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Fire in the Sky
Theatrical poster for Fire in the Sky
Directed by	Robert Lieberman
Produced by	Todd Black
Written by	Travis Walton (book) Tracy Tormé (screenplay)
Starring	D. B. Sweeney Robert Patrick Craig Sheffer Peter Berg James Garner
Music by	Mark Isham
Cinematography	Bill Pope
Editing by	Steve Mirkovich
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	March 12, 1993
Running time	109 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Fire in the Sky is a 1993 science fiction film directed by Robert Lieberman, and written by Travis Walton (from his book The Walton Experience) and Tracy Tormé (screenplay). The film stars D. B. Sweeney, Robert Patrick, Craig Sheffer, Peter Berg and James Garner. The original music score is composed by Mark Isham. The film is marketed with the tagline Alien abduction. November 5, 1975. White Mountains, Northeastern Arizona. Based on the true story.

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Analysis 3 Main cast 4 Trivia 5 External links

On November 5, 1975, near Snowflake, Arizona, logger Travis Walton disappears mysteriously during an encounter with a flying saucer. Authorities treat with skepticism the outrageous story related by the only witnesses to the alleged event, Walton's coworkers, who include his best friend and future brother-in-law, Mike Rogers. They are suspected of foul play despite no apparent motive or knowledge as to Walton's previous whereabouts. A state lawman finds a tabloid newspaper in the crew's pickup truck and quickly concludes that tensions had arisen between Walton and surly coworker Allan Dallis, leading the lawman to conclude that a murder coverup is underway. However, all of the suspects pass lie detector tests and the case becomes stalled. Five days later, and just as mysteriously, Walton reappears, claiming to have been abducted by extraterrestrials and taken aboard a UFO.

The plot is unusual in that it does not focus primarily on the more fantastical elements of the story. Much screen time is spent on the considerable duress experienced by Mike Rogers and friends, both by Walton's inexplicable disappearance, and the conundrum of Walton's reappearance in a disturbed emotional state. A major issue depicted in the film is Rogers' underlying guilt about leaving his friend in the woods to escape the alien encounter. The film culminates with a denouement between the two men, with the UFO mystery essentially unresolved.

• D. B. Sweeney ... as Travis Walton
• Robert Patrick ... as Mike Rogers
• Craig Sheffer ... as Allan Dallis
• Peter Berg ... as David Whitlock
• Henry Thomas ... as Greg Hayes
• Bradley Gregg ... as Bobby Cogdill
• Noble Willingham ... as Sheriff Blake Davis
• Kathleen Wilhoite ... as Katie Rogers
• James Garner ... as Lieutenant Frank Watters

• Walton's original book, The Walton Experience was later re-released as Fire in the Sky (ISBN 1-56924-710-2) to promote the book's connection to the film, in which the real Travis Walton made a cameo appearance.
• A 1978 television film with a nearly identical title, A Fire in the Sky, concerns a comet that hits the Earth just outside Phoenix, Arizona. The focus of the film deals with the people's capacity for denial, before they conduct a massive evacuation of the city.
• Robert Patrick played a football coach who was infected with an alien parasite in the 1998 film The Faculty, and in 2000 joined the cast of the TV series The X-Files as Special Agent Doggett.
• Fire in the Sky was shot on location in Oakland, Oregon.
• The film had grossed more than US$20,000,000 in the United States.

• Fire in the Sky at the Internet Movie Database
• Fire in the Sky at Rotten Tomatoes