August 20, 2020, Netflix premiered an intriguing short film called John Was Trying to Contact Aliens, which earlier this year won the prize for best documentary short at the Sundance festival. Shot, edited and directed by Matthew Killip, son of the revered British documentary photographer, Chris Killip, it distils Shepherd's 30-year quest into just 16 magical minutes.

This is not just a story about a man who spent most of his life trying to contact aliens, but it's a love story about a gay man who found his human soulmate. I remember reading about John Shephard when I entered the world of UFOlogy.

John later reminded me of Preston Nichols - Philadelphia Experiment - Time Travel and Aliens - gay, remaining in the family home most of his life with a garage full of electronic equipment. Did Preston ever make contact? I'm not sure but he believed he did. I was in touch with Preston years ago and we did have an interesting relationship at one point. He has since passed but here is a video of his last interview.