A lot of UFO sightings and alien abductions happen in Arizona. Maybe it's because the clear, unobstructed skies over Arizona make it easier to see UFO's, or because of our close proximity to Area 51 and Roswell, New Mexico, or maybe it's because the red rocks of Sedona and elsewhere in the state are said to have mystical powers. Whatever the reason, space aliens love Arizona and its inhabitants.
"Fire In The Sky" is a 1993 movie based on a true story by Travis Walton. On November 5, 1975 in the town of Snowflake, Arizona, Travis and several of his buddies were working to complete a government logging contract in the White Mountains near Snowflake. That night, as Travis and his buddies are heading home from work, they see the bright light of a UFO, which they first mistake as a fire. Travis gets out of their truck to investigate, and his friends watch in awe as he is taken aboard the alien craft.
Travis' friends return to town and report what has happened. Of course, no one believes them, and accuses the group of murdering Travis. After five days, Travis is returned. He has no recollection at first of what has happened, but his memories of the abduction and what was done to him return to him over time.
While "Fire In The Sky" doesn't have the glitz and glamor and special effects of the alien invasion movies of today, it is a surprisingly good, and scary, movie.
"Fire In The Sky" stars D.B. Sweeney as Travis, Robert Patrick as his best friend Mike Rogers, and James Garner as Frank Watters, the law enforcement official who is convinced that the loggers killed Travis and left his body in the woods. Another one of Travis friends, Greg Hayes, is played by Henry Thomas, who had his own encounter with an extra-terrestrial, albeit a fictional character, when he was a young boy, in the movie “E.T.”