{"id":521781,"date":"2026-03-13T20:07:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T20:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/521781\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T20:07:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T20:07:07","slug":"strong-suspicion-were-not-alone-on-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/521781\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cStrong Suspicion We’re Not Alone on Earth\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSteven Spielberg<\/a> was asked whether he believes in the real-life existence of aliens in the run up to his new UFO movie Disclosure Day<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI don\u2019t know any more than any of you do, but I have a very strong suspicion that we are not alone here on Earth right now \u2014 and I made a movie about that,\u201d said the legendary 79-year-old filmmaker during a keynote interview at the South by Southwest Film & TV Festival in Austin, Texas on Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tElaborating on his view, the filmmaker noted that when he heard former President Barack Obama\u2019s recent viral comment that aliens are \u201creal,\u201d his first thought was, \u201cOh, my God, this is so great for Disclosure Day!\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAnd two days later, he stepped it back to to say what he believed was in life in the cosmos \u2014 which, of course, everybody should believe in,\u201d he continued. \u201cBecause no one should ever think that we are the only intelligent civilization in the entire universe. So I\u2019ve been thinking as a kid that we were not alone. So that just goes without saying. The big question is: Are we alone now? And have we been alone over the last 80 years? Have we been alone over the last few 1,000 years?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe filmmaker said he was \u201creinvigorated\u201d into making his first UFO movie since 1977\u2019s Close Encounters of the Third Kind by The New York Times\u2018 2017 story about a secret government program tracking UFOs, as well as the congressional hearings in recent years featuring government whistleblowers. Yet filmmaker said he\u2019s never seen a UFO himself \u2014 thought desperately wishes he had.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI made a movie called Close Encounters of the Third Kind \u2014 I haven\u2019t even had a close encounter or the first or second kind!\u201d he said. \u201cWhy haven\u2019t I seen anything? Half of my friends have seen UFOS or UAPs. Where\u2019s the justice of that? If you\u2019re listening out there\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m not afraid of any aliens,\u201d he added. \u201cI have no fears about that whatsoever. I think our movie does take into consideration that social dislocation that could occur. If it was announced there is interaction [with aliens] that have been going on for decades, it\u2019s going to cause a disruption in a lot of belief systems. But I don\u2019t think it is a lethal disruption at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSpielberg was appearing on a keynote panel, \u201cThe Big Picture with Steven Spielberg Live from SXSW<\/a>\u201d for a moderated conversation with podcaster Sean Fennessey.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe director also gave a passionate defense of the moviegoing experience and original filmmaking \u2014 while taking a playful shot at Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet, whose jabs about opera and ballet have taken over the internet in recent days.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf we\u2019re just not making the same sequel over and over and over again, and it\u2019s not the same Marvel title over and over and over again, we all get a real chance to experience something which is precious,\u201d he said. \u201cI look out at this auditorium with everybody here, and we\u2019re all together. We don\u2019t know each other, and we probably agree with each other more than we disagree with each other. But the one thing I know is when we\u2019re all watching something \u2014 it could hit us all independently, individually, in different ways \u2014 there is a collective impulse from a good story that hits all of us at the same time in exactly the same way. There is something about community and communication and getting along with each other \u2014 and that happens in full movie theaters, and not sitting around living rooms watching on television. Netflix is a great company to work with, but the real experience comes when we can influence a community to congregate in a strange, dark space \u2026 It happens in movies. It happens at concerts. And it happens in ballet and opera!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSpielberg also reflected on making Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which is suspected to be a prequel to Disclosure Day (before the panel, a musician came on stage and played moody music that repeatedly included the iconic five notes from Close Encounters). <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNobody would let me make Close Encounters because it was on the fringes of science and mythology, and so no one really got it. When I said, \u2018I want to make a UFO movie,\u2019 everybody thought, \u2018You want to make a movie about The National Enquirer?\u2019 You want to make a movie about the crackpot reporting of things that aren\u2019t really occurring? You want to make a completely crazy fantasy film about something that isn\u2019t happening?\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn other topics, Spielberg revealed he has a Western in development, which would fulfill his career-long desire to shoot a film in that genre. \u201cAnd [the project] kicks ass,\u201d he said. \u201cThere will be no stereotypes and no tropes.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tSpielberg also said he still re-watches Lawrence of Arabia every year. \u201cThe reason I watch that film is it keeps me humble,\u201d he said. \u201cIt reminds me that: \u2018You will never be as good as [director] David Lean.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAsked if there\u2019s a film he\u2019s made that he thinks is underrated, he cited the 1989 Richard Dreyfuss fantasy Always. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe director was also asked about his famous ability to improvise his shots on the fly. \u201cI didn\u2019t have a single story board on Schindler\u2019s List. I didn\u2019t have a single story board on Saving Private Ryan.
When I get to the set in the morning there is something that happens that Is beautiful. There is an entire day of possibility yet undiscovered. What possibility will I choose first?\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tSpielberg also confirmed that he has no plans of slowing down anytime soon \u2014 let alone retiring. \u201cI never want to quit,\u201d he declared. <\/p>\n

\n\tUniversal\u2019s Disclosure Day stars Emily Blunt, Josh O\u2019Connor and Colin Firth. The film chronicles a global panic and societal upheaval when humanity receives undeniable proof that aliens exist.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film is one of several current projects that are taking a \u201cserious\u201d look at UFO lore<\/a> in the wake of recent congressional hearings and media reports on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs). The film has resulted in some confusion online given a documentary last year titled Age of Disclosure, which interviewed former government officials about UAPs, with some wondering if Spielberg\u2019s fictional movie is part of some larger conspiratorial effort on the topic.<\/p>\n

\n\tDisclosure Day opens June 12. <\/p>\n

\n\tMia Galuppo contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steven Spielberg was asked whether he believes in the real-life existence of aliens in the run up to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521782,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[175443,88,206,16827,66422],"class_list":["post-521781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-disclosure-day","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-steven-spielberg","tag-sxsw"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}