John Greenewald: That's right everybody. As always, thank you
so much for tuning in and taking this journey inside the black
vault with me. I'm your host, John Greenewald, Jr. and today
we're talking about the new film aerial phenomenon, you can visit
the the website at WWW dot aerial phenomenon.com. I have
seen this film myself, it's incredibly well done, tells a
thought provoking emotional story about a 1994 event
witnessed by over 60 schoolchildren, I do highly
recommend you check this all out. But joining me today,
stepping into the vault is Randall Nickerson, the film's
director, producer and cinema cinematographer Randall, thank
you so much for taking the time today and telling us about your
new film. Thank you, John, I really appreciate it. I
appreciate the work you've done. Yours. Thank thank you for that.
And and I mean it when I say that the film, I highly
recommend for everybody who's watching this interview, if you
haven't seen it yet to check it out. The one thing that I have
to compliment you up top is the way you captured the emotional
effect on those that witnessed this event. And that is
something that has always spoken to me doesn't matter the topic
of a documentary. But when you truly capture that, as the
cinematographer, the director, the producer, which you are of
this film, my compliments to you, because that's what
resonated with me, I think more than than all else. For those in
my audience that aren't aware of the story, give a quick synopsis
of what is this 1994 event and what happened
Randall Nickerson: was September 16 1994, in the morning 1030.
And is when things started to happen at a school, a rural,
private school in Zimbabwe. And there were multiple children on
the playground who witnessed something set down behind
outside of the school boundaries fence, basically, which was
logs, these large trees. And they saw this silver thing in
the sky first, and then it came down to the ground. And then the
children gathered, not all of them, but but a large group of
them to look at it. And then they saw these creatures getting
out of it. And at least one approach the playground. And
they went on for between 10 and 15 minutes, according to
everybody. And then they ran screaming to the teachers who
were in a staff meeting at the time.
John Greenewald: So were there any teachers out with them? Or
was it just the school children playing and maybe teachers in
the back or
Randall Nickerson: there was a woman in the tuck shop, which
was the there was always adults out there because it is Africa.
So there was a woman in the tuck shop, there are other people
also I haven't brought up yet. Because it's just too much of a
story to tell, to be honest, this is the air the film is
really a part of the story.
John Greenewald: And it is and like I said earlier really does
capture that emotion. Before we get into that I want to talk to
I'm kind of assuming maybe the emotion with you as well but
what spoke to you to do and create and produce and go out
and do this film. What What made you do it
Randall Nickerson: was the children watching their
interviews initially and saying, you know, just striking me like
they're telling the truth. Whatever they're talking about,
they're telling the truth. I can see it in their body language,
their eyes. And then the further I went the more more interviews
archival interviews have the more children and some of the
same children with the same type of honesty. clarity about what
they saw, and the more over time the more drawings I collected.
The more teachers I spoke with the more other witnesses outside
of the school that I spoke with the more I You just can't stop
when you, you know, I was looking for that moment of like,
well, maybe maybe this didn't happen. You know, maybe it was
there's another explanation here. And I kept looking for
that. I really did. And I didn't, I kept getting more and
more confirmation that that something really extraordinary
happened there. And that continues to this day, from
emails that I receive, and more even more witnesses that are
contacting me that, unfortunately, aren't going to
be in this film. But
John Greenewald: so, when when you got into this and learned
about this story, did you have any background with UFO related
stories? Have you done films on this before? Was this kind of
your first introduction into this topic?
Randall Nickerson: No, it wasn't the first I had seen something
myself, I don't really want to talk too much about it. That
drew my attention kind of stopped my whole career in life.
Just wouldn't you see something like that it changes everything.
And then I started making films, I was working actually on a film
on Budd Hopkins. At the time, that aerial aerial story came to
me from the John Mack Institute, they they had said, Would you be
interested in making a film about this? And I had to put
button story down and started with this.
