Original subtitles

[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]

ALAN: In ancient times,

men used to live side by side with the supernatural,

and gave it a scared value.

Thousands of people throughout the history of mankind

have claimed encounters with the supernatural.

Many of these were traumatic experiences.

Nowadays, we don't fully understand this phenomenon

which has accompanied mankind since the beginning of history.

The UFO phenomenon

could be an archetypal modern image of the sacred.

The storytelling found in movies and fantastic literature

has imprinted in the collective mind

the idea that this phenomenon is linked

to extraterrestrial beings that inhabit other planets

and come to conquer ours.

We demonize the unknown.

We are afraid of it.

I must confess that I also fear the unknown.

But I want to break that barrier

and discover if this is a real phenomenon

or just something that has been made up.

This story about Juan Perez

is the perfect excuse to start talking about the impossible.

In order to enter in tangible contact with the magical world,

that probably we all yearned for in some moment of our lives.

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[MAN SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

ALAN: A group of people were expecting to hear a fantastic tale,

but Juan broke down

and couldn't tell his story.

What happened?

What did he encounter?

[MAN SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

ALAN: "It's not easy," says Juan, about to cry.

More than 30 years have passed

and he still has PTSD from that childhood event.

[INAUDIBLE]

What does psychology tell us about trauma

which is tinged with supernatural origins?

I've read the case reports,

but they don't give me the answer I'm looking for.

Reading is not enough.

I have to meet the person

who was face-to-face with the phenomenon.

ALAN: What kinds of questions should I ask someone

who claims to have been the subject of a UFO encounter?

How do you break the ice?

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

Nothing coherent comes to mind.

On top of that,

I know nothing about the countryside.

I had never planted anything in my life.

I want to understand the big truths of the universe,

but yet, I don't know how to plant a head of lettuce.

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

ALAN: Juan lived alone all of his life.

Since the moment of the encounter,

he decided to seek refuge

in the countryside with his pets.

He travelled from range to range,

always searching for something,

anything that might help him make meaning

from the existential pain that was a daily reality

ever since the incident

30 years earlier.

[IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[JUAN SPEAKING]

ALAN: Okay.

[CONTINUES IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[ALAN SPEAKING]

[SPEAKING]

ALAN: [IN ENGLISH] Juan is such an extremely sensitive person...

that to avoid getting hurt,

he performs the role of the gaucho with a knife

to protect himself.

I still haven't found the right moment to talk about something

that I know might make him feel uncomfortable.

[BIRD SQUAWKING]

-[INSECTS TRILLING] -[BIRDS CHIRPING]

[DOG PANTING]

[DOG BARKS]

ALAN: Juan is not a hunter.

Juan is prey to the phenomenon that torments him daily.

[CHICKS CHIRPING]

Juan is a hunter who has been hunted.

[SIGHS HEAVILY]

[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]

[BOTH SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[THUNDER RUMBLES]

ALAN: Juan froze because he sensed that the lights were going to show up at his home.

He warned me that, in the wee hours of the morning,

the dogs were going to howl.

[DOGS HOWLING]

That night, I couldn't bring myself to go outdoors.

-[INSECTS TRILLING] -[BIRDS HOOTING]

[ALAN SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[BOTH CHUCKLE]

[SNIFFLES]

ALAN: [IN ENGLISH] I'm travelling to Paraguay

to meet with the Guarani elders.

Juan's ancestral lineage is of this group of people.

My hope is that the wise men

may be familiar with elements of Juan's story.

They may recognize the phenomenon

and may be able to ease some of his distress.

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SOMBER INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]

[WOMAN SINGING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[WIND HOWLING]

[HORSE NEIGHS]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

ALAN: It surprised me to see the ease

with which they received my questions about the phenomenon.

What is supernatural for us

is natural to them.

They share with me that the white men

has not come to them before

in search of the secrets of life.

Just like Plutarco stated,

you are all distracted.

Those simple words kept on echoing in my head.

How is it that no one is interested in the transcendental?

No one wonders why we breathe,

what we are doing on this Earth,

how can we help each other.

We are distracted.

They know it, and they just observe us.

[IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[KEYBOARD CLACKING]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

ALAN: [IN ENGLISH] The next morning, Juan confessed to me

that it was the first time in his life

that he had been able to dream

without waking up terrified.

Juan interacts with the phenomenon through his dreams.

Receiving information about his life

and other people's lives.

He never knew how to deal with this,

and instead, he only received mockery

because of his condition.

Forcing him to hide more and more inward.

It was from his contact with the UFO

that Juan woke up to the Guarani gift of clairvoyance.

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[VOICE SHAKING]

[SIGHS DEEPLY]

ALAN: I never imagined

Juan was going to feel this way.

I'm relieved to see him like this.

A bridge has been built

between his consciousness and his lineage,

thereby healing that feeling of loneliness.

The truth is,

we are never completely alone if we connect to our origins.

[ROOSTER CROWS]

Juan carries in his left arm

the only physical trace

left by his encounter with the phenomenon.

Thirty years ago,

Juan participated in a UFO congress,

giving his testimony.

Dr. Nestor Berlanda was there as well.

Years later, when he was already a psychiatrist,

he periodically visit Juan

to check on the evolution of the case,

and how it had affected his life.

Juan trusts him.

He's willing to travel

and cross the threshold of his own conscious.

[DR. NESTOR SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[HORSE NEIGHS]

[BOTH SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[DOOR HISSING]

[JUAN SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[BOTH SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[JUAN EXHALES SHARPLY]

[JUAN SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[ELECTRICAL BUZZING]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[DR. NESTOR SPEAKING]

[JUAN SPEAKING]

[DR. NESTOR SPEAKING]

[DR. NESTOR SPEAKING]

[CHIMING]

[JUAN SPEAKING]

[DR. NESTOR SPEAKING]

-[DR. NESTOR SPEAKING] -[JUAN SPEAKING]

[DR. NESTOR SPEAKING]

[JUAN SPEAKING]

[JUAN SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[HORSE WHINNIES]

Oof. [CLICKS TONGUE]

[JUAN SHUDDERING]

[ADULT JUAN SPEAKING ALONG]

[DR. NESTOR SPEAKING]

[JUAN SPEAKING]

[DR. NESTOR SPEAKING]

[JUAN SPEAKING]

[DR. NESTOR SPEAKING]

[JUAN SOBBING]

[JUAN SPEAKING]

[DR. NESTOR SPEAKING]

[JUAN SPEAKING]

[IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[BOTH SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[JUAN SPEAKING]

[FIREWOOD CRACKLING]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

ALAN: [IN ENGLISH] Every time Juan finds an answer and feels relief,

I get more confused.

His fear starts to creep on me.

Anxiety for not understanding what all this is about.

And what if this is just a dream,

and the phenomenon is something that is there to help us wake up?

What he saw is not what is important,

but what matters is what it represents in his consciousness.

There are few people who try to go across the threshold

to understand the other side.

But what is it that he has

that allows him to access the other side?

Who is Juan?

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

[DR. NESTOR SPEAKING]

[BLEATING]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[DR. NESTOR SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

ALAN: Juan's encounter was on September 6, 1978.

That same week,

there were two other reports of encounters

like his within a two-kilometer radius.

[HEALION SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[TORRES SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

ALAN: The three of them witnessed the same phenomenon,

but their outcomes were all different.

Juan was the only one of the three

who was not afraid,

and had the courage to discover

what existed beyond the fog.

The UFO phenomenon exists,

it has been with us throughout history,

it is physical in nature,

and it remains unexplained in terms of contemporary science.

It represents a level of consciousness

that we have not yet recognized.

And which is able to manipulate dimensions

beyond time and space as we understand them.

It affects our own consciousness

in ways that we cannot fully grasp.

The words belong to Dr. Vallee,

a French astrophysicist, who dedicated

his whole life to studying the UFO phenomenon.

He used to work for NASA,

helping to create the first computerized map of Mars.

He also collaborated on the Blue Book Project,

when American scientists got together

to analyze thousands of UFO cases.

It was more than 30 years ago

that he had travelled to Argentina with his wife

to meet young Juan.

