Steven Spielberg and extraterrestrial life: “I strongly suspect that we are not alone on Earth”

During a talk at the South by Southwest Film and Television Festival, the 79-year-old director responded to a question about his belief in the existence of alien life. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Spielberg stated: “I don't know more than any of you, but I have a strong suspicion that we are not alone here on Earth right now — and I've made a movie about that”. The filmmaker elaborated on his stance when referring to the recent viral comment by former President Barack Obama regarding the possibility of aliens being real. Spielberg interpreted the statement as support for the theme of his new film and stated: “This is perfect for The Day of Revelation.” Although Obama later qualified his words to refer to life in the cosmos, Spielberg insisted on the relevance of the question: “Nobody should ever think that we are the only intelligent civilization in the entire universe. So, since I was a child, I have thought that we were not alone. That's obvious. The big question is: Are we alone now? Have we been alone for the last 80 years? Have we been alone for the last thousands of years?”. We recommend reading:

The Inspirations for His New Alien Movie

The director referred to the influence of journalistic reports and recent parliamentary hearings on his new film, especially the investigation published in 2017 in The New York Times about secret U.S. government programs dedicated to tracking unidentified flying objects (UFOs). However, with humor, he admitted that he has never witnessed a phenomenon of this type, despite his desire: "I made a film called 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind,' and I haven't even had a close encounter, not even of the first or second kind!" Why haven't I seen anything? Half of my friends have seen UFOs or unidentified aerial phenomena. Where is the justice in that? If they're listening to me."