UFO... The Unsolved Mystery
WRITTEN BY JULES GRINDER FOR VHS WASTELAND
‘UFO… the Unsolved Mystery’ is a videotape that is likely to generate some interest within the flying saucer conspiracy theorist circles, because it is in reality the renamed version of a legendary, and infamous television special that ran in the late-eighties, and is still spoken of quite a bit nearly a quarter of a century since its one and only airing. There is little here that will be new to any UFO enthusiast, most of the subjects discussed here have been covered to death in series like the History Channel’s UFO Files, or Sightings, or any number of similar programs, but that’s not the reason to watch this one, this program comes highly recommended from me for the giggle factor, and boy is it ever present in this notorious hunk of junk.
Before I take this review any further, a little history lesson might be useful, and trust me, the story behind this program is far more interesting than the actual show itself. When the special was first aired, it was highly advertised, and the ads promised far more than the producers could actually deliver, but inadvertently when the program premiered, they delivered way more than they had ever intended to do either.
On the evening of October 14, 1988 a syndicated television special was broadcast, it was called ‘UFO Cover Up?; Live!’, and it was hosted by actor Mike Farrell (perhaps best known for the role of B.J. Hunnicut on M.A.S.H.). All of the usual material was covered, most of it far from earth shattering, or revelatory in nature. Subjects included the Roswell incident, alien abductions, and of course alleged government cover ups of extraterrestrial visitations. Among the experts present were Stanton T. Friedman, William Moore, the late Budd Hopkins, Jesse Marcel Jr., and some Russian UFO expert who was brought in via-satellite to deliver the less than shocking fact that Soviet scientists were interested in the UFO enigma.
The most tantalizing aspect of the program was the inclusion of two supposedly high ranking military officials. These two alleged officials appeared in shadow, their voices electronically altered, and their names withheld; opting instead to use the codenames Falcon, and Condor. These men were prepared to go on the record, expose the presence of alien visitors living on secret military bases within the United States, and they would even reveal to the viewing audience a bit of information about the extraterrestrial’s culture.
These two mysterious officials were brought in by William Moore and Jamie Shandera. Two researchers that were then trying to push the Majestic Twelve documents, a series of allegedly top secret documents that revealed the existence of a secret UFO study group that was answerable only to the President of the United States, the Majestic Twelve papers are incredibly controversial within UFO researcher circles, and highly disputed in general.
In fact, within less than a year after the airing of this broadcast, nearly anything with William Moore’s name on it would become tainted, and very questionable. But, I will get to that story a little bit later.
Falcon and Condor’s testimony was the real highlight of the show. They talked about several specific alien guests of the American government, with names as original as EBE-1 (as in extraterrestrial biological entity number one), and EBE-2. They described the physiological make up of these creatures, their religious belief systems, and even their favorite types of music, and foods. This is when the giggle factor really kicked in, because for most viewers, this is the one thing that they remember the most about the program, that aliens like Tibetan folk music, and strawberry ice cream.
Once the ice cream revelation was presented, Mike Farrell’s composure went from dramatically serious, to visibly embarrassed. This had to be one of those moments when Mr. Farrell had to wish that he had a better agent and perhaps some better vetting of his guests.
Despite the wealth of plausible, sane, and downright interesting material covered over the course of the rest of the broadcast’s two hour running time, the damage had been done, and a single moment of sheer silliness was the one thing that anyone watching would be likely to remember. A quick Google search will prove that to be the general consensus now.
The plot thickens though, because in July of 1989, less than a year later, Moore was the featured guest speaker at the annual Mutual UFO Network convention. Moore did not present the event’s promoters with a copy of his speech, which was common practice at the time, and demanded that he would not have do a question and answer session after his presentation. It turns out that he had a very good reason for his demands; his presentation would turn out to be an absolute fiasco, and would send painful ripples throughout the UFO research community. The ramifications of this convention are still felt to this very day and several people’s reputations are still suffering for it.
William Moore revealed that he had been part of disinformation campaign; that he had worked directly with Air Force Sergeant Richard C. Doty; and they had engaged in the feeding of disinformation to Paul Bennewitz. Bennewitz was an amateur UFO researcher, who had been convinced that he had uncovered a secret government operation to hide the existence of extraterrestrial visitors, and the truth about UFOs. Bennewitz eventually suffered a mental breakdown and Moore admitted that he had played a role in Bennewitz being committed to the New Mexico State Mental Hospital.
William Moore, Jamie Shandera, Richard Doty, and Doty’s colleague Robert M. Collins were all members of a group called the Aviary. The Aviary was a secret group of UFO enthusiasts with military connections, a high level of secrecy, and a special bird-themed code that they used to communicate in secret amongst themselves. Once Moore delivered his presentation in July of 1989, everyone attached to the Aviary had come under more than a little suspicion, and thus most of Moore and Shandera’s research has since become suspect.
It is now believed by most people who have looked into the matter that Richard Doty was in fact Falcon and that Robert Collins had played the part of Condor in the infamous special. The pair have since moved on to co-write book called ‘Exempt from Disclosure’ and have recently been accused of spreading a few other alien-themed hoaxes.
The program would probably have been forgotten if not for the silliness that Falcon and Condor had brought to the broadcast. Coupled with the notorious nature of some of the players involved, the show has achieved an infamous notoriety over the years, and is highly sought after because of that.
Oddly enough, most people were under the false impression that the broadcast had never received a legitimate video release, but it did. Kodak released the VHS in 1990 and copies can be obtained on-line for a fairly reasonable price. But, since everyone looks for ‘UFO Cover Up?: Live!’, and not ‘UFO… the Unsolved Mystery’, very few people realize that copies are out there. So, I consider it my duty to inform the general public about the existence of this VHS gem. Everyone can thank me later.
In fact, when I found a copy of this in a local thrift shop, I was shocked when I read the back of the box, and realized just what I had found. This piece of garbage is an addition to my video library that I am truly proud of. It shall sit in a place of honor upon my shelf. |
