(Spoilers) Extreme reactions online: Why is Steven Spielberg’s newly released film Disclosure Day being called a real documentary?

Steven Spielberg’s new alien-themed film, Disclosure Day, marks his return to the genre after many years and has drawn sharply divided reactions online. Still, there’s no denying that many of its plot points parallel real-world UFO urban legends, declassified files, and even recent news events. It’s no wonder many people say this isn’t a mockumentary, but a genuine documentary.

First, the plot: a mockumentary-style journey of disclosure

Directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp, Disclosure Day premiered worldwide on June 12, 2026, starring Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, and Colman Domingo. The story has two main threads. One follows Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor), a cybersecurity expert and whistleblower who possesses complete files on every instance of alien contact in the United States since the 1947 Roswell incident. Convinced that the world has a right to know the truth, he takes the classified files and goes on the run. The other centers on Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt), a weather anchor at a local TV station in Kansas City who suddenly discovers she can read minds, speak any language, and even see where fate is headed. As she is pursued, she gradually uncovers the truth about her own contact with extraterrestrials.

Pursuing them is a shadowy organization called Wardex. Its leader, Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), is a cold-blooded, Machiavellian figure who believes humanity simply cannot handle full disclosure. Daniel is aided by Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo), a Wardex defector. The premise of Disclosure Day centers on a behind-the-scenes organization that operates above the government. In the film, Wardex is so powerful that even the sitting president is kept in the dark, directly echoing the Deep State concept popular in real-world conspiracy theories. Its motive is simple: monopolize alien technology for profit and, to preserve that chain of interests, keep the truth buried for generations. Before reviewing the film, let’s go through how each plot point corresponds to real events.

Real events and conspiracy theories reflected in the film

1. The 1977 Southern Television broadcast hijacking in the UK

While Margaret, a weather anchor, is delivering the forecast live on air, the TV image suddenly shakes violently and fills with an electronic buzz. Her eyes go blank, and her voice is completely hijacked by a low, electronically reverberating consciousness from an alien civilization, which delivers a warning of destruction to the world through the camera. The scene pays perfect homage to one of history’s most famous unsolved broadcast incidents: the 1977 Southern Television signal hijacking in the UK. On the evening of November 26 that year, news anchor Andrew Gardner was reading the news when the audio signal was overridden for 6 minutes by an extraterrestrial voice claiming to represent the “Ashtar Galactic Command.” Spielberg cleverly turns this nearly half-century-old “broadcast hacking” incident into the key moment when the alien DNA inside the heroine is forcibly awakened.

2. The Roswell incident and the 509th nuclear unit

The film is set in 2026, the 79th anniversary of the 1947 Roswell incident. Footage from the files directly names the “509th,” referring to the real 509th Composite Group, the world’s only military unit capable of delivering atomic bombs in 1947. It was stationed at Roswell Army Air Field at the time.

Historically, the military initially claimed to have recovered a flying disc, before General Roger Ramey changed the story and said it was merely a weather balloon, later identified as part of the high-altitude surveillance program Project Mogul.

3. Nixon and alien bodies

A piece of footage in the film dated 1973 shows two suited officials ordering soldiers to haul an alien body out of a freezer. It echoes a famous urban legend: on February 19, 1973, Richard Nixon reportedly drove his friend, comedian Jackie Gleason, to Homestead Air Force Base in Florida late at night so he could see four embalmed alien bodies with his own eyes. They were said to be about 2 feet tall, with small bald heads and large ears. Gleason was deeply shaken and asked to keep it secret. The story later became a rumor after his ex-wife Beverly revealed it publicly.

By choosing Nixon, whose credibility was the most disputed, rather than Kennedy or Reagan, Spielberg effectively puts his stamp on the legend.

4. The Snowden affair

Daniel, a whistleblower who remains on the run after stealing classified alien files, inevitably calls to mind the Edward Snowden affair. Snowden worked for Booz Allen Hamilton, a contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA). In late May or early June 2013, he flew to Hong Kong with a large cache of classified documents and stayed at The Mira Hong Kong in Tsim Sha Tsui, before flying to Moscow on June 23.

5. The mysterious disappearance of scientists in 2026

In the film, several scientists working for Wardex are made to disappear. Eerily, the film precisely aligns with reality even though shooting was completed between February and May 2025. Since 2023, around a dozen scientists and engineers involved in aerospace, nuclear energy, and defense have died or gone missing. These cases began receiving widespread coverage in 2026, prompting the House Oversight Committee and the Department of Energy to open a federal investigation.

6. Screen memories and MKUltra mind control

Margaret repeatedly sees hallucinations of animals such as cardinals and deer, reflecting the real psychological concept of the screen memory. First proposed by Freud in 1899, the term refers to the mind using harmless images to cover traumatic memories after a severe shock. Interestingly, the most common substitute images in UFO abduction lore are owls, deer, and clowns, just like those in the film.

This also brings to mind MKUltra, the CIA’s real mind-control program. Beginning in the 1950s, the CIA conducted research on many unwitting subjects, using methods including LSD, hypnosis, and sensory deprivation to manipulate and alter human consciousness. Program director Richard Helms ordered most of the files destroyed in 1973, and the project was not exposed until Congress launched an investigation in 1975.

