Ariel School Encounter Witness and Experiencer Emily Trim Has Died

Prominent witness to the 1994 Ariel School encounter and artist Emily Trim has died, passing after a year-long battle with cancer on November 26.

Trim was one of the 62 schoolchildren that witnessed the landing of a disk-shaped craft near the Ariel School in Ruwa, Zimbabwe on September 19, 1994, and was amongst a handful of the students that interacted with one of the vehicle’s inhabitants. The event was extensively investigated by Harvard psychiatrist Dr. John Mack, and featured in his 1999 book, Passport to the Cosmos: Human Transformation and Alien Encounters. The event was also featured in James Fox’s 2020 documentary The Phenomenon, and was the focus of Randall Nickerson’s 2022 documentary Ariel Phenomenon.

Perhaps the most publicly active witness of the Ariel schoolchildren, Trim was active in the UFO community, speaking about her experience at both live events and online, for instance on a two-part Artists & Alienspodcast that aired in 2020.

“Emily was an extraordinary artist whose bravery, intelligence, kindness, and compassion left a lasting impact on everyone who knew her,” the New Paradigm Institute offered in a November 27 post on X/Twitter. “She played a pivotal role in changing the course of history as a key witness to the 1994 Ariel School Encounter in Ruwa, Zimbabwe.

“Emily’s courage in sharing her experiences has inspired countless individuals and contributed significantly to the broader understanding of this phenomenon.”