This is another slightly delayed movie post, but back in mid-June, I went to see Steven Spielberg’s latest film, Disclosure Day.
I had heard some Japanese YouTubers who cover mysteries, conspiracy theories, and urban legends talking about the movie. Apparently, its release in Japan had been pushed back to October.
A new Spielberg movie—and it’s about UAPs?
Of course I had to see it.
So I enthusiastically headed to the theater on the day after its U.S. release, or somewhere around then.
By the way, what we used to simply call “UFOs” are now often referred to as UAPs (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena) by the U.S. government and in the media.
The term UFO tends to immediately make people think of alien spacecraft, while UAP is a broader term for phenomena that haven’t yet been identified or explained.
So, What Did I Think?
Well…
My first reaction was:
They packed just about every element of a classic American blockbuster into this movie!
There are chase scenes.
They run.
They keep running.
Just when you think they’ve escaped—nope!
More danger. More suspense. More running.
Very Hollywood.
Personally, I was especially interested in the UAP, extraterrestrial, and government-disclosure side of the story, so part of me wished the movie had spent a little more time exploring the question of what these unknown beings actually are.
But this is Spielberg, after all.
Rather than simply making a movie about “aliens arriving on Earth,” the story also focuses on how humans react to the unknown—fear, communication, and our ability, or inability, to understand one another.
The Power They Receive Is Empathy
One thing I found particularly interesting—and this appears in the previews, so I don’t consider it a spoiler—is the nature of the strange ability connected to these unknown beings.
It isn’t super strength or some spectacular weapon.
Instead, it is essentially the ability to understand other people.
At the beginning, someone suddenly starts speaking fluent Korean despite apparently never having been able to speak it before.
“You speak Korean?”
“What are you talking about?”
That sort of thing.
They can also somehow know deeply personal things about other people that they normally couldn’t possibly know.
When I thought about it, I realized:
That would actually be an incredible superpower.
So many human conflicts begin with our inability to understand what another person is thinking or feeling. Language, culture, personal history, assumptions—we are constantly separated by invisible barriers.
What if those barriers suddenly disappeared?
What if we could truly understand one another?
Of course, there’s another side to that.
I’m not sure I’d want everyone to know everything about me either!
Still, I thought this idea made the movie more interesting than a simple “aliens are here” story.
Meanwhile, What Happened to Real-Life UAP Disclosure?
Watching the movie also reminded me of all the talk in recent years about the U.S. government supposedly “disclosing” information about UAPs.
Not that long ago, UFOs mostly belonged to the world of blurry photographs, conspiracy theories, and late-night TV.
Now, U.S. government agencies openly use the term UAP. Military footage involving unidentified objects has been made public, and Congress has held hearings where former military and intelligence personnel have discussed unusual sightings and alleged programs.
That alone is a remarkable change from how the subject was treated decades ago.
But there is an important distinction.
Does any of this mean the U.S. government has officially confirmed that extraterrestrial beings are visiting Earth?
No.
And this is where things become a little frustrating for those of us who find this subject fascinating.
Every so often, we hear:
“Big disclosure is coming!”
And then what we actually get is something along the lines of:
“We have footage of something, and we don’t know what it is.”
Well…
Haven’t we known that for decades?
The mystery remains a mystery.
And Then There Was the “Alien” News…
At one point, I also came across headlines or online chatter suggesting there was going to be some kind of major news involving “aliens.”
For a moment I thought:
Oh! Is this finally it?
Nope.
It apparently involved aliens in the other meaning of the English word—foreign nationals or immigration.
Talk about an anticlimax.
The word alien can mean a being from another planet, but it has also historically been used in American legal and governmental language to refer to a non-citizen or foreign national.
Very confusing for UFO enthusiasts waiting for the big announcement.
Will We Ever Have a Real “Disclosure Day”?
And that brings us back to the title of the movie: Disclosure Day.
Disclosure means revealing or making previously hidden information public.
So will there ever be a real Disclosure Day?
Will we someday turn on the news and hear:
“Yes, we have confirmed the existence of extraterrestrial life.”
Years ago, that would have sounded like pure science fiction.
Today, UAPs are at least discussed seriously by government agencies, military officials, and members of Congress.
That doesn’t prove aliens are here.
But it does make the boundary between science fiction, government secrecy, and real-world mystery feel just a little less clear than it once did.
Then again, UFO enthusiasts have been hearing variations of “disclosure is coming” for a very long time.
We get excited.
Something is released.
We look at it.
And…
Still unidentified.
Maybe the real Disclosure Day will happen next year.
Maybe ten years from now.
Or maybe these strange objects and phenomena will remain “unidentified” forever.
Either way, Disclosure Day left me thinking about the real-world mystery almost as much as the movie itself.
If you’re already interested in UAPs, government disclosure, or the possibility of extraterrestrial life, I think the movie becomes more interesting when you watch it alongside what has been happening in the real world.
And I’ll admit it.
I’m still waiting for the real Disclosure Day.