Review: On the Trail of UFOs: Dark Sky
The newest "On the Trail of" by Small Town Monsters is a great evolution in the storytelling documentaries brought about by STM. While the first "On the Trail of UFO's" may have felt like a crash-course into the deep end of the UFO phenomena, this second installment pulls viewers back into critical aspects of the phenomena that seem to be overlooked by current media.
Much of what we ingest online and through television can be described as "digestible snippets" or shock-video announcements, Small Town Monsters pulls back, and immerses viewers into the position of the researcher, the documentarian. Seeing some familiar faces in both the YT and Paranormal communities, I enjoyed the cinematic direction taken in this documentary as an encouragement to get back into the field and get on the trail of the stories that make up the folklore and mystery of the small towns I explore.
Camera angles situate the viewer as though they're taking part in the retelling of experiences, in-depth conversations with experiencers and witnesses reminding those interested in the phenomena that the most important part of the phenomena are the witnesses and the accounts. It's enough to go charge my camera batteries and beat down the doors of storytellers in my neck of the woods, seek out the strange stories and legends around the Blue Ridge & Appalachia. The safe, sit-down approach presented in this documentary should be of note (unlike some of the recent UFO experiences floating around on the web), I wish/hope that more researchers provide this comfortable approach to witness/encounter interviews.
Overlapping historic accounts and folklore, I'm always grateful for STM's ability to bring folklorists into their modern work. Much of my informal interest is the evolution and linking of stories, and I appreciate Heather being able to provide her perspective on what's going down in the West Virginia/OH region. While technology allows us "modern keyboard researchers" the luxury of tracking patterns and connecting unknown dots, taking a step back through folklore and Seth's direction with interviewees provides a human feel to the wonderous and uncomfortable realization that there are strange experiences out there, and folks living with/trying to reconcile those experiences.
While a bit of this was filmed during 2020, I appreciate the newer faces brought into the story surrounding the northern Appalachian region. True to STM's continued theme of family, including new individuals wraps up a larger message of community and welcoming new experiences/encounters into the bigger picture.
Per the first On The Trail Of UFOs, Ms. Shannon Legro's journey has been to seek out patterns, correlations in the WVA area and UFO phenomena, hoping to have her own encounter or witness something unexplained. Without too many spoilers, it's great to watch/participate in someone else having an experience while surrounded by fellow researchers and friends. Some of us seek out UFO experiences to know we're not alone in our beliefs, encounters; to watch what unfolds speaks to that message of family/community/friends being on your side during your journey through unexplained phenomena.
On the Trail of UFOS: Dark Sky can be found on Apple, Small Town Monsters website (click) and other platforms soon:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/on-the-trail-of-ufos-dark-sky/id1576058562
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