A.D. After Disclosure

Dark Skies | Accept No Imitations

Friends and supporters have been contacting us, many with congratulations on how our “Dark Skies” has been made into a new film, starring Keri Russell, to be released by Dimension Films next February. While it sounds like a dream, we tell them, it’s actually a nightmare.

To set the record straight, we’re Bryce Zabel and Brent Friedman, the two writer/producers who created the NBC series called “Dark Skies.” It was produced by Columbia TV (now Sony) and aired in 1996 and 1997. We wrote the pilot, multiple episodes and produced all twenty hours that were aired in primetime on Saturday nights.

Our original “Dark Skies” introduced viewers to an alien invasion that featured a continuing focus on the mysterious and terrifying abduction phenomenon. So our well-intentioned friends can be forgiven if they hear about the Dimension Films version that focuses on an alien abduction and assume we had something to do with it. While that is decidedly not the case, our definitive version may have inspired it.

Our “Dark Skies” had been in the news even before Dimension decided to use our title for their film. Our series was given a world-wide release on DVD in 2011 from both Shout Factory (US) and Medium Rare Entertainment (UK). In dozens of reviews, the work received critical praise as a classic that has stood the test of time in the sci-fi and UFO media. It also spawned new interest in the reboot of our series, something that we were talking to Sony TV about when the news from Dimension Films broke.

Our "Dark Skies" has established itself in the minds of a significant number of science fiction fans as a gripping piece of conspiracy drama set in the world of UFOs and abductions. It anchored NBC's Saturday night "Thrillogy" concept in the 1996 season premiere and starred Eric Close ("Nashville") and the late film character actor J.T. Walsh (“Sling Blade”). Its main title design won the Emmy award and its pilot screenplay received a Writers Guild nomination. The Syfy Channel aired the entire series multiple times. Since 2010 there's been a Facebook page where thousands of fans from many different countries push Sony for a TV revival. 

And yet here we are. A film in the same genre as our work is being promoted right now using the same exact title as our work. Most Hollywood businesses legitimately consider creative and artistic interests and rights in these cases. This one seems to have slipped through the cracks of acceptability.

Supporters of the creative rights of writers should ask Dimension Films to let their film stand on its own merits and call it by a different title. "Dark Skies" is taken. 

Join the Dark Skies Resistance @ Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/darkskiesufo

See the Dark Skies Playlist @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5A1058EDE798E4B1

Read more about Dark Skies @ AfterDisclosure.com
http://www.afterdisclosure.com/dark-skies/

Get the original, classic and definitive Dark Skies series @ Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Skies-Declassified-Complete-Series/dp/B00465I156

WGA (Writers Guild of America) Credit, 1996
“Dark Skies” | Created by Bryce Zabel & Brent V. Friedman

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115151/

New Edition of "A.D. After Disclosure" Out Now in 2012!

After an extremely successful hardcover run from Keyhole Publishing, A.D. After Disclosure has been picked up by New York's Career Press - New Page Books and released for the summer of 2012.

The book about how the world changes after the reality of UFO and alien contact is revealed can be pre-ordered from both Amazon and Barnes & Noble now. In fact, B&N has decided to feature the book in their front entry table's "New & Noteworthy" sections.

The provocative and leading-edge book was originally published in October 2010 and has now been extensively revised and restructured by authors Richard Dolan and Bryce Zabel.  

The new version includes updates from the world of UFOlogy in 2011, corrections, additions and new thinking. Additonally, it will feature an extensive photographic element. That new look includes the cover design below:

The title has been changed from A.D. After Disclosure: The People's Guide to Life After Contact to A.D. After Disclosure: When the Government Finally Reveals the Truth About Alien Contact.

Video Re-Review from UFO Book Review

It takes guts to do what Chattanooga, Tennessee reviewer Brian McDonald of UFO Book Review just did. He revised his review of A.D. After Disclosure from a fairly harsh criticism to a more positive outlook after he thought about it for a while. As Brian wrote us, "It's my belief that critical thinking, or the use of systematic thinking is a skill that many people lack today, but is one of the most crucial skills a person can acquire and use."

We won't say much more than that, but will let you look at it and evaluate it for yourself.