John Greenewald: I don't want to pry because it sounds like you
don't want to talk about it much. If you don't mind me
asking this part. Was your experience a sighting? Or was it
something reminiscent to?
Randall Nickerson: I could identify with the kids. I was
gonna I was 10 years old. Yeah.
John Greenewald: Gotcha. Okay. And I will respect it. I'll move
on from that goes, yeah, it goes
Randall Nickerson: back to why would I do or put my heart into
such a thing? Well, it's to realize that I wasn't the only
person that went through that. And there's a lot. And that's
what's really stunning is how widespread this if you want to
call it a phenomenon is worldwide all over. And what
drove me was my heartfelt feelings of these people don't
have a voice.
John Greenewald: And I think you give them that in this film. And
you brought up Dr. John Mack, obviously, he has been connected
to the story for quite some time, tragically has passed
away. But you have footage of him. And I don't want to give
away too much of the documentary. So I want you to
take the lead on how much of the story you want to share. But but
but obviously we can tell from the trailer at least that you've
got footage interviews from Dr. John Mack. He went out there.
And it's known that he was essentially convinced at this
that this was something real can you speak to your experience
with the John Mack Institute and and looking at that film footage
from Dr. Mack and what his contribution was to the story?
Randall Nickerson: Sure, he was the BBC reporter who was first
on the scene that contacted Dr. Mack and he went over there to
to the aerial school and interview the children. He
brought his you know, he was a Pulitzer Prize winning Professor
of Psychiatry at Harvard, he was very well known, very well
respected. And he was also had trained, I think he spent 20
years working with children as a psychiatrist or, and so he had a
lot of experience dealing with children. And he brought that
experience into the interviews at aerial. Yeah, he contribute
and then he got attacked by Harvard. Right. At that same
time. Basically. I think he's an unsung hero in a lot of ways.
For his stand, he took, you know, as a clinician, that he,
you know, people were trying to diagnose people that seen these
things, as you know, you name it, schizophrenia, false memory.
I mean, they created new things just to try to explain it. And
he was saying these people are having real experiences. This is
real on some level, it is real, and he stood up against the Ivy
League People all over that, at great cost to him his reputation
and everything, but I, you know, and others, as well. But he took
a very big risk. And I think we'll be reading about him and
others and our history books that took that stand, especially
if there are academics.
John Greenewald: Yeah, yeah, I had the pleasure of only meeting
him once before he passed, we both lectured at the same
conference. And he really was an amazing individual, you can see
that he truly cared about those that he would speak with school,
the school children included, but he had such a passion behind
what he was doing. And again, without revealing too much of
your film, but you really pulled some great footage to capture
that struggle that he had from the people at Harvard, to the
point where I just got a little cringy, that they were saying
that about him. And what was interesting was that there was
no skeptical explanation brought forward and I want to kind of
talk to you about that. Their kind of viewpoint was that he
was kind of off his rocker, so to speak, and, and in doing
this, and that it was all essentially a delusion, but not
bringing forth any, like proof of what they were saying. It's
like, Hey, this is too extraordinary to be true, ergo,
it's not true. And it's like, when you see the Harvard people
say that I'm talking about John Mack, again, was a very cringy
moment, but very important in the film to show the struggle
that he had. But I want to talk to that with talk about that
with you for a moment, in that that skeptical viewpoint when
you were doing this film, other than the obvious that the kids
all came together and created this conspiracy of the story.
And, and, and, and made it all up, which I just don't see. I
mean, I'm a skeptical person, I'll be honest with you. But
when you have that many people, and especially in your film,
showing them to this day, being affected by it, I just don't see
any of that as as being true. But what other if any skeptical
responses to this case? Have there been?
Randall Nickerson: Well, due to the fact that I hadn't had
something occurred to myself, I felt I had to be extremely
objective. And I looked, you know, I had to look at
everything very carefully. And it was looking for the skeptical
arguments, and took those skeptical arguments to
professionals. Well, one of them was mass hysteria. mass
hallucination, I mean, all those. And it brought that to
some Harvard psychiatrists, you know, to look at that, and got
their opinion, which was that's not what's happening here.
