Charlie’s Angels-Unidentified Flying Angels

1977

The plot-
So this rich woman disappears or actually she is roughly escorted from the room after seeing a UFO. Such beastly behavior. The angels are called upon to investigate this place which is run by a flim flam man (Wild Wild West’s Ross Martin) and an ex-astronaut who wears the worst blond wig/hair helmet this side of a Star Trek alien. Apparently they charge people a bunch of bread in exchange for the chance of maybe spotting a UFO. Oh, boy! Bosley (David Doyle) and Kris (Cheryl Ladd) pretend to be a couple (of what I am not sure) who want to see a UFO or rather Kris does so her sugar daddy gives in. Meanwhile Sabrina (Kate Jackson) plays a cheap PI looking for a missing person (although not the one she is really looking for) at the UFO/rich guy place. The third angel Kelley (Jaclyn Smith) hits up the bewigged ex-astronaut in hopes of finding out information. So the girls and Bosley play their roles trying to figure out what is going on. They go through different outfits, fool the baddies, stroll through 70’s style rooms and eventually Sabrina finds the UFO is a fake. There is also an airplane, a water running car (yeah, right) and uh a desert. This UFO business is all a sham, the evildoers are outed, the saucer revealed and the case solved. The girls talk to their boss Charlie over a little black box while they grin a lot and our show is over.

The UFO-
The saucer looks relatively detailed and is a typical saucer shape. It’s grey and makes a whooshing sound. When it is revealed as a fake it’s a metallic looking thing around a meter in length. It’s on a rod and it goes up and down while being controlled by remote control and the controls are a big desk like thing. So a fairly elaborate set-up and it’s kept outside behind a stone wall a ways from the house.

I just saw this one for the first time last week. It’s a decent enough episode that shows how people can want to see a UFO and I’m sure that happened in the 70’s. Ross Martin is good as the crook. Kate Jackson is always a delight when she gets to play a tacky person as her cover as she does here. The UFO actually looks very good, like a Hollywood style prop which of course it is. Once you see the model it’s hard to believe that’s the same huge thing that duped a room full of adults.

The Brady Bunch-Out of this world

1974

What’s this about?
Bobby and Peter meet an astronaut who claims to have seen a UFO. That gets saucers on their minds. Later at home they hear a whining noise, they look outside and see a red saucer shaped thingamabob floating out in the distance. Oh me garsh it’s a flying saucer it is! Or at least it looks enough like one to get this episode rolling. Peter and Bobby are thrilled by having seen this, but the rest of the family doesn’t believe them. So they decide they need evidence like a picture. Next thing they set up in their back yard with a camera prepared to see the UFO again. Eventually they do and get a picture. Also around this time Bobby has a dream where a UFO complete with red-afro wig wearing little aliens come and talk to him. After the dream the pictures are developed and show a saucer. The parents still don’t know what it is however an Air Force investigator is called in. Turns out that Greg was doing it all along to prank Bobby and Peter, but he didn’t intend for it to go this far. So he confesses and gets punished, no UFO, show is over.

The UFO-Greg explains earlier to Marcia that he hung a plastic sheet on a line between two trees like a movie screen. Then the saucer is a cutout on a flashlight that he shines on the sheet while blowing into a whistle thingie for the sound. Of course the saucer looks too good for what he says he did. While Bobby is always wanting to believe in things it’s not surprising he was duped. Peter however is like 15-16 here and should have known better.

Impact-I loved this one as a kid and still appreciate it for the UFO aspect and the hoax aspects.

UFO verification checklist

So you see an object in the sky, how do you verify whether it’s real or not.

For UFOs that only appear in the sky and vanish check these.
1-Make sure there isn’t a clear plastic sheet out in the distance because maybe someone was just shining a flash light UFO on it.
2-Inspect the area where you saw the object to make sure there isn’t fishing line between trees to pull a saucer object across.
3- Check area for hub caps, frisbees or other objects that may have been tossed in the air by hoaxers.

Other sound advice.
If the saucer is still in the sky then make sure it looks solid and it isn’t just a projection.

If the saucer is one the ground then look closely to make sure it isn’t made of cardboard or plywood.

If the saucer says UFO on it then it probably isn’t.

Some of those will show up this week in reviews as UFO week moves on. Feel free to add any tips to the list in the comment section.