Capturing the unseen: filming “the eye in the sky” | Michael Reeves

In filmmaking, one of the greatest challenges is capturing phenomena that resist easy explanation. Last year, I recorded a video that drew a lot of attention: a mysterious light in the sky that doesn’t behave like normal sunlight. This is the inspiration behind my upcoming film, Eyes in the Sky. Here’s the problem: when you present something extraordinary, people are quick to dismiss it as paranoia, illusion, or trickery. That’s why I approached documenting this event as a filmmaker, thinking carefully about setup, framing, and credibility. The phenomenon works like this: instead of heat spreading across your body the way normal sunlight does, this light produces focused, localized heat. You could be standing in open daylight, but only your right leg will feel like it’s burning while the rest of your body feels normal. To test it, I designed a simple experiment. I parked on the far side of a tractor-trailer — in full shade, with no sun visible. Using just my Android phone (default camera app, auto exposure, no filters, no editing), I filmed the setup. Within three minutes, the “sun” shifted position, climbed over the truck, and blasted directly into my car. The video captured the exact moment the beam crossed the occluder and zeroed in on me. This wasn’t coincidence. This was the Eye in the Sky. As filmmakers, we know that how you frame evidence changes how it’s received. If I had simply said, “A light followed me,” it would sound unbelievable. But by staging the scene like an experiment — occluder, timing, and uncut phone footage — I created a record that audiences can evaluate for themselves. For screenwriters and documentarians, this raises a broader lesson: when dealing with extraordinary material, the method of presentation is as important as the subject itself. Clear framing, simple setups, and transparency with your tools (in my case, an Android phone with no special settings) can transform doubt into curiosity. This experience is now the backbone of Eyes in the Sky, a film that blends lived experience with cinematic storytelling to explore surveillance, harassment, and the unseen systems that shape our lives. Watch the video. Question it. And ask yourself: what stories are happening in plain sight, just waiting for the right lens to reveal them?