John Greenewald: And these are present Harvard psychiatrists,
Randall Nickerson: one of them has left. The other one is still
there.
John Greenewald: Interesting getting a professor at another
university
Randall Nickerson: at the moment.
John Greenewald: I understand if you can't, can you name them?
Like, did they get involved with this publicly? Or was this a
Randall Nickerson: no that I hope they will get involved
publicly? I really do. I think they again, like everybody else
is concerned about there are pressures. But I think that's
going to change pretty soon, to be honest. So yeah, I was
looking for anybody. And I was really particularly interested
in seeing the film, but one teacher that thought they had
made it up. So I found him. I was expecting him to hold that
viewpoint. And he did not he and I, that interview, I'll share
sometime down the road for sure. We just couldn't fit it into
film. By the way, our rough cut was four hours. Wow, that was
good.
John Greenewald: I have seen comments on review sites, which
are all extraordinary for your film, by the way, but I've seen
quite a few requests for a director's cut. So keep that
rough cut, because my guess is you'll have a lot of people that
will want to that'll want to see that. But just to clarify. So
you're saying a teacher back then who said and all these
these kids are making it up, has kind of done a 180 on that and
feels that there is something well, he
Randall Nickerson: asked, I'm like, you know, I expected him
to hold that opinion. And if he didn't, he said he I believe
that gets and then I asked him why? And he said, Well, it was
the consistency of the stories over time. But it didn't change
year after he's still at the school. So it was really, it was
lucky that he still was was there and had had a lot of time
to really think and see the children over time and really
reflect because it never left them and never left the school
and never left the school. Or anybody that is there at the
school even present day. What what occurred there
John Greenewald: just to close the thoughts about that, that
skeptical viewpoint and the mass hysteria, and it seems like
you've dug in on that. I think where I'm going with this part
of the interview is that I'll say it again, I'm a very
skeptical person. And if you had a kid come forward with my son,
who's eight years old, who just graduated from second grade came
to me with a story, I'm going to lean towards imagination or you
know, something that's very explainable. But when you have
more than 60 schoolchildren, and years later, you're going out,
you're finding them, you're speaking to them. And their
stories are consistent. And you can see, I can't stress enough
that emotional response to this even so many years later, what
else is there? And I can't think of any, and I'm not trying to
trap you on anything. I just can't think of any. And that's,
that's why I wanted to talk to you about it. Is there anything
else other than that mass hysteria? Which sounds like,
it's just really not not going to be even something to
consider? Anything else?
Randall Nickerson: Um, no. I mean, you know, there was a,
there's always kind of there's, there's always space debris
coming in and satellite re entries, there's all kinds of
things. And that was one of the initial explanations that it
was, you know, potentially something, you know, came off a
satellite reentry, or, you know, and that that's what the kids
saw. I mean, that was one explanation. But it didn't
explain, you know, any of it really, because it didn't just
fall to the greenhouse, nothing fell to the ground. It was all
controlled, and how do you explain their interaction with
these creatures? And I get it like, it's, it sounds, it's
unbelievable, you know, me? Still, but it doesn't matter
whether I can't conceive of it. Right. And I think for all of
us, it's like, okay, yeah, it's really difficult, difficult to
wrap our hands around it, but we can't just throw it out the door
because of that. You know, there's there's leaps in not,
there's leaps in science, and discoveries that require us to
go way further than just the simplest explanation, which is
usually right, but not always. Yeah. And particularly, this is
a very complex.
