Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Phoenix Forgotten’

Written by Scott Edwards

​When you look towards the skies at night, many of us get lost in the thought that there is something else out there, not just emptiness. Since we keep hearing new reports about UFO’s coming from different countries, it seems like there is something to them and possibly our leadership knows more than they are leading on. I would like to think that with the transparency that governments have taken to over the past year concerning these UFO sightings, it would be nice to know if they have had contact with alien races and what we should expect in the future. Some folks may not believe that there is anything to this, but the universe is so vast, it is hard to believe that we are the only advanced species around.
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On the night of his little sister’s birthday on March 13th, 1997, Josh Bishop is videotaping everything during the event, but there is something else going on that has captured his attention. With his father trying to figure out what is in the sky, Josh turns the camera around and gets a clear shot of what appears to be a space craft flying over Phoenix. Watching as the unexplained ship vanishes in the distance, he then catches a couple fighter jets flying over the house to intercept, but there is no explanation as to what has just happened. Getting his video to the news networks, Josh has become a pseudo star, but he wants to know more about what he saw that night and is ready to take this to the next level.

Getting his camera gear and taking to the streets to find out what people thought about the lights, Josh meets a young woman named Ashley who shares the same interest as him. Wanting to know more, Josh and Ashley move quickly around the city getting interviews with people from different backgrounds about the lights and their thoughts. But their quest for knowledge is further enhanced when Josh hears that the lights have made another return to the area and he enlists the help of his friend Mark to come along for the ride as well as they check out the hill where the second ship was spotted. Being scared off by the cops who were looking to find out the same thing, Josh has the idea to map out where the lights have been seen and gets his friends to agree to the trip, but little is known beyond that.

Twenty years have passed, and Sophie has decided to pick up the camera and do a little investigation on what happened to her big brother. Being able to watch all of the tapes that were left with the family after his disappearance, Sophie knows that there has to be at least one more of the final trip the group took and believes it could be hidden in the old high school. As her interviews are starting to create more questions than answers, Sophie gets a call from her teacher contact and finds out that there was a second camera used during her brother’s documentary. With the camera being fried to a crisp, she is shocked to see that there is still a tape inside, one that will change everyone’s outlook on whether or not aliens exist.

I’ve been waiting to see this movie ever since I fell in love with the Phoenix Lights story. Just a little different take on what happened, as you get to see some footage from the past littered in between new interviews from today. I’m not a huge fan of the documentary style of storytelling, but this did a decent job overall in keeping my interest. I liked Sophie’s drive in trying to find the truth as to what happened to her brother and how her life would have been different if this event never took place. With a personal stake in the story, she was not afraid to ask the difficult questions and the look on her face when she found out the truth was pretty telling. With a missing person case, no clues as to what happened, a missing camcorder, strange lights in the sky, a government cover up, and a young group of friends looking for the truth, this movie will give you second thoughts about trying to hunt for aliens in secluded locations, that is for sure. Stay Scared.

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