Steven Spielberg’s new film “Disclosure Day” sparks public interest in UFOs

Steven Spielberg’s new film “Disclosure Day” arrives as public interest in UFOs and alien life has widened far beyond science fiction. The film opened Friday, June 12, and returns Spielberg to a theme he explored in “E.T.”: what happens when humans learn they may not be alone.

“Disclosure Day” centers on a race to expose seven decades of hidden evidence about alien visitations, according to the Los Angeles Times. The film follows Daniel, played by Josh O’Connor, and Margaret, played by Emily Blunt, as they move through the Midwest while a shadowy company called Wardex tries to recover secret material.

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In the story, Daniel carries hard drives tied to more than 70 years of extraterrestrial encounters, while Margaret, a Kansas City meteorologist, gains strange powers after an encounter with a cardinal, Slate confirmed. She can read other people’s inner struggles and speak an unknown language that Daniel can translate.

The film also stars Colin Firth as Noah Scanlon, head of Wardex, and Colman Domingo as Hugo Wakefield, a former company leader who wants to release the classified files, according to Slate. Eve Hewson also appears as Jane, Daniel’s girlfriend, who is held hostage at the start of the film.

UFO discussion in the White House

According to AP News, the topic has become more visible in recent months, with UFOs, or UAPs as the government now calls them, appearing in discussions from the White House to the Catholic Church. The Pentagon made public large collections of UFO files in May, and former President Barack Obama added fuel to the debate by saying aliens are real, though he later said he saw no evidence of contact during his presidency.

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Faith leaders split on what aliens could mean

AP News reported that some believers and nonbelievers say life on other planets could challenge faiths by raising questions about human uniqueness. Others see the opposite, arguing that UFO talk supports a more spiritual view of the universe.

Diana Walsh Pasulka, a religion scholar at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, said, “Belief in UFOs is really one of the best things that's happened to religion in a long time. It's a blow to the secular, materialist worldview.” AP News also reported that Vice President JD Vance said, “I don't think they're aliens. I think they're demons,” on a recent podcast.

Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, a former exorcist for the Archdiocese of Washington, said in a May 29 video posted on Facebook, “It's my personal belief that probably many, if not most, of these UFO sightings are in fact demons,” per AP News. Christopher Baglow of the University of Notre Dame reportedly said the Catholic Church has long remained open to the possibility of extraterrestrial life and “has never ever taught one way or the other.”

Jeffrey Kripal, a historian of religions at Rice University, said the modern UFO image grew after 1945 and reflects a Cold War-era invasion story, per AP News. He also said interest is growing in reports of encounters that people describe as deeply religious.