HOME / ENTERTAINMENT / MOVIES

'John Was Trying to Contact Aliens': Release date, plot, cast and all you need to know about Netflix's documentary short

One man has been trying to contact aliens for over 30 years. A new Netflix documentary short gives us an insight into that endeavor

With the kind of the year 2020 has been, an alien invasion might be the only thing missing, though not for lack of trying. Everyone from an amateur astronomer to NASA may have done their part to contact aliens -- after all, it is unlikely that earth might be the only planet with life. However, we have been unsuccessful thus far, even with all the reported sightings.

One man has been trying to contact aliens for over 30 years. A new Netflix documentary short gives us an insight into that endeavor. Read on to find out more about 'John Was Trying to Contact Aliens'.

Release date

'John Was Trying to Contact Aliens' will be available to stream on Netflix on August 20 at 12 am PST.

Plot

John Shepherd had a special mission in life: to make contact with aliens. Over the course of 30 years, John transformed his grandparents' home in rural Michigan into an incredible laboratory from which he broadcast experimental music millions of miles into space. 'John Was Trying to Contact Aliens' charts the rise and fall of this one-man SETI project, before opening up into a broader story about the human need for connection.

The film won the Short Film Jury Award for Non-Fiction at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020.

Cast

John Shepherd

John Shepherd's curiosity about aliens grew when he was a young man and he believed -- and still does today -- that we are not alone. He soon formed a passion for the subject which turned into an obsession. When he and his family moved to Northwestern Michigan's Torch Lake area, he renovated all of his home into a scientific research station with one goal -- to make contact with aliens. His home became the base for Project STRAT -- Special Telemetry Research And Tracking -- which started broadcasting music and signals into space in the summer of 1972. 

Director

Matthew Killip

Matthew Killip is a British filmmaker living in New York City. His short documentaries have played at film festivals around the world, including Sundance Film Festival and True/False Film Fest. He also works as an editor, most notably collaborating on multiple projects with artist Jeremy Deller and director Michael Almereyda.

Trailer

If you like this, you'll love:

'Unacknowledged'

'The Search For Life In Space'

'The Universe'

'The Code'

'Bob Lazar: Area 51 And Flying Saucers'