Unlikely UFO documentary that examines the possibility of cover-up theories being encouraged by the government in order to distract the public from observing sophisticated warfare technology, with some interviewees even claiming the government created alien/UFO hoaxes to help drive attention away from their operation. An overall spooky outing that is delivered professionally enough to make the intriguing concept seem plausible; however, pacing is a bit bumpy and some of the interviewees seem a little too tense, pulling the viewer away from the film's main focus.

*** (out of four)

Anyone who has studied the UFO/UAP decades-long story, as well as the field of ufology itself, from a detached perspective as possible, is likely to come to the realization that, indeed, there is something 'out there' ... albeit past, beyond, and beneath all the wild goose chases and red herrings, which only serve to muddy the waters and, in the case of the late, poor Paul Bennewitz, cause some researchers/investigators to go from being caught up in a nest (a mare's) to ending up in one (a cuckoo's).

Why all the bird references? Because our story here concerns a particular 'Sparrow', nicknamed such for his being part of a COINTEL outfit dubbed 'The Aviary,' which in the early 1980s singled out an Albuquerque citizen (in Bennewitz) to be their, ahem, pigeon.

Physicist and businessmen Paul Bennewitz was clearly a man of above-average intelligence, which is what makes what became of him all the more curious; a tragedy that in some respects reminds me of the equally sad case of MK-ULTRA victim Frank Olson, only in this instance no dosing of LSD on an unsuspecting scientist was ever involved.

The intriguing MIRAGE MEN recounts the entire tragic case of Paul Bennewitz, with appearances by Greg Bishop (author of "Project Beta") and even 'Sparrow' himself (aka, Richard Doty). Linda Moulton Howe can be spotted in this as well, in one scene putting to the director the straight-out question as to what kind of documentary he's making, understandably not wanting to be set up as it were and thus made to look a fool.

One may wonder why Howe is even in this. Well, it turns out that in and around the area where Bennewitz made his home there apparently were a number of cattle mutilations that were taking place, which is why Howe and fellow 'mulologist' Gabe Valdez (a friend of Paul's) turn up here on camera.

Okay, and...? How is this in any way related? I'm not entirely sure, but if you ask me, I personally think that any leaked story which claims that ufonauts were out to cross-breed the locals with material from cattle in order to cure lactose intolerance in the region, via the creation of self-milking hybrids, a rather far-out theory and one that can be safely dismissed.

Also featured in this is one-time UFO researcher Bill Moore, including clips of the infamous speech he gave at a MUFON conference in the late '80s. You got to give this guy credit for being courageous enough to come forward about his involvement with the Aviary. Say what you will of Moore, he wasn't chicken about it.

If MIRAGE MEN does anything other than entertain, it's that it provides I think a most valuable lesson for anyone -- amateur or professional -- interested in examining the UFO phenomenon: Beware of disinfo agents, be wary of so-called insiders and supposed whistle-blowers, lest you possibly be led astray and taken in by a sophisticatedly engineered deception and wind up wrapping your car in aluminum foil, a la the paranoiac Bennewitz. (Technically speaking, Paul was no tinfoil hatter.)

As I perceive it, the Bennewitz case illustrates how easily an average citizen can become duped, by, say, a false-flag operation (a staged event), should one ever occur in the future on a worldwide scale/on society at large, under the official story of 'ET'-initiated contact. After all, it might all turn out to be a cleverly orchestrated mirage.

Truth, as the saying goes, is often stranger than fiction. When it comes to the UFO phenomenon and the topics associated associated with it, that would most certainly appear to be the case. Based on the book by Mark Pilkington, the documentary film Mirage Men certainly proves that the real world can produce tales as strange as any you are likely to encounter in a science fiction tale.

Mirage Men explores more than sixty years of government involvement in the UFO phenomenon but it doesn't so with the typical conspiratorial overtones. While it touches upon everything from rumors of secret government bases to crashed UFOs, it really looks at something just as compelling: how the phenomenon has been manipulated, especially by groups and agencies within our own government.

The main focus of the documentary is Richard Doty, a former agent of the Air Force Office Of Special Investigations (AFSOI). The documentary looks at how Doty and some of his colleagues in the 1980s were responsible for helping to foster much of what is today part of the lore that has become synonymous with UFOs. For example, it presents what one interviewee calls the "sad, strange, horrible" true story of electronics engineer and UFO researcher Paul Bennewitz who, having filmed and recorded transmissions from what he thought were UFOs, was targeted by Doty and his colleagues to the point of being driven virtually insane, having come to believe an alien invasion was imminent from underground bases in New Mexico.

The Bennewitz story is just the tip of the iceberg. The documentary explores the efforts Doty and his colleagues made around the same time with others including UFO researcher William Moore (one of the original investigators of Roswell) who made a Faustian bargain that involved him spying on others in the UFO research community in an attempt to get information out of the government and investigative journalist Linda Moulton Howe who Doty handed documents claiming humans had been genetically altered by aliens. There's also an exploration of cattle mutilations with the odd origins of that sideline of the UFO story and ends by exploring the alleged human/alien exchange program Project Serpo, which appears to be just the latest addition of disinformation to UFO lore.

The question the documentary really tries to answer is a simple one: why do any of this at all? Is it just a series of cover stories to protect any number of things from the early development of stealth technology in the 1980s to drones in more recent times? Is it to cover up what the government actually knows about UFOs? Or is the truth somewhere in the middle perhaps, having been perhaps irrevocably distorted by the need for "national security"?

In the end, Mirage Men doesn't have all the answers nor claims to have them. What it does present on the other hand is a fascinating look at how the UFO phenomenon, whatever the truth behind it might be, has been manipulated and often so by the very government that claims they don't exist at all. Ultimately then, Mirage Men shows that the truth might be very well out there but it may be stranger than anything we could imagine.