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Dan Aykroyd Unplugged on UFOs

This is an extension of a review I wrote which is available on my review site, and on the product page at Amazon.com. I felt this full review and commentary a bit direct and at times pointed so I chose to use an edited version for the official review and present my full comments here.

I've been a Dan Aykroyd fan since the old Saturday Night Live days. There is no doubt he is an amazing natural talent when it comes to comedy, acting and performing music, but a "professor" and great intellect discussing the UFO phenomenon? Sorry, I didn't buy it.

While the DVD does contain some interesting video clips of unidentified objects, or "lights", apparently performing maneuvers that are physically impossible for current aircraft technologies, a mojority of the footage is inconclusive or may have other potential explanations.

For example, while watching the DVD I did a quick web search for hot air balloons and found a few that readily matched the strange upright, drifting objects seen in a few video clips that were repeatedly shown in the documentary. At times these sequences were rotated 90 degrees to make the vertical object appear as a horizontal "saucer" shape, an unnecessary effect which can be misleading to some viewers.

One hot air ballon in particular is the shiney metallic Breitling Orbiter 3. It completed a circumnavigation of the globe in March of 1999. I wonder how many people spotted this gleaming object as it drifted along in the distance? I wonder how many took pictures or videos and thought it was a UFO piloted by aliens?

Because Aykroyd knows the word "metallurgy," and mutters it about a half dozen times during his interview, does not make him an expert. His theories, opinions and remarks -- especially those about particle rays and lasers -- are largely comical, and most are nothing more than conjecture. He has no proof and shows no proof that UFOs are extraterrestrial craft piloted by extraterrestrial beings.

During this DVD documentary Mr. Aykroyd provides his thoughts on the UFO phenomenon, nothing more. He does not approach this topic from a true scientific stand point. He just flat out believes.

The anti-gravity segment was interesting to say the least. This portion of the documentary shows footage of the alleged levitation of a canon ball and a pair of cutters or pliers of some kind, allegedly under the influence of the "Hutchison effect."

First, why doesn't the camera man move to the side of the ball so we can indeed see it levitating without the aid of some lifting mechanism, like a counterweighted shaft entering through the wood panel. This can easily be a hoax, and probably is. Second, the pliers/cutters are pulled upward sharply, as if they are at the end of a length of fishing line.

I'm not sure what Hutchison's game is, maybe he's fooling himself while attempting to fool others. His agenda can only be assumed. One piece of questionable footage is not enough to convince me that he can levitate anything, especially since he has been unable to reproduce his "effect" when asked to do so.

In response to an inquiry about the Hutchison Effect, Marc Millis, an Aerospace Engineer with the NASA Glenn Research Center, states, "This 'Hutchison Effect' has been claimed for years, without any independent verification - ever. In fact, its originator can't even replicate it on demand. This has been investigated more than once, been part of documentaries on the discovery channel, but still never seems to pass critical muster. This is in the category of folklore."

During a clip show in the documentary, from the 2006 Toronto exopolitics symposium, Canadian politician and former deputy prime minister Paul Hellyer stated that "UFOs are as real as the airplanes that fly over your head." According to Wikipedia, he has also admitted a belief in UFOs, and has accused President George W. Bush of plotting an "Intergalactic War."

First let's clarify one thing, it is impossible to believe in UFOs. UFO stands for Unidentified Flying Object, so of course UFOs are real. The question is are they extraterrestrial spacecraft piloted by beings from another part of the universe or another dimennsion? Or are they misidentifications of known aircraft, experimental craft, blimps, hot air balloons, or birds?

Belief in UFOs is an impossibility because they actually exist. People see things that they can't identify all the time, that doesn't mean ET is behind the controls, or that there are any controls at all in the first place. One can believe that UFOs are spaceships manned by aliens, but that belief does not make it so.

The UFOs filmed inadvertantly from the space shuttle during the deployment of a tethered satellite system have been sufficiently explained by American space journalist and historian James Ober for CSICOP. You can view his explanation here.

Suffice to say, for those who don't wish to follow the link and learn for themselves, the disc shaped craft discussed on Dan Aykroyd Unplugged on UFOs are akin to "ghost orbs" frequently photographed by ghost hunters and paranormal enthusiasts worldwide. That is, they are dust and debris (even ice particles, in space) illuminated just so and sufficiently out of focus to assume these mysterious shapes.

Interestingly, narrator and interviewer David Sereda is heard to comment on the dark center of the disc shaped crafts but makes no mention of the odd notch that appears in nearly every object videotaped. Why? Too much to explain then, I guess.

The closing comments by Mr. Sereda are pretty comical. He thanks Mr. Aykroyd for the honor of interviewing him, and remarks that his (Aykroyd's) is "one of the greatest minds in our world at this time."

As I said, Dan Aykroyd is a comic genius, a funny man and a great peformer and actor. He is not a scientist or physicist.

Stephen Hawking, most certainly one of the greatest minds in our world, reveals his position on the matter, "The reports of sightings of UFO's can't all be caused by extra terrestrials, because they are mutually contradictory. But once you admit that some are mistakes, or hallucinations, isn't it more probable that they all are, than that we are being visited by people from the future, or the other side of the galaxy?"

Hawking thinks critically. Aykroyd believes. But it doesn't make him a bad person.

James Neff wrote a positive review of this DVD for Rense.com. In it he claims Aykroyd was "intellectually inspiring." I did not find it so.

This DVD does not reveal anything that conclusively proves that UFOs are spacecraft piloted by aliens, as it claims to do. It's not really very entertaining, or enlightening.

Drew Vics — 6-22-06