Close Encounters of the Mythic Kind

Silver Screen Saucers ^ | 27 December 2013 | Robbie Graham

[BenLurkin]

Spielberg’s film is rich in UFOlogical detail beyond the appearance of its aliens – from its depiction of silent but spectacular UFO manoeuvres, UFOs interfering with electrical grids and car engines, government secrecy and disinformation surrounding the subject, and even alien abduction (around a decade before such stories began to permeate the literature). The movie achieved its extraordinary UFOlogical verisimilitude thanks in large part to the advice of legendary UFO investigator Professor J. Allen Hynek. It was Hynek’s classification system for UFO sightings that gave Spielberg’s movie its unusual title (a ‘close encounter of the third kind’ referring to any sighting of a UFO within 500 feet of the witness during which UFO occupants are also observed), and Spielberg appointed the man himself as his official UFO advisor on the movie.

Close Encounters also owes a debt to the pioneering UFO research of Hynek's most famous protégé, Dr Jacques Vallée (pictured here with Hynek). Indeed, one of the movies main characters, the Frenchman Claude Lacombe (Francois Truffaut), was partly inspired by Vallée himself. Spielberg consulted briefly with Vallée during the movie’s production and the scientist attempted to sway the director in favour of a more exotic explanation for the UFO phenomenon. Spielberg’s movie should explore the interdimensional hypothesis, Vallée insisted. “When I met Steven Spielberg, I argued with him that the subject was even more interesting if it wasn’t extraterrestrials,” said Vallée, “if it was real, physical, but not ET.” Spielberg wasn’t convinced, however, telling Vallée: “You’re probably right, but that’s not what the public is expecting – this is Hollywood and I want to give people something that’s close to what they expect.’”

[BenLurkin]

UFOlogical verisimilitude?

[onedoug]

Wasn’t Hynek the “swamp gas” guy?

[BenLurkin]

Yup. Then he “repented”.

[onedoug]

The way this galaxy is set up, I doubt there are other life forms that can abstract information from their environment. Too much further in, and it becomes denser with a lot of older reddened stars; substantially more hazardous. Further out are regions of newer blue stars which are not good candidates for sophisticated life. We, on the other hand, are in a relatively obstacle-free lane about 2/3 out from the center. This narrows down the regions on our side of the galaxy that we can monitor in the full range of the spectrum. And, even if they were there, they should be on a par roughly in their development to us given similar time constraints in their evolutionary patterns due to earlier heavy element creation in successive generations of stars. But again, no signals.

Personally I don’t think they’re there. But even if they were, they still couldn’t reach us, especially in vehicles that reflect light, as in so may UFO “photographs”. How limiting.