TV - Movies
The Chilling
60 Minutes
Episode That Had
Fans Believing
In Aliens
By ALEXANDER BILLET
For "60 Minutes” to venture into speculation about extraterrestrials is a big deal. The American Central Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon released documents and videos chronicling the appearance of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs), and "60 Minutes" aired a segment elaborating on the contents of these reports, leaving viewers convinced that we aren't alone in the universe.
The "60 Minutes" segment saw Bill Whitaker speak with United States Navy pilots, who recounted seeing flying objects that looked and behaved in ways no known aircraft can. Comments in the YouTube video of this segment are filled with people who appear similarly convinced, and the sentiment of it is that, as commenter Shrimp puts it, "It's pretty much impossible for alien life to NOT exist."
It seems clear that the declassified documents, and perhaps the "60 Minutes" segment, have had an impact, as a Gallup poll found that roughly four in ten Americans believe that UAPs are extraplanetary in origin. "Nope," writer and director Jordan Peele claimed that the declassified military documents not only made his film feel more real, but the film explicitly references them.