The Bizarre Real-Life UFO Story That Inspired Steven Spielberg's 'Disclosure Day'

"I don't 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. And I made a movie about that! This statement reflects Spielberg's public acknowledgment of his belief in extraterrestrial presence on Earth, marking a significant departure from his previous reluctance to discuss such convictions."

"Spielberg revealed it was actually the publication of a New York Times article in 2017 written by Helene Cooper, Ralph Blumenthal and Leslie Kean, which described an incident in which an F/A-18 took off from the USS Nimitz and encountered, per the airmen who witnessed it, an object that accelerated like nothing I've ever seen."

"He had written a treatment, a story outline, which was very good and long... very detailed. And he said, 'What do you think of this?' This exchange between Spielberg and collaborator David Koepp demonstrates the director's serious approach to developing Disclosure Day based on his detailed story concept inspired by real military encounters."

Steven Spielberg, known for iconic alien films like E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, publicly revealed his belief that extraterrestrial life exists on Earth. Speaking at South by Southwest Film & TV Festival, he disclosed a strong suspicion about alien presence. His conviction stems from a 2017 New York Times article documenting an F/A-18 encounter with an unexplained object exhibiting extraordinary acceleration capabilities. This article and subsequent documentaries about similar incidents motivated Spielberg to create Disclosure Day, his first dedicated UFO film since Close Encounters. He collaborated with longtime screenwriter David Koepp over two years in an intensive writing process to develop the project.

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