Bright Blessings on World UFO Day.
July 2nd is globally recognized as World UFO Day.
A day where we have a moment of silence for the Roswell Fallen (and perhaps for that unfortunate creature in the Fox “Special” Alien Autopsy).
Today is also an annual awareness day dedicated to spotting unidentified flying objects and raising awareness about extra-terrestrial life.
There are people who have seen…things. Who have missing time. Or who struggle to explain strange moving lights in the night sky. And not all of them are strangers with a tell-all in the National Enquirer.
We know some of these people—maybe we’re even related to em—and have heard their puzzling encounters.
And a World UFO Day reflection reveals…the timing is fascinating.
In December 2017 The New York Times published Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon’s Mysterious U.F.O. Program.
But right before that mainstream UFO breakthrough…on October 15, 2017, Alyssa Milano posted on Twitter encouraging women to use the phrase “Me Too” in their social media posts to express the widespread prevalence of sexual harassment and assault.
Both movements—the Age of Disclosure and #MeToo were defined by a significant shift in belief. Not everyone with a story was embraced—and I acknowledge…a UFO sighting and sexual assault are a wide strange spectrum; every human life is an uncommon individual journey—but the societal evolution towards acceptance was unfolding in real time.
This momentum was unique.
And a radical shift in our pop culture.
Especially for UFOs.
And if you consider the curious timing between those 2 movements fascinating…then how do you reconcile the cosmic coincidence of First Contact Day with Artemis II’s space journey to the moon?
April 5 is known (okay, fine…mostly by nerds) as “First Contact Day,” a sci-fi holiday celebrating the day humanity first made contact with alien life in the Star Trek universe. (For more on that review Star Trek: First Contact; an outstanding movie in any genre.)
It’s surreal we just sent up real-life astronauts for a lunar flyby—to go further into space than any humans ever have—during First Contact Day.
I assume something must exist in all those unmapped stars:
space is a lot of real estate for nothing.
I just have no definitive way to prove it.
Yet.
But as that 2017 NY Times UFO article signals…the public narrative is slowly recalibrating. Because something is clearly “out there” and it defies an obvious explanation.
Back in the day whistleblowers got car brakes cut or they “slipped in the shower” when they got too close to revealing the truth about the Roswell incident or confirming just who the Cigarette Smoking Man really is.
Now we’re constantly seeing abnormal grainy Air Force UFO footage in conventional outlets like CNN and enjoying legit documentaries about UFOs such as The Age of Disclosure.
And NY Times isn’t alone: The New Yorker and NPR have (with a straight face) reported bizarre UFO stories.
In 2023 an NPR headline was “U.S. recovered non-human ‘biologics’ from UFO crash sites, former intel official says.” And they tagged that outlandish article as “National Security.”
(For real: I double checked to make sure I wasn’t reading The Onion.)
I’ve watched enough horror movies to recognize “something is out there.”
And that’s not limited to unsettling moments in space.
As these mainstream outlets report on UFOs…it’s also clear what else is out there is U.S. government documents: you can call them X-Files. There are experiences—from trained professionals such as Air Force pilots—that resist an easy logic.
Welcome To Disclosure Day.
July 2nd is less about startling ta-da revelations and more about the curious magic as UFOs become Marvel movie mainstream.
Look. Though it’s probably not what Steven Spielberg primarily intended, Disclosure Day clumsily and inadvertently confirms that in the ‘80s when most things were niche—be it UFOs or feminism or comic books etc.—it was better. Because it was often rooted in honesty.
And that as soon as those niches went mainstream—a public IPO—it all got watered down as it became more inclusive. Like expensive “cocktails” at a hipster bar. Logically, it’s all just basic numbers right?
If 5 people report to a cinema to watch a movie chances are they’ll behave. You put 200 people in a large cinema and somebody will be on their phone. Or somebody will talk. Or worse, do both.
I’m aware I’m bad mouthing inclusivity.
But sometimes it really sucks.
Especially as a niche goes mainstream: that harsh puberty asks us to sacrifice the intimacy of fellowship and to blunt all the sharp edges. It is a rose without thorns, which while it still looks pretty…isn’t a rose.
Numbers are necessary for economics.
They’re terrible for niches.
And UFOs were always one of the best niches.
Like, maybe you knew somebody who saw lights in the sky.
Back at Fan Expo Canada I spoke to The Queen of Hell…Rowena from Supernatural.
Though what’s truly Supernatural is that actor Ruth Connell grew up in The Falkirk Triangle...a major UFO hotspot.
