IS THE TRUTH REALLY OUT THERE: Can compelling evidence & never heard

IS THE TRUTH REALLY

OUT THERE?

Presented by BBC Radio DJ Craig Charles, alongside renowned space journalist, astrophysicist and award-winning author Sarah Cruddas, Sky HISTORY is on a mission to uncover the truth behind some of the most compelling extraterrestrial encounters, evaluating evidence to uncover whether unexplained aerial phenomena are prowling the skies above us and, more importantly, why in a brand-new UK premiere series, Craig Charles: UFO Conspiracies. In each episode, Craig will investigate some of the most iconic and perplexing extra-terrestrial incidents of recent years, many of them from the UK, calling on Sarah’s scientific expertise along the way. Running parallel to the US Defense Department’s investigation of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, released by the United States Congress in June 2021, the series reflects on a series of unexplained incidents. These range from the infamous ‘Tic Tac’ craft sightings and footage taken by US Navy Pilots in 2004, and the detection of interstellar visitor ‘Oumuamua’ in October 2017, to historic sightings and encounters, such as the Rendlesham Forest incident in Suffolk in 1980 and the alleged alien abduction of Yorkshire police constable, Alan Godfrey. The series investigates UFO hotspots in Ireland and Scotland, a village in South Wales that seemingly witnessed the military engage in armed conflict with a UFO, as well as a spate of unexplained sightings in Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Puerto Rico and Chile. With evidence including never-before-heard testimony and disturbing documentation, the team scrutinises each UFO sighting in a specially created ‘investigation hub’, sifting through a range of materials to determine whether there is an earthly explanation for it or whether it is beyond the reach of conventional science. World-leading UFO experts, including UFO investigator Nick Pope and former Director of Investigations at BUFORA (the British UFO Research Organisation) Philip Mantle, are joined by whistle-blowers and eyewitnesses, as Craig and Sarah build each case. They compare other ground-breaking UFO sightings, scrutinise historic documents, and reveal shocking government secrets, before finally grappling with the big question: are we alone in the universe? “We were given the opportunity to examine some of the most unbelievable cases from around the globe and heard mind-blowing firsthand witness testimony. Working with Sarah and using her scientific scrutiny, we examined a mountain of evidence in which we were able to hunt for the truth about what is really going on in our skies. The whole experience was eye-opening and sometimes left us unable to come to an earthly conclusion!” Craig Charles

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE CONSPIRACY KIND

UFO: CONSPIRACIES, EPISODE GUIDE

...Episode 1: Wales...Episode 2: Ireland...Episode 3: The Pentagon...Episode 4: Rendlesham...Episode 5: Scotland...Episode 6: Phoenix...Episode 7: Chicago... Episode 8: Todmorden...Episode 9: Stephenville...Episode 10: SETI...END REPORT

“We are living in an incredible time for space exploration, but we are only just beginning to scratch the surface of what is out there. Marrying together Craig’s passion and enthusiasm with my own thirst for evidence and an application of science, we have been able to explore what is going on in our skies like never before. Some of the answers are likely to be stranger than anything you could ever imagine.” Sarah Cruddas

INTERVIEW WITH CRAIG CHARLES

When did your interest in UFOs first begin?

Ever since my love of science fiction began but back in the day you would never say so because people would think you were a bit of a crank. Now, the Americans have released all this footage that clearly shows these UFOs, and UAPs [Unidentified Aerial Phenomena] are there. I’m not saying they’re not aliens but they do exist. What are they? Do the Russians and Chinese have technology that is so much more advanced from our own? That is as frightening as aliens to be sure. How can craft travel 3,000 m/h then stop instantly? The G-Force alone from that would turn a human being into mush? Are they drones, or are they robots? Some of them fly and then go underwater. We have footage of that from fighter jets and aircraft carriers. What are they?

Have you ever seen a UFO?

Me and my friend were in Galway once, sat in his garden and these weird things flew over. The next day, there was like, lots of stuff on the news about it. People had been phoning in to report seeing alien craft flying over the skies of Galway. Me, and my mate saw that but I don’t know what it was?

Before making the series, did you have a UFO case you were particularly interested in?

The Rendlesham Forest case is really interesting because it was American military who reported seeing all these weird lights in the woods. These are highly trained officers who aren’t going to mistake a car headlight for a spaceship. You do wonder what they actually saw there.

What other compelling cases really stood out for you?

A lot of the footage that’s just been released by the American Air Force is, is very compelling. You can see these things on film and they’re all different shapes. A lot of people report seeing this pyramid-shaped craft. It doesn’t have an engine and it’s just thrusting forward and flying through the air. This pyramid shape comes up quite a lot, from many different sightings. There’s a lot of different kind of craft that people have claimed to see: barrel-shaped, disc-shaped and boomerang-shaped craft. Unfortunately, with this series, hard evidence is really thin on the ground and that’s one thing I found a bit frustrating. Although all of the stories are told with conviction and are certainly very believable.

