The truth might be out there, but David Cherniack isn't convinced science is prepared to find it. "The role of science has been severely lacking in addressing the question of extraterrestrial visitation," said the Toronto-based documentary filmmaker, who studied physics at the University of Manitoba.

With a new X-Files movie coming out soon, History Television's timing is perfect to declare this UFO Week. Cherniack's two-hour documentary UFOs: The Secret History is the one original production, airing Tuesday, July 15 at 8 pm ET/PT.

"That really is the question I'd like people to come away from the film with — the role of science in this whole thing, in particular some scientists who have acted as debunkers, and unreasonably so," he said during an interview on the BlogTalkRadio program TV, eh?. "It seemed like sometimes they were making things up as they went along no matter how ridiculous they sounded."

Cherniack, who had his own "sort-of sighting" above the skies of Winnipeg as a boy, thinks the scientific community's wariness is understandable, though he deplores the contempt directed at the phenomenon. "The UFO myth took over," he commented, pointing to some "fringe" claims that attracted a lot of attention. "What respectable scientist wants to have anything to do with a phenomenon that is populated with what they consider to be half-crazy people?"

UFOs: The Secret History is less interested in proving or debunking theories than it is in the history of the phenomenon and what it reflects about our culture.

"It's a mutual feedback loop – in other words, what people are reporting gets reflected in the culture and in the mass media, and that in turn feeds back into what people tend to report."

The documentary points to a progression throughout the decades. In the 1950s, the cold war and fear of the atomic bomb led to images of hostile aliens or beings of greater intelligence attempting to save our hostile world from ourselves. Throughout the '60s and '70s, the imagery became more "touchy feely," with aliens getting closer to humanity. In the '80s, abduction stories gained prominence.