Within Outsiders
In Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the final movement at Devils Tower transforms the UFO witness from a social outsider into a political outsider. Roy Neary and Jillian Guiler are no longer merely people whose experiences are doubted.
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Introduction
In Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the final movement at Devils Tower transforms the UFO witness from a social outsider into a political outsider. Roy Neary and Jillian Guiler are no longer merely people whose experiences are doubted. By the time they reach Wyoming, they have become individuals excluded from a state-managed event that concerns them more directly than anyone else. Spielberg stages the climax as a conflict between personal knowledge and official control: the government knows the UFOs are coming, but it also decides who may witness that arrival and who must be kept away. Roy and Jillian therefore arrive at first contact not as invited participants but as fugitives. Their flight toward Devils Tower turns the witness narrative into a struggle over access, legitimacy and authority. [Wikipedia]WikipediaClose Encounters of the Third KindClose Encounters of the Third Kind
The False Emergency and Public Exclusion
The decisive act of exclusion occurs when authorities identify Devils Tower as the UFO rendezvous site and create a massive security operation around it. In the film, the area is evacuated through a fabricated public emergency: news reports claim that a train accident has released a dangerous toxic nerve gas. Roads are blocked, residents are removed and access is restricted while military and scientific personnel prepare the landing zone. [Wikipedia]WikipediaClose Encounters of the Third KindClose Encounters of the Third Kind [TV Tropes]tvtropes.orgClose Encounters of the Third Kind RecapThe Army evacuates the entire area around Devils Tower by planting false reports in the media tha…
This deception matters because Spielberg could have used a straightforward military quarantine. Instead, he chooses a false narrative directed at the public. The government does not simply secure the site; it manufactures consent for exclusion. People are not told that extraterrestrial contact is imminent. They are told a story designed to make them leave voluntarily. Roy and Jillian become unusual because they possess enough knowledge to recognise the lie. When they see Devils Tower on television, they realise that the mountain from their visions is real and that the official explanation cannot account for their experiences. [Wikipedia]WikipediaClose Encounters of the Third KindClose Encounters of the Third Kind [filmsite]filmsite.orgClose Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)Ignoring the restrictions and news reports about toxic nerve gas - an… And then, they both se… The scene reflects a wider current in 1970s American culture. Critics and historians have often noted thatClose Encounters contains traces of post-Watergate suspicion toward official institutions. The threat in the final act is not hostile aliens but the possibility that governments will control information about extraordinary events. Turner Classic Movies specifically notes that the film shifted attention from alien intentions toward government intervention and secrecy. [Turner Classic Movies]tcm.comTurner Classic MoviesClose Encounters Of The Third KindNo longer just concerned with the true intentions of visitors from outer space, it…
Why Refusal Turns Witnesses into Trespassers
Roy and Jillian do not become fugitives because they wish to challenge the state. They become fugitives because compliance would require them to deny what they know.
Throughout the film, both characters have been driven by a recurring mental image of Devils Tower. The mountain functions as evidence that cannot be shared through conventional channels. Others see obsession or irrationality. Roy and Jillian experience certainty. When the evacuation begins, the authorities effectively demand that they abandon the destination that has dominated their lives since their encounters. Their refusal converts them from witnesses into trespassers. [Wikipedia]WikipediaClose Encounters of the Third KindClose Encounters of the Third Kind
Spielberg carefully emphasises this transition. Roy and Jillian travel alongside crowds fleeing the supposed disaster, moving against the direction of public behaviour. They are stopped, questioned and eventually intercepted by military personnel. Other vision-driven travellers are removed from the area, while Roy and Jillian escape and continue toward the restricted zone. Their actions are technically unlawful within the framework created by the authorities, yet the audience understands that their pursuit is justified because the official framework itself is based on deception. [Wikipedia]WikipediaClose Encounters of the Third KindClose Encounters of the Third Kind [Crazy Film Guy]crazyfilmguy.blogspot.comclose encounters of third kind 1977Crazy Film GuyClose Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)30 Jul 2017 — Roy sees the news footage of Devil's Tower and realizes that's the i…
The result is a familiar Spielberg pattern: ordinary people acquire knowledge that institutions cannot comfortably accommodate. Roy is not an expert, scientist or government official. His authority comes entirely from experience. That authority has no recognised place inside the official system, so he must operate outside it.
