Corbell is a fascinating subject for a documentary, as he is one of the modern torch-bearers of the evergreen UAP subject, but most aren’t familiar with the man himself.

Sleeping Dog sees Corbell explain his life, from simple beginnings to his experiences in martial-arts, and finally focusing on his later-career as an independent journalist and documentary filmmaker whose efforts on the UAP subject have been trailblazing to say the least.

Corbell’s fascination with strange phenomena led him to John Lear, and documenting Lear’s thoughts and ideas about UFOs became Corbell’s first project — but Lear is not the focus of the film, as engaging as the material is — Lear’s footage serves to show us how Corbell’s relentless drive to learn the truth had him inserting himself into Lear’s life, with Lear being hesitant at first but quickly realising that Corbell’s skill-set and enthusiasm would benefit the both of them.

The documentary is, in a way, about loneliness — taking John Lear as an example; we see Lear cutting quite an isolated figure, forming deep and personal connections with people online (specifically Lou Baldin: nom-de-plume ‘Sleeper’). Corbell arranges a meeting between the two, which is awkward to watch but their friendship survived the realisation (from Lear’s end) that Baldin was like himself a regular man, with maybe some eccentricities.

The alien arena is a lonely one, especially for dedicated searchers like Corbell. Lazovsky’s direction moves on to focus on Corbell’s desire to make a connection with renowned journalist George Knapp. Corbell gains Knapp’s attention with his wealth of material concerning John Lear, and the two meet-up and join forces.

Corbell’s life is complicated, with his attention being split between his ‘day-job’ in rentals and property maintenance and his efforts collecting UAP documentation and chasing sources, trying to find the smoking gun and the people who hold it. We see Corbell struggling with the weight of holding the safety of whistleblowers in his hands, as people confide in him that their livelihoods and indeed their personal safety could be at risk just by Corbell having their apparent evidence of coverups. The importance of this isn’t lost on Jeremy. He makes the admission that his own life is at risk, and we see the psychological toll it takes on him (Corbell isn’t the only one to go through this sort of thing — see David Grusch etc).

There are a few scenes of Corbell’s archival footage that are dynamite to see, that as far I’m aware have not be shown elsewhere in documentaries, scenes including the divisive and legendary Bob Lazar spending time at John Lear’s house, as well as footage of Edward Teller that was fascinating (provenance unclear).

The end of the film had me feeling strangely hopeful, strange considering the bleakness of the documentary’s back-half. Corbell is a talented journalist and filmmaker, as is Michael Lazovsky based on this film, and in an always changing cultural and political environment for UFOs, I can’t wait to see what comes next.

5/5