The Truth About Steven Spielberg’s Alien Obsession
The director has spent decades telling stories about extraterrestrials, but his real focus lies on Earth.
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CultureThe Truth About Steven Spielberg’s Alien ObsessionThe director has spent decades telling stories about extraterrestrials without ever leaving Earth.By Shirley LiMark Sennet / GettyJune 25, 2026, 10:40 AM ET ShareSave This article contains spoilers for the film Disclosure Day.As much as Steven Spielberg likes aliens, he seems to prefer holding them at arm’s length. The creatures in Close Encounters of the Third Kind contact humans using music and lights, but the director offers only glimpses of them, mostly in silhouette. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial spends plenty of screen time depicting the titular character as a fish out of water; meanwhile, viewers never get to see the inside of E.T.’s spaceship. And in his adaptation of H. G.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at The Atlantic.