Today,

so many years after that first meeting,

I've decided to send him a letter

and tell him about what we were doing,

without ever expecting that he would even reply.

And now I'm waiting to see him.

[INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT OVER PA SYSTEM]

The first few hours with Dr. Vallee were very intense.

He seemed very interested in knowing how Juan was doing

and what kinds of situation

Juan had recently had to face.

I talked to Dr. Vallee about the long-term consequences

of Juan's encounter with the phenomenon.

The appearance of precognitive dreams,

and what happened during the regression

with the significative appearance of his grandfather.

Today,

I feel that he's the one who can answer my questions

about the phenomenon,

and help Juan and I both understand how his story fits

into other stories around the world.

And what is it that motivated Dr. Vallee to visit us,

considering that this is just one of the thousands of cases that he studied?

DR. VALLEE: ...be, uh, to be parallel to...

You can adjust the focus.

-By joining this. -Here?

ALAN: To be able to see the phenomenon,

one needs more than eyes.

[TYPRYRENDYJU SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[BOTH SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

DR. VALLEE: [IN ENGLISH] Listening to witnesses,

and accumulating the data from

what they were telling me,

I could not escape noticing

that they were describing an impact on consciousness.

An impact on their thoughts,

an impact on their dreams,

an impact on their life.

And it would not have been honest

to separate those reports from the physical reports.

Also people in, especially in close encounter situations

were describing other effects that were

biological, physiological effects.

Speaking to witnesses like Juan for example,

it became clear that

the phenomenon could not fit

nicely in the,

uh, four-dimensional physics that we use everyday.

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

DR. VALLEE: [IN ENGLISH] We started looking at models

of parallel universes

because we need to account for the fact that

witnesses are describing objects that seem

to come out of nowhere,

seem to disappear on the spot,

objects that change shapes

in the same way that, for example,

a five-dimensional object would go through

our four-dimensional universe.

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

DR. VALLEE: [IN ENGLISH] The idea that there are multiple universes

never came from me.

It's an idea that is,

uh, very popular in physics today.

It's a theory,

uh, but it's a theory that authorizes,

uh, the description of the universe

at a much higher level

of detail and of complexity.

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

DR. VALLEE: [IN ENGLISH] It's something that, um,

seems to live in our universe,

uh, is capable of interacting with us,

as in the case of Juan.

Uh, is capable also of

borrowing some of our images,

um, and interacting within our society.

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

DR. VALLEE: [IN ENGLISH] The approach is to think of

the UFO phenomenon as a display.

As if the phenomenon was

displaying itself whilst exhibiting,

uh, images that in path come from the background

or from the consciousness

of the, um... of the observer,

of the witness.

ALAN: Now I feel like I'm in a movie inside another movie.

That what any wise man

and Dr. Vallee seem to be telling me the same thing.

Despite having follow different paths,

they arrived at the same conclusion.

That what any wise man know

that what is seen outside is not real.

Our perceived reality is something holographic

projected all around us

which obscures a truer reality.

What is real remains invisible.

That's where the spirit of the phenomenon is,

behind that which is being projected.

Just like Dr. Vallee explained to me,

there exists a phenomenon of unknown origins

that's being projected as though on a movie screen.

That movie screen surrounds us,

and we see the projected movie as real.

My first impulse was to understand the origin of the phenomenon.

It seems that we are part of something really big,

but have access to so little.

I have to stop my inquisitive mind

to enjoy the fruits of the phenomenon.

And how it makes us walk through a constant search

towards finding ourselves.

[IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[BOTH SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[ALL LAUGHING]

[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION]

DR. VALLEE: [IN ENGLISH] My own interest is more,

"What is it that happens to the witnesses?

"How can we help them?"

The witnesses when they grow up

will integrate that experience within their life

as Juan has done.

And that process is very interesting,

and these people have something to teach us.

[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION]

I would love to ask you,

what were your first thoughts

when you met Juan the first time you came to Argentina?

My first thought was that I was very happy

that my wife was with me

because she was a child psychologist.

And, uh,

I've always thought that

children were better observers

than adults

because... in general,

uh, children do not project their own

interpretation on what they see.

