Project Blue Book: Star people and the effects of swamp gas

Swamp Gas Fall Out

Project Blue Book – Swamp Gas Fall Out – Courtesy of Eduardo Araquel and the History Channel

Quinn and Hynek meet with the Choctaw elder to ask him about the skull. He immediately identifies it as being a result of a practice known as skull binding which his ancestors did in ancient times.

After that revelation, Allen and Michael call a meeting with Sheriff Donnelly, Brian, Emmett and his wife. Once everyone is assembled, the professor explains how the lights of the UFO were created by the combustion of methane and sulfur otherwise known as “swamp gas.”

Then he tells them that the skull actually belonged to a member of the Choctaw nation. Emmett pushes back and says no, that he killed an alien and watched it die. Which given the state of decomposition that the relic is in, casts shadows of doubt on the scoutmaster.

Brian hands over a telegram from his place of employment, Western Union. It confirms that right before the event and Emmett’s disappearance, Donnelly sent a missive to a Hollywood studio about a UFO encounter and they responded to him by saying they would pay him for his story.

The jig is up so it doesn’t look good for Emmett and company because they will probably face legal charges for falsifying a police report. Now, that the case has been debunked, Quinn attempts to interrogate Hynek about the missing top-secret material from White Forest.

Allen lies and tells him he didn’t take anything. After that, we see him at home, placing the UFO artifact in the trunk of his car in a toolbox. Closing the boot, the tail light glows and then cracks due to a power surge that more than likely is emanating from the alien object.

The Verdict

While this episode had a conclusion that appeared to be cut and dried, the real case of Sonny DesVergers was more ambiguous. Although it was ruled a hoax, the writing wasn’t on the wall so to speak. There were many unanswered questions.

It might have been interesting to leave a more open-ended conclusion so the audience could decide if Emmett staged the entire event or if a legitimate Close Encounter of the Second Kind occurred. That being said, I am enjoying how we get callbacks throughout the series.

It is a nice touch so that we can see how the plot is developing. Plus, it also helps to provide cohesiveness within the storyline. By having Hynek continuously encounter that specific symbol to the “program” that the government is running only lends itself to giving the conspiracy theory a darker bent.

Tune into Project Blue Book Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on the History Channel. What did you think of The Scoutmaster? Let us know in the comments. We want to hear from you.