The McPherson Tape: The “Real” Alien Abduction That Started It All 👽
Before The Blair Witch Project terrified audiences into thinking found footage was real, there was a strange little home video circulating among UFO enthusiasts — a grainy 1989 tape called UFO Abduction. Most people didn’t know where it came from. Some believed it was genuine government-suppressed evidence of an alien encounter. Others swore it was the most convincing hoax ever filmed.
Today, that mysterious VHS is better known by its nickname: The McPherson Tape — and it’s one of the earliest examples of the found-footage horror genre.
A Birthday Party Gone Terribly Wrong
The story begins on October 8, 1983, with the Van Heese family celebrating a child’s fifth birthday in a quiet mountain cabin. The youngest brother, Michael, is recording the entire night on a bulky camcorder — balloons, cake, candles, laughter. Everything feels ordinary until the lights suddenly go out.
When the brothers step outside to check the power, they spot something hovering in the woods: a glowing red light. They walk closer… and stumble upon what looks like a landed spacecraft. Moments later, small grey figures emerge from the darkness — and the family’s night of celebration becomes a desperate fight for survival.
The rest of the tape captures chaos inside the house: doors slamming, objects moving on their own, and terrified voices as the unseen visitors draw closer. The final shot? The camera drops to the floor as something — or someone — enters the frame.
The Man Behind the Tape
UFO Abduction wasn’t the work of shadowy government whistleblowers — it was the brainchild of a young filmmaker named Dean Alioto. With a budget of just $6,500, a handful of friends, and a rented camcorder, Alioto set out to make a movie that looked exactly like a real home video. The cast improvised most of their dialogue, creating the awkward authenticity of real family banter.
Unfortunately, the movie’s distributor burned down before the film could properly release (yes, really), and the few surviving VHS copies began circulating at UFO conventions without credits — feeding the belief that it might actually be real. For years, believers treated it as recovered evidence of an actual alien abduction.
Lost, Found, and Reborn
Nearly a decade later, Alioto was given a chance to remake his lost experiment for television. The 1998 remake, Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County, followed the same premise with a bigger budget and a new family — the McPhersons. It aired on UPN and fooled an entirely new audience; news outlets were flooded with calls from viewers who thought they had just witnessed a genuine abduction.
Both versions — the rough, jittery 1989 tape and the slicker 1998 remake — share the same eerie realism that made found-footage horror so effective years before it became a mainstream trend.
Why It Still Matters
Long before shaky cameras and “real” footage became horror staples, The McPherson Tape nailed the formula: believable acting, improvised dialogue, and a total lack of cinematic polish. Its imperfections made it feel authentic.
Today, it stands as a cult classic — part UFO lore, part filmmaking milestone. It reminds us that sometimes, the scariest stories don’t need big budgets or jump scares. All it takes is a flickering camcorder, a few flashing lights in the woods, and the chilling possibility that maybe — just maybe — it wasn’t all fake.
Where to Watch:
The restored version of The McPherson Tape is now available through American Genre Film Archive and various streaming services. Just remember: keep the lights on… and maybe don’t watch it alone. 👽📹
