Roswell UFO Festival Lampooned in Mockrumentary

(PRLEAP.COM) On June 30th, the annual Roswell UFO Festival will begin in New Mexico, commemorating the 59th anniversary of the most talked about UFO incident in history. Approximately 10,000 people, a mixture of citizens, UFO enthusiasts, vacationers, and the just plain curious will attend. This festival is the subject of parody in "The Top Secret UFO Project," filmmaker R. J. Thomas' spoof of UFO documentaries.

"The festival has everything from costume contests to alien puppet shows," Mr. Thomas said. "Whether you believe in UFOs or not, it keeps the mystery alive."

The Roswell UFO Incident began in July of 1947 when a rancher discovered a large amount of unusual debris scattered across one of his fields. Many believed the debris to be the remains of a flying saucer crash, but the military quickly told the press that the debris was nothing more than pieces of a fallen weather balloon.

"The Top Secret UFO Project" spoofs the whole UFO craze, but its' chief target is the Roswell Incident. Based on Mr. Thomas' 2004 novella of the same name, the film chronicles the UFO-related events experienced by a tiny Colorado hamlet called Jasper. According to the film, the town dealt with one unusual event after another in the summer of 1956. After a farmer spotted a spaceship flying over his house, scientists rushed into Jasper to investigate, reporters rushed in looking for stories, and government officials rushed in to keep it a secret from the world.

Billed as "the movie the government doesn't want you to see," "The Top Secret UFO Project," is a parody of specials you might find on the Sci-Fi Channel or Discovery, and the cheesy UFO documentaries of the 70's and TV programs like "In Search Of."

In one of the film's sequences, a farmer discovers some mysterious debris in one of his fields, which the government quickly says was the remains of a truck crash. Many believe the debris was the result of a flying saucer crash, and the town begins holding a picnic every summer at the crash site, complete with a giant cake in the shape of a flying saucer.

"It's a way of spoofing and paying homage to the Roswell UFO Festival," Mr. Thomas said. "Some people go to this festival because they can use it commercially and peddle some sort of alien-related merchandise. Others go because they really believe in UFOs. And others go simply because they hope the legend is true!"

"The Top Secret UFO Project" is available on DVD at BooksAndSuchMart.com.