The Best Episodes Directed By Ricki Stern

Project Blue Book and the investigation into UFOs closes. There is no evidence that mysterious objects represent any threat to U.S. national security. But harrowing incidents of UFO sightings continue and the unexplained malfunction of U.S. nuclear missiles after an incursion leave the U.S. defenseless. Three former Air Force officers, who served at nuclear weapons bases in the late 1960s, break two decades of silence to tell their story.

For more than five decades the US government has refused to discuss UFOs, but now, Navy pilots tell of seeing mysterious objects tracking their fighter jets – vehicles unlike anything they’ve ever seen before; top-secret Naval videos are leaked that captivate the world. Government officials, led by former U.S. Senator Harry Reid, demand an investigation. At long last, it looks like the truth about UFOs may finally be revealed.

In 2008 in Stephenville, Texas a local pilot sees lights in the sky over his ranch coming from something huge. He is not alone: hundreds of people saw the craft, and a local reporter makes it her life's work to tell their stories. From this classic encounter we head back several decades to the beginning of the UFO phenomenon in America and the launch of Project Blue Book to study the country's growing "UFO problem".

From a 1986 sighting over Alaska by Japanese Airline pilots, to a 1997 UAP sighting over Phoenix Arizona and a flying disc over the Chicago O'Hare airport in 2008, hundreds of witnesses come forward without any official feedback from the US government. Years later, many of the pilots and government officials, who witnessed these sightings, come together for the first time to share their story in a 2007 press conference.

Area 51, a military outpost in the desert, shrouded in secrecy for decades, has long been the focus of many Unidentified Aerial Phenomena or "UAP" rumors. A pop culture phenomenon, Area 51 prompted one Facebook group to suggest storming the facility in search for answers. Civilian UAP groups continue making progress in providing those answers. For the first time since 1969, Congress questions high level officials in the Pentagon on UAPs.

Poised between life and death, mediums promise a chance to commune with the departed. Can seekers cultivate that ability and find solace and healing?

A medium leads a séance, deeply moving a student. Plaster casts of "spirit" hands — physical manifestations of the dead — are explored.

A bird, a dancing light or a caress: Signs and messages from the dead happen all the time, mediums say. So the grieving look for ways to communicate.

Can consciousness survive a body's demise? An investigator records eerie sounds at a historic spot, and a doctor discusses encounters with the dying.

Vivid details and unshakable confidence — from a 5-year-old. A child psychiatrist studies cases of past-life memories, which occur around the world.

A doctor is found lifeless after going over a waterfall. Now she and others share their near-death experiences. Does consciousness expand after death?