In 1980, Prestonwood Mall in Dallas contacted the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) with a unique request. It was the opening weekend of The Empire Strikes Back, and the mall’s marketing team wanted an additional attraction. Sensing an opportunity, John P. Timmerman, the owner of a family air-conditioning business in Ohio and a dedicated volunteer at CUFOS, packed his car with an eye-catching collection of UFO photographs and embarked on a cross-country journey for the weekend.

What began as a simple photography exhibit turned into a twelve-year research expedition across the malls of America. In front of those plexiglass panels, between the skylights and shiny floors, Timmerman interviewed curious shoppers with stories to tell. What he captured on his small tape recorder was the “raw material of ufology”: candid, first-hand accounts of strange lights, silver discs, and close encounters.

We Are Not Alone dives deep into this remarkable archive and explores what Timmerman’s work reveals about UFO phenomena and the people who have experienced it. Taken together, these recordings offer more than just first-hand accounts of unexplained sightings; they speak to something deeper and much more terrestrial. The Timmerman Tapes represent a human quest for connection, understanding, and the need to make sense of our place in the universe.

Produced, Edited + Sound Designed by Oliver Sanders
Archive Digitisation & Co-Production by James Timmerman
Executive Produced by Lucia Scazzocchio

A Social Broadcasts Production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Illuminated