Dubai Diaries: The truth is here?

Once my Friends Reunion euphoria subsided, the usual weekend dilemma reared its ugly head. What do I watch now? Admittedly the proper course of action should have been to pick up a book, or take advantage of the crazy shopping deals tempting swathes to the malls, but as is now de rigueur the streaming services were fired up and their variety of televisual wares displayed. How is it possible we now possess access to almost every programme ever made and still an endless scroll through the apps produces nothing enticing? Did this happen when we had four or five channels? Regardless, a chance swerve on Prime Video and a blast from the past hove into view. Much like the aforementioned New York chums sitcom, this show arrived in the mid ‘90s and created quite a stir, although it’s safe to say amongst a different segment of the TV watching public.

The X-Files burst onto the scene in 1993 and originally pitted susceptible conspiracist FBI agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) against woman of science Dr. Dana Scully, ostensibly hired to aid her ‘space cadet’ colleague’s investigations, though really there to provide rational explanations for the paranormal goings-on documented in the agency’s off-the-book cases. As the series developed, the initially well-drawn border between the odd couple’s points of view and beliefs began to blur. Through a number of shared experiences, both came to realise ‘the truth’ (meaning extraterrestrial life) was indeed ‘out there’ and the government’s knowledge on the issue far more advanced than it had ever let on. Enjoying the sci-fi epic 25 years ago, and having just recovered from the David Schwimmer/ Jennifer Aniston revelation, I decided to give in to nostalgia once again. It made for a decent few hours entertainment. Some story lines were far goofier than memory served, but on the whole the performances and overall plot arc stood up. What I was unprepared for, however, was the very real X-File-esque twist about to come our way. I’ll briefly let you in on the revelation (because I can’t quite get my head round it), but according to multiple news outlets including The Guardian, next week UFOs or UAPs – Unidentified Aerial Phenomena as they have been rebranded – are about to go mainstream. In June The Pentagon aims to release a report about what it knows on the matter. While I’m not holding my breath for a straight introduction to Mork and/or Spock, former US President Barack Obama told CBS in an interview: “There’s footage and records of objects in the skies, that we don’t know exactly what they are, we can’t explain how they moved, their trajectory.”

What I want to understand is, why isn’t this a bigger deal? Why are we talking about Joe Biden driving an electric truck quickly when these headlines are floating around? What has 2020 done to us? ‘The truth’s out there? Meh, what else is on?’ Keep scrolling, I guess.