Last updated: June 16, 2026
Director: Andrew Patterson | Runtime: 1h 31m | IMDb: 6.7/10 | Our Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Shot on a budget of $700,000, Andrew Patterson’s debut feature is one of the most atmospheric and intelligent UAP films of the modern era. Set in 1950s New Mexico, a teenage switchboard operator and a late-night radio DJ intercept a strange audio frequency and begin pulling on a thread that leads to something vast and deeply unsettling. The film works through radio calls, audio testimony, and long unbroken takes — trusting the audience to sit with ambiguity and partial information, just as real UAP researchers do. Released on Amazon Prime, it remains one of the most criminally underseen films on this list.
Watch the Official Trailer
Watch on Amazon Prime
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Vast of Night about?
The Vast of Night (2019) is set in 1950s New Mexico and follows a radio DJ and a switchboard operator who intercept a strange audio frequency that leads them toward a government secret. The film is notable for its deliberate pacing and the way it treats the encounter as something genuinely unknowable rather than resolved.
Why is The Vast of Night significant for UAP researchers?
The film is set during the height of early government UFO investigations and depicts ordinary citizens piecing together evidence the government is suppressing — a dynamic central to the real history of UAP research. Its radio frequency plot mirrors documented cases of anomalous signals investigated by SETI and military intelligence.
Is The Vast of Night realistic in its UAP portrayal?
The film avoids spectacle in favor of atmosphere and ambiguity, which is arguably more faithful to the actual experience reported by encounter witnesses — confusion, partial evidence, institutional stonewalling — than most big-budget UAP films.
Is The Vast of Night recommended for UAP readers?
Highly recommended. The Vast of Night captures the grassroots investigation dynamic — civilians tracking anomalous evidence despite institutional indifference — that characterizes most of the real UAP research documented in books like Richard Dolan’s UFOs and the National Security State.
