July 15, 2008-TORONTO -- More than 60 years after the first reported major sighting of a UFO, we're still watching the skies.

But what is hard to miss is the extraterrestrials that populate pop culture.

Whether or not "the truth is out there," Toronto filmmaker David Cherniack examines the marginalization of this unexplained phenomenon in his documentary UFOs: The Secret History.

The film premieres today as part of UFO Week on History Television.

Logging almost 20,000 kilometres over four years, the filmmaker examined how the U.S. armed forces and government have publicly dealt with sightings, resulting in a spread of conspiracy theories.

"Who knows the truth? All you can say is that (the armed forces) marginalized the phenomenon and that it was brilliantly done," Cherniack says.

"Even if it was just for the sake of convenience -- if extraterrestrials were flying around with impunity -- what are they going to tell the president?"

Gleaning the thoughts of government insiders and scientists, Cherniack telegraphs society's fascination with aliens -- from an epidemic of abduction reports to The Day the Earth Stood Still movies to The X-Files television series -- and looks at how we project our fears onto the unknown.

In a subject split between skeptics and believers, Cherniack explores how we've dealt with the phenomenon, telling a story about humanity and how perception can become reality.

His own encounter with a mysterious object as a seven-year-old on the way to school in Winnipeg spawned a lifelong fascination with the skies.

"I did see that red dot, whatever the hell it was -- and really it could have been a weather balloon -- it just had to be a very calm day."

Asked if he's sure nobody got to him, he says, "Yeah, I had no missing time. I got to school on time."

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