INVASION: It is Science Fiction at It’s Best!

Back in the mid 1990s, I was presenting a series of UFO seminars all across North America. As part of the promotion process, I was booked as a guest on a number of top-rated talk and music radio programs in each town. While I was in Texas, one of these radio interviews happened to have been heard by Shaun Cassidy. At that time, he was involved with American Gothic, a television series that I enjoyed watching. After speaking with my wife back at home, I was excited to hear that Shaun had called and I looked forward to speaking with him. Opportunities like these give me a chance to influence both science fact and science fiction.

It was a pleasure to speak with Shaun about my investigative work. That’s because he didn’t seek to have me validate everything I believed. Instead, he listened politely and attentively. I sent him a couple of the many VHS videos I had produced by that time. I encouraged him to watch the videos and consider how much information about UFOs and Aliens was being held back from the average television viewer. Even when factual information surrounding the paranormal was presented on television, it was delivered with a built in censorship of what media types felt viewers could or would accept as the truth.

Shaun Cassidy said he was working on several different entertainment projects at that time involving paranormal themes, including some music. It was easy to understand from speaking with him that Shaun was very creative and had an insight that was more intense then the usual suspects who create fictional UFO shows, movies and the like. While I would have liked for him to have called me back for some sort of collaboration, I also knew my plate was full at that time. I was already involved with consultant and publicity work for Fire in the Sky, Men In Black, Independence Day, The Fifth Element and a few other films and television projects.

Having grown up in the 1960s, I was and remain in awe of the legacy that the Cassidy Family represents within the entertainment world. I had seen Jack Cassidy in more then a few television shows and films. David and Shaun Cassidy have become a permanent part of American pop culture through their roles in The Partridge Family and The Hardy Boys, not to mention the music they have given us. However, Shaun has also become an important mover and shaker when it comes to television. Watching the premiere of Invasion explains why.

The series takes place in Homestead, Florida. This is a place not completely alien to weird happenings. It was rumored that alien bodies from a UFO crash had once been stored at Homestead Air Force Base. There are also accounts of secret underground facilities that do or did once at the base. The series concept seems to be that aliens are replacing the people in Homestead. Anyone who has ever visited the place (which is somewhat creepy), can easily believe that.

I liked the first episode and that’s probably no accident. Shaun and I are almost the same age. People tend to create for or within their peer group. I can only hope that the series moves fast enough for a younger generation of viewers whose attention is constantly divided between any number of television channels, DVDs, computers, I pod selections and cell phones. If INVASION is like any of the other shows that Shaun Cassidy has brought our way, we can expect plenty of plot twists and surprises.

The thing I like most about INVASION is that its science fiction trying to be like UFO fact, not UFO fact pretending to be science fiction. This is where most other fictional UFO films and entertainment projects turned in the wrong direction. They tried to do the truth as fiction. As someone who has forgotten more about UFOs and Aliens then most people will ever learn, I can say that the truth is far more interesting and frightening then any science fiction ever created. When it comes to UFO fact verses fiction, it’s better for the two to have a wide and comfortable separation.

One of the videos I sent to Shaun was entitled, ALIEN INVASION. Although there was enough factual information in that one tape to inspire a dozen fictional television or film projects, Shaun’s Series and my tape bare no resemblance. That suits me fine and is another reason that I like his work. Shaun is one of the few people out there who are creative enough to build a fictional UFO show without stealing material from hard working paranormal investigators who often have to choose between making a car payment and investigating something that most people dismiss out of hand.

INVASION is science fiction done right and a Series we can all enjoy. Although creepy, it’s not too scary for those sensitive to the subject. Best of all, the beer-guzzling weirdo character who believes in all that UFO, alien and conspiratorial stuff is the one who finally gets to be right!