Brian stumbled upon his first UFO book by accident while browsing the science section of his local book store and casually flipped through the pages. It piqued his interest enough that he read the book in the following three days. Here's what Brian says on his YouTube page on the subject:

When one stops to ponder the Milky Way Galaxy and the estimated 100-400 billion stars it contains, it is only natural to ask the question, "are we alone?" 

If indeed it turns out we are alone in the universe or we discover a cosmos full of life, either result has profound implications for us.

With an estimated 200-500 billion galaxies, and 300 sextillion stars "out there" in the Cosmos, perhaps one of the most important questions we can ask - Are we alone?.

It is the question of our time. Brian is an avid reader, as you can see, who's devoured books on topics that include quantum physics and current events and history, and now includes UFOs. We all welcome Brian, and people like him, to the fray. 

More than that, however, what he has done here -- even though it is to our favor and we appreciate it -- is that he has shown the way forward for UFOlogy: an open, thoughtful mind, the ability to take in new information and evaluate it and, sometimes, to make changes. 

Breaking News From Roswell? Or Journalistic Malpractice?

The long rumored crash of a craft of unknown origin outside of Roswell, New Mexico in July of 1947 has just been solved. The US government was wrong. The US Army Air Corps was wrong. The US Air Force was wrong. And more amazing, over 500 witnesses directly or indirectly involved were wrong! The latest "theory of the month" has been proposed by author, Annie Jacobsen in her just released book about Area 51 and a single addendum about Roswell which for some reason is getting all forms of media attention. I will limit my response to address strictly the Roswell Incident of 1947.

Simply put, this represents another classic example of lazy journalism at its worst and investigative malpractice at its finest. I recall when the Air Force was planning on the Pentagon release of their "fifth" official explanation for the Roswell case. It was reported to us that the new "theory" was what actually crashed was a Russian flying wing with a... get this... crew of monkeys in silver jump suits. The story would continue that the fiery crash would burn off all their hair and leave all the witnesses bewildered as to what they truly were. We immediately sent off a FAX to Washington just asking one question: "Which monkey was flying?" End of story. And the same applies here.

The mere suggestion that the Soviets captured a Horton Brothers "flying wing" at the fall of Berlin in 1945 (mind you, none were operational at that time and they were mainly constructed of wood), manned it with 13 year-old mutants created by German scientist Joseph Mengele as to appear "alien", flew all the way from Russia, intended to crash in New Mexico, the heart of the most militarily sensitive territory in the world, to "scare us." To say totally absurd would be an under statement.

Donald Schmitt is the co-author of the best-selling book,Witness to Roswell, and is the leading specialist who continues to investigate the Roswell Incident. He is the former co-director of the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies, where he served as Director of Special Investigations for ten years. Prior to that, he was a special investigator for the late Dr. J. Allen Hynek. The Showtime movie Roswell was based on first book, UFO Crash at Roswell. His latest book and life rights have been optioned, along with those of Stanton Friedman, as the basis for the feature film project, Majic Men.

The German brothers, Walter and Reimar Horton experimented with flying wings in much the same way that Jack Northrop did in California during the 1930s. Historically, all of the NAZI prototypes were destroyed by American forces at the fall of Berlin - so they would not fall into the hands of the Soviets. The only Horton H.IX to survive is now kept at the Smithsonian in Washington.

Writer Jacobsen claims that the Soviets created mutants to resemble the Martians described by H.G. Welles in War of the Worlds. Jacobsen should know that Welles modeled them from earthly octopus. That, and the fact that the Russians never did capture Mengele paints an illustration of pure fiction.

It never seems to matter what the new alternative explanation is. These theorists never address the unusual, exotic characteristics of the wreckage. The weightless, nearly indestructible material. The material that possessed perfect memory. The fiber optics. Except for the later, no one on earth has such material even today. And there must have been divine intervention to save us if either the Germans or Russians had it back in the forties.

The author states that Area 51 was named due to her one lone anonymous source's claim that the crashed craft and children were moved there from Wright Patterson in 1951. In reality, Nevada is divided into sections and the facility just happens to be in Section 51.

