Within Secrecy
In Steven Spielberg’s UFO storytelling, scientific experts occupy a difficult position. They are neither simple heroes nor straightforward agents of suppression. Instead, they become gatekeepers of meaning. In Close Encounters of the Third Kind, alien contact is so unprecedented that ordinary witnesses cannot easily interpret what they have seen.
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Who Gets to Interpret First Contact?
The most important scientific figure in Close Encounters is not Roy Neary, the ordinary witness, but the international team led by Claude Lacombe. Roy experiences the phenomenon directly, yet he cannot explain it. The scientists gather fragments from around the world, compare evidence, decode patterns and eventually identify Devil’s Tower as the destination for first contact. Their role is interpretive rather than observational. They transform scattered experiences into organised knowledge. [Movies & TV Stack Exchange]movies.stackexchange.comIs it because the UFOs had been visitingMovies & TV Stack ExchangeHow did the scientists know that the UFOs would be…6 Sept 2023 — After they decipher the co-ordinates, it se…
This structure reflects Spielberg’s broader fascination with expertise. The UFO event is not presented as self-explanatory. Witnesses see lights, hear sounds and experience profound personal disruption, but specialists are required to translate those experiences into something socially meaningful. The famous musical communication sequence at Devil’s Tower symbolises this process. Contact occurs through a carefully designed scientific framework that converts mystery into a language both sides can share. [Wikipedia]WikipediaClose Encounters of the Third KindClose Encounters of the Third Kind
Importantly, Spielberg does not portray these experts as villains. Their knowledge is valuable and often necessary. Without them, the encounter might remain chaotic, misunderstood or impossible to coordinate. The problem is that expertise also creates hierarchy.
Scientists as Translators Rather Than Villains
Spielberg’s scientists differ from the mad scientists or military antagonists common in earlier science-fiction cinema. Lacombe and his colleagues are curious, patient and genuinely interested in communication. Their goal is understanding rather than conquest.
This approach was influenced in part by the film’s connection to real UFO research. Spielberg worked with astronomer and UFO investigator J. Allen Hynek, whose classification system supplied both the film’s title and part of its conceptual framework. Hynek had spent decades attempting to bring systematic investigation to UFO reports, arguing that unusual claims should be examined rather than automatically dismissed. Spielberg later credited Hynek with helping him approach UFO phenomena through the lens of organised inquiry rather than sensationalism. [The Ankler]theankler.comsteven spielberg ufo aliens close encounters third kindThe AnklerUFOs, Aliens & Steven Spielberg's 20-Year Obsession9 Nov 2024 — For one thing, to make Close Encounters as accurate as possible… Wikipedia That influence appears throughout the film. The scientific team collects evidence internationally [Wikipedia]WikipediaClose Encounters of the Third KindClose Encounters of the Third Kind, compares testimony and searches for patterns. Their authority comes not from force but from their ability to synthesise information. In this sense they act as translators between humanity and the unknown.
Yet translation is never neutral. The person who interprets a message inevitably shapes how others understand it.
Why Expertise Depends on Restricted Access
The paradox of Close Encounters is that the scientists’ success depends on exclusion. The Devil’s Tower operation requires secrecy, controlled access and restricted information. Authorities create false public explanations and remove ordinary citizens from the area so that the scientific team can conduct the encounter under carefully managed conditions.
From a governance perspective, expertise becomes inseparable from privilege. Scientists can only perform their role because they receive access denied to everyone else. They are allowed to see the evidence, participate in planning and stand at the centre of the encounter itself. Witnesses such as Roy spend much of the film struggling to reach information that experts already possess. [Wikipedia]WikipediaJ. Allen HynekJ. Allen Hynek
This arrangement raises an important question: is secrecy justified because experts need controlled conditions, or does expertise become a justification for secrecy? Spielberg never offers a simple answer.
The film repeatedly suggests both possibilities:
- Scientific coordination appears necessary for meaningful communication.
- Public participation is limited by institutional control.
- Knowledge flows upward to experts but rarely downward to ordinary citizens.
- Access to the truth depends on membership in specialised networks.
As a result, scientific authority becomes a mechanism that both reveals and conceals.
How Witness Experience Challenges Official Interpretation
Roy Neary presents a challenge to the expert system because he possesses something the scientists lack: direct personal experience.
