Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Spielberg directs this big budget science fiction film. After an encounter with a UFO, an engineer becomes psychically connected to a race of extraterrestrials who are about to visit earth. The film, which is notable for having a positive view of the potential of people encountering an alien race, rather than playing on the fearful aspects, stars Richard Dreyfuss and Teri Garr.

I really found my faith when I heard that the Government was opposed to the film. If NASA took the time to write me a 20-page letter, then I knew there must be something happening. I had wanted cooperation from them, but when they read the script they got very angry and felt that it was a film that would be dangerous. I felt they mainly wrote the letter because JAWS convinced so many people around the world that there were sharks in toilets and bathtubs, not just in the oceans and rivers. They were afraid the same kind of epidemic would happen with UFOs.