UFO film exposes government cover-up?

It began with a Colorado farmer seeing a strange, oval-shaped object zip across the sky over his house, kicking off one of the most amazing UFO incidents in the history of the world.

But did this really happen?

It did according to "The Top Secret UFO Project," R. J. Thomas' mock-documentary about a UFO incident in Colorado in the summer of 1956.

"Many people have been curious for decades about the Roswell, New Mexico Incident of 1947," Mr. Thomas said. "My film is inspired by stories like that."

Based on Thomas' 2004 novella of the same name, "The Top Secret UFO Project" chronicles the UFO-related events experienced by a tiny Colorado hamlet called Jasper. According to the film, the town dealt with one unusual event after another in the summer of 1956. After the farmer's spaceship sighting, scientists rushed into Jasper to investigate, reporters rushed in looking for stories, and government officials rushed in to keep it a secret from the world.

Billed as "the movie the government does not want you to see," "The Top Secret UFO Project," is a parody of specials you might find on the Sci-Fi Channel or Discovery, and the cheesy UFO documentaries of the 70's and TV programs like "In Search Of."

Mr. Thomas plays a documentary filmmaker who, in 2003, discovered (by accident) some top secret government films pertaining to the Jasper Incident of 1956. This inspired him to make a documentary about Jasper's UFO story, and to discover the truth behind what really happened that mysterious summer in Colorado.

"Not everyone is a UFO buff," Mr. Thomas said, "but everybody loves a good campfire story."

And as far as the film portraying fiction as fact?

"The film is told with a straight face, no matter how ridiculous the information may be," Mr. Thomas said. "But, even seven years later, 'The Blair Witch Project' is still seen by some people as fact."

"The Top Secret UFO Project" is available on DVD at BooksAndSuchMart.com