The Boundary as a Test of Belief
Devils Tower is not merely a location. It is a boundary.
The mountain separates two worlds: the evacuated public sphere below and the secret contact zone above. To cross that boundary, Roy and Jillian must ignore warnings, bypass checkpoints and climb into territory where they are not supposed to be. The ascent turns belief into action. Earlier in the film, Roy could obsess privately. At Devils Tower, conviction demands risk. [Wikipedia]WikipediaClose Encounters of the Third KindClose Encounters of the Third Kind [Scott Holleran]scottholleran.commovie analysis close encounters of the third kind 1977Movie Analysis: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)4 Sept 2017 — That two freethinkers escape government control in that gas-guzzli…
This is why the climax feels different from a conventional conspiracy thriller. Roy is not trying to expose a hidden programme. He is trying to reach an event that he already knows is real. The dramatic question is not whether the UFOs exist. It is whether the witness will be allowed to stand in the place where truth becomes visible.
Contact as Vindication at the Boundary
When Roy and Jillian finally reach the observation area, Spielberg resolves the outsider narrative through direct experience rather than public proof.
The UFOs arrive exactly where the witnesses believed they would. The visions were accurate. The compulsion was meaningful. The mountain was a genuine summons rather than a delusion. Everything that isolated Roy from his family and community is retrospectively validated by the appearance of the craft above Devils Tower. [Wikipedia]WikipediaClose Encounters of the Third KindClose Encounters of the Third Kind
Yet Spielberg does not portray this vindication as a triumph over the authorities. The climax is more complicated. Scientists and government personnel are also present, and they successfully establish communication through sound and light. The film does not argue that institutions are wholly wrong. Instead, it shows that institutional knowledge and witness knowledge arrive at the same destination through different paths. The authorities possess resources, technology and organisational power. Roy and Jillian possess experiential certainty. Both prove necessary to the encounter. [Wikipedia]WikipediaClose Encounters of the Third KindClose Encounters of the Third Kind
The crucial difference is that the witnesses reach the truth despite exclusion. Their legitimacy comes from persistence rather than permission.
Why Roy Is Chosen
The film’s most striking act of vindication occurs when Roy is selected to board the mothership. Up to this point he has been treated as unstable, obsessive and unreliable. The outsider becomes the human representative who crosses the final threshold. Spielberg therefore completes a dramatic reversal: the figure marginalised by family, neighbours and authorities becomes the person most closely aligned with the visitors themselves. [Wikipedia]WikipediaClose Encounters of the Third KindClose Encounters of the Third Kind
Within the logic of the story, Roy’s journey suggests that witnessing carries obligations as well as costs. His experience isolates him, but it also prepares him for contact. The climax rewards neither institutional rank nor social status. It rewards the willingness to follow an experience that others cannot understand.
The Outsider Climax in Spielberg’s UFO Vision
The Devils Tower sequence is the clearest expression of Spielberg’s UFO witness as outsider. Roy and Jillian are excluded by an official narrative, transformed into trespassers by their refusal to accept it and ultimately vindicated by the event itself. The false emergency, the military barriers and the secret landing site all serve a single dramatic purpose: they place the witnesses outside the structures that claim authority over reality. [Wikipedia]WikipediaClose Encounters of the Third KindClose Encounters of the Third Kind [Turner Classic Movies]tcm.comTurner Classic MoviesClose Encounters Of The Third KindNo longer just concerned with the true intentions of visitors from outer space, it…
By the end of Close Encounters, the outsider is not proved right through argument, evidence files or public disclosure. He is proved right because he reaches the boundary where hidden knowledge becomes visible. At Devils Tower, Spielberg turns UFO belief into a contest between personal experience and official control, then resolves that contest with the arrival of something neither side can deny. [Wikipedia]WikipediaClose Encounters of the Third KindClose Encounters of the Third Kind
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Further Reading
Books and field guides related to Devils Tower Fugitiv 4 Ed 10 C. Use these as the next step if you want deeper reading beyond the article.
The UFO Experience
Hynek created the close-encounter framework that inspired Spielberg's film title and served as an adviser on the movie.
Passport to Magonia
One of the most influential books on UFO culture and the mystery-oriented approach echoed in Spielberg's work.
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Endnotes
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Source: Wikipedia
Title: Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_Encounters_of_the_Third_Kind -
Source: filmsite.org
Link: https://www.filmsite.org/clos3.htmlSource snippet
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)Ignoring the restrictions and news reports about toxic nerve gas - an... And then, they both se...