We have presented and named in our bestselling book Witness to Roswell, and previous books since 1991, hundreds of eyewitnesses who were actually there. Witnesses who right up to their deathbeds swore that what had crashed, what they held in their hands, and the bodies they loaded into ambulance trucks, were not from this world. These are all ignored by the US national media because it can't be therefore it isn't. Anything but UFOs is alright with these so-called guardians and keepers of the truth. Except, when it applies to Roswell -- the truth be damned no matter how ridiculous the alternative "theory." We chose to present the facts as presented to us by the truth bearers - the participants.

In recent weeks, we have all heard dozens of versions of what took place during the raid which killed Osama bin Laden. Have any of us noticed that none of these accounts come from the actual participants? For the same reason over the past twenty years, we have focused on the people who were there... not the so-called "truth" that some journalist or government official wants us to believe. Eyewitnesses send people to prison and serve as the staple for our judicial system for a reason. I can solve every crime ever committed by just siting at my computer and throwing out "theories." It's up to us as objective, free thinking, rational individuals to examine the evidence and decide which carries the greatest weight. Over 500 witnesses can't all be wrong and would certainly win hands-down in any courtroom throughout America.

And so I have just one question for Ms. Jacobsen regarding her new "magic bullet" solution to Roswell. After we obviously have wasted all of our time and effort all these years:  Which of the 13 year-olds was flying?

I just thought I would ask.

Calling Roger Ebert...

Roger Ebert has been getting a lot of attention this week for his beautifully written essay titled, A Quintessence of Dust. In it, he features the graphic below -- created by NASA -- showing 1,235 planets we know to exist as well as the suns they orbit. 

Here's the key concept to appreciate this: each planet is a black dot. Below the top row, you'll see our own sun over on the right side. The people who estimate such things are estimating that millions of such planets exist in our galaxy alone. Ebert's mind boggles at this and, of course, so does mine and probably yours, too.

I have a small bone to pick with Roger Ebert, however, even though I am a great admirer and have probably read several hundred of his film reviews. But, before I get to that, I want to invite you to feel some of the same wonder, mystery and curiosity that comes with this image. Take a few seconds now and look at it, and let it sink in. And, if you want to see it larger, just click on it and you'll see it on an even grander scale on your computer.

 

As I said, I love Roger Ebert and, as a fellow writer, I have to stand in awe of his skill and capacity. These traits have made him the most significant film reviewer of our time.

My bone to pick is that he appears to not understand the UFO situation and indirectly put down those of us who do. In the same week he wrote his essay about the worlds the Hubble is exposing us to, he also wrote this in his review of the new film, "Source Code."

"Source Code" is an ingenious thriller that comes billed as science fiction, although its science is preposterous. Does that matter, as long as everyone treats it with the greatest urgency? After all, space travel beyond the solar system is preposterous, and yet we couldn't do without "Star Trek." 

Ebert is saying that if you believe that it is possible to travel the galaxy and the universe that you believe in something that is preposterous. I say that very statement is preposterous.

I think Ebert is a smart enough man with, as he speaks about in his article, the curiosity it takes to consider these big questions and be on the leading edge of things. He could do the world a tremendous service, now that he is thinking about such things, if he would bring his game up on this subject.

OZUFO Summit: What Has Changed?

This weekend I attended my first UFO conference. It was also a first for the conference organizers in Lawrence, Kansas. Dubbed OZUFO Summit, it promised to be a high-level event by inviting some of the big names from UFO research and investigation.

The expressed goal of the conference was to bring together "variously experienced world-class authors, investigators, researchers, and speakers" to share a "sincere and urgent call for complete UFO Disclosure of the UFO-ET Reality." 

For those interested in UFOs, the names were noteworthy. Physicist and researcher Stanton Friedman and dogged investigator Donald Schmitt both spoke about their parallel investigations into Roswell — the Watergate of UFO cover-ups. Jesse Marcel, Jr. recounted the historic event from his childhood when his father (Jesse Marcel, Sr.) showed his family debris from the Roswell crash. And former airmen, Capt. Robert Salas and Col. Charles Halt, discussed their separate experiences while in the Air Force.

On the other hand, there were those whose connection to the UFO phenomenon was more personal. Kim Carlsberg discussed her abductions and how she had been used as part of an extraterrestrial cross-breeding program. Rosemary Ellen Guiley drew parallels between alien abduction stories and the folklore of the djinn (a.k.a. genies). And Butch Witkowski shared the results of his investigations into cattle — and human — mutilations.

