I was born in the 70's and aliens and UFOs were already in our cultures for decades. Most of it was science fiction and was just entertainment; Star Wars, War of the Worlds, Godzilla, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, and various episodes of the Twilight Zone. It was either very fantastical or scary monster stuff. Alien, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Thing, and Little Shop of Horrors were monster movies and not very likely to be real....and some like Star Wars was set in a galaxy far far away....so yeah....not real. Most stuff other scary stuff was just funny lights in the sky that terrorized people...... the constant threat of hearing them or seeing them that caused madness or messed with your memories. Again hokey nonsense that was just meant for entertainment.
Looking back there are several movies and TV shows that I recall watching that might have had an influence.....but I highly doubt it. The first four vivid UFO/Alien movies are the following;
-Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1977
-Wonder Woman "The Starships are Coming" S3E15 1979
-Battle Beyond the Stars 1980
-Martian Chronicles 1980
The Theatrical release of Close Encounter is not the same as the DVD release, back then it was a long movie that concentrated on the song that the aliens were using and UFOs being sighted. Even the Alien Abduction of the young kid in the movie was not understood as it was just bright lights and we had no idea what was after that family. Just lights in the sky....heck even if you could stay awake till the end of the movie....you really didn't see any aliens.....just people being returned and that was that. Plus the UFOs presented in the movie were nothing like the one I saw. So I would say that this movie had little affect on me....or none at all.
The Wonder Woman show had a bigger effect on me, as for some reason I found it really....really creepy. "The Starships are Coming" S3E15 had grey beings and a pyrmid type craft... and it was very close to what happened with what I saw. I think that is why this episode scared me. Now did it influence my event....nope as my event took place before this episode aired. Even in a few re-runs..when it came on I had to turn the channel.
Battle Beyond the Stars is a Sci-Fi movies taking place in the far future in a distant galaxy. This one didn't bother me as it had a host of interesting aliens, most new humans...but there were two alien species that bothered me. The first were the two little solar greys that journeyed with the lizard man....and the communal tall whites in the traditional saucer. Although they were in a fantasy setting... those two seemed very real to me. Ironically the lizard man/reptilians don't bother me. For some reason, they are more fantasy elements....but I can't find where I am okay with them in media. Much of the familiar things I know now such as Conan featured the snake-men as antagonists....but that was readily available during this time period.
I vividly remember the release of the "Martian Chronicles" and the portrayal of the martians scared me. They were too right....most of the series was very cerebral from my age, but I got what was going on....we went to mars....and found ruins...and subsequent trips some very anomalous things happened to the astronauts...until everything was unfolded at the end. I know the televised version of the book is not on par with the novel....but the behavior and vibe was too reminiscence of the things that were going on. Messing with my head...and testing during this time.
The next major TV and movies wound come out a few years later. By this point I been visited quite a number of times. It wasn't that bad or scary....and I kept things to myself. Yet these are the memorable shows I recall
-Quartermass and the Pit 1967*
-V the Series 1984
-Cocoon 1985
-Communion 1989*
When V came out it was considered another Star Wars. We watched it and it was okay. Again no bother with the Lizard people. It really had no affact on me, as it did not scare me. It was just interesting. The show would comeback a couple of years....continuing the story....but really nothing...if anything I would say it relates more to how things are handled in the "Second City" without the alien occupation.
Now Cocoon bothered me a lot. For most this is a feel good movie about senior citizens and aliens, energy beings is human body suits. I found this terrifying as it made me wonder about people whom felt off. Like certain people don't feel like people.....and I thought that they were aliens disguised as humans. I didn't have contact with energy beings back then.....but for some reason this freaked me out.
Despite this film debuting in 1967, it ran one time on I think channel 5. This was a very odd movie...but it stick in my memory....especially the weird psychic hold on the people. Despite the fact that an alien craft is found deep below the ground, there is still activity going on. When they start showing the insect like aliens.... it creeped me out. What I didn't like was the possession aspect of the entities in it.
Communion deputed also in this decade. I heard about the film and book thanks to Johnny Carson. This was a defining moment....as after 14 years....I finally saw something that I have seen since I was three. Now I only saw a bit on his show...just a clip....but it bothered me very much as by now the negative aspects of the experience had already started. My nightmares were true....it wasn't a dream..... they were real...and many others have seen this to. I wouldn't watch the movie until the late 90 when it was available on VHS. This movie bothers me a lot....as it is spot on.
Over the next decade...the 90's nothing really sticks out. There were a few TV specials....about UFOs and aliens....but nothing concrete or too scary. There were tons of fake videos and what not.....so much of the stuff then was ignored. The things that were happening to me were to real...I started to pay more attention and try to figure out what the hell was wrong with me. It wasn't until the 2000's that a new round of films seemed to grasp what was happening.
-Signs 2002
-Night Skies 2007
-4th Kind 2009
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