Goggleboxing
JENNY RANDLES does a TV interview in a pandemic and ponders the virtual possibilities for ufology
TV interviews do not often end well, so as a rule I avoid them. Recently, though, I was offered an opportunity to see what making TV in a pandemic was like. It was, as you might expect, interesting, but I can say little within the limits of the contract that I signed, which appeared to be longer than the actual interview. So I can offer no clues as to who, what, where or when – indeed I’m not sure I know that myself.
So why did I do it? Because I had made a promise to a friend, and I was not going to let anyone down. And it was an interesting experience. I had not done any TV since a Channel 5 documentary back in 2004, when I had newly become a full-time carer. TV had changed since then. UFOs were no longer a quirky subject that appeared once every few years, but had become a TV genre in their own right on the 900 channels that had to be filled. Some things hadn’t changed; I still had to put the presenter straight as to what a ufologist actually was. He was genial, and the interview was fair, but I have no idea what it was aiming at; with TV, I have learned to live in hope and fear the worst.
Of course, making a programme in a global pandemic meant social distancing of not just a few feet but 200 miles, and fancy equipment for me to set up and use from home. Otherwise, it was much like hundreds of other interviews over the years. The problem remains that the only people who really understand ufology are those who have invested time in it; and (with exceptions – often successful ones) ufologists are less interested in wowing the audience than are the producers. Yet, understandably, that is what the audience expects. In many ways, TV interviews are like one party doing an election broadcast on behalf of another: whatever you say can always be ‘changed in the edit’ to fit what the programme wants to say – which may be the opposite of what you wanted to say.
However, it struck me that one thing the pandemic has achieved is to turbocharge societal change – including the way we now communicate in virtual reality rather than actual reality. I wonder if this provides the UFO community with an opportunity to harness this technology in order to overcome the difference between what the media want to sell and what ufologists wish to tell. Zoom and YouTube have rocketed in popularity as people have been isolated with time on their hands. Now that we are, hopefully, edging back to normality, perhaps this is a chance to do something new as a UFO community and become our own broadcast medium.
Up to now I have only really seen attempts online to copy what the media already do – the temptation is to provide clickbait and get maximum viewers. But I think the real opportunity here is to bring the serious UFO community – disparate, reduced and scattered to four corners of the globe – back together with a purpose we appeared to have lost. After all, what’s really important about these new media is that they are easy to use, accessible to most people and free for anyone with a computer or smart phone to access. So even if you attract fewer viewers than a sensationalist programme seeking to contact aliens, you would still have access to a lost world of UFO investigation that we few who are serious need to get back.
So the question is, how do we use this opportunity? In what ways can global DIY media be exploited to change for the better how we do ufology? I hope that readers will think about this and perhaps submit some ideas to this magazine. Indeed, I suspect the same principle extends into many of the other fascinating areas that FT covers.
There’s certainly the possibility of holding virtual debates, or online versions of the much-missed UnConventions of yore – especially as issues of costs and travel restrictions may make ‘live’ events difficult for some time. Not needing to attract a large audience or go bust means that such online forums could focus on specific topics and invite researchers to present or thrash out ideas in a way that would be impossible at an open conference. To be
Jenny grapples with the challenges of making TV programmes from home.
blunt, conferences were always for the audience and not to progress research – but virtual conferences might be able to do some actual work. Another advantage would be that experts might be happier to provide input to such events than to TV programmes which can edit what you say so you say something else. I was a member of the BUFORA Council in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, and some of those meetings would have given the Handforth Parish Council viral video a run for its money in terms of banter and bureaucracy; but the exposure of disagreements would not harm the image of UFO research, as everyone assumes we all think alike anyway – when, of course, we really don’t.
Another option would be a YouTube channel inviting the public to offer their stories or evidence to a rotating panel of UFO researchers or related experts – a way for witnesses to connect, ask questions and get some evaluation of a baffling experience they have had. Live conferences can be intimidating; with this format, you could post your message to the channel anonymously and still get instant responses from those with relevant experience. This approach has endless possibilities to reach out to those who may never have had the chance to engage with the subject in other circumstances.
There might also be a way to set up a Virtual UFO Tracking community, with live Web Cams in locations where UFO activity is being reported; if there’s another lockdown, people could spend some of their free time observing and recording anything on the feed. Being proactive is something ufologists too rarely attempt; yet if UFOs are real, then maybe it’s time to go looking for them and not just wait until they’ve been and gone.
These are just things that I have mused about recently, but I am sure readers can think of many more ideas.
This pandemic has changed the world in ways we do not yet understand. If we use that as a catalyst for change, then perhaps this global nightmare will inspire something positive: ufology is certainly due a kick up the rear…