Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Files Of The Unexplained’ On Netflix, A Docuseries About Encounters With Aliens, Ghosts And Other Unexplained Phenomena

Files Of The Unexplained is an eight-episode docuseries, produced by Vox Media, that examines famous cases where ordinary people had encounters with unexplained phenomena. It could be anything from alien encounters to ghosts to disappearances. In one episode, the case of severed feet washing up on the shores of the Salish Sea is examined.

FILES OF THE UNEXPLAINED: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: We see a marshy scene at night. Then a man talks about seeing War Of The Worlds as a kid.

The Gist: In the first episode, a 1973 alien abduction incident is revisited. In Pascagoula, Mississippi, Charles Hickson, then 42 and Calvin Parker, then 19, were fishing on the river at night after their shift working on the local shipping port. Both men report two bright lights hovering right above the water and beings with pinchers for hands coming out. Then both report that they were brought into the ship and examined; Hickson even describes a giant eye looking him over. Then they were deposited back near the river.

Via 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 break down the encounter to show whether the men’s accounts of the abduction seemed credible. This wasn’t 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 stage show that brought him some income.

The abduction affected both men greatly; both ended up being changed forever by the incident, and even Hickson was affected as he was pulled in multiple directions by people wanting to hear the story, as well as straining under the skepticism of the American public. But a recording between the two men that was made without their permission when they reported the incident to law enforcement was released in 2020, showing that both men believed in what they saw, even when no one else was there to listen to their story.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Files Of The Unexplained reminds us of a slew of docuseries about unexplained phenomena, but the ur-example of these shows is In Search Of…, which we used to watch when we were kids in the late ’70s and early ’80s (the show came back in 2002 and again in 2018).

Our Take: Speaking of which, the formula that Files Of The Unexplained is pretty much the formula that In Search Of… pioneered almost 50 years ago: Interviews, reenactments, and lots and lots of speculation. Which is absolutely fine, if that’s all you’re expecting from the series.

The episodes aren’t all that long; most are in the 30-35 minute range, with the longest being 48 minutes. So they’re not examining these cases with a fine-toothed comb; they’re going over the broad strokes, mostly interviewing people who were involved or at least related to those involved. Given that most of the episodes take place decades in the past, the perspective of those intervening decades are interesting to listen to.

For instance, hearing directly from Calvin Parker and his wife, who was his girlfriend at the time, about the Pascagoula incident was invaluable, because to him, the abduction gave him some severe PTSD, and he would rather forget about it. But half a century after it happened, it’s still at the forefront of his mind. It was good insight into how an incident like this can change a person, especially one that wasn’t inclined to wildly reporting about things like this to begin with.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: Hickson, in an archival interview, says, “I know there’s other worlds out there with life on it. And someday, everyone will know that to be a fact without any doubt.”

Sleeper Star: You wonder why Rebecca Davis, the city’s events manager, is being interviewed until you see her collection of alien-related memorabilia. She was also instrumental in having the city place a marker near where the incident happened. Finally, she’s got an impressive helmet of hair that seems to have come straight out of 1987.

Most Pilot-y Line: None we could find.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Like this show’s predecessors, the episodes of Files Of The Unexplained are designed to get you intrigued about the particular incidents in question and research them further if you’re interested. Given that we had either not heard of or forgotten the Pascagoula incident before watching this first episode, and now we’re curious, the show did the job it set out to do.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.