With all these different voices to discuss the UFO phenomenon, one thing was notably missing: a consensus. When one thinks of a summit, one imagines high-ranking officials coming together to reach an accord. While the goal of government disclosure was the predominant theme of the conference, it did not seem to be shared by all. 

UFOs Over Kansas

Richard Dolan and Bryce Zabel will both be speaking this week, March 18-20, 2011 at the OZUFO Summit being held in Lawrence, Kansas at the city's famous Liberty Hall.

Organizers Daniel Lauing and John Leathem have booked a very credible line-up of speakers and presentations that, besides Rich and Bryce, includes Stanton Friedman, Donald Schmitt, Stephen Bassett, Frank Feschino Jr., Peter Robbins, Butch Witkowski, Charles Halt, Robert Salas, Kim Carlsberg, Sam Maranto and Jesse Marcel Jr. Below is one of the ads running in the Topeka Capitol-Journal. 

If you live in the part of the country that makes this accessible to you, we think the organizers are offering good value and cutting-edge presentations. It's the first time, for example, that both Rich and Bryce are appearing together to talk about the world After Disclosure. Just click on the image above to go to the website for the conference.

In the three days and two nights, three key themes will be explored:

• an update on the Roswell investigation from researchers Stanton Friedman and Donald Schmitt, whose books and life rights have been optioned as part of a new film in development, Majic Men, being written and produced by Stellar Productions.

• the growing body of evidence linking UFO interference and observation to nuclear missile sites around the world, with testimony from Charles Halt (Bentwaters) and Robert Salas (Malmstrom AFB), two men who were at the September news conference held at the National Press Club.

• the emerging debate about Disclosure, exopolitics and life after contact, with presentations from Richard Dolan, Stephen Bassett of the Paradigm Research Group, and Bryce Zabel.

There are others topics being explored, of course, plenty to get anybody -- experienced or not in this topic -- to truly think about how our world is about to change.

Double Header: MUFON LA and MUFON OC

If you live in the Southern California area, I'd like to invite you to drop by either the MUFON Los Angeles or the MUFON Orange County monthly meetings in February.

I'll be speaking at both of them, mostly about the post-Disclosure world, in a presentation called "Life After Contact."

Expect to hear some new ideas that go even beyond the book Richard Dolan and I have co-authored, A.D. After Disclosure, but also Dark Skies as well as the entire issue of the relationship between Hollywood and the managers of UFO secrecy -- a subject that was the topic of a Coast-to-Coast AM interview with George Knapp on January 16.

Another matter on the table will be the status of Majic Men, the film project I'm currently writing the screenplay to, based on the life rights for Stanton Friedman and Donald Schmitt, and their respective books, Top Secret/Majic and Witness to Roswell.

Here are the details for the first night in LA:

MUFON LA (Los Angeles)

Tuesday, February 15, 8:00pm
Unitarian Universalist Church (Inside the Fellowship Hall)
12355 Moorpark Avenue
Studio City, CA 91604 
(818) 483-0864 
www.mufonla.com 

Here are the directions to the LA meeting. Apparently, MUFON charges $10 for members and $15 for non-members. On the other hand, there's free parking! :-)

The next night, it's down to Orange County's Costa Mesa. Here are those details:

MUFON OC (Orange County)

Wednesday, February 16, 7:30pm
Neighborhood Community Center
1845 Park Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
(714) 520-4UFO 
www.mufonoc.org

This location is between the Costa Mesa library and the Costa Mesa Courtyards Shopping Center. Here are the directions. As I understand this one, it's $7 for members, $12 for non-members (except for first-timers who get in for $7). Refreshments, raffle, and more free parking!  :-)

Knowing that people are paying their hard-earned money to come to these events, I'm working on the presentation now. We'll have some books there, and also a surprise or two for those raffles. Hope to see you at one or the other!

To Our Friends from Coast-to-Coast AM

We know a lot of you are coming to the After Disclosure site for the first time because of the radio interview with George Knapp. Thank you.

Originally launched to support the initial publication of our book, A.D. After Disclosure: The People's Guide to Life After Contact, the site has grown beyond that initial mission. It's turned into a place where people can share opinions about Disclosure, ET/UFO reality and associated thoughts.

