BWW Previews: CALLING ALL EARTHLINGS at ILLUMINATE Film Festival

One of the taglines for CALLING ALL EARTHLINGS reads: "Claiming alien guidance, a man builds a machine that can provide eternal youth and unlimited energy."

That man was the late George Van Tassel, a former test pilot for Howard Hughes, who said an alien encounter inspired him to build the "Integraton", a small domed structure in Landers, Calif., about 20 minutes north of Joshua Tree.

Van Tassel described it as a time machine designed to rejuvenate the human body by extending life 30 percent, but to what end? During that time, the U.S. was plagued by uncertainties: The Korean War, McCarthyism and a series of unexplained UFO sightings.

Van Tassel later told a TV interviewer, "The only way that we can get out of this mess is to (extend life because) by the time we get old enough to know anything, we kick the bucket!" But his four-story machine had its share of risks too.

"There's an age limit to going into the (Integraton)," said Bob Benson, a former Van Tassel associate. "If you were like 18 years old, your bones would get real spongy...and you couldn't walk."

This documentary sounds like a headline pulled from The National Enquirer and was likely the subject of at least one late-night radio episode of "Coast to Coast AM", but it's best seen through recent interviews compiled by filmmaker Jonathan Berman.

"It's almost like there's some sort of experiment (going on) around here that we're all inside of," said tattoo artist Kyle "Caveman" Stratton in nearby 29 Palms; the place "where we landed...from another planet" according to a Morongo Indian historian.

CALLING ALL EARTHLINGS is one of 11 world premieres slated for the 2018 ILLUMINATE Film Festival, May 30 to June 3 at the Sedona Performing Arts Center. For more information, visit www.illuminatefilmfestival.com.