Never released legally on DVD, I found an out-of-print VHS copy at a video store's closing sale. I'd long heard about it, and anxiously scooped it up.
By it's very nature, the film is "dated", having been produced in the early 70's, but that shouldn't stop those with more than a passing interest in NASA, the search for Extraterrestrial life, or Orson Welles. Welles is the host for the short film, and it begins with his reading of excerpts from H.G.Wells' WAR OF THE WORLDS. That is followed by a few brief interviews with "survivors" of the infamous Orson Welles radio broadcast. This segment alone is necessary viewing for all Welles fans.
Though the film (and it's title) seems to promise a wider exploration of life beyond Earth, it's main focus is the possibility of life on Mars. NASA no doubt was drumming up interest in the 1976 Viking mission. Also included are clips from a symposium on life on other worlds held at Boston University which sports the likes of MIT's Philip Morrison and COSMOS' Carl Sagan. There is some archival NASA footage and a few bits of early space Animation, but that about does it for visuals in the film.
Unfortunately, the transfer used in the 1998 VHS tape (which is illustrated by a suspiciously INDEPENDENCE DAY-like cover!) seems to be of a vintage (that is, 1975) 16mm print. It's grainy and the sound is muffled, making a definitive statement of the tech elements difficult. Orson Welles' personal cinematographer during his later years, Gary Graver, shot the Welles footage.