So, for example, you may find Rich writing about the recent Wikipedia controversy and how it relates to UFOs, or Bryce writing about the Washington Post's shameful coverage of the National Press Club conference on UFOs and nukes, or even veteran ufologist Stanton Friedman sharing his own thoughts on Disclosure. If you look around through our "search" button in the left sidebar or any of our menu categories, you'll find over six months worth of content on these issues.

Some of you, in particular, may want to know more about some of the projects brought up on Sunday night's interview.

Dark Skies -- the NBC series that Bryce co-created with Brent V. Friedman in the 90s -- is being released on DVD on January 18. You can read all the collected posts here. Or you can visit this YouTube "Channel" and see some clips for yourself. Including a classic scene where Coast-to-Coast's Art Bell plays CBS President William S. Paley as a member of the Majestic-12 Board of Directors.

On the subject of the Dark Skies DVD release, if you'd like to get a collectible lithograph and get the box set at the lowest price possible, click on the banner ad in the right sidebar and order directly from the company, Shout! Factory. You will also receive the set at just 50% of the list price.

Time didn't allow a mention of Need-to-Know: The UFO Disclosure Song on Sunday night. If you want to know more about, check this out, and if you want to buy a download from iTunes, here's that link.

Finally, George and Bryce briefly discussed Majic Men as well. It's the feature film about the Roswell investigation, and you'll find a few extra details here.

The Ones Where We Didn't Smile

It's been a run of important Disclosure-related posts here -- writing about the WikiLeaks situation and even the NASA news conference about life in Mono Lake. Hopefully, then, you can excuse a light, quick end-of-the-year journey into a "making of" story about the A.D. After Disclosure book project.

In his classic rock ballad, "Against the Wind," Bob Seger talks about "what to leave in, what to leave out."

Any finished project -- a film, a television series, or even a book like A.D. After Disclosure -- tends to look after it's over like it could only have been the way it turned out. To the right, you'll see the inner flap to our back cover. It looks familiar to us now but, oddly, it was the very last thing to change as the book was going into the printers.

Two nights before, there was another picture on that cover. We weren't smiling in that one.

We had done an entire photo shoot with the talented Los Angeles photographer Alex Asher Sears for the cover photo and, out of the shoot, came three different looks, all variations on a theme. The theme was basically working writers telling a serious story. So the decision was made to go with collared shirts and loosened ties and no smiles. After all, we thought, when you're talking about a sixty-plus year cover-up, what's to smile about?

But, at the last minute, a debate caught fire and the voices that won the day were the ones that argued that book authors had a duty to appear friendly to their potential buyers and that smiles were not a sign of weakness. That is why, if you buy the hardcover version, you will see the smiles. But there was another picture, one that did not make the first cut, or the last-minute replacement and, yet, oddly, it's the one that both of us actually liked best.

Although we liked this photo by Alex Asher Sears a lot, Bryce's son thought he looked like a "badass" and his wife Jackie thought he looked angry, so it became the one that the subjects and the photographer all liked but, possibly, too controversial for a book project that asks people to actually pay for it. 

This photo above was inspired by a photo we'd all admired that had been taken of Robert DeNiro and Martin Scorcese by French photographer Brigitte Lacombe. We liked the stripped down ascetic of the picture and the white background. We asked Alex not to copy it, but to take inspiration from it, and we knocked off a few quick shots in the last minutes, just for fun. 

Alex also shot a couple of other excellent versions. One was what we called the "All the President's Men" photo which we liked but ultimately didn't fit the vertical photo layout we had in mind for the book cover.

Full Disclosure:  We still love those photos that Alex took that day.

We know we're not smiling.

Think of it this way. We're thinking about the Breakaway Group of secret-keepers and how they've ignored your need-to-know for almost seven decades. It made us a little more somber than usual...

If you want to know a bit more about the book itself, here is the link to read the Introduction to A.D. After Disclosure. It is easily available through Amazon.com. Or you can order it through your local bookstore.

As always, we thank you for considering a purchase of the book through the button below at Keyhole Publishing. It will be shipped directly from the publisher signed by co-author Richard Dolan, and you will receive a free MP3 of "Need-to-Know: The UFO Disclosure Song," currently available on iTunes.