(NewsNation) — The team behind an upcoming documentary on alleged UFO technician Bob Lazar is taking viewers behind the scenes to get a look at how the film is being made.
Filmmakers, in an Instagram video posted Friday, explained how they’re using technology to recreate the “S4” facility near Area 51 in Nevada that Lazar alleges was used to research alien craft. Viewers will be transported there when they watch the film, which tells the story of Lazar’s time working at the facility.
“From Groom Lake to the Papoose Mountain Range, and deep into the secrets within the S4 facility, viewers will be able to immerse themselves in Bob’s story as if they were right by his side,” the film’s website states.
The documentary is set to be released sometime in 2024.
It comes as discussions around UFOs have become more mainstream in recent years. Earlier this summer, a former military intelligence officer alleged in an exclusive NewsNation interview that the Pentagon is shielding information about a decadeslong UFO crash retrieval program.
The Defense Department has acknowledged in recent years that it is studying sightings of unidentified craft, though it maintains it is not covering up any such crash retrieval program. However, congressional investigators say they’ve been stonewalled in trying to get more information.
Who is Bob Lazar?
Lazar shot to prominence in late 1989 after he was interviewed by investigative reporter George Knapp on KLAS-TV’s 5 p.m. newscast. Lazar claimed that he worked at “S4,” a subsidiary facility near Area 51, on projects that involved reengineering alien aircraft.
Lazar’s claims that the alleged alien technology was beyond human capabilities were jaw-droppers, even if they were only claims.
As part of a special report earlier this year, NewsNation affiliate KLAS sought to verify Lazar’s credentials, which proved difficult. He says he earned degrees in physics and electronics, but the schools the station contacted said they’d never heard of him.
Lazar also said he worked as a physicist at Los Alamos National Lab, experimenting with one of the world’s largest particle beam accelerators capable of generating 700 million volts. Those Alamos officials told KLAS they had no records of a “Robert Lazar” ever working there.
However, a 1982 phonebook from the lab lists Lazar among the other scientists and technicians. A 1982 clipping from the Los Alamos newspaper profiled Lazar and his interest in jet cars. It also mentioned his employment at the lab as a physicist.
A researcher at the University of Hong Kong said in a July 2023 paper that Lazar’s “credibility is disputed, and no objective evidence to support his claims” exists. However, the researcher, Maverick Leung, notes that “there is no objective evidence to definitely disprove his claims of alien-related activities.”
KLAS reported in 2019 that Lazar’s descriptions of crafts he claims to have researched seem to match that of at least some of the unidentified objects seen in videos released by the Pentagon.
Documentary film and VR experience
Titled “Lazar: The Original Whistleblower,” the documentary is billed as a production that will “serve as a bridge between the worlds of classified projects and open scientific inquiry.”
Filmmakers are using sketches from Lazar to digitally create the spacecraft he claims to have worked on. Based on Lazar’s recollection, viewers will also see a recreation of the S4 facility and the surrounding Nevada terrain.
In addition to the film, there will also be a VR experience that the creators say will let people “explore the secrets of S4, unravel extraterrestrial mysteries, and navigate a thrilling journey through the eyes of Bob Lazar.”
Finally, a book will offer “rare photographs” and commentary by Lazar about his time at the facility. That is also set to be published in 2024.