John Greenewald: And that's what was silly about those, those
horrible the footage that you pulled in the reels of the
Harvard people, you know, just kind of slamming this topic
without any evidence whatsoever, because in their mind that only
extends, you know, pretty much to here. They couldn't expand
out of that. And it was a very telling look into how some of
this is dealt with. And you mentioned earlier about the
drawings. And I think that that is something else that you
captured very well in the film was that students were
creatively putting what they saw on paper, and there was a lot of
parallels between what they were putting down. If you don't mind
me digging in a little bit more on that. What were you seeing
with these, with these drawings? What drew you to them?
Randall Nickerson: Well, initially, I had, I had probably
a dozen of them. And over over time, I got I think I have every
single one of them at this point. But it took a long time
to actually get all the drawings. And every single one I
got was like, you know, pointed to the witness, you know, what
they saw, and the witnesses I was already speaking with and
for, for the most part. So drawings kept coming in year
after year. And it was it was just so interesting, because
they were all from different perspectives. They saw the same
thing, but it was their interpretation as a fourth
grader or a second grader for a sixth grader. And it was really
dependent on how artistic they were how detailed how well they
could translate what they saw on to paper. And even if it wasn't
that complicated complex, it still said something about the
experience and what they saw. That was just brilliant on the
that was Cynthia hind actually that that requested them making
drawings and the school did it And not because of the school,
but because of the parents. The school wanted it to go away. But
the all the kids went home and told their parents, that's what
started everything. And that school couldn't ignore it at
that point. And they had them all draw. Not all of them, but
they had the ones they felt like they didn't do it with the
younger children because of concern of for their mental
health, so to speak, they were pretty traumatized. So, yeah, so
there were more drawings that could have been done. And more
interviews that could have been done at the time. But I think it
was actually probably a wise choice by the school. To be
honest with you. So yeah, the drawings were interesting, for
sure. I mean, it's, you know, that's why, and I'm not really a
big special effects person. I don't, it's not necessary. And
the drawings really are the special effects
John Greenewald: done. Yeah. I and you had that that footage as
well of the kids at the time. And you juxtapose that with
footage, I assume that you shot for the film. But But back then,
if you don't mind me asking it was that from the John Mack
Institute, or where did you find those, those old interviews?
Randall Nickerson: Oh, it was initially from John Mack the
It's the John Mack Institute. And he was just John Max
footage. And then when I went over to I mean, as soon as I
just found the school was still there, which was largely part
happened because of Nick Carter. And then then finding out she
had done a story for SABC, then I found out Zimbabwe, television
had also done interviews, then I found another person who had
shot our, you know, shot at film. And it was all over time,
you know, suddenly shot a week later, well, somebody shot days
later, and then interviewed the kids a week later, and then a
week after that. And then two months after that, then, you
know, another three months, and then another year. So you had I
mean, I had so much archival, which is why I'm able to tell
almost the story in real time, because of all these people that
interviewed these kids. So I didn't my, my shooting began in
2008. That's when I started shooting myself. But all the
archival is from a lot of people. And I'm really glad
those people took the time to do it. But it was such an
incredible story. And if you talk to anybody, any of the
media that was there, they'll tell you that those kids were, I
mean, there was a reason why they got interviewed, and why
they even bothered to roll tape, because that was beta SP at the
time. Yeah. Half hour tapes, and I was really lucky to recover it
all. But that also became a goal, you know, when I have
every single piece of tape that I can get these kids when
they're young, because that that tells the story. Yeah. Then a
lot of detail.
John Greenewald: The footage of the BBC journalist to was
powerful. I don't know why I was drawn to his interview. But good
catch on that, because that was a fantastic, fantastic
interview. And he was you could just tell that he was so
bewildered by it. And that that one, I think, just a personal
note, struck me more than I think most of the interviews,
obviously, aside from some of the children, but yeah, that was
a great real to see. What is the consensus around the school now
since it's still there. And you went there? What is what is the
thought process? there right now?
Randall Nickerson: Um, it varies a when I was there, I mean, most
people I spoke with, there were several teachers still working
there. Named there was no question about what happened.
