AUSTRALIAN UFO WAVE
Produced in Association with
the Australian Film Commission
In April 2006, the Australian Film Commission funded an experimental digital video project by director Christopher Kenworthy. Between June and mid-August 2006 thirty-one clips of UFOs were created. The UFO videos were distributed over the internet via websites and video podcasts.
The project was hugely successful, being viewed by many millions of people. Very few people suspected that the clips were manufactured. Gradually, the level of plausibility was reduced, but only when the last two clips were uploaded did a large number of people get suspicious. It's also worth noting that two of the UFO clips we distributed were quite genuine - and no researcher was able to pick which two they were.
Kenworthy says, 'I wanted to give people a taste of the drama and excitement of a UFO Close Encounter, creating a genuine sense of wonder.'
The project was covered extensively in Adobe Photoshop Forensics by Cynthia Baron.
These comments were sent in before the fictional nature of the project was revealed. Many of these are from respected UFO researchers.
'This is real. Nothing could change my mind...'
'I belive it is real.'
'Wow. These clips are of the best I have ever seen.'
'None of the clips look fake.'
'Now the government will have to take notice.'
'AWESOME videos!'
'Best footage on the web!!'
'We absolutely love your site. What stunning footage.'
'There are some really great videos coming out of Australia some very amazing footage.'
''These sightings look real. I have seen many cgi created ufo sightings and these seem to be real.'
'I do work in the FX industry....I've seen the videos, none of them stand out as being obviously fake.'
'The best UFO footage I've seen.'
'They all seem legitimate, there's nothing that gives any away as being faked.'
''They blew me away. I won't go into what they are but I'm 99.99% certain that many of those objects in those films are really up in the sky at the time of filming.'
'Not since Roswell...'
The following comments reflect the balance of comments received after the project was revealed to be a work of fiction:
'I would like to begin by thanking you for doing the world of ufology a service by highlighting the difficulties in determining a genuine UFO from a fake one.'
'Congrats with your amazing videoclips!'
'Don't you TELL ANYONE!!!! that I believed your story.'
'What was most amazing to me was the power of the images. I found myself so enthralled with the idea that they were real, that I allowed objectivity to go right out the window. I believe your project will go a long way in forcing those involved in the study of future UFO claims to be a lot more vigilant in their research. For this phenomena to be taken seriously, there needs to be a concerted effort on behalf of those claiming to be experts in the field to do their homework and stop accepting every seemingly authentic claim at face value. Your project was a long overdue, much needed (and well received) wake up call for UFOlogy.'
'What a waste of effort and taxpayer funded monies.'
'Thx for entertaining us.'
