In National Geographic Channel's (NGC) new eight-part series "Chasing UFOs," (premiere date Friday, June 29) a pioneering team of investigators probe reports of alien abduction, UFO sightings and military cover-ups.  These real-life "Scullys and Mulders" are not looking for more stories on extraterrestrial activity - they want answers.  

Comprising one believer, one skeptic and one undecided, the dynamic team collects video footage of unusual-shaped lights over Arizona, meets with an alleged alien abduction survivor in Colorado and even tracks glowing orbs near NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

James Fox (The Believer)
Field Scientist

For nearly 20 years, Fox traveled across the world in pursuit of the truth regarding UFOs.  He directed and produced three films on the subject and in 2007 orchestrated an event, with help from journalist Leslie Kean (Coalition for Freedom of Information), which to this day is hailed as the most credible civilian effort of disclosure on UFOs in history.  Fox assembled 14 speakers, including two retired generals and several other military officers, a former governor, civilian pilots and government scientists from seven countries at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to give firsthand testimonies on their encounters/investigations with UFOs.  He is convinced not only that UFOs are real, but that governments have concealed information on this subject from the public for more than 60 years. In his study, Fox proudly displays a framed letter from Steven Spielberg, who called his last film "compelling," and states, "I hope the government will someday reveal the true and natural origins of UFOs." (Resident of Northern California)

Ben McGee (The Skeptic)
Field Scientist

A space-minded geoscientist, Ben is engaged in the development of xenoarchaeology - a speculative form of archaeology exploring possible alien life and culture. Ben is a true skeptic by nature, and as Chasing UFOs resident scientist, he brings a wealth of diverse academic and scientific know-how to the team.  A respected field researcher with experience in nuclear rocketry, planetary geology, hydrology and glaciology, Ben's job is to gather evidence at proposed sites of unexplained occurrences and scientifically determine its origin. He is an aspiring commercial astronaut who's trained in space centrifuges, and he yearns for an office in the sky. (Resident of Las Vegas, NV.)

Erin Ryder (The "Skeliever")
Tech Supervisor & Executive Producer

Lara Croft.  Amelia Earhart.  Dana Scully.  Whether in fiction or nonfiction, there are few hard-hitting, tough-as-nails females as fearless as Erin Ryder, or Ryder, as she prefers to be called.  Ryder's impressive resume includes rafting the world's largest waterfall, rappelling the Great Wall of China and scaling glaciers in Antarctica.  In Chasing UFOs, she exhibits this same all-out approach and adventurous spirit while climbing a 50-foot tree untethered and photographing an unidentified flying object that might just be the real thing! Ryder's deep desire for knowledge helps her serve as the show's barometer, weighing the facts surrounding her co-hosts' opposite points of view.  Ryder considers herself a "skeliever," as she falls somewhere between a skeptic and a believer.  (Native New Yorker/New Jersey, Resides in Los Angeles)