There are skeptical people, you know, that have come on to in
the school, here and there. And just in general, and I
understand people. It's hard. It's hard for people to believe
something like that.
John Greenewald: But a lot of the teachers that are still
there, they just accept that this was a extraterrestrial
encounter.
Randall Nickerson: I saw yet That's true. I mean, they they
there are three or four that were there. Yeah, absolutely.
And the ones I've kind of in been in contact with were not at
the school anymore, but are all, you know, all around the world
in different places. There, they knew something profound happened
that at that, at that moment,
John Greenewald: again, not wanting to reveal too much of
the film. But were you surprised at the emotional toll that I
feel comes out in this that the children, some of the children
that were there that you interviewed, present day? And
again, juxtapose that footage from back then? You can you can
feel it, you can see that emotion, you can feel that
emotion? Was that expected? Or Did that surprise you at all?
Randall Nickerson: It just solidified. You know, still,
when I walked in to interview these children as adults, I was
ready for anything, you know, ready for? Well, you know,
whether they Oh, no, I made it up when I was getting no, I
expected expected that and I didn't expect what you're
talking about, which was that it did. It's something that really
touched their lives. And, you know, different people dealt
with it in different ways. I see that a lot. Some people blocked
it out completely, or they only want to think about it for short
periods of time, and they want to get back to doing things, or
they've faced it head on, which is pretty rare. But it's
something I I've seen and talk to other people about that
aren't involved with aerial how long it takes to actually
process something like that. And it doesn't help that they're
not, they're not believed, or people laugh at them, or they're
called crazy, and doesn't want them, it doesn't help them heal.
And I was lucky to I really feel honored that like a lot of these
students allowed me to tell their story. You know, it was a
risk for every single one of them. And I just honored them
for their contribution in a way to our future. Yeah. So
John Greenewald: my compliments to you for capturing that
because it does come through. And I think a lot of people that
are those hardcore debunkers and skeptics, I call myself
skeptical I am. But you know, there's a there's a very, for me
distinct line of sensitivity here when when people experience
something like this, and I just really, it's not something that
I focus on, because you get into some very sensitive territory.
But I think a lot of people that, again, are those hardcore
skeptics and debunkers, they forget that there's humans that
are on the other side of the stories that you can throw out
all of the, you know, skeptical explanations you want. It's mass
hysteria, it's delusion. They're crazy. They were on drugs, you
know, whatever. And again, not to this specific case, but in
generality, they forget. And I think that that's what this film
captures is the human toll of an experience like this. I don't
want to put words in your mouth. But it sounds like you believe
that they had an extra terrestrial encounter, after
you've done this film. And based on your experience,
Randall Nickerson: yes. And there, it's details actually, a
lot of it's not in the film, because nobody would get it. Cuz
they're so specific. But it was observations that they made that
that really convinced me. There's no way they could have
known those things at that period in time. Because it just
wasn't even. I mean, it's still, it's still not really widely
known at all. So yeah, you know, and again, it's like, you know,
the simplest explanation going back to skeptics, I don't want
to spend too much time because what I found is most skeptics
don't do the research. You know, what they're talking about, and
then, you know, and they go by the simplest explanation Well,
that's true. In 90% of the time I agree with that, and I'm very
objective person I work you know, my dad was a mechanic, I
grew up working on cars, things if I if if it wasn't in my
hands, and I couldn't turn a wrench to it or what didn't
exist. You know what I mean? If I couldn't have my hands on it,
sure. Work on it physically. Let's and then again until
electricity, just just, you know, and we can't see that,
really, most of the time, we don't see it, but it's still
there. And when you get nailed by to 20, or 40, or 40 volts,
you know, it's real. But yeah, the simplest explanation is 90%.
Right, but not this all the time, I think, you know,
skeptics got a really, I don't know, I, in my, my, the skeptics
have gotten that gone downhill over time. kind of curious,
who's going to step up this time and try to, you know, debunk
this or whatever. But I'm really not that concerns. Because I was
ready for that in the beginning.
