Project Blue Book: Season 1

In 1969 I was seven years old and Neil Armstrong had just walked on the Moon when an American import called Star Trek was first shown on the BBC. But my favourite new show that year was Gerry Anderson's U.F.O., because it was British and had better special effects, like Thunderbirds, but more grown up because Gerry could now afford to hire real actors instead of marionette puppets. I started reading science fiction paperbacks but had no idea UFOs had any basis in reality until the mid 1970s, when I came across a paperback in the sci-fi section of a local bookshop called Aliens From Space by Donald E. Keyhoe, USMC (Ret). I thought it was an awful B-movie title until I saw the sub-title 'the real story behind unidentified flying objects' and the back cover book classification said it was non-fiction. Keyhoe (who is portrayed in this series) was a former Marine Corps aviator who used his military contacts to collect over 3,000 reports of UFOs. I was fascinated by this. My next book was Brad Steiger's Project Blue Book, covering the many declassified cases from the now defunct US Air Force project. It was a nice touch to see some of the sketches and photos on the walls of the office in this series are the real deal from the real project cases.At long last, someone has decided to bite the bullet and do a drama series based more closely on these true stories. No more Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a film inspired by true cases but still as fictional as Saving Private Ryan (loosely based on the true story of the Niland brothers because Speilberg couldn't obtain the film rights to their book).The lead character played by Aidan Gillen is Dr J. Allen Hynek (who advised on Close Encounters and even makes a cameo appearance in the final scene), an astronomer and university professor co-opted by the USAF to advise on projects Grudge, Sign, and their successor, Blue Book. This series seems to roll all these projects into one narrative, for simplification, and throws in Cold War paranoia, Russian agents, and Men in Black into the mix for added drama.Contrary to what some reviewers have said, there are special effects (unless they think ETs have a contract with History Channel), but they are used sparingly. History Channel are smart enough to know that less is more. Perhaps the most surprising thing is how many old cars from the 1950s they have obtained in running order for filming.I'm currently reading the book version of Dr Steven Greer's documentary Unacknowledged, which is an update on his public disclosure project based on witness testimonies of insiders and whistle blowers. Apparently, the term Unidentified Flying Objects was coined by someone who already knew what they really were, and since the Eisenhower administration of the 1950s the whole matter has been classified 38 levels above top secret, while successive Presidents of the United States are only briefed to level 21. So the US, and some other Governments like the UK, have officially lost control, and the people maintaining the secrecy are an illegal cabal operating without oversight or accountability and funded by your misappropriated taxes.Project Blue Book is not even about how all this secrecy started. Blue Book is about how the public was officially managed, while the real work was, and still is, done in secret.

The Bluray version of Project Blue Book was very good - a sharper picture than the TV, and with the added bonus of subtitles. The show itself I quite liked - it had the feel of Dark Skies, with a hint of the X Files. Not thrilling action and sedately paced but an interesting premise based (loosely) on real events with potential to become something more.

Loved this show. My favourite series in ages. There's even Podcasts available to supplement each episode. Set in the 1950's and named after the US Air Force's investigation into UFO phenomena. Naturally as a drama series it draws heavily on artistic licence, though I think I'm right in saying that the case examples are based upon genuine reports and the Professor was a main figure in UFO studies in the USA If you love the unexplained, you'll enjoy this series. Roll on series 2.

Will they be bringing this out on DVD for people in the U.K? Need a region 2 version for outside of America.