sightings then ran for the following two season in syndication (in a 60 minute format) before being picked up for a single season of programs and a second season of two-hour long specials on the Sci-Fi Channel. Sightings covered aspects of the paranormal besides UFOs and one of these stories was eventually turned into the film Sightings: The Heartland Ghost.
After Sightings went into syndication Fox offered a new hour long paranormal news magazine show titled Encounters: The Hidden Truth, which only lasted one season. They were not done with the subject of UFOs, however. In 1995 they aired Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction, a documentary hosted by Jonathan Frakes that focused on the now infamous Santilli footage. The documentary attempted to determine if the footage was fake, although it seemed to have a pro-footage slant. Frakes would go on to host two additional specials titled UFOs: The Best Evidence Ever Caught On Tape (the first in 1997 and the second in 2000). These presented films made of alleged UFOs with added commentary.
There were other UFO specials as well. HBO produced a well-received documentary and MASH‘s Mike Farrell hosted a syndicated documentary called UFO Cover Up? Live! in 1988. This presentation included information on the Gulf Breeze sightings as well as appearances by William Moore and “Condor.” An earlier syndicated special from 1983 titled The UFO Experience was narrated by Peter Coyote (who had appeared in ET the year before). It included interviews with Dr. Bruce Maccabee. Dr. J. Allen Hynek and others.
Special mention should be made of the long running series Unsolved Mysteries, hosted through most of its run by Robert Stack. Although it tended to concentrate on missing persons, fugitives and unsolved crimes, there were many segments on UFOs. In fact, producers have released a four-disc DVD set solely consisting of the best UFO segments from the show. As it hopped from NBC to CBS, Lifetime and finally Spike, the show managed to cover Roswell, Rendlesham, the Belgian black triangle sightings and even the Phoenix Lights. An Unsolved Mysteries segment on the Kecksburg Incident in the early 1990s is credited by some for creating renewed interest in the case.
By and large only non-fiction shows are of interest to those wishing to learn about the UFO phenomenon. Fictional shows, such as the X-Files or My Favorite Martian, add little to the public’s knowledge on the subject. In fact, it can be argued that they frequently do more harm than good although they do undoubtedly fuel a public interest in UFO material. However, there are a few fictional works that deserve mention in this article. First is the short lived Jack Webb production Project UFO (known as Project Blue Book in some countries to avoid any confusion with the late Gerry Anderson’s live action series UFO). For two seasons the show followed intrepid Air Force investigators as they explored Blue Book files. The UFO Incident, a made for TV movie starring James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons, presented a fictionalized account of the Betty and Barney Hill case and introduced alien abduction and hypnotic regression to a wide audience.
It is hard to categorize the 1956 theatrically released film Unidentified Flying Objects: The Truth Behind Flying Saucers. Most of the film is a black and white docu-drama about Albert M. Chop and the saucers over Washington DC with two full color films of real alleged UFOs included in the presentation. Although a fictional account, the producers went to great lengths to clear the dialogue with the people portrayed in the film. It is not a cinematic masterpiece, but it is an interesting glimpse into the 1950s “flying saucer-mania” portion of UFO history.
Of course, there have been many more documentaries and television series produced since the rise of the Internet. Shows such as UFO Files, Ancient Aliens and Chasing UFOs are on almost every day. Special features, such as I Know What I Saw and The Roswell Crash: Startling New Evidence, also continue to be produced as well as scores of straight to video and Internet projects. Even though modern programs are able to connect viewers with newer information, it is important to remember the pioneers of UFO reporting. Not only is it an opportunity to revisit the attitudes and theories of earlier times, there may be some hidden gem of information to be found. After all, Roswell, arguably the most famous UFO incident ever, was forgotten for three decades!