UFO Mockrumentary Lampoons Roswell Weather Balloon Theory

(PRLEAP.COM) The Roswell UFO Incident began in July of 1947 when a rancher discovered a large amount of unusual debris scattered across one of his fields. Many believed it to be the remains of a flying saucer crash, but the government quickly told the press that the discovery was the tattered remains of a fallen weather balloon that went down about 75 miles from Roswell, New Mexico. This cover-up is the target for satire in "The Top Secret UFO Project," filmmaker R. J. Thomas' parody of UFO documentaries in general and Roswell in particular.

"The cover-up makes for a good story, whether it it true or not," Mr. Thomas said. "In many ways, the Roswell UFO Incident is one of the greatest comedies ever written."

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 a farmer spotted a spaceship flying over his house, 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.

In Roswell in 1947, Brigadier General Roger Ramey, the head of the 8th Army Air Force at Fort Worth, Texas, told the public that the debris found at the ranch was the remains of a fallen weather balloon and its' aluminum foil radar target kite. A weather officer was brought in to make the identification official, the press bought the story, and debates began which still carry on to this day.

In "The Top Secret UFO Project," government cover-ups are parodied mercilessly. After the farmer sees a spaceship over his house, an expert is brought in to say that the farmer saw a rare bird, not a flying saucer. When a gas station attendant sees a spaceship sitting in a canyon, the government tells the press it is really just a parade float hidden in the brush by its' makers. And when a farmer finds unusual debris in one of his fields, the public is told that the mysterious pieces are the remains of a crash involving a truck that was carrying toxic chemicals.

Billed as "the movie the government doesn't 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.

"In 1994, a UFO researcher came to the conclusion that the 1947 ranch discovery was really the pieces of a weather balloon," Mr. Thomas said. "But, he added, the weather balloon went down because a flying saucer had crashed into it!"

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