I asked her…has she seen anything? Does she believe?
And she shared her grandma saw lights. I dunno what that means.
But ya gotta figure grandma isn’t lying or seeking attention.
UFO stories typically generate one question:
Did it really happen?
Spielberg’s Disclosure Day doesn’t fully resolve the whole going mainstream issue. The reveal on the day isn’t particularly thrilling.
It’s the aftermath that is truly harrowing.
(And the end credits scroll up as soon as the disclosure is dropped.)
The fantastic documentary They’re Here submits a better UFO question:
What happens to the people who say they’ve seen something?
They’re Here opens with Cookie Stringfellow, a prominent figure in the Rochester UFO community and one of the doc’s main characters—and I’m aware of how loaded that word is considering we’re talking about UFO sightings—and Cookie shows the kitchen window on the side of her house where she has been taken.
She calmly reveals she has been abducted fourteen times by aliens in a high-tech UFO.
Wait.
Here’s where Cookie starts cooking.
In They’re Here she says it’s okay if people or the viewers…don’t fully believe yet; it’s not their time.
Woah. She is admitting her astonishing UFO
She’s right. That’s the unresolved issue with UFO abductions or even sightings. Some stories you can dismiss, My attached conversation with the filmmakers of We talk about miracles and pilgrimages as if we’re true believers who’ve seen the bright From the Bible,
“The evidence of things not seen.”
Oh, we’re talking about UFOs but we’re not talking about UFOs, you know?
It’s not a matter of if UFOs are real or debunking what a witness claims they saw.
It is the ability to live with ambivalence.
That’s the real hard ask of UFOs.
Especially as this niche goes mainstream.
As we just experienced during COVID we’re not an open-minded society that can tolerate and live with ambivalence.
As you’ll hear, Daniel and Pacho offer an incredible UFO observation. Pacho says: “There really is something about UFOs where it’s like, if you need it then you see one. And if you don’t need it then you don’t see one.”
The people they’ve talked to about UFOs—the characters in their documentary—have some sort of need (some sort of faith?) and that is why they have had a Close Encounter.
The filmmakers have not seen anything. Maybe there’s no need?
Think about it. In the New Testament, we tend to focus on Jesus and his glorious miracles…we rarely unpack the audience. Why did Jesus perform a miracle for
And if we tug on that holy thread it reframes the perspectives we have about Cookie—abducted fourteen times by aliens and Ruth Connell’s charming grandma. (I haven’t met her grandma but I’m just gonna go ahead and assume she’s charming.)
This is a dense My Summer Lair episode but it’s perfect for World UFO Day.
From mysterious sightings over New York State to a growing community of believers, skeptics and the UFO-curious the documentary, They’re Here, looks less at the sky…and more at the humans on Earth.
Such as the fantastic sci-fi classic Day Earth Stood Still which cameos in the documentary. Maybe that’s the other real story of UFOs. Not what’s in the sky—but what it all inspires down here on Earth.
Faith as the price of admission to this wonderful niche.
Belief without proof.
This MSL conversation with filmmakers Daniel and Pacho covers curiosity, connection, and community…because a successful search for extraterrestrials means we have to listen to each other.
I hope that July 2nd becomes Disclosure Day.
But not a day where we exchange intimacy for exclusivity.
Especially as this UFO niche goes mainstream.
Just as we celebrate National Days for disabilities and coming out and much more…all focused on awareness and acceptance…I wanna hear your UFO stories.
Faith and doubts are Siamese twins but they can be separated.
There will always be liars and con artists.
This isn’t a blind endorsement.
It’s just active listening.
Which is a remarkable first step.
Every July 2nd we can slowly sand down the shame and listen to what people are willing to share.
So happy I got to see this documentary at Hot Docs and talk to these filmmakers about UFOs and faith.
Happy World UFO Day and keep watching the heavens for bright lights.
UFOs are a running theme in My Summer Lair.
In 2022 I spoke to filmmaker Jefferson Moneo about his sci-fi feature Cosmic Dawn. (Might still be on Crave if you wanna #SetTheVCR.)
And in the conversation he revealed Cosmic Dawn was inspired by his UFO experience when he as 12 years old. (With his grandma, too! Grandmas keep seeing UFOs?!)
I dunno what any of it means.
Or if it’s true.
Here is what he had to say about the weird happening.
Thoughts?
I do enjoy the premise of a filmmaker whose job is to turn money into light seeing bright lights. Kinda cool, yeah?
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Sammy Younan
Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair podcast: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.
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