I enjoyed this. Far more than I expected, to be honest. It is almost two films in one, and both are satisfying. Approximately 50 minutes at the start are devoted to introducing the "Phoenix Lights" incident, a widely reported potential UFO sighting, and the film's fictional sub-mystery regarding a trio of teens who vanished in the Arizona desert shortly thereafter. This segment is slowly burning, but enigmatic and truly drew me in: I became invested in the sister's search for her long-gone brother and her family's tortured dynamic. The drama, such as it is, has certain a weight and resonance beyond just functioning as expository setup. In this regard, the film far outpaces last year's similarly plotted Blair Witch sequel-reboot. Real stranger-than-fiction details, such as the Arizona governor's initial dismissal of the extraterrestrial theories as absurd and subsequent post-gubernatorial admission he cannot explain them and indeed found them otherworldly, are also nicely woven into the scripted content.
Then there is the more traditional found-footage second half in which a day trip spirals into a fateful night of close encounters. These sequences are rather nerve-jangling due to the anxious authenticity of the performances. In general, they seem to me an example of the format done right; not wheel-reinventing, but appropriately tense and chaotic.
B+One caveat: the film ends abruptly amid a swirl of motion and noise, which is predictable for the sub-genre and not a particularly significant problem for me. It is what it is. The shot of the camera falling from the sky is neat. BUT I wish there was an epilogue returning the present day. I believe the audience spends enough time with the adult sister for her to deserve slightly more closure, either of the horror variety (does the military let her leave the desert?) or the dramatic variety (does she show the footage to her mother and father?).
P. S. What a conscientious hiker to mail the crushed and melted camcorder to the high school.