Steven Spielberg rejects Disclosure Day alien conspiracy theories

Steven Spielberg has shut down conspiracy theories that his new UFO blockbuster Disclosure Day was designed to prepare the public for the revelation of extraterrestrial life.

For decades, one of the internet’s favourite conspiracy theories has been that Hollywood is secretly used to acclimatise audiences to major future events before they happen.

The theory has attached itself to everything from pandemic movies and political thrillers to films about government corruption, nuclear war, and alien invasions.

In its most extreme form, believers argue that filmmakers are fed information about future disclosures and then package those ideas into entertainment to make the public more accepting when the truth eventually emerges.

So when Spielberg – arguably cinema’s most famous chronicler of alien encounters – unveiled a film called Disclosure Day, centered around government secrets and UFO revelations, some viewers inevitably started wondering whether he knew something the rest of us didn’t. This is the man behind E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, after all.

According to the director himself, the answer is no.

Speaking exclusively to Metro‘s senior film reporter, Tori Brazier, on the red carpet at the London premiere of Disclosure Day, Spielberg laughed off suggestions that the film was created to condition audiences for some future alien announcement.

‘Well, I’m not suggesting I know anything!’ he said.

‘I made the movie, but I made the movie based on what I could simply gather by all the documentaries that have been made on the subject of UFOs, now called UAPs, on people who are reporting this from the intelligence community in Washington DC.’

The Oscar-winning filmmaker pointed to the growing number of whistleblowers, military personnel, and intelligence officials who have spoken publicly about unexplained aerial phenomena in recent years.

‘There’s been whistleblowers, Air Force pilots, Navy pilots… There’s been so much disclosure just in the last six years, all the way back from the New York Times article on the front page in 2017, where the tic tac was popular,’ he said, referring to the much-discussed sighting of a 40-foot-long, oval-shaped UFO in 2004.

‘So this is the time, I think, when we’re going to find out something.’

That comment is likely to send UFO enthusiasts into overdrive, but Spielberg was keen to stress that any similarities between real-world developments and his film are coincidental rather than evidence of some grand insider knowledge.

‘I didn’t make the movie because somebody told me you should make a movie to condition people for the possibility of disclosure,’ he continued.

‘But I just feel that the coincidences – we made the movie and suddenly the government has started to release – not very clear images, but some images are being released.’

However, while Spielberg rejected the notion that Disclosure Day was designed to prepare audiences for first contact, screenwriter David Koepp was willing to be considerably more direct about what he believes.

Koepp said his research for the film left him convinced that governments have not been fully transparent about UFO sightings and unexplained aerial phenomena.

‘I know for a fact now, from everything I’ve read and the research I did and the people I talked to, that the government’s been lying for 79 years about things that have happened,’ he said.

‘And even now, as they’re starting to trickle out things, there’s things they’re concealing, that they’re suppressing. I became certain of that, and I didn’t know that before.’

The film marks Spielberg’s return to the genre he helped define with classics such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T., arriving at a time when conversations about UFOs have moved from fringe forums into mainstream political debate.

Also speaking to Metro on the red carpet, star Emily Blunt admitted the subject matter had already fascinated her long before cameras started rolling. ‘I was always really open-minded to it,’ she said of the existence of extraterrestrial life.

‘I thought it would be sort of insane to imagine we’re alone in the galaxy where we don’t even know the half of even species on our own planet, let alone what’s out there.’

The actress said she found herself diving deep into UFO reports and witness testimony while preparing for the role.

‘I think then you kind of go down that wormhole of reading everything you can, watching everything you can,’ she explained.

‘And then it was people’s resonant truth that I felt, when you see them being interviewed about it. They just seemed so clear, so honest, even though they’ve lost their jobs, they’ve been cast out, discredited, disbelieved for just simply being astonished.’

Blunt stars as meteorologist Margaret Fairchild, a woman who finds herself at the centre of events that may fundamentally alter humanity’s understanding of its place in the cosmos.

The actress immediately recognised the character as belonging to a long Spielberg tradition.

‘He often likes people who are outsiders, who are quite idiosyncratic, not built for a hero’s journey,’ she explained.

‘I thought she had a very Spielbergian feel to her.’

As for reuniting with her former Mary Poppins Returns co-star Colin Firth, Blunt seemed considerably less interested in discussing their on-screen chemistry than a mishap she’d witnessed moments earlier on the carpet.

Gesturing somewhere into the crowd, she laughed: ‘I drive him insane. I don’t know where he is, but he almost fell over, over there. I don’t know if anyone saw it, but I saw it and it was fabulous.’

If Disclosure Day isn’t secretly preparing humanity for alien contact, it is at least documenting the decline of Colin Firth’s balance.

Meanwhile, actor Henry Lloyd-Hughes, who plays Casper Boyd, painted a picture of a production so shrouded in secrecy it is unlikely to do much to calm online speculation.

‘Everything is quite secret, as you maybe could guess,’ he told Metro.

‘I got a letter! I got a letter asking if I would like to join a company of actors – and at that point, it could have been anything.

‘It could have been a workshop, it could have been a commercial. So everything is shrouded in mystery and then, one by one, you’re like, okay, I’m finding out it’s a film… It’s obviously a really exciting watershed moment.’

@metroentertainment

What do you know Mr Spielberg 😏 We spoke to the legendary director that is Mr Steven Spielberg at the premiere of his latest movie ‘Disclosure Day’ with Josh O’Connor and Emily Blunt. Disclosure Day is a science-fiction thriller centering on a massive government conspiracy regarding extraterrestrial life. So we took the opportunity to ask Steven if he believes in ailens, and if so, does he know something we don’t? 👀 🎥 @tori_brazier / @catrionawalshx #stevenspielberg #aliens #space #disclosuredaymovie2026 #celebrityinterview

♬ original sound – Metro Entertainment – Metro Entertainment

To be clear, secret casting processes are fairly standard when you have the prestige of Steven Spielberg and not necessarily evidence of an extraterrestrial cover-up. That said, they are exactly the sort of detail that will have Reddit users drawing red string between screenshots by tomorrow morning.

Spielberg himself insists he still approaches each new project like a beginner, despite being a legend in the industry.

‘Every film is a learning experience for me,’ he said.

‘I may be close to 80, but I don’t feel that when I’m filmmaking or telling stories because it’s the greatest youth-eter I know to do this job, to have the privilege of having this job!’

Conspiracy theorists may remain unconvinced, but if Disclosure Day really is part of a secret government initiative designed to acclimatise humanity to first contact, Spielberg is maintaining an admirably disciplined commitment to his cover story.

Disclosure Day hits UK cinemas on June 10.

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