John Greenewald: Yeah. And again, that's what has struck me
about it, not only after seeing your film, but even prior that
for I've been around the block for a long time in this field.
I've known about the case, I've never really dug into it myself.
But knew enough to know that there really wasn't a whole lot
of skeptics throwing bombs at a gun. No, it's this. It's that
it's whatever. Because there are so many aspects to supporting
what had happened. And you brought up some stuff that you
said was not in the film. Do you mind if I ask what those points
and details were from the kids that maybe resonated with you?
Do you mind if I asked that?
Randall Nickerson: I kind of want to keep them quiet, because
they're so specific. And John Mack did the same. Because
they're kind of key to knowing. They're just very specific
things that that tell you that it's the same thing. Right. And
John, he had kept those quiet sort of Budd Hopkins and others,
they kept these little, these little details, because that
really told you who who was authentic. Because you can't be
I mean, it's so out of the, you know, it's out of the it's just
very specific out of the normal realm. I just don't I just, you
know, don't think it'd be good to share that stuff at this
point.
John Greenewald: I understand. Are these details if you don't
mind me asking this details found outside of the aerial
events, meaning other cases from other parts? That's that's what
you mean. Okay. I
Randall Nickerson: gotcha. I'm not trying to be like, you know,
secretive or anything. No, I have questions. And they're very
poignant. I appreciate that.
John Greenewald: Yeah. No, and I can appreciate what you're what
you're trying to shield as well. I mean, yeah, totally, totally
on board with you. They're going back to the drawings. One thing
we haven't talked about yet was the actual extraterrestrials
that were seen by multiple children. And not every drawing
that I saw in the film had them, but quite a few of them did,
right. Yes. So what percentage would you say of the drawings
that you got? Where the kids did they see these beings, the half
all of them?
Randall Nickerson: No, it wasn't all of them. One of the things
you have people have to understand I think is how large
the playground is. Its enormous. And there's there are two
playing fields one very close to this object that came down. And
the other one was actually on a about 15 feet elevated, and it
was surrounded by trees. So people on that field. If they
were they, they probably didn't see what the other people did. I
mean, there was a swimming pool I got it must have been 500
yards away from the site. It's a long ways away. It's a huge
campus. It's almost like a college campus. It's that big.
So when you take that into account, and finding out where
people were on the playground, or the different playgrounds
because there was a playground for the little kids and then
there was the soccer field and the other soccer field or
football they call it of course and and then the swimming area.
And I mean it was it's enormous. And so when I placed people
where they were it made a lot of sense. The people that were
closest to it had the hadn't seen that those creatures. Yep.
John Greenewald: I'll let you take the lead here. The
according to the children, whatever you're comfortable
sharing without blowing the entire documentary. What did
they what did they experience when those that saw the
creatures? What did they They experience
Randall Nickerson: some form of communication. mind to mind
communication. I don't know what else to say about that. That's
and that's you in researching all the other reports and and
you know, say, really had to do a wide ranging look at it the
whole phenomenon that's common. That's part of this, this
phenomenon. Is that mind to mind communication?
John Greenewald: Yeah. And in 1994. For those, I don't know
what number of kids describe that telepathic communication.
But what are the odds that kids like that would make up that
type of a detail? You know what I mean, like that, that, to me
was something that stuck out as well, where it's like, you know,
kids are going to be kids, if that was something to look at,
of either a mass delusion or whatever their imagination, but
they were so specific, in those older interviews that were shot
that you showed in the film, of mind to mind communication.