Do you have any UFO research heroes or idols in the field?

No, to be honest, I didn’t know there was a field. I was surprised by how big the industry around this is. Some people are making a lot of a lot of money out of UFOs. So, you do wonder about the veracity of some of the claims, simply because there’s a vested interest in keeping their story going. I’m certainly not one of them. I just wanted to have a closer look at the evidence and listen to the stories and make up my own mind.

Did taking part in the series challenge any preconceptions you had about UFOs or UAPs?

I know now that these things exist. They’re not a figment of anyone’s imagination. Even the American government admits that now. It’s proved to me that I’m not a Fraggle. Unexplained Aerial Phenomena are out there, we just don’t know what they are.

Craig Charlies: UFO Conspiracies

continues Tuesdays 9pm

on Sky HISTORY.

All episodes are available on catch up services.

INTERVIEW WITH SARAH CRUDDAS

Sarah Cruddas the renowned space journalist, astrophysicist and award-winning author investigates some of the most iconic and perplexing extra-terrestrial incidents of recent years in Craig Charles: UFO

Conspiracies. Calling on Sarah’s scientific expertise along the way the series investigates UFO hotspots in Ireland and Scotland, a small town in South Wales that seemingly witnessed the military engage in armed conflict with a UFO, as well as a spate of unexplained sightings in Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Puerto Rico and Chile. With evidence including never-before-heard testimony and disturbing documentation, the team scrutinises each UFO sighting in a specially created ‘investigation hub’, sifting through a range of materials to determine whether there is an earthly explanation for it or if it is beyond the reach of conventional science.

Can you tell us a little bit about the show and your role in it?

We are trying to take the most methodological and scientific approach to date, to try and answer the most profound question of all humanity, which is ‘Are we alone?’ Craig and

I are like the real-life Mulder and Scully because I’m a scientist and Craig who is smart as hell wants to believe there is something out there. But that combination of the two of us enables us to approach these kinds of earthly mysteries with a more scientific and thorough approach. Can you talk a bit about your approach to investigating these UFO incidents?

Mine and Craig’s approach to this show is trust and verify. Trust all witnesses and try and try to verify. I’m trying to rule things out because I want to find out the things that we cannot explain while Craig is enthusiastically looking at everything and bringing new evidence to the table. We spoke to witnesses, and we looked for hard evidence. It is like that clichéd Carl Sagan quote: ‘Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.’

You spoke to some interesting people on the show from Phil Mantle to Luis Elizondo, who did you most enjoy talking to?

The team in SETI who we spoke to about Oumuamua which is an extrasolar object that passed through our solar system. As scientists, we expected an extrasolar object [an object which did not come from our solar system] to be spherical but Oumuamua was a cigar-shaped, rocky object. Many scientists have said it was a chip from a cosmic block, but it was not behaving - or was shaped - as we expected. Others have come forward with the hypothesis that potentially that could be an alien civilization passing us by. For me working with that team at SETI was important because they have that credibility. The idea that there is life beyond Earth is something that very serious scientists are working on right now.

In terms of UFO sightings, what is the usual scientific explanation for them? Can you share any UFO encounters from the show that you can’t explain?

There are lots of things that can be explained by science, by weather, by light or by military technology we don’t know about yet. Planets reflect light from the sun and don’t twinkle. Often the planet Venus has been mistaken for a UFO. There are lenticular clouds, which these flying saucer-shaped clouds that you see to the lee of mountainsides. There are a lot of UFO sightings at 3am when people may have been in the pub for many hours. We know so little about Earth, but it’s fair to be open-minded and say that we do not know what they are just yet. It doesn’t mean its aliens, but it also doesn’t rule it out. The military video the Pentagon released from the USS Nimitz is a good example of this. There are credible military witnesses, coming forward and saying, ‘We saw something that we couldn’t explain.’

Should governments be taking UFOs more seriously?

Governments and the media are starting to take things more seriously. It would be naïve to think we are all alone. There is a scary aspect when you look to Earth as an example of what happens when different civilizations meet each other. It has not always been that friendly. So, it is frightening to think about what could happen. Though this new era in space exploration we are in now is bigger than any one company, country or individual. That is why the International Space Station has 60 nations working together on the first off-world outpost in space. The optimist in me would say that an alien civilization that has managed to leave its own world have had to work together and would be coming in peace.

What do you hope viewers will get from the show?

You can be a scientist, you can be a layperson, you can be a UFO enthusiast to enjoy it. ‘I hope the viewers will be left with a sense of wonder’: I just want people to watch this and to go out and look up at the night sky and to wonder ‘What else is out there?’ and be left with that sense of mystery.