Extraordinary Contact

McFarlane’s fascination with UFOs and the supernatural began young, fueled by books like Into the Unknown [1], which chronicled eerie phenomena including a UFO sighting in her hometown. McFarlane recalls the visceral thrill of terror, an ‘addiction’ to the uncanny that parallels the emotional intensity described by alien abductees. Yet, for many claimants, alien encounters are deeply traumatic, marked by fear, violation, and lasting scars.

Rather than seeking to verify or debunk these accounts, McFarlane investigates the personhood of those who believe in their abductions. Through a blend of personal narrative, archival material, and speculative storytelling, she asks: What happens when the extraordinary touches an ordinary life? Do these experiences provide solace, escape, or a deeper reckoning with unresolved trauma?

Extraordinary Contact also critiques societal biases toward alien narratives, framing them as a complex interplay of psychological, cultural, and physical phenomena: advanced military technologies, trauma responses, or natural atmospheric anomalies refracted through the lens of imagination and fear. Still, McFarlane acknowledges the profound sincerity of these believers, whose experiences illuminate humanity’s existential longing for significance.

For some, the belief in extraterrestrial beings provides hope—an assurance that someone, somewhere, is watching over us. Others find comfort in the void, a temporary rupture where they become the center of a vast, unexplainable universe. McFarlane juxtaposes this with her own childhood fire, where familial support tethered her memory to tangible explanations. In contrast, abductees often live with unanswered questions, piecing together fractured memories in search of meaning.

Through Extraordinary Contact, McFarlane invites viewers to confront the liminality of belief and reality, posing the ultimate question: When our earthbound answers fail us, where do we look to find the truth?

I was a blue leaf this time, I think I will re as a green leaf, Star bound - Come by way of the stars go by way of the stars One on the right one on the left - Birth at Invercargill = "Come with me I will make you fishes of men

– Anonymous letter to Royal New Zealand Air Force, October 3, 1995, Ōtautahi.

[1]  Into the Unknown. Readers Digest. First Edition, 1981.