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Source: imdb.com
Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075860/plotsummary/Source snippet
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) - PlotThe US Government determine where the visitors plan to land and create an elaborate cover...
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Source: tvtropes.org
Link: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKindSource snippet
Close Encounters of the Third Kind RecapThe Army evacuates the entire area around Devils Tower by planting false reports in the media tha...
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Source: tcm.com
Link: https://www.tcm.com/articles/18629/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind-close-encounters-of-the-third-kindSource snippet
Turner Classic MoviesClose Encounters Of The Third KindNo longer just concerned with the true intentions of visitors from outer space, it...
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Source: crazyfilmguy.blogspot.com
Title: close encounters of third kind 1977
Link: https://crazyfilmguy.blogspot.com/2017/07/close-encounters-of-third-kind-1977.htmlSource snippet
Crazy Film GuyClose Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)30 Jul 2017 — Roy sees the news footage of Devil's Tower and realizes that's the i...
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Source: scottholleran.com
Title: movie analysis close encounters of the third kind 1977
Link: https://www.scottholleran.com/movies/movie-analysis-close-encounters-of-the-third-kind-1977/Source snippet
Movie Analysis: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)4 Sept 2017 — That two freethinkers escape government control in that gas-guzzli...
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Source: movie-locations.com
Link: https://movie-locations.com/movies/c/Close-Encounters-Of-The-Third-Kind.phpSource snippet
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind | 1977The big evacuation scene filmed at Bay Minette over the Mobile and Tensaw Rivers, 30 miles north...
Additional References
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Source: jhwikicollection-20.fandom.com
Link: https://jhwikicollection-20.fandom.com/wiki/Close_Encounters_of_the_Third_KindSource snippet
JH Wiki CollectionClose Encounters of the Third Kind | JH Wiki Collection 2.0 WikiWhen a news program about a supposed train wreck near D...
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Source: the-jh-movie-collection-official.fandom.com
Link: https://the-jh-movie-collection-official.fandom.com/wiki/Close_Encounters_of_the_Third_KindSource snippet
The JH Movie CollectionClose Encounters of the Third KindThe United States Army evacuates the entire area around Devils Tower by planting...
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Source: facebook.com
Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/galacticgals/posts/744714095034751/ -
Source: bookerhorror.com
Link: https://bookerhorror.com/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind-1977-director-steven-spielberg/Source snippet
Comments on CultureCLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977...Neary and Jillian Guiler represent a more emotional, even spiritual quest...
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Source: facebook.com
Title: steven spielbergs 1977 sci fi wonder close encounters of the third kind is a lum
Link: https://www.facebook.com/100090944052107/posts/steven-spielbergs-1977-sci-fi-wonder-close-encounters-of-the-third-kind-is-a-lum/615539258154204/Source snippet
Steven Spielberg's 1977 sci-fi wonder, Close Encounters...10 Apr 2025 — Roy and Jillian make their way to Devil's Tower, defying militar...
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Source: crittical-analysis.com
Title: close encounters and the cost of passion spielberg summer continues
Link: https://www.crittical-analysis.com/articles/close-encounters-and-the-cost-of-passion-spielberg-summer-continuesSource snippet
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS and the Cost of Passion: SPIELBERG...10 Aug 2024 — It's an early Spielberg epic exploring humanity's response to seeing...
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Source: intermountainhistories.org
Link: https://www.intermountainhistories.org/items/show/226Source snippet
In the film, [Roy Neary]({{ 'roy-neary/' | relative_url }}) is shown how to climb this area to evade government capture.Read more...
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Source: intothegyre.org
Title: first frights close encounters of the third kind 1977
Link: https://intothegyre.org/2023/09/11/first-frights-close-encounters-of-the-third-kind-1977/Source snippet
First Frights: 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' (1977)11 Sept 2023 — The climax at Devil's Tower has wonderful moments, and there was...
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Source: medium.com
Link: https://medium.com/sci-fi-movie-reviews/review-3-close-encounters-of-the-third-kind-a39c85179e1eSource snippet
ill”. Against the evacuation movement, Roy is guided...Read more...
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Source: reddit.com
Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/t21841/can_i_ask_something_about_close_encounters_of_the/Source snippet
be the Token Everyman, but to me he was the worst part of the...
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