Episode overview

The Basement: Bryce Zabel | Disclosure Day, Dark Skies, and Hollywood UFO Deals

The Why Files · 13 June 2026 · 5 Egleze moments

What happened in this episode?

In this episode, host AJ welcomes Bryce Zabel, an Emmy-winning TV creator, former CNN correspondent, and chairman emeritus of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Zabel is best known for creating the 1996 NBC series Dark Skies, a show about government UFO coverups that may have attracted real government attention. The conversation centers on extraordinary claims: during Dark Skies production, Zabel says men identifying themselves as Office of Naval Intelligence operatives appeared at his home and office, offering classified UFO information in exchange for embedding it in his scripts. The encounters escalated to a bizarre midnight cemetery meeting request, which Zabel declined. One operative handed him a cryptic formula described as 'secrets of the universe' involving sound, light, and frequency—a document Zabel lost for decades but recently recovered. The episode also covers a secondhand account from Zabel's writing partner about Reagan's Secretary of Energy, John Harrington, who allegedly revealed he'd been briefed on disturbing extraterrestrial information at an underground West Virginia facility in 1981, years before such facilities were publicly known. Zabel discusses his journalism background, including a memorable debate with Carl Sagan about UFOs, and addresses whether Steven Spielberg has been an intelligence asset. The conversation touches on Zabel's alternative history novels, his work with Spielberg on the miniseries Taken, and how the Men in Black film production forced expensive reshoots of Dark Skies through 19 bizarre content demands. Zabel maintains he's not asking anyone to believe him, only offering his testimony as part of a larger disclosure mosaic.

What are the key points?

Zabel claims men from Office of Naval Intelligence approached him during Dark Skies production, offering UFO secrets in exchange for scripted disclosure.
The alleged ONI operatives gave Zabel a handwritten formula described as secrets of the universe involving sound, light, and frequency, which he plans to publicly release.
Zabel's writing partner says Reagan's Secretary of Energy John Harrington confided he cried nightly after alien briefings at a West Virginia underground facility in 1981.
Zabel received an anonymous we are watching you postcard at his home address while shooting the Dark Skies pilot in 1996.
Columbia TV forced 11 days of Dark Skies pilot reshoots with 19 non-negotiable demands including no black suits, elevators, or autopsies to accommodate Men in Black film production.
David Grusch reportedly contacted Zabel's partner attempting to interview John Harrington about the alleged 1981 briefing on extraterrestrial matters.
Zabel argues Steven Spielberg's new film Disclosure Day represents the director's closing argument on UFOs after 30 alien-themed projects spanning his career.

Which topics are covered?

UFO & Paranormal Entertainment Espionage Controversial

How is this page sourced?

Programme: The Why Files
Published: 13 June 2026
Original episode: Open the original source ↗

Egleze verifies the speaker, source and timestamp for each linked moment. Unless a moment is explicitly marked independently verified, statements remain attributed claims by the named speaker rather than established facts.

Watch original episode More from The Why Files

5 moments from this episode

Source-linked · editorially selected

UFO & Paranormal

Dark Skies Creator Received We Are Watching You Postcard During Production

at 56:00 · Attributed speaker claim

While we're shooting, I get a postcard in the mail. On one side is the cover of a science fiction book called Flying Eyes. But on the other side, it's been typed in a real typewriter with a dark black ribbon. It's all caps and it is not written as a sentence. It's written one word, one word, one word, one word. And it says, we are watching you. It was sent to my home, my home address.

Zabel says he received an anonymous typed postcard at his home address stating 'we are watching you' while shooting the Dark Skies pilot in 1996. The timing preceded visits from alleged intelligence operatives and occurred as he was producing a show about government UFO coverups. The postcard was typed on a typewriter in all caps, one word per line.

Read this moment → Check original at 56:00 ↗

UFO & Paranormal

TV Producer Claims Navy Intelligence Approached Him to Plant UFO Secrets in Show

at 1:01:13 · Attributed speaker claim

He said his name is JC, to call him JC. He says he's from the Office of Naval Intelligence. They basically are saying, we'd like to strike some kind of arrangement, some kind of deal with you guys. We would help give you some information that might be useful to you, and you would try to accommodate that into some of your future scripts.

Bryce Zabel, creator of the 1996 NBC series Dark Skies, claims men identifying themselves as Navy intelligence officers appeared at his home and office during production, offering classified UFO information in exchange for incorporating it into episodes. The approach included specific directives about portraying underwater UFO activity and promises of briefings. Zabel says the encounters culminated in a bizarre request to meet an admiral at a cemetery at midnight, which he declined.

Read this moment → Check original at 1:01:13 ↗

UFO & Paranormal

Navy Intelligence Operatives Gave Dark Skies Creator Sound Light Frequency Formula

at 1:03:25 · Attributed speaker claim

The guy turns away from us and he's very purposeful and he's writing something. And then he folds it in half and he hands it to us and he goes, you may want to put this in a safety deposit box or something. Maybe if we don't make a deal 10 or 15 years from now, maybe you'll look it up and you'll see we were on the level. We say to him, what is it? And the guy goes, secrets of the universe. Sound, Light, and Frequency.

At Zabel's 1996 Dark Skies premiere party, a man claiming to be from Naval Intelligence wrote a cryptic equation or formula on the back of a bank envelope, calling it 'secrets of the universe' related to sound, light, and frequency. The document was lost for years but recently recovered. Zabel plans to release and analyze it publicly on his podcast after investigation.

Read this moment → Check original at 1:03:25 ↗

UFO & Paranormal

Reagan Secretary of Energy Allegedly Cried Himself to Sleep After Alien Briefing

at 1:43:13 · Attributed speaker claim

John Harrington taught him how to throw a ball and all that. Harrington, later that night after dinner, on the back porch with just Brent, told him that he had been briefed at an underground facility in West Virginia for several months and that he cried himself to sleep every night. Brent said, why would you cry yourself to sleep? And Harrington said, because I have two daughters and this is the world they're going to grow up in.

Brent Friedman, co-creator of Dark Skies, says his neighbor John Harrington, who served as Reagan's Secretary of Energy, confided in 1981 that he'd been briefed on disturbing classified information at an underground West Virginia facility. Harrington's mention of the facility came a decade before the Greenbrier bunker was publicly revealed. David Grusch has reportedly attempted to contact Harrington through Friedman to discuss the account.

Read this moment → Check original at 1:43:13 ↗

Entertainment

Men in Black Production Forced Dark Skies Into 11 Day Reshoot With 19 Demands

at 2:15:51 · Attributed speaker claim

We received a call from the same executive. He says, I have to come over and talk to you. We were presented a list of 19 non-negotiable demands for what had to happen in our pilot. We had to reshoot our pilot. No elevators. No secret organizations in Washington, D.C. No autopsy. No alien autopsy. No farmer. I was told there can be no farmer in Dark Skies because we have a farmer in Men in Black.

Columbia TV, producing both Dark Skies and the Men in Black film simultaneously, forced Zabel to conduct 11 days of expensive pilot reshoots and issued 19 non-negotiable content restrictions including no black suits, no elevators, no autopsies, and no farmers. Executives threatened to shut down production and destroy the negative if Zabel refused. The aggressive legal action was unusual given both projects were at the same studio.

Read this moment → Check original at 2:15:51 ↗