Top 20 Alien Documentaries You HAVE to See

In 1994, roughly sixty schoolchildren in Zimbabwe claimed to have witnessed something that changed their lives. They talked about a visit from silver flying saucers and otherworldly beings, draped in black. All before the dismissal bell. “Ariel Phenomenon” is a captivating documentary that delves into the story of these students’ incredible assertions. The film unearths the children' s testimonies, while examining the profound psychological and emotional impact on all of those involved. Directed with both skepticism and curiosity, “Ariel Phenomenon” raises compelling questions about extraterrestrial encounters and of the faith that the people put in their witnesses. With its masterful selection of interviews and individual stories, the documentary expertly emphasizes themes of memory, truth, and the shared human experience.

When it comes to unexplained UFO sightings, this is one that had a lot of witnesses. In this case, the witnesses were a group of over 200 suburban high schoolers and their teacher - who saw a UFO fly over their school in broad daylight. A few of the former students feature in this documentary about the experience, recounting their memories of the flying saucer purportedly descending near their school in 1966. To further convince viewers of the odd encounter, the director attempts to retrieve news footage of the day… only to find that it has been mysteriously removed from the station’s archive. Spooky!

Your mileage may vary with this one, depending on how much stock you put into Bob Lazar and his famous story. For those of you who don’t know, Bob Lazar is perhaps the most notorious alien conspiracy theorist in the world, as he claims to have both seen aliens and worked on alien spacecraft near Area 51. And even though his story has been tossed aside by both skeptics and ufologists, this doc about his claims that aired on Netflix gave him a monumental platform to spread his story. For newcomers looking to explore one of the most popular extraterrestrial conspiracy theories ever, start here.

You may know Shaun Ryder as the frontman for Happy Mondays, a rock-dance indie group that was extremely popular in the UK in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. What you may not know is that he claims to have personally encountered aliens. His lifelong obsession with the idea of extraterrestrials led to a documentary where he interviewed people who have also claimed to have seen or been abducted by aliens. It’s not really convincing if you don’t believe in aliens in the first place, but regardless of your views on that, no one can deny that these stories are hella entertaining.

On its surface, this docuseries doesn’t appear to have anything to do with UFOs. It covers a variety of topics, from poop to nukes, with scientists discussing how each subject connects us with our surrounding universe. But if we’re connected to the universe, wouldn’t we also be connected to alien life? Shortly after the series’ release, one viewer found what they believed to be a flying saucer in the episode covering clouds. It’s difficult to make out the object as it races past a plane, but its similarity to UFO depictions in sci-fi films is uncanny. While some have complained about the series’ overly enthusiastic host, we still think it’s a worthwhile watch for those looking to feel closer to the world, or worlds, around them.

Focusing on a series of declassified documents about unidentified flying objects seen at nuclear testing sites, “UFOs and Nukes” isn’t the flashiest documentary to delve into the potential existence of aliens, but it’s thought-provoking nonetheless. The film places a lot of importance on the credibility of its witnesses, all of whom held important roles at nuclear weapons facilities within the U.S. The former employees primarily describe seeing typically shaped “saucer” UFOs, with solid red or orange coloring, and claim that they tampered with their crucial, high-risk work. Re-creations of each witness’s account help give viewers a better idea of what may have been seen, while documents detailing similar experiences in the Soviet Union serve to strengthen the link between UFOs and nuclear power.

#14: “Curse of the Man Who Sees UFOs” (2016)

Christo Roppolo hasn’t had an easy life. His father and fiancée both died, his brother stole his money, and his mother disowned him when he tried to convince her to mitigate the situation with his sibling. After facing so many hardships, it’s not hard to see why he would look to the stars for solace. And yet, the documentarian at the helm of “Curse of the Man Who Sees UFOs” never suggests Roppolo’s beliefs come from anything other than a genuine place. Though he admits to often playing the “Scully to Roppolo’s Mulder,” he admits that the things he saw with him are genuinely strange and unexplainable. It’s a doc that will leave you wondering if the truth really is out there in Monterey, California.

If you are looking for proof that extraterrestrials exist, you may as well go straight to NASA. And that’s exactly what this documentary does. This one chronicles the history of astronauts sighting UFOs, but it also contains the titular and mind-bending “smoking gun” – that is, imagery taken from video cameras installed on space shuttle missions. The documentary takes the raw footage from those cameras and presents them to the viewer in a clear manner. Whereas lesser documentaries would scream “Look, that’s totally a UFO!” this one allows you to analyze the footage and decide for yourself. Did NASA capture extraterrestrial life on camera? Maybe, maybe not. You’ll just have to watch and find out.

“Mirage Men” is a different kind of UFO documentary and is all the more interesting for it. It follows the titular government agents, specifically retired Special Agent Richard Doty. Doty worked for the United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations and claims that he and his team helped perpetuate and spread UFO mythology. They did this by spreading misinformation and manipulating famous ufologists, all to draw the public attention away from clandestine Cold War technologies and experiments. The government has always claimed that aliens do not exist. Regardless of whether or not that’s true, they leave out an important part of the story – they’re partially responsible for fostering the very idea that they do.

In 1947, something happened in Roswell, New Mexico. But it likely wasn’t this. “Alien Autopsy” aired on Fox in 1995, purporting to be a documentary film about its title subject. Although it has since been debunked, with its filmmakers admitting to faking its content, the impact it had on viewers cannot be dismissed. It captured their imaginations, and sparked heated debates across the country about its supposed legitimacy. Due to the film’s popularity, Fox quickly scheduled two reruns of “Alien Autopsy” to follow the initial airing, promising that the new broadcasts would add more footage for the public to dissect. Each one brought in more views than the last, and helped ignite a public interest in extraterrestrial life that has lasted into the present day.

