Documentary · 20 May 2022
Ariel Phenomenon
Also known as Ariel Phenomenon
Directed by Randall Nickerson
Ariel Phenomenon is a feature documentary by Randall Nickerson, made over about 15 years and released on 20 May 2022, about the September 1994 sighting at Ariel School in Ruwa, Zimbabwe, when more than 60 pupils said they saw a craft and small beings land near the playground.
It follows the BBC war reporter Tim Leach, who filmed the children's first interviews days after the event, and the Harvard psychiatrist John Mack, who interviewed them that November; the film presents both men's careers as having been put at risk by the case. It also follows former pupils, interviewed as adults, including one who returns from Toronto to Zimbabwe, as they revisit what they say they saw.
The film presents the witnesses' account; sceptical explanations of the sighting, from mass suggestion to misidentification, are set out in the Ariel School incident record. The official trailer plays here.
Sources: press release (2022) · Ariel incident record
Facts and claims
- claimed A feature documentary by Randall Nickerson, made over about 15 years and released on May 20, 2022. It follows BBC war reporter Tim Leach and Harvard psychiatrist John Mack, whose careers it says were threatened by investigating the case, and a former Ariel student who returns from Toronto to Zimbabwe. Source: kxan.com (archived)
- claimed Its cast includes many former Ariel School students who were present in 1994, interviewed as adults. Source: kxan.com (archived)
Connected files
Incidents
- Ariel School encounter (about)
People
- Tim Leach (features)
- John Mack (features)
- Randall Nickerson (directed by)
Videos
- Ariel Phenomenon: official trailer (trailer)
- #490 - ’Ariel Phenomenon’ director Randall Nickerson | Matt's Movie Reviews Podcast (subject of)