Le chercheur croate
Giuliano Marinkovic publie cette mise à jour sur la liste Ufo Updates : "Steven Spielberg And 3 Decades Of His Public UFO Views"
In connection with Angelia Joiner's recent article, Spielberg Knows What He Saw In UFO documentary available here :
http://tinyurl.com/yf6bskhI am sending some additional material that could be of interest to researchers who are curious about Spielberg's connection with the UFO field in the past.
For additional reading I also recommend 30 Years of Close Encounters by Jennifer Henderson and George M. Eberhart - International UFO Reporter Volume 31 Number 3)
At first Spielberg's mail to James Fox can sound as nothing special becuse it is known that Steven is open towards the subject of UFOs anyway - After all he has directed classic SF movies Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind and he produced Taken, the TV series that broke records on Sci-Fi channel.
But the situation is not that simple. In the last 3 decades Spielberg's public views towards the UFO phenomena have been mostly revised and changed.
As my university thesis was about George Lucas and creative managment of Lucasfilm I have besides Ufology a big archive of documentaries about film history of visual effects where the central players are of course George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.
I have checked arround 4 hours of different documentaries to extract relevant clips where we can follow up Spielberg views on UFOs during last 30 years.
I have uploaded all the relevent clips so let's begin.
Clip 00 - Watch The Skies - Original 1977 Featurette
In this clip you can see original featurette of the 1977 movie Close Encounters Of The 3rd Kind. During the production the working title of the movie was Watch The Skies - later changed to Close Encounters Of The 3rd Kind.
In the featurette there's a short interview with Dr. J. Allen Hynek, civilian advisor and investigator for Project Blue Book. Hynek was also main advisor for the movie.
Hynek explains the Close Encounters terminology. Most debunkers are using the main argument that some of the UFO Mythology is based on the Speilberg movies. Just the opposite. Close Encounters was prepared as a documentary. Most of the data was from Blue Book archives and Hynek's book The UFO Experience. In the clip you can also see Spielberg's enthusiasm during the film's production:
http://tinyurl.com/ybtvs86Clip 01 - Introduction To Spielberg's Views Making Of Close Encounters Of The Third Kind - 1997
This is clip from a documentary made for Laser Disc edition in 1997. Spielberg is vidoed on the set for the movie Saving Private Ryan that he was just filming at the time. Check the background where he is giving interview.
Spielberg states that during his younger years he believed that there was some truth to all UFO sightings - the implication is that he no longer thinking that. He also recounts an episode from his youth when his father took him out to watch the night sky which inspired his immagination and probably lead to ideas for the Close Encounters movie.
Download link:
http://tinyurl.com/ybp3cdhClip 02 - Making Of Close Encounters Of The Third Kind - Dr. Allen Hynek, 1997
This is fantastic clip.
You can hear Speilberg's connection with Dr. J. Allen Hynek who was an inspirational force for the movie.
Other members of the crew also comment:
Actor Bob Balaban - aknown as the director of the NBC cult sitcom, Seinfeld and Richard Dreyfuss
Download link:
http://tinyurl.com/yekg4rxClip 03 - Previous Versions Of The Close Encounters Screenplay
Steven Spielberg talks about previous versions of the screenplay which lead to the final version with the central role of a common man:
http://tinyurl.com/yevhsqtClip 04 - ALIENS & The Making Of Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
Again most of the debunkers will state that the alleged look of aliens and UFO abductions are based on Spielberg's Close Encounters. Completly wrong again. As we can been seen in this clip the data for the movie was used from known cases and reports.
Production designer Joe Alves talks how he used reports & articles from people's experiences to create the look of the aliens during pre-production.
Spielberg also talk's about concept of alien races for themovie:
http://tinyurl.com/y8snpp4Clip 05 - Spielberg About His "blind Optimism" During His Youth
Spielberg talks about his disconnect in his youth and how he was much more optimistic during the era of filming Close Encounters - which could also be the reason why he is now less open towards UFOs:
http://tinyurl.com/ybowoylClip 06 - Revised Spielberg And Hynek Connection
This is the most recent documentary filmed for the Ultimate 30th Anniversary Edition of Close Encounters in 2007. Again Spielberg notes how his views on UFOs have been revised and how he is less open toward UFO sightings. He states that sightings have "diminished", which is strange for him in this modern era of hand held cameras.
Again Spielberg is giving more comments about his connection with dr. J. Allen Hynek:
http://tinyurl.com/yau4kb6Clip 07 - Connection Between Close Encounters And E.T.
This is an excerptt from the rare documentary Making Of E.T., released on Laser Disc in 1996. This clip is not on the DVD release of E.T. - you'll find it at:
http://tinyurl.com/yaflg9aSpielberg talks about his idea for E.T. (1982) and connection with previous movie Close Encounters movie
Film producer Kathleen Kennedy talks how she decided to start her film career after she saw Close Encounters. She talks about research that Spielberg had done with Dr. J. Allen Hynek.
Spielberg adds how he was very much interested in the UFO incident that happened on the farm.
I think that Spielberg is probably refering to anthological Kelly incident. More about Kelly incident here:
http://ufos.about.com/od/bestufocasefiles/p/kelly.htmhttp://www.gate-way-publishers.com/html/kelly.html
Download link:
http://tinyurl.com/ybd4zelClip 08 - Audio - Spielberg Comments On Area 51 And Presidents - Unknown Source
This audio comes from Grant Cameron's research. Spielberg is talks about Area 51 and the knowledge of Presidents. Spielberg adds that he talked with Presidents who told him that they were not included in the knowledge of hard evidence of that kind (ET). Of course in that context we also must include the alleged Shandera story of exchange between Reagan and Spielberg during the screening of ET at the White House. More about it here:
http://tinyurl.com/ydz33hrhttp://www.presidentialufo.com/old_site/reagan_spielberg.htmAlso Grant was able to find some updates on that story. CSee here:
http://tinyurl.com/ydt4rhnDownload link for audio:
http://tinyurl.com/y98gve3I am guessing that the source of this audio is also from some featurette - if anyone knows the source please contact me as I am interested to find the whole documentary.
Conclusion:
So when we look at the Spielberg's revised views on UFOs over the the past 30 years nd take into account his recent mail to James Fox - reported by Angelia Joiner - the situation gets very interesting;
Maybe Spielberg has again revised his views after James Fox's amazing documentary I Know What I Saw.
If that is the case then for sure its something that James Fox can be proud of. And his documentary certainly has the strength to acomplish that.
Best Wishes to everyone
Giuliano Marinkovic