I want to believe. I’ve always wanted to believe, but after a lifetime of “research” and reading into what I’m reading it’s easy to assume that there are probably no aliens or flying saucers. It’s more likely secret government projects with experimental technology BUT! every once in a while, you hear a story that you just can’t explain away. Thanks to the programmers at the 2024 Chattanooga Film Festival, and documentarian Bram Roza, I’m back on board with all my wild extraterrestrial beliefs!
Dutch documentary The UFO’s of Soesterberg examines a series of unexplained experiences from several individuals in and around the Netherlands’ Soesterberg Air Force Base over a period of decades. Recounted by former military personnel, civilians, and anonymous individuals, The UFO’s of Soesterberg is classic alien encounter entertainment, without a biased or bellowy narrator adding any short of influence to the subjects’ stories.
“when a giant football field sized black triangle silently hovers above you before blasting away at warp speed, you know you’re looking at something beyond our own understanding…”
Were these experiences simply misidentified weather balloons? Could those mysterious crafts have travelled millions of light years to investigate our own tech and aircraft capabilities? Was it all just an elaborate classified operation carried out by the Americans on the neighboring Air Force base?? The documentary leaves space for all possibilities and allows you the ability to draw your own conclusions.
Also, shoutout to Roza and the team for keeping the term UFO alive. UAP just doesn’t hit the same but, frankly, it’s a decision based on doc’s military focus. The majority of the stories shared are from former military officers and for them, UFO was just part of the regular vernacular. Reporting unidentified objects flying in the air space above them was simply part of the job. Most of the time, they were simply wayward planes or amateur pilots lost in poor weather conditions…but when a giant football field sized black triangle silently hovers above you before blasting away at warp speed, you know you’re looking at something beyond our own understanding.
Credibility is one of the most important factors in a quality UFO sighting, and these people are aircraft experts. Especially identifying them from the ground. And they weren’t alone! Some of them had other officers with them who also witnessed these events, but in the same period non-military citizens witnessed strange objects in the sky. One of the most compelling stories in the doc is shared by a woman who, decades later, can recount with stunning clarity an incident she cannot explain. While taking a horse out for some routine exercise, she encountered a massive flying saucer in the woods that hovered near her for (she estimates) 15-20 minutes before she went in for a closer look…
The stories shared in The UFO’s of Soesterberg are among some of the most credible and believable that I’ve heard in years. An anonymous interview subject recounts a similar event in the wooded area near the military base, now closed, that shook his understanding of reality so immediately that it triggered a severe panic attack. The sons of military official share a serious of independently verified and ultra strange occurrences their father experienced without any explanation. Airforce experts share their unbiased opinions about the mere possibility of alien encounters while never fully letting the Americans air force off the hook for their secrecy and for, more than likely, hiding nuclear weapons without fully disclosing the danger to their allies.
“The stories shared in The UFO’s of Soesterberg are among some of the most credible and believable that I’ve heard in years.”
The UFO’s of Soesterberg is a very matter-of-fact, unsensationalized look into one of the modern era’s most polarizing mysteries. Its evidence is compelling, its interviews are in depth and detailed, and beyond the fringe nature of the subject, it’s downright academic. In a nutshell, this isn’t a doc for the tinfoil hat community and one that you could easily share with your friends and family without getting laughed at. Its biggest strength is simply that it is curious and wants to ask questions. There are no smoking gun answers (there never are), but it makes you want to believe. And who doesn’t want to believe is a good UFO story?
Bram Roza’s The UFO’s of Soesterberg is an official selection of the 2024 Chattanooga Film Festival, who’s virtual component is in full swing right now, running through to June 28. Click HERE to follow our continued coverage and let us know if you’ve seen a UFO over in the Nightmare on Film Street Discord! Seriously, we want to hear your stories.
