The Eyes Behind the Stars (1978) / UFO: Target Earth (1974) – DVD

The popularity of Erich von Daniken's bestseller Chariots of the Gods? (1968) and the TV movie The UFO Incident (1975) revived interested in UFOs in the 1970s. This craze culminated with the box-office smash Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). Though these two features may not reach the lofty heights of Steven Spielberg's film, they both capture an era when people thought universal enlightenment could be achieved by a ride on a flying saucer.

The Eyes Behind The Stars (1978): A gorgeous fashion model vanishes after a photoshoot in the woods. Examining the pictures, reporter Tony Harris discovers what looks like an alien spacecraft. Before he can go to press, his evidence is confiscated by a shadowy government agency known only as "The Silencers". Harris begins to suspect a cover-up as more people disappear in conjunction with UFO sightings. But with the Silencers on his trail, the journalist's life may come to an end before he can expose the truth.

The Eyes Behind the Stars combines elements of Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow-Up (1966) with the post-Watergate conspiracy paranoia that would later be mined successfully by The X-Files (1993-2002). Nathalie Delon was the wife of actor Anthony Delon and starred with him in Le Samourai (1967). Sherry Buchanan contributed her voluptuous charms to the Italian horror films Tentacles (1977) and Zombie Holocaust (1980). Even though famed supporting player Martin Balsam (Psycho) clearly performed his scenes in English, his voice is inexplicably dubbed by an actor with a thick British accent. Starring Martin Balsam, Nathalie Delon, George Ardisson, Sherry Buchanan. Directed by Mario Gariazzo .

UFO: Target Earth (1974): While experimenting with his electronics equipment, Alan Grimes accidentally overhears two military men discussing an alien spaceship landing. Finding no mention of the event in the papers, the young scientist becomes obsessed with finding the truth about UFOs. After interviewing witnesses all over the country, Alan learns that a mass exodus of abductees are converging on an eerie lake in North Carolina. Realizing that the aliens are about to make their presence known, he joins the contactees at the site. What Alan can not know, however, is that they plan on jumpstarting the next stage of human evolution...

Startlingly unique and of its day, UFO: Target Earth was made by independent filmmakers in Atlanta, Georgia. It features a mind-bending conclusion similar to 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and a Dark Side of the Moon-influenced soundtrack. Though most of the cast have no other credits, Brooks Clift, the elder brother of famed actor Montgomery Clift, appears as General Gallagher. Directed by Michael A. DeGaetano.

BONUS: The Flying Saucer Mystery (BW, 1952): Journey back to the first rash of flying saucer sightings with this Telenews short subject, the first documentary made about UFOs.

• science fiction