A few months ago here at Silver Screen Saucers, I asked the question "What is UMBRA?" I answered as follows...
"'UMBRA' is a Latin word that refers to "a dark area, especially the blackest part of a shadow from which all light is cut off.
'UMBRA' is also a U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) code word used to denote the highest-level compartment of Communications Intelligence (COMINT) - also known as Special Intelligence. Notable in this context is a "Top Secret UMBRA" NSA affidavit dating from October 1980 which gives reasons why certain information relating to UFOs is exempt from disclosure.
Now, UMBRA is to be a Hollywood movie. A paranoid thriller, to be precise, about a man who finds an old cassette tape which reveals a horrifying secret.
Details of this movie first emerged back in 2009, when Roger Donaldson was attached to direct and Nicholas Cage to star, but budgetary concerns about the production - as well as Cage's numerous other movie commitments at the time - meant that it never really got off the ground.
The movie's original screenplay was written by newcomer Steven Karczynski and was leaked online in June 2009 and reviewed by a handful of bemused amateur critics. The consensus was that an intriguing and gripping conspiracy thriller in the vein of Coppola's The Conversation was torpedoed in its final act by an unexpected sci-fi twist. The screenplay itself is no longer viewable online, but the reviewers' original comments pointed to the possibility that UMBRA is - or, at least, was - a UFO movie."
I can now report that, since posting the above information earlier this year, I have read the original screenplay in its entirety and can confirm that The UMBRA (as opposed to just “UMBRA”) is indeed a UFO movie, and a damn disturbing one at that. I won’t quote from the script directly, nor reveal the intricacies of its plot or broader narrative devices, but here’s a brief overview of its UFO/alien-related content, all of which is drawn from pre-existing UFOlogical literature and debate:
*The script clearly is inspired by the longstanding rumours surrounding the Dulce facility – an alleged deep-underground biogenetic research facility in New Mexico rumoured to be jointly run by human black-ops forces and extraterrestrial entities.
*One of the characters in the script is named Michael Lazar, clearly a reference to Bob Lazar of Area 51 fame, although in The UMBRA Michael Lazar unmistakably is modelled on Phil Schneider – the self-proclaimed Dulce whistleblower who appeared to have been “suicided” back in 1996. The UMBRA’s Michael Lazar also attempts to blow the whistle on sinister alien/human activities at the Dulce facility and also is “suicided” (Lazar is not the movie’s main character, however. His role is merely functional).
*In the script, “Project UMBRA” refers to what originally was a mutually beneficial research program whereby the ETs share with human elites their advanced technology in exchange for the right to abduct and experiment upon an agreed number of humans. We learn, however, that the human elites have lost control of the situation and that the ETs have been violating their agreement and, in fact, are developing plans for global domination.
*The script describes an incident in which human workers stray into an alien-controlled area of the Dulce facility and go missing. When a black-ops team is sent on a search-and-rescue mission, a fire-fight ensues between the humans and ETs resulting in casualties on both sides. This, of course, is very similar to what Phil Schneider described in his Dulce testimonies. The UMBRA’s alien/human fire-fight is even described as having taken place in 1979 – the same year of Schneider's alleged subterranean alien altercation.
*Don’t expect a happy ending. I won’t reveal what happens, but to say it’s horrifying is an understatement. I had trouble sleeping afterwards.
All very intriguing, you might think. Perhaps, but the relevance of the above information is debatable, as The UMBRA is now being re-written by Joe Carnahan (The A-Team (2010)) who will also direct the movie for Endgame Productions (originally it was to be produced by Relativity Media). Whether or not the script's alien element – and specifically its explicit references to the Dulce facility - will survive its reboot is uncertain and there is no release date for the movie as yet, though it is unlikely to hit cinemas before the end of 2012 as new director Carnahan is currently tied up with another project entitled The Grey (not alien-related).
THE UMBRA's original director - Roger Donaldson - worked closely with the Pentagon on the political thriller Thirteen Days, and with the CIA on The Recruit. Donaldson also directed the alien movie Species. While new helmer Joe Carnahan's production history isn't nearly so interesting as Donaldson's, The UMBRA - if and when it reaches the big screen - is nevertheless certainly one to watch out for. Just don't take your kids to see it.
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