Archives of the unexplainable is an eight-episode docuseries, produced by Vox Media, that examines famous cases in which ordinary people had encounters with unexplained phenomena. It could be anything from alien encounters to ghosts and disappearances. In one episode, the case of severed feet that washed up on the shores of the Salish Sea is examined.
FILES OF THE UNEXPLAINED: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Initial shot: We see a swampy scene at night. So a man talks about seeing war of words when I was a child.
The essence: In the first episode, an alien abduction incident is revisited in 1973. In Pascagoula, Mississippi, Charles Hickson, then 42, and Calvin Parker, then 19, were fishing in the river at night after their work shift. at the local seaport. Both men report two bright lights floating just above the water and beings with pincers for hands coming out. They then both report that they were taken to the ship and examined; Hickson even describes a giant eye watching him. They were then deposited near the river.
Through animated reenactments, archival footage, and interviews with Parker (who died in 2023, after the episode was filmed) and Hickson’s son Eddie, among others, the show’s producers analyze the encounter to show whether the accounts of the men about the kidnapping seemed credible. This was not an incident that was swept under the rug; While Parker was always reluctant to talk about the incident, Hickson took advantage of the media opportunities that came his way, including an interview with Johnny Carson and a show that brought him some income.
The kidnapping affected both men greatly; Both ended up being forever changed by the incident, and even Hickson was affected as people who wanted to hear the story pulled him in multiple directions, as well as tensing up at the skepticism of the American public. But in 2020 a recording between the two men that was made without their permission when they reported the incident to authorities was released, showing that they both believed what they saw, even when no one else was there to hear their story.
What shows will it remind you of? Archives of the unexplainable reminds us of a lot of docuseries about unexplained phenomena, but the best example of these shows is In search of…which we used to watch as kids in the late ’70s and early ’80s (the show returned in 2002 and again in 2018).
Our opinion: Speaking of which, the formula that Archives of the unexplainable It is more or less the formula that In search of… He was a pioneer almost 50 years ago: interviews, recreations and a lot of speculation. Which is absolutely fine, if that’s all you expect from the series.
The episodes are not that long; most are in the 30 to 35 minute range, with the longest being 48 minutes. So they are not examining these cases with a magnifying glass; They are going over the general outlines, mainly interviewing people who were involved or at least related to those involved. Since most of the episodes take place decades ago, it’s interesting to hear the perspective of those intervening decades.
For example, hearing directly from Calvin Parker and his wife, who was his girlfriend at the time, about the Pascagoula incident was invaluable, because for him, the kidnapping caused severe PTSD and he would rather forget about it. But half a century after it happened, it is still present in his mind. It was a good insight into how an incident like this can change a person, especially one who wasn’t willing to violently report things like this to begin with.
Sex and skin: None.
Parting Shot: Hickson, in an archival interview, says: “I know there are other worlds with life. And someday, everyone will know that that is a fact without a doubt.”
Sleeping star: You wonder why they’re interviewing Rebecca Davis, the town’s events director, until you see her collection of alien-related memorabilia. She was also instrumental in getting the city to place a marker near where the incident occurred. Finally, she has an impressive helmet of hair that looks straight out of 1987.
Most pilot line: None that we could find.
Our call: TRANSMIT IT. Like this show’s predecessors, the episodes of Archives of the unexplainable They are designed to intrigue you about the particular incidents in question and investigate them further if you are interested. Given that we hadn’t heard about or forgotten about the Pascagoula incident before watching this first episode, and are now curious, the show did the job it set out to do.
Joel Keller@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and technology, but make no mistake: he’s a couch potato. His writings have appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.comFast Company and other places.
