Ariel Phenomenon Documentary: Definitive Story Behind Famed African Ariel School ET Event
Los Angeles, CA, Feb 2, 2026 – Randall Nickerson’s documentary film "Ariel Phenomenon” presents the definitive story behind the mass UFO/ET sighting event that took place adjacent to the Ariel School in Ruwa Zimbabwe, Africa, in 1994.
After the 1994 African mass sighting event took place, Harvard Professor of Psychiatry Dr John Mack, the BBC, the SABC, and other reporters interviewed over 60 children who witnessed that phenomenon at their school.
After theatrical screenings across the U.S., the film can now be viewed on Amazon, Apple TV/iTunes, and Google. The beautiful soundtrack behind the film is available on all digital platforms and is distributed by SONY Orchard.
C. J. Arabia, Chief Investigator and ERT Case Manager with the Southern California Chapter of MUFON, said, “This is a timeless film and mandatory watching for any UFOlogist or anyone interested in the UFO topic in general. The film should be of particular interest to UFO skeptics around the world, as it presents a case as told by the actual witnesses, young school children.”
Please visit the official YouTube channel for Ariel Phenomenon: Ariel Phenomenon YOUTUBE
The film is now streaming: iTunes, Amazon, GooglePlay, YouTube
To access the film’s soundtrack via Sony's The Orchard
(Seen in above photo, an original drawing by one of the Ariel schoolchildren from 1994)
ABOUT THE ORIGINAL EVENT:
In April 1994 in Ruwa Zimbabwe, Africa, over sixty school children witnessed an unidentified craft land outside their Arial School schoolyard. More than twenty-five years later, this incident remained fresh in their memories. These eyewitnesses continue to search for answers, while consistently retaining the courage to speak the truth.
In this, the first feature documentary about the Ariel School 1994 UFO incident, a young woman returns to her school in rural Zimbabwe - the place that shattered her reality.
Visiting Harvard psychiatrist Dr. John Mack validates the experiences of these witnesses, who, he feels, made this mass-sighting event simply impossible to ignore.
(Seen in above photo, Dr. Mack at right, and Ariel School Headmaster Colin Mackie at left)
Now-adults, these former school children still struggle with the question they've asked for decades: “What happens when you experience something extraordinary but nobody believes you?”
THE FILM HAS BEEN WIDLEY PRAISED:
"The most effective story told on the subject that I have ever seen." -- Douglas Trumbull, director and special effects supervisor: 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Blade Runner, Silent Running
“Ariel Phenomenon is powerful, life affirming and brought me to tears.
Out of the mouth of babes..." -- Josh Boone, Director: Fault in Our Stars, The Stand
“Enjoyed the film greatly. It puts the issue in a touching, emotional place...Your treatment of John Mack’s career was well-struck and essential to the film. With thanks and respect.” -- Dan Aykroyd, Emmy Award-winning actor and filmmaker
“Randall Nickerson’s unique and moving film is made with humanity, honesty, and a sense of awe. With brilliance and sensitivity, Ariel Phenomenon covers the intimate journeys of a BBC reporter, investigators, schoolteachers, a renowned psychiatrist and the young witnesses themselves trying to make sense of something that is not supposed to happen but did. I highly recommend it.” -- Leslie Kean, New York Times contributor and author of the New York Times best-seller UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go On the Record
“In the annals of UFO sightings, few close encounters of any kind remain as troubling as the 1994 event described by dozens of children at the Ariel School in rural Zimbabwe. Documentarian Randall Nickerson brings the mystery alive, revisiting the scene and tracking down original witnesses. Did it really happen? But how?” -- Ralph Blumenthal, award-winning New York Times journalist and author
“The film, beyond the obvious profound nature and wealth of evidence of the event, also brings a very human element to the genre and ufology that hasn’t been present in other high-profile films to date." -- Gregory Markel, CEO, Infuse Creative
“There is undeniable power in hearing the recollections of people who shared something so remarkable and so inexplicable.” – Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times Critic
ABOUT THE MAKING OF THE FILM:
According to director Randall Nickerson: “This project came about when the John E. Mack Institute asked me to make a half-hour video about the mass UFO sighting that happened at the Ariel School in Ruwa, Zimbabwe in 1994. When I first saw the archival interviews with the students which had been conducted by the Pulitzer Prizewinning Harvard professor Dr. Mack, I was fascinated by the authenticity of the children.
As I got deeper into the material, I had a lot of unanswered questions. I decided the topic deserved a much larger film so I ended up journeying three times to Zimbabwe and Southern Africa, and also to the U.K, Canada, and around the U.S. - to interview people who were at the Ariel School (and the surrounding region) on that day.
My team and I have dug up every type of primary document and media we could find, and it has grown into its current form: a feature-length documentary travelogue, journeying back to Africa with a former Ariel student, while following the paths of individuals whose lives were entwined with the event.
We made the conscious decision to avoid narration, and to let the story unfold naturally. The story belongs to the Ariel School community. We didn’t use special effects because this is a real story, made with real footage – the film presents no recreations. The audience can hear the interviews themselves and use their imaginations; we want viewers to think and experience it for themselves.
This story is critically important because the people who are followed in this film - the former students, Pulitzer Prizewinning Harvard psychiatrist Dr. John Mack, and the BBC war reporter who was first on the scene - each faced a universal dilemma: the need to be heard and recognized. Their lives were dramatically altered by this event, yet they didn’t feel comfortable speaking about it, for fear of the repercussions. That’s something that’s still going on, on many levels throughout our society today: people who have these extraordinary experiences need to find the courage to speak out.
If you subtract the UFO element from this film, then the storyline is simply about the human experience of dealing with - and having to keep secret - a life-altering and traumatic event.
I, personally, don’t know exactly what happened on that day in 1994. I wasn’t there. But I’ve kept an open mind throughout this process. I do believe that in this current era of 2026, with recent information about the U.S. Navy encounters regularly in the mainstream news, we need to take a real hard look at this event, and at this ongoing, global phenomena - whatever it may turn out to be.”
FOLLOW:
Film Director Randall Nickerson on Youtube
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CONTACT:
Randall Nickerson
Director