7. The 1976 Mexican pilot incident and Dogon mythology

The scene in which Margaret is taken over by an alien consciousness and speaks an unknown language parallels a real incident from 1976. On June 21, Rafael Pacheco Pérez, a trainee at a Mexican aviation school, disappeared from radar shortly after taking off on a solo test flight, then landed at an airport that normally would have required about another hour of flying to reach. During that time, he transmitted in a calm yet eerie voice, claiming to be controlled by a nonhuman intelligence. His tone became mechanical, and he left behind the line, “We are watching.” The Mexican Air Force confirmed the radar contact at the time, and the radio recordings survive to this day.

Margaret’s strange tongue-clicking language echoes the ancient mythology of the Dogon people of Mali, Africa. As early as the 1930s, they described the existence of Sirius B, Sirius’s companion star, to French anthropologists, saying the knowledge had been passed down by an extraterrestrial race called the Nommos.

8. The heroine’s invisibility: technology the government obtained through deals with aliens

Midway through the film, Margaret and the male lead use just one alien device to become invisible. At one point, their pursuers are only a car length away and still cannot see them. In UFO lore, highly advanced alien technology is thought to include cloaking abilities, operating more like telepathy and remote viewing. The handheld device is simply visual language used to make the idea visible onscreen.

Thoughts after watching: A cross-genre attempt with an unclear identity that feels slightly out of step with the times

After watching the film, I was somewhat confused about the core idea it was trying to convey. It seems to be seeking a balance between documentary, drama, and action, yet the final result feels somewhat unclear in its identity and fails to fully keep pace with modern audiences.

1. The balance between realism and commercial action scenes is somewhat disappointing

If the film’s starting point was to create a realistic “mockumentary,” the car chases involving the protagonists and villains feel somewhat abrupt. These action scenes lean toward conventional commercial blockbusters, do little to advance the plot, and somewhat weaken the realism the film works to create, making them mildly jarring. Had the focus shifted from action scenes to more substantive dramatic scenes, the overall atmosphere might have been more convincing.

2. Its exploration of key issues only scratches the surface, missing a chance to resonate with the times

If the film aims to make audiences consider, “What debates and conflicts would different groups on Earth face after aliens appear?” it clearly has great potential, yet never explores the question in a truly in-depth or persuasive way. What kind of religious crisis would the existence of aliens cause? How should humanity coexist with them? Under the control of the Deep State, what can the public do to resist? These grand issues all remain on the surface in the film.

By 2026, when AI has become deeply integrated into everyday life, there is no shortage of imaginative discussions asking whether humans might be AI models created by aliens. Had the film seized on this highly promising angle, it surely would have given contemporary audiences the kind of plot they most want to see. Its failure to explore it in depth is truly a shame.

3. Character choices that feel somewhat contradictory for a film promoting empathy

If the film seeks to explore the spiritual dimension, it repeatedly implies, or states outright, that empathy and compassion are at the core of humanity and key to human evolution. Yet this grand idea seems limited to a few lines of dialogue, with little substantive plot development, making it difficult for viewers to feel a deep connection.

The heroine’s behavior, played by Emily Blunt, also feels somewhat divided in its logic. While on the run, she uses her mind-reading ability to peer into her enemies’ inner traumas and vulnerabilities as a means of escape. While this is understandable as a way to advance the plot and create tension, using other people’s pain as currency for escape, with no subsequent reflection or effort to comfort them, seems at odds with the film’s own emphasis on empathy.

There are many discussions of the idea that “spiritual growth can transcend dimensions,” suggesting that three-dimensional humans can connect with extraterrestrials in the fourth, fifth, or even higher dimensions by aligning spiritually. Some even claim that higher-dimensional beings can create reality through thought and therefore hope to guide humanity in purifying the mind and creating a more positive world together. If the film had further incorporated these deeper spiritual concepts into its script, it might have been more inspiring than its current approach. Its lack of further exploration here is a real shame.

4. A gap between the plot setup and today’s media landscape

Setting aside the quality of the CGI, the climactic method of disclosure hinges on the protagonist’s determination to make it to a TV station and broadcast the truth. Yet in 2026, people spend far more time on video platforms and independent media than on traditional television, and public trust in mainstream media is far lower than before. In an era when anyone can livestream, the idea of taking over a TV station feels somewhat out of date to modern audiences.

5. In an age of declassification, the sense of surprise is somewhat lacking

Many believe the film’s significance lies in its exploration of the truth about alien existence. Yet by 2026, after years of public discussion and the gradual declassification of UFO/UAP-related files by governments, extraterrestrial civilizations are no longer a fringe topic. When real declassified files already mention the possible existence of multiple alien forms, the fact that this big-budget film still ends with the classic 1980s “Grey” alien image is bound to leave viewers hoping for something new somewhat disappointed. Had the film been released in the past, it might have become a classic for a generation. Today, when real-world disclosures are just as compelling, its impact is clearly challenged.