Those are some pretty powerful words, you know, and I think
that, that that's something that really doesn't resonate today
about this, this event. I mean, for those that dive into this
field, if they're lucky enough to, you know, see your
documentary, they'll become acquainted with it, but most out
there don't. And that leads into my next question for you is, why
don't you think that this is part of a bigger conversation,
where you do have not only with Dr. John Mack, but others as
well, Harvard level psychiatrists, ones that are
qualified to talk to somebody and say, okay, look, they may
think that they saw this, but XYZ, their qualifications are
not paving the way for any type of explanation, other than these
kids experience something. So why isn't this part of a bigger
conversation in this day and age?
Randall Nickerson: Male I think that's we're in the process of
that changing right now. I think it's been a worldview. problem,
you know, back to Copernicus, and Galileo, the same kind of
thing where we, especially in the, in our war, educated
professors, and that field, and other fields, where people have
studied forever, and have multiple doctorate degrees,
they're pretty stuck on this is the way it is, you know, this is
the way this is the truth. This is all there is. And yes,
there's this and this and this, but aliens are really
disturbing. worldview shift to, to think that there's possibly
something way far more intelligent than us out there is
disturbing on a lot of levels. And John Mack and others have
spoken about this, not the first one to say this, by any means.
And that it's kind of like a global ego blow, which I heard
John, say, to humanity, and it's something we're gonna have to
get over. So we can make progress and realize it's kind
of, you know, we're gonna have to be have some humility, you
know, if we're gonna grow, and come to terms with the fact that
there is other life out there. It's if they've gotten here,
they're so far ahead of us, our LMS.
John Greenewald: You had mentioned the conversation is
changing in that regard. Do you feel that humanity is ready to
accept incidents like the aerial case like others that may be
similar, although I can't really think of ones that are near this
type of a case, but obviously encounters and so on, do you
think the world and humanity is ready at this point?
Randall Nickerson: The younger generation is for sure. The you
know, what's that saying? Ideas. Great, great ideas die with with
when professors die, so it's sorry, I'm not able to quote it,
but it's. So the older generation I think, is going to
have a more difficult time because of their mindset, but
the younger generations have grown up with exists hearing
about this in movies that aren't even close to the reality. But,
you know, they're much more open and they want to know. And they
also see that we need to grow and they want to know the truth.
So I think I think we're gonna do okay about as long as we
don't think it's a threat? Like, I mean, I think we not that I
know what the answer is to that we do need to know what their
intentions are. Why are they here? You know, what's, what's
their intentions. But again, others have said it, I think, if
they were here for we would not be we would not be here.
Considering the technology that they seem to wield.
John Greenewald: Do you think religion will play a role in
this that came up in the film a little bit? You can attribute it
to this case and beyond? So how do you feel that that will play
a role moving forward?
Randall Nickerson: Well, I think the Catholic Church and you
know, the major religions have pretty much realized that this
was going to be coming down the pipe quite a long time ago, back
in the 90s. And, and even currently, so they've opened the
door for that, which is good, because so it's inclusive, you
know, that we're not the only creatures here. I it is, I'm
sure it's been a concern for a long time. From the powers that
be, religion has been a very big concern. But I think I think
it's gonna, I think it'll smooth out because of what the actions
by the Catholic Church and other religions too, I mean, NASA just
brought them in for a story or wherever. Yeah, I think that was
a really good idea. To say they need to be on they need to be
brought on board to themselves religions to understand like,
Okay, well, what does this mean, if we bring this into the
picture?
John Greenewald: As I kind of close the interview with you
hear at the end of my time, I want to ask you, what is the one
message that somebody sits down, they watch your film, what's the
one message that you want them to come away with?
Randall Nickerson: That this is something we need to address,
that it's real. And these creatures or whatever they are,
it's, it's going on worldwide. All over the place aerials, one
incident there, many, many, many, many, many more. And just
as riveting. And this is something we need to, you need
to find out, as much as possible, any piece of data is
important about these things to understand what they are, and
why they're here, we'll get to where they're from down the
road, but we need to know, for our own species survival, you
know, to know, because they can decide our fate. That's my, I
don't think it's are necessarily in a lot of trouble. But who
knows, we need to, we can't approach them. uneducated, we
need to know as much as possible and get down to the brass tacks.
