Close Encounter of The Fourth Kind

Everyone is aware of the now classic 1977 film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, written and directed by Steven Spielberg. The film is about one man’s (Richard Dreyfuss) obsession after seeing a UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) and determine to meet the extraterrestrials despite the government’s efforts to hide the fact that a landing is going to take place, making this the “first contact” encounter with peaceful beings.

But the public views on aliens have shifted over the years due to the recent reports coming in since 1980. UFO’s sightings are frequently reported worldwide. But reported encounters with aliens have turned into a much more darker and sinister tone. Either abduction cases have increased over the years or more people are simply reporting them, less fearful of ridicule than they were before. The newest film to address the issue is “The Fourth Kind”. Starring Milla Jovovich in a fact-based thriller about a psychologist investigating why an entire Alaskan town is besieged by strange alien-like visitors and unexplained disappearances. The real psychologist, Dr. Abigail Tyler, when dealing with traumatized patients would videotape the sessions, and the disturbing footage is integrated into the film revealing good evidence that something supernatural is happening here.

Weather one wants to believe in alien abduction as a real phenomenon or simply people having mass hysterics, the fact still remains that people are missing and survivors report the same terrifying M.O. ( modus operandi or method of operating) when encountering these aliens even breaking into their own homes and walking through walls. These type of creatures seem to be a common theme dating back thousands of years of similar reported cases.

Another compelling fact is that the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) has reported that recently over the years that over 800,000 missing cases of people exist and that the number is steadily increasing each year. The FBI claims that up to 60% can be explained away by crime activity, but that the remainder is totally unsolved. The FBI has been at least impartially involved in UFO investigations since the 1940’s and animal mutilations (this phenomenon is associated with UFO’s and is still happening today) which were first reported during the late 1970’s, but the FBI’s early inquiry into the subject of UFO’s was stalled by the CIA and US military, to this day the FBI will not openly emit that the alien abduction phenomenon is real.

The United States government was very interested in UFO’s, especially the military and intelligence gathering agencies. Dr. J. Allen Hynek was an American astronomer and UFO researcher. He was working with the US Air Force involving UFO investigation starting back in 1948 on “Project Sign”. Other study groups like “Project Grudge” and “Project Blue Book”, all had Hynek as a leading investigator. Dr. Hynek is credited for developing in 1972 the classification term we use today for encountering UFO’s.