Steven Spielberg says there's 'overwhelming' proof that aliens exist

Patrick Ryan, USA TODAYSun, June 7, 2026 at 2:19 PM UTC

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NEW YORK – If you've ever loved a Steven Spielberg sci-fi movie, then you have his mom to thank for it.

Throughout his nearly half-century career, the three-time Oscar winner has asked us to consider the implications of alien life in films such as "War of the Worlds," "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." His latest offering is "Disclosure Day" (in theaters June 12), which Spielberg believes would be a new favorite of his late mother, Leah Adler, an accomplished pianist and restaurateur.

"She always said, 'Let's not be conceited to think that we're the only intelligent life in the universe,' " says the directing icon, seated at a Central Park hotel on a recent afternoon. "She would always make jokes like, 'Well, there's got to be many more intelligent planets out there.' I'd say, 'Mom, we're pretty smart,' and she'd go, 'No, there's got to be a lot more we can learn if we open up our hearts and minds.' "

Ultimately, "my mom was a champion of encouraging me to probe the unknown."

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Steven Spielberg, center, poses with mom Leah Adler and wife Kate Capshaw at the 1993 Oscars, where he won best picture and best director for "Schindler's List."

In "Disclosure Day," a young whistleblower (Josh O'Connor) is on the run from government officials after threatening to release sensitive information that definitively proves the existence of aliens. Meanwhile, a Kansas City meteorologist (Emily Blunt) seeks him out after discovering she has an uncanny ability for otherworldly communication.

The movie is based on an original idea by Spielberg, 79, who reunites with "Jurassic Park" screenwriter David Koepp. USA TODAY speaks to the filmmaker about aliens, AI and why he'll never quit making movies.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.

Daniel Kellner (Josh O'Connor) is a cybersecurity expert hoping to unmask a government cover-up in "Disclosure Day."

Question: After 50 years of making films about life beyond this planet, how has your own understanding of extraterrestrials evolved or changed?

Steven Spielberg: When I made "Close Encounters," I needed a lot of imagination. I believed there was other life out there, although I wasn't quite sure if it had come here. I was really curious about UFOs and UAPs. I said, "I'm not going to call 'Close Encounters' science fiction – I'm going to call it science speculation." But since the beginning of the 21st century, there's been more and more access to the actual visual truth. We're able to confirm our belief by showing what we shot on our devices to other people. It's just become overwhelming to me that we're not alone in the universe.

Steven Spielberg holds a megaphone while directing his 1982 movie "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial."

So if an alien showed up on your doorstep tomorrow, would you react any differently than you might have 50 years ago?

When I made "E.T.," I watched Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore completely enthralled with E.T. Especially Drew, who believed E.T. was not being controlled by 15 special effects people, but was actually a living, breathing entity. Drew had complete belief in E.T. When I saw that kind of belief a child has, I wondered, "Is it only children that can believe in extraterrestrial life, or is it possible that we are all still children in the nether reaches of our souls?"

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If there was really a "disclosure day" that would occur someday – with all of my experience faking it for science-fiction movies – I think I would not be surprised. I would be actually quite grateful.

There's a great line in this movie: "I don't want to be anyone's religion." As a filmmaker, your movies have helped shape people's world views; obviously, many other directors idolize you. Are you uncomfortable with that sort of attention?

Steven Spielberg, left, and Paul Thomas Anderson at the 98th Oscar nominees luncheon on Feb. 10.

It's not that I've grown into the role so much, but I project myself back to the icons that trained me. Directors I never had a chance to meet, but whose films I've watched dozens and dozens of times. I owe a lot of my own interest in cinema to the cineastes across the globe: [Akira] Kurosawa, [Alfred] Hitchcock, [François] Truffaut, Luc Besson.

Also, all the contemporary directors, without whom I would not feel the need to continue making movies. When I see a movie like "One Battle After Another," I want to keep making films. As intimidated as I was by the spectacular filmmaking of Paul Thomas Anderson, it gave me another 10 years of wanting to make movies. I need that to grow. When filmmakers talk to me about how my films have influenced them, I can turn around and talk to them about how their films right now are influencing me.

Steven Spielberg poses at the Paris premiere of "Disclosure Day" on June 2.

Your 2001 movie, "A.I. Artificial Intelligence," has been critically reevaluated in recent years, and is now considered among your very best. Why do you think it took 25 years to catch on?

Well, I think the world caught up. It's Stanley Kubrick's vision. I wrote the screenplay, but it was Stanley's idea. I knew Stanley for 15 years, and then a few years after he died, I started adapting "A.I." Stanley changed science fiction forever with "2001: A Space Odyssey," and caused films like "Alien" and "Star Wars" and "Close Encounters" to even be made.

"A.I." is a bit misunderstood because a lot of people who saw the film said that it was aliens, not super-mecha [or robots], at the end. There was a lot of confusion about what "A.I." was all about. But that was before the digital era; before AI really became an advancement. I fear AI as much as I embrace AI as a tool, and I think Stanley had those feelings when he wrote this story.

Gigolo Joe (Jude Law, left) helps David (Haley Joel Osment) on his quest to become a real boy in the "Pinocchio"-inspired "A.I. Artificial Intelligence."

At the end of "A.I.", Haley Joel Osment's android David is the last remaining proof that humans existed on Earth. If robots were to discover and study one of your movies 2,000 years from now, what do you hope that would be?

I don't know, I would be arrogant to say. (Laughs.) It's like, which one of my seven children do I like the most? I like them all equally, you know? It'd be hard to answer that question.

In "Disclosure Day," your characters essentially lay out all the evidence that aliens are real, like, "This is everything we've got." In that sense, does this movie feel like your final say about extraterrestrials?

It's a summation in the trilogy of "Close Encounters," "E.T." and now "Disclosure Day." But it's not going to end my curiosity – it's not going to end my love for science fiction.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Disclosure Day' and why Spielberg would be 'grateful' to meet aliens

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