Aliens Among Us

Aliens on the approach? -- Picture courtesy of Columbia Pictures and EMI

by blogSpotter
I just watched a movie, Steven Spielberg’s 1977 sci-fi opus Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Close Encounters is probably one of the most important, seminal movies with regard to the cinematic depiction of aliens and UFO’s. Notably, Encounters shows aliens as benign curious creatures where earlier movies showed portrayed them as warlike invaders.

Previous filmmakers didn’t have problems with the illogic of matching the war-making abilities of 20th humans against that of aliens capable of bending space-time to get here from somewhere else. Another logical nit that seems to be irrelevant even in most sci-fi movies is that this superior intelligence would need to be so furtive – it does fly-bys in remote locations, seldom ever landing or presenting itself. The closest solar system to ours is light years away; it’s unlikely that our cosmic interlopers wouldn’t land for a rest stop. If these aliens could conquer the fabric of space-time, they probably wouldn’t be coy about showing themselves to early 21st century humans who still haven’t cured cancer, achieved world peace or progressed beyond fossil fuel-powered vehicles. Close Encounters advances admirably beyond this sci-fi impasse -- these aliens put on a light show, play an intergalactic concerto and step out of the mother ship to engage in sign language diplomacy. I have to mention though, that even in this movie the landing is shrouded in secrecy at a remote site in front of mostly military personnel.

It's not just the filmmakers that pique my curiosity. I'm taken by the the passion of sci-fi fans (now or then) desperately wanting to socialize with aliens -- not contemplating whether the encounter would be a friendly one. In human history, when one culture meets another, the technologically superior side will just about always conquer and subsume the less advanced culture.

I had a friend a few years back that followed sci-fi and loved alien stories. I asked him, given the mountain of logical evidence against it, why so many people gravitate towards the idea of alien visits. He suggested that it’s another form of seeking God or afterlife, a striving to make sense of life and find something bigger than us. All of that makes sense and yet I want my “story” to make sense too. Dr. J Allen Hynek, the UFO expert who advised Spielberg in 1977, said that “alien” is probably not the right word. The creatures he conjured are almost omnipresent and deeply familiar with us, their subjects. If Hynek wants to postulate that there is more dimensionality, more than meets the eye with Earth life I’m on board. But this intelligence didn’t get here in a flying saucer, nor does it have almond-shaped eyes – my admitted prejudice. I’ll stop there and let the reader take it where he or she will.

Back to Close Encounters… I saw this movie when it first came out, when I was 19. I completely forgot that Dreyfuss’ character flirts with another woman (outside of his crumbling marriage) who shares his alien obsessions. I also forgot about the pilgrimage to Devil’s Tower in Wyoming or the partial government cover-up. How many other movies and TV shows (e.g., X Files) owe a debt to this movie? It basically got the alien ball rolling, as we know it today. Even if you don’t buy the sci-fi premise, the acting and special effects are superb. Check out a copy of Close Encounters of the Third Kind today and find out why the U.S. National Film Registry has preserved this film as one of extreme cultural significance.

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