Throughout the film, Roy is treated as unreliable. His visions and obsessions appear irrational to family members and outsiders. Yet the audience knows that his experience is real. Spielberg therefore creates two competing forms of knowledge.
The first is institutional knowledge, represented by scientific teams, government agencies and organised research. The second is experiential knowledge, represented by witnesses whose encounters cannot easily be measured or classified.
Neither form is sufficient on its own. Witnesses possess authentic contact but lack interpretive tools. Scientists possess interpretive tools but often lack the immediacy of personal experience. The film’s drama emerges from the gap between these perspectives. Roy eventually reaches Devil’s Tower not because the system welcomes him, but because his experience drives him to pursue answers independently. [Wikipedia]WikipediaProject Blue BookAstronomer J. Allen Hynek was the scientific consultant of the project. created the categorization which has been ext…
In this respect, Spielberg avoids presenting expertise as infallible. The experts are closer to the truth than most people, but they do not own the truth. Witnesses remain essential participants in understanding the phenomenon.
The Hynek Connection and the Authority of UFO Knowledge
The gatekeeper theme gains additional significance because of the film’s relationship to J. Allen Hynek. As a scientific adviser to the US Air Force’s UFO investigations and later an independent researcher, Hynek occupied a position remarkably similar to Lacombe’s. He stood between public reports and official interpretation, evaluating claims and deciding which deserved serious attention. His famous “close encounter” classification system was an attempt to organise witness experiences into categories that experts could analyse systematically. [Wikipedia]WikipediaClose encounterClose encounterUFO researcher Ted Bloecher proposed six sub-types for the close encounters of the third kind in Hynek's scale: Aboard… [Wikipedia]WikipediaJacques ValléeJacques Vallée… Spielberg's 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He also attempted to interest Spielberg in an alternative…
Hynek’s involvement helped give Close Encounters an unusual balance. The film respects scientific investigation while remaining aware that institutions can filter, manage and sometimes limit public understanding. Contemporary accounts note that Spielberg sought Hynek’s guidance specifically to ground the story in existing UFO research traditions. [The Ankler]theankler.comsteven spielberg ufo aliens close encounters third kindThe AnklerUFOs, Aliens & Steven Spielberg's 20-Year Obsession9 Nov 2024 — For one thing, to make Close Encounters as accurate as possible…
The result is a portrayal of expertise that feels more complex than a conventional conspiracy narrative. Scientists are not merely covering up information. They are performing a genuine interpretive function. At the same time, their authority allows them to shape who gains access to reality and on what terms.
Expertise, Trust and the Politics of Contact
The lasting significance of Spielberg’s expert gatekeepers lies in the way they connect scientific authority to political power. First contact is not simply a scientific discovery; it is an event that must be managed, explained and communicated. Whoever controls interpretation controls public understanding.
In Close Encounters, scientists become the first audience for alien communication and the first interpreters of its meaning. Their expertise makes the encounter possible, but it also places them between ordinary people and the phenomenon itself. Spielberg therefore presents a persistent tension at the heart of UFO stories: humanity needs experts to understand the unknown, yet every act of expert interpretation risks creating a new distance between the event and the people who experienced it.
That ambiguity is what makes the film’s scientific characters so memorable. They are neither guardians of a sinister conspiracy nor purely objective observers. They are intermediaries, translating the extraordinary while deciding who gets to hear the translation first.
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Further Reading
Books and field guides related to Expert Gatekeepers C 3 F09 Cb. 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: Wikipedia
Title: J. Allen Hynek
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Allen_Hynek -
Source: Wikipedia
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Blue_BookSource snippet
Project Blue BookAstronomer J. Allen Hynek was the scientific consultant of the project. created the categorization which has been ext...
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Source: Wikipedia
Title: Close encounter
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_encounterSource snippet
Close encounterUFO researcher Ted Bloecher proposed six sub-types for the close encounters of the third kind in Hynek's scale: Aboard...
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Source: Wikipedia
Title: Jacques Vallée
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Vall%C3%A9eSource snippet
Jacques Vallée... Spielberg's 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He also attempted to interest Spielberg in an alternative...
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Source: theankler.com
Title: steven spielberg ufo aliens close encounters third kind
Link: https://theankler.com/steven-spielberg-ufo-aliens-close-encounters-third-kind/Source snippet
The AnklerUFOs, Aliens & Steven Spielberg's 20-Year Obsession9 Nov 2024 — For one thing, to make Close Encounters as accurate as possible...
