Popular Reviews of Strange Arrivals

What a huge disappointment. In a dry and affectless tone, Toby Ball (from the excellent show Crime Writers On) recites the story of Betty and Barney Hill, two people who claimed to be abducted by aliens. On CWO, Ball brings a keen incite and critical analysis to the podcasts and shows they review. There is none of that here, no cultural context or analysis, no questioning of the narrative given by the Hills, no reporting on the case, just a straight retelling of a tired story that has been told over an over again. You've seen it on the Discovery Channel, The X-Files, Time-Life books and in many other places including podcasts. I was hoping to find some kind of dissection on the HIll's story and perhaps UFO encounters and our collective fascination with the phenomenon in general, but instead I was given the same old thing in a "produced" package.

This is a great history lesson about the rise of alien abduction lore in the 20th century. I thought the material was handled very fairly. Highly recommended.

It started out really intriguing but I lost interest pretty fast. Too many episodes maybe?

Never heard a podcast that delighted in tearing down folks like this one. Example: Anyone who knows even an inkling about UFOs knows Philip Klass is a despicable person. That the podcast would cast its lot with him illuminates how biased and ugly this show is. The host was condescending and tied himself in more knots trying to debunk the Hill Story than the evidence presented that could definitively show the Hills were "hallucinating, misconstruing or lying" about their experience. I will not be watching any follow-up shows - Mankhe fouled out on this one.