Tim Brinton (Tim Brinton) is a broadcaster for the Anglia Television program “Science Report”. While working on research for an episode, the program creators discover something interesting. The episode was supposed to delve into what they referred to as the “brain drain from Britain”, a situation where many brilliant minds are leaving England. During the research phase they learned that there have been a series of disappearances reported for a number of intellectuals that included scientists, engineers, physicists and people from other important fields of education.
One of the disappeared was Dr. Anne Clark (Patsy Trench). Her car was found in the parking garage at Heathrow Airport, but she had disappeared. She told friends that she was going to New York, however, there was no record of her being on any flights, and no one has heard from her. Of the 400 people known to have left Britain, twenty-four of them disappeared without a trace.
Sir William Ballantine was a prominent radio astronomer at Jodrell Bank Observatory. Ballantine died in a car crash. No cause for the accident was determined. Earlier he had sent a package to Robert Hendry (Anthony Roye), the News Editor at the World Press Service. The package contained a spool of tape. On the tape was, what appears to be, random sounds from outer space. The news agency received a call from an American that says he has information on Ballantine. The young man makes an appointment to talk to reporter Colin Benson (Gregory Munroe), but he disappears too. Another source of information is a former NASA astronaut Bob Grodin (Shane Rimmer).
The investigation ultimately leads the Science Report people to believe that there was an alliance between the U.S. and the Soviet Union to establish a lunar base as a jumping off point to a human colony on Mars. The investigation reveals that the base was established in the 50’s, due to concerns about catastrophic climate change making it impossible for life to continue on Earth in the near future. According to Dr. Carl Gerstein (Richard Marner) there will be only three solutions to the climate catastrophe. Alternative 1. Massive reduction in human population. Alternative 2. Underground shelters to house everyone, and Alternative 3. Colonization of Mars. According to the research, we are already on Mars.
“Alternative 3” AKA “Science Report: Alternative 3” was released in 1977 and was directed by Christopher Miles. It is a British television science fiction mocumentary. The film was supposed to air on April 1, 1977; however, it ended up being delayed until June.
There’s nothing really special about it other than the fact that a lot of people believed it was real. Some compare the response to what Orson Welles brought about with his 1938 War of the Worlds radio broadcast.
What gives the film some feeling of authenticity is that the film is interspersed with actual moon landing footage as well as newsreels on actual catastrophes. It is an interesting blend of fantasy and facts that make the story believable. References to NASA and Jodrell Bank Observatory add a feeling of truth to one of the wildest tales presented in a logical way. Many conspiracy theorists still believe that it is true.