Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County is a 1998 sci-fi\horror television movie that aired on the UPN network on January 20, 1998.
Plot[]
The movie centers on a Tommy, a teenage boy from in Lake County, Minnesota, who is making a home movie during his family's Thanksgiving dinner when they are attacked and ultimately abducted by extraterrestrials.
Cast[]
- Kristian Ayre as Tommy
- Benz Antoine as Matthew
- Emmanuelle Chriqui as Renee
- Gillian Barber as Mom
- Michael Bule as Brian
- Marya Delver as Melanie
- Katlyn Ducharme as Rosie
- Ingrid Kavelaars as Linda
- Aaron Pearl as Kurt
- Dean Alioto as Damian Hawkins
- Bart Anderson as Professor Green
- Gary Hetherington as Colonel Hampton
- Gareth Moses as Julian Bond
- Suzanne Ristic as Aileen Burchess
Controversy[]
The program caused a level of confusion and controversy upon its initial telecast that echoed earlier reality-muddying incidents such as Orson Welles' War of the Worlds radio broadcast.
Very much like the Orson Welles' broadcast, "The Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County aired on UPN, immediately following "Real Vampires: Exposed!" which offered a tabloid-like investigation of vampires, leading some viewers to believe that the movie was also portraying real events.
Another way in which this video misled its viewers, was the way in which it was filmed. The style would soon be made popular through "The Blair Witch Project".
UFO researchers (including Stanton Friedma) were not informed of the nature of the show by the program's producers and controversy and confusion also centered on the lack of disclaimers.
The program was believed to be based on a factual event, however the supposed "original" tape that the program was based on was actually another science fiction thriller movie by the same director.
Debate over the hoax nature of the program occurred on Internet chat rooms and bulletin boards where the program's status as fiction was exposed thanks to the character of Tommy McPherson being linked to actor Kristian Ayre.
The program was also proved to be a hoax when an interview with the Lake County Sheriff's department stated that nobody named McPherson lived in Lake County at the time.
Some viewers continued to insist that portions of the program were fabricated, but that the McPhersons' experience itself was real and others that the program itself was evidence of a conspiracy.