And that means everybody, and we're seeing it, we're seeing
the military, we're seeing, you know, NASA or seeing everybody
finally, knowing like, okay, these things are here, then they
you know, they're not saying what they are, of course, but we
know, they know that these are not another foreign country or
anything like that. So we need to address it and I hope people
also people who have been through this who have seen them
can have a little bit of a break. You know, people like and
people that have talked been talking about this, researching
it like yourself, can get a little bit of a break and be
taking seriously because there's been so many people over the
years, year after year, decade after decade coming forward at
great risk to themselves, their reputations, their friends,
their families, they've lost a lot, you know, and a day is here
pretty soon that we everybody wasn't You're taking seriously
on a different level.
John Greenewald: I know I said last one, but if I can squeeze
in one more so after everything you've experienced with this
film, and beyond, you talked about intention and figuring out
intention, do you personally, if I can ask Have a guess on what
that intention may be, I won't hold you to it, but maybe
Randall Nickerson: my personal opinion I think they're looking
at us as a biosphere. Like, we're a rare gem, slightly rare
gem, there's others probably likely all over the universe.
But we're not that common. And so not just our species, the
entire planet is important. And if we were those scientists
traveling around the universe, we would likely want to preserve
those as much as possible. You know, if you put yourself in
their shoes, and we do the same thing with creatures on our
planet below us that we study that we tagged and track and try
to attain, and, you know, we're always doing it, and we're
always discovering new species on on our planet, our own
planet. So it's just there, in my opinion, they're on a much
bigger scale. And planets are like zoos to them. I kind of
feel personally like, they're more zoo ologists in a way. And
scientists as well, and and they're also pilots, just by the
way, you know, but their perspective actually makes
sense. If you look at us, and how we treat other forms of
wildlife and try to preserve other forms of wildlife, through
different methods that we, you know, calling different things
that we try to, to keep the species safer. I'm not saying
calling in any negative way, at all like for what they're doing,
I have no idea really, in the wide scope, but yeah, that's how
I feel. That's my personal opinion. It's, it may be
correct, it may not be. But it makes sense, from what I've seen
and heard my perspective.
John Greenewald: Well, it's a great, great way to close for my
my audience, just to give one last tidbit about the film in
that what I just asked Randall, some of the kids expressed what
message they received from these beings. And it's, it's pretty
fascinating. I'm not going to blow that part of the film,
because I think you need to see the progression up into that
point. So I invite everybody who is watching this interview, I
hope you do go it is well worth it. To watch aerial phenomenon.
Randall, let me have you give the details. How can they find
the film? Watch it? How do they do that?
Randall Nickerson: Right now you can go to aerial phenomenon.com.
You can see the trailer there, you can rent the film there. And
likely in the next couple of months, it's going to go much
wider. Because I really want everybody in on the planet to
see this. Not for money or fame or any of that. It's just to get
us all on the same page, or at least open the doorway so we can
all start having a conversation.
John Greenewald: Yeah, it's a great, it's a great conversation
to have. And it was an honor to have you here. And again, that's
WWW dot aerial. A r i e l phenomenon.com. I have that
right, Randall. Perfect. All right, I wanted to make sure.
Randall, thank you again, very, very much for a great
conversation. Well done with the film I do. Like I said,
encourage everybody to see it. I hope everybody's watching will.
So Randall, thank you very much for your time today. And thank
you all for watching and listening. Make sure you click
up on the thumbs up button. Make sure you subscribe to the
channel. If you're watching on YouTube. And just know all of
these interviews go to the podcast as well. Whatever
podcast platform you have, just search for the black vault radio
and you will find me there as well. Randall, thank you again.
Thank you all for listening and watching. This is John
Greenewald, Jr signing off, and we'll see you next time.