CHASING UFOS

When I saw this program in the listings I thought it would be another compilation of dodgy phone cam images and grainy film with the usual "experts" and ex USAF employees brought in to give their account of events. This show is a little different, however.

I may not have paid any attention had I not read a very amusing comment in an RSS feed from Paranormal magazine. The headline read "Professional UFO Hunters Won't be watching Chasing UFO's".
A Mr. Robert Hastings is quoted as saying the show is like "Blair Witch Project meets Inspector Clouseau".

In fact the show has generally been slated by all the reviewers who have watched it. To quote the same article as above:

"Most reviews trashed the show, including its format, character antics, handling of evidence, lack of actual investigation tactics and overall lack of anything related to actual UFO investigations."

Within a minute of watching it I thought that it was trying to mimic the format and feel of "Fact or Faked: Paranormal files". It doesn't succeed in producing the atmosphere or providing the camaraderie of FOF.

The team is made up of three people, James Fox, Ben McGee and Erin Ryder who essentially run around in the dark scaring themselves and each other. I watched episode two which was set in Fresno where, it is rumored, the USAF are experimenting with Alien technology. They talk to some eye witnesses and look at some phone-cam footage (apparently not so original then) and then go to sites of interest and "investigate". The viewer is expected to believe that the action is spontaneous but it is so obvious, as when Erin Ryder climbs a fence at the airport that there is already a camera crew over the fence filming her climbing it!

Similarly, when one of the team and guest Ufologist Jeffrey Gonzalez find a concrete ramp with a steel door at the top they get spooked completely by a low pitched groaning noise. Our friends on the Fact or Faked team would have been trying to get behind the door, the Chasing UFOs team ran away!
I have the feeling that the noise they heard may have had some post production help: It sounded like they had Nessie trapped behind that door!

Its also a scream watching them run about. They have helmet mounted lights and cameras trained on their own faces which, when they run makes them look like little noddy dolls. It is impossible to take anything seriously and I cant really add to the earlier quoted reviews.

I am not surprised that the serious Ufologists are annoyed by this program. To me it is further evidence to add to what I have previously blogged concerning the sliding standards of the National Geographic channel. It is content nowadays to air scare stories and pseudo science. Hopefully discerning viewers will put an end to programs like these by watching something else. One can only hope.