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Source: movies.stackexchange.com
Title: Is it because the UFOs had been visiting
Link: https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/120957/how-did-the-scientists-know-that-the-ufos-would-be-landing-at-the-[devils-towerSource snippet
Movies & TV Stack ExchangeHow did the scientists know that the UFOs would be...6 Sept 2023 — After they decipher the co-ordinates, it se...
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Source: goodreads.com
Title: Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/work/editions/533410-close-encounters-of-the-third-kindSource snippet
First published January 1st 1977. Close Encounters of the Third Kind by Steven Spielberg. Close Encounters...Read more...
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Source: worldcat.org
Title: Close encounters of the third kind
Link: https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1029258677Source snippet
Summary: Humans make contact with aliens after witnessing the arrival of flying [saucers]({{ 'saucers/' | relative_url }}) from another world. eBook, English, 1977. Publish...
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Source: biography.com
Title: j allen hynek
Link: https://www.biography.com/scientists/j-allen-hynekSource snippet
Allen Hynek - Project Blue Book, Quotes & Facts22 Jan 2020 — The book is most famous for introducing the "Close Encounter" classification...
Additional References
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Source: enigmalabs.io
Link: https://enigmalabs.io/library/6483dd0f-9d12-41fa-842b-c064d636c3bbSource snippet
Hynek's Close Encounters ScaleAllen Hynek devised a sixfold classification for UFO sightings, ranked by proximity to the event. Populariz...
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Source: pagesix.com
Link: https://pagesix.com/2026/06/11/hollywood/as-steven-spielberg-releases-[disclosure-daySource snippet
Since the release of Spielberg’s 1977 classic "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," public and cinematic perspectives on UAPs have signif...
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Source: medium.com
Link: https://medium.com/%40cjbaker1340/we-are-not-alone-dec82162bd04Source snippet
We are not alone… | by CJ CardiacDropCars pass by the infamous Devil's Tower in Wyoming. When it did debut, Close Encounters showcased so...
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Link: https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9781839025792_A49499080/preview-9781839025792_A49499080.pdfSource snippet
Encounters of the Third KindHead scientist Claude Lacombe. (François Truffaut) sees that Neary needs existentially to participate in the...
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Source: dailynorthwestern.com
Link: https://dailynorthwestern.com/2023/03/06/lateststories/time-capsule-a-look-at-j-allen-hynek-the-nu-professor-whose-ufo-research-inspired-close-encounters-of-the-third-kind/Source snippet
Remembering NU professor J. Allen Hynek's UFO research7 Mar 2023 — Hynek later became chief scientific advisor for Project Blue Book, an...
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Source: cowboystatedaily.com
Title: 50 years later sci fi fans still find their close encounters at devils tower
Link: https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/31/50-years-later-sci-fi-fans-still-find-their-close-encounters-at-devils-tower/Source snippet
50 Years Later, Sci-Fi Fans Still Find Their 'Close...31 May 2026 — Fifty years ago, the cameras rolled on “Close Encounters of the Thir...
Published: May 2026
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Source: miami.uni-muenster.de
Link: https://miami.uni-muenster.de/Record/f4f2cdec-9acb-4c6f-ab47-ee7501e09492?lng=enSource snippet
uni-muenster.de[https://miami.uni-muenster.de/Record/f4f2cdec-9acb...No](https://miami.uni-muenster.de/Record/f4f2cdec-9acb...No) information is available for this page...
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Source: kiki.rc.fas.harvard.edu
Link: https://kiki.rc.fas.harvard.edu/databases/specimen_search.php?id=1459489&mode=detailsSource snippet
harvard.edu[https://kiki.rc.fas.harvard.edu/databases/specimen...No](https://kiki.rc.fas.harvard.edu/databases/specimen...No) information is available for this page...
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Source: intermountainhistories.org
Link: https://www.intermountainhistories.org/items/show/226Source snippet
Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Devils Tower...The film tells the story of several individuals' experiences with extra-terrestri...
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Source: medium.com
Link: https://medium.com/%40waderitter144/close-encounters-of-the-3rd-kind-definitions-and-classifications-9e28ced4e959Source snippet
er classifications, as well as their impact on UFO research...Read more...
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