Best Evidence - Update

Someone asked me the other day how we chose the cases for our forthcoming documentary Best Evidence: Top 10 UFO Cases.

Well, here's the protocol that was used:

A select group of UFO experts was confidentially polled and asked to provide their top 10 list of the ten cases which offer the best evidence for the reality of the UFO phenomenon. Each case was assigned a point value, with #1 receiving 10 points, #2 receiving 9 points, and so on, down to #10, which will receive 1 point. The results of all the lists were then added together. Each case was also awarded a bonus of 2 points for the number of times it was selected by the experts. This was designed to provide balance, and recognize the significance of a case that might have been selected consistently, but not necessarily in the top 5 (I call this the "Bryan Trottier" rule, which, if you're a hockey fan, will probably make sense). The 10 cases receiving the most points comprising the top 10 list.

The selection of a case were limited only by the following minimal criteria:

i. Must have multiple witnesses (ie. corroboration) – this could take the form of a single person who has a sighting that is corroborated by radar, for example, or by communication from an aircraft to ground control;

ii. Anonymous witness testimony is not acceptable;

iii. The objects must have been observed at some point in the air (they are “unidentified FLYING objects” after all).

The list that we got as a result is... well, I think it pretty much covers the Top 10 cases - and there are many cases with merit that obviously did not make the list. As one xpert said, it is really a "Ten of the Best" list.

Principal photography begins in November (we managed to pick up an interview with Dick Hall on our way back from Puerto Rico), with the film due for delivery to Space sometime in the late winter.

For reference, here is the statement of purpose for the film:

"The goals of the Best Evidence: Top 10 UFO Cases documentary are:

1. The need to take the UFO phenomenon seriously;

2. The need to focus on the evidence, and the best cases;

3. The need to entertain ALL theories that can be validated scientifically. These include the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis, but also include time travel (TDH, or Temporal Displacement Hypothesis) and the Extra-dimensional Hypothesis (or EDH).

The goal is to create a film that will approach the subject from this point of view, in an entertaining manner, that will provide viewers with a quick synopses of the best evidence that the UFO phenomenon is an objective reality, and should be taken seriously (thereby achieving #1 and #2, above).

At the end of the film, however, the experts will be asked to make sense of it all, and provide some possible explanations. It is here that the ETH, EDH and TDH will be briefly explained, and the viewers encouraged to open their minds to the serious, scientific possibilities of other realities."

While the UFO community is not the intended audience for the film, I hope they'll tune in (they may be surprised to see what cases did - and did not - make the list). The film is meant for the general public, and is intended to be a introduction to the subject of the UFO phenomenon for those who may not be familiar with it in any meaningful way, which is still the majority.

We'll see how it works out.

Paul Kimball