Joining George Knapp, writer/producer Bryce Zabel discussed why topics like UFOs and ETs are such a focus of TV and movie projects. In particular, he talked about his creation of the TV series Dark Skies (now out on DVD) which aired in 1996 on NBC. The show was notable for the way it interwove real-life characters from the UFO world into the series, such as Jesse Marcel, and Betty & Barney Hill, as well as events like Project Blue Book. Art Bell even had a cameo role as William S. Paley, the head of CBS, at a meeting of the secretive MJ-12 group (video clip).
While shooting the series, Zabel described being visited by a man who said he was sent there to separate fact from fiction in the UFO question. This contact, later brought in an alleged ex-military man from the "Aquarium," who said he wanted to bring the truth out, and insisted that if the series was given his secret information, it must be portrayed exactly as told, which Zabel could not agree to. The military man put a glass vial on the table that contained a gold-like substance, and said that's why the ETs are here, and that Dark Skies should reveal this, Zabel recounted.
Are alien and UFO-themed TV shows and films part of a gradual controlled release of secret information? Zabel has concluded that while sci-fi films in the 1950s, like Day the Earth Stood Still and It Came From Outer Space, might have have military manipulation and collaboration, projects beyond that time frame were not part of a conditioning or acclimation process. Rather, the characters of aliens provide easy conflict, and are safe for Hollywood to portray as bad guys. "It's a vast overreach," to think these projects are part of a disclosure effort, he commented, adding that Spielberg has never admitted to being given any insider information.
AboveTopSecret Update
First hour guest, Mark Allin of the forum AboveTopSecret.com commented on the Arizona shooter suspect, Jared Loughner, posting on their forum in advance of the shooting. His postings on their site were largely nonsensical, Allin reported, adding that media coverage surrounding this matter treated the subject fairly.