For example, it's well known that in, uh,

aircraft accidents,

the children will describe

much better what happened to the airplane

than the adults.

The adults tend to add details

that are irrelevant.

And the children are... Very often,

the children are more precise

because they don't have an interpretation,

and they don't try to impress you.

They just tell you what happened.

And, uh, that was true in the case of Juan.

My impression was of a,

of a child who was

very direct, very clear.

Uh, was, um...

Also the interaction with his father,

the interaction with the family,

was beautiful.

That it was just very pure.

Very clear.

The observation itself was complicated,

complex, uh, rich and so on.

But the description was very...

The situation was very clear.

Very clear for you.

And today, when you...

when you saw it after more than 30 years,

what do you feel? What do you think?

Uh, I see a man who has been,

whose life has been

impacted by what he saw as a child.

And who is still, uh, evolving

through the questions that

the observation has raised.

And I'm hoping that he can close that circle,

reach some closure, and then,

go on with a new phase of his life.

So, you think this is the final stage of what happened

40 years ago?

It could be, yes.

Um, it...

It could, uh,

put a new layer of memory,

uh, on what he experienced,

and, uh, I'm hoping that

we can help him integrate it

with his own consciousness.

Do you think this was a special case for you?

Yes, it's always been a special case.

Uh, because it,

it's very rich in terms of testimony.

Not, uh...

I mean, he was the only witness in this particular case,

but remember, we found three other cases

at the same period, in the same area

that reinforce each other.

So, we know the phenomenon was active.

The phenomenon was there.

And he happened to be there to see it.

[INSECTS TRILLING]

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

ALAN: Juan arrived home.

I was scared because I didn't know

how he was going to receive

this encounter with his roots.

But here he is,

as himself,

who he always has been.

[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION]

Our work with Juan created a community for him,

and what any people know from ancient times

how important a community is.

Grandfather Francisco warned everyone in the community

about Juan's situation.

And he implored them to make sure that

someone was with Juan at all times.

In a world where appearances are the priority,

we tend to forget what it is to be vulnerable in front of others.

Juan taught me to be vulnerable.

[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION]

Here, children accept the supernatural with no judgement.

They integrate it to their lives,

thanks to the spiritual support of the elders.

Juan was a kid when he came across the supernatural.

But there was no one there to help him,

and so he endured it for decades.

His story would have been different

if he had been born in the land of his ancestors.

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

-[ALAN SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE] -[SPEAKING]

-[ALAN SPEAKING] -[SPEAKING]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[CHILDREN LAUGHING]

[INSECTS TRILLING]

[RHYTHMIC PERCUSSION BEATS]

[WOMEN SINGING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[FRANCISCO SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[RHYTHMIC BEATS AND SINGING CONTINUES]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[RHYTHMIC BEATS AND SINGING CONTINUES]

[FRANCISCO SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SNIFFLES]

[FIREWOOD CRACKLING]

[CRICKETS CHIRPING]

[RHYTHMIC BEATS AND SINGING CONTINUES FAINTLY]

ALAN: [IN ENGLISH] Seeing Juan's healing

allows me to understand how important Juan's identity is.

We are much more than we think we are.

Perhaps, from the other side,

the phenomenon is moving us to wake up

from the long dream of illusion.

So we remember who we are.

That 12-year-old kid who was searching for himself

today becomes a resolute man.

Now he has no fears.

That UFO ship of his childhood

is truly the one that brought Juan to these primordial lands.

Thirty years passed,

so that Juan was able to finally return to his source.

[RHYTHMIC BEATS AND SINGING CONTINUES]

In this simple act,

Grandfather Francisco in full expansion of his consciousness

allows Nhanderu, or God,

to whisper to his ear the true name of Juan,

his true identity.

No words are needed in this ritual.

A few hours before dawn,

Juan gives himself up with an open heart.

I can say it with confidence

that the phenomenon exists

because it deeply affected me on my own journey.

I don't know more than that,

but I don't feel the need to prove its existence.

The only thing I know for sure

is that we have to be ready for the moment

when the phenomenon comes knocking at the doors of our perception,

because, maybe,

what we see in front of our eyes,

it is not more than our own soul.

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

[SLOW INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]