“Unacknowledged” primarily concerns Steven M. Greer, perhaps one of the most prominent ufologists in the world. Greer is the creator of both the Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence and the Disclosure Project. In the service of the latter, this doc contains a bunch of original purported UFO footage and looks to expose high-level governmental operations meant to sustain UFO secrecy. It presents historical events in a new light and directly points a finger at many prominent and well-known government officials. As with many alien documentaries, it presents what it deems compelling evidence to suggest an official cover-up, and is recommended viewing for believers and skeptics alike.

This documentary concerns the archived files of MUFON. MUFON stands for The Mutual UFO Network, an organization consisting of thousands of members across dozens of countries who study alleged UFO sightings. So, if you want to hear of the greatest and most credible UFO sightings of all time, look no further than “Hangar 1: The UFO Files.” Sure, this all definitely might not transform skeptics into believers, as a lot of these stories are just as bizarre as you probably imagine. But they’re told with utter conviction, the recreations are entertaining, and it’s fascinating to get a glimpse into one of the biggest UFO-believing networks in the world.

Far too often, UFO documentaries can come across as exploitative of their subjects. There’s a sense that the film is laughing at the people they are portraying, not with them. Thankfully, this is not the case with “Love & Saucers.” The unconventional tale of romance focuses on a seventy-two year old man who paints pictures of the encounters he claims to have had with aliens throughout his lifetime - including a female alien he says is his lover. In spite of his unorthodox beliefs, he appears to be warmly received, not only by the film’s documentarian, but by his son and surrounding neighbors. It’s a refreshingly kindhearted view into a wonderfully weird world that we can only hope exists in this reality.

Who better to host a docuseries about UFOs than Captain James T. Kirk himself? “The UnXplained” covers a variety of bizarre and mystifying topics, from the existence of Mothman to horrifying deadly cults, but the episodes most relevant to its host’s sci-fi background are those focused on the possibility of extraterrestrial life. The first of these episodes is a fairly basic primer on conspiracies of government cover-ups, titled “The Truth About UFOs.” However, Shatner takes a more in-depth look at the phenomenon in the show’s fifth season, in an episode covering UFO hotspots. Extraterrestrial experts are interviewed about the infamous Skinwalker Ranch, Phoenix, Arizona, and several other key locations known for their repeat visits from beyond the stars.

There’s nothing particularly original about “The Day Before Disclosure.” It’s just a very well-told and impeccably-produced documentary that presents some tantalizing evidence for viewers to chew on. It contains a lot of traditional information, including stories of implants, alien abductions, and interviews with respected people like scholars and astronauts. Of course, much like “Shaun Ryder on UFOs,” your enjoyment of this documentary hinges entirely on whether you believe these peoples’ stories. There is little evidence to speak of, and skeptics will pounce on the outsized tales. But when the stories are this entertaining, and when a documentary is this well made, it’s worthy of note.

There’s something profoundly unsettling watching an older alien documentary from the ‘70s; there’s just something creepy about old, grainy, color-washed footage. As for the nature of this doc’s content, it consists of the typical talking heads and barely discernible UFO footage, and it touches on a lot of popular American UFO stories like the Betty and Barney Hill incident. But perhaps the greatest thing about it is that two of its hosts are “The Twilight Zone” creator Rod Serling and none other than “Rocky’s” Burgess Meredith. The star power, stories and interviews all make this a documentary well worth watching.

This is a fantastic documentary that stands out from the pack in a number of intriguing ways. For one thing, it treats the possibility of alien civilizations in a scientific manner, not so much as gray, massive-headed beings that abduct, and probe you. It explores the famed Drake equation, a probabilistic argument that was concocted by astrophysicist Frank Drake in 1961. Following a complicated mathematical equation that the vast majority of laypeople don’t really understand, Drake concluded that there could be anywhere between a thousand and a hundred million extraterrestrial civilizations in our Milky Way alone. This documentary explores said equation and its conjectures, offering some quite intriguing theories regarding the existence of alien life.

Structured like an investigative news report, “A Strange Harvest” took a serious look at the serial disfigurement of cows that had plagued ranches since the 1950’s. While one might initially assume the perpetrators were predator animals, the witnesses interviewed in this documentary suggest that the criminal is actually of extraterrestrial origin. Alternate theories, such as the idea that a military aircraft could have been tampering with the animals, are tested but ultimately thrown out. The film even features a therapy session with an alleged UFO abductee, who describes seeing the cows subjected to testing firsthand! In spite of the documentary’s journalistic approach, its ideas are presented with tense and unnerving score.

Whether you believe that there is life on other planets or not, Unidentified Flying Objects themselves are undeniably real. Sometimes there are things flying or floating in the sky that we just can’t explain. They’re unidentified! The true debate is whether these objects are manned by alien pilots - and it’s a debate that “Out of the Blue” confronts head on. Speaking with scientists, former government employees, and everyday eyewitnesses, this comprehensive documentary attempts to paint a fuller picture of UFO sightings around the world as a means of convincing viewers of the existence of extraterrestrials. If you’re looking for some alarmingly convincing evidence, but don’t have the time for a full series, this is likely the doc for you.

If aliens exist, what would they look like? “Alien Worlds” rejects the popular idea of little green and gray men, and instead offers science-based looks at what kind of creatures may actually be able to survive on other planets. Segments play out like nature documentaries from another world, describing how each of the invented extraterrestrials might be able to survive in spite of their harsh surroundings. Far from a solely CGI-based science fiction, the show also makes sure to provide context for each of the ecosystems it constructs, often using hostile environments on our own Earth as jumping-off points. It’s refreshingly creative, and the perfect blend of sci-fi and reality for UFO enthusiasts and animal lovers alike.


Did these stories convince you that we’ve been visited by extraterrestrials? Let us know in the comments!