Close Encounters | What Really Happened

The story you think you know about Close Encounters of the Third Kind leaves out the tug-of-war that made it unforgettable. We step through the military’s early denials, the writers and researchers who refused to be silenced, and the astronomer who gave UFOs a shared language—then show how Spielberg stitched it all into a film that still shapes how we talk about the unknown.

We start with the tension that preceded the blockbuster: NASA and the U.S. Air Force reportedly pushed back hard, warning that a movie could be “dangerous” even as officials downplayed pilot reports and tower sightings. From the 1948 Mantell incident—first labeled Venus, then a Skyhook balloon—to the quiet career risks faced by military aviators, we examine how stigma took root. Donald Keyhoe’s runaway bestsellers broke through that fog, arguing the Air Force knew more than it shared and linking sighting waves to the atomic age. His credibility even drew a nod from Pentagon press secretary Albert Chop and helped power the growth of NICAP, where former CIA director Roscoe Hillenkoetter joined the board.

That momentum set the stage for J. Allen Hynek, the astronomer whose work on Project Sign, Grudge, and Blue Book evolved into a thoughtful call for rigorous study. Hynek’s Close Encounters scale turned scattered reports into a usable framework—first, second, and third kind encounters, and beyond—giving investigators structure and giving Hollywood a spark. Spielberg licensed the phrase, hired Hynek as a technical advisor, and slipped him into a Hitchcock-style cameo. Behind the camera, the production wrestled with budget shocks, casting pivots that ended with Richard Dreyfuss, and inventive on-set tactics—like coaxing a real reaction from young Cary Guffey—that made wonder feel real.

What emerges is a story about curiosity under pressure and art meeting evidence. We look at why institutions resisted, how researchers pushed back with data, and how a filmmaker turned that friction into cultural electricity. If you care about UFO history, media influence, or the line between secrecy and science, this deep dive will change how you watch the film and how you read the headlines. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves UFO lore, and leave a review to tell us which moment surprised you most.

Transcript

Government Resistance To Spielberg’s Film

The Mantell UFO Incident

Donald Kehoe’s Case For UFO Reality

NICAP And High-Level Support

Hynek And The Close Encounters Scale

Spielberg Collaborates With Hynek

Casting, Budget, And Production Stories

Final Anecdotes And Rewatch Invite

Subscribe And Share CTA

SPEAKER_00 0:03

You know, some doors should be taken. Some road should never be taken. You press play. Welcome to Creep Radio. The real story behind Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Everyone remembers Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a movie written by and directed by Steven Spielberg in 1977, starring Richard Dreyfus. What you may not know is that NASA and the Air Force decided to not cooperate on the film. In fact, they were totally against the release of this movie. NASA reportedly sent Spielberg a 20-page letter telling him that releasing this movie was actually dangerous. Even though this was just a movie, the fact that the US government was trying to cover it up made a lot of people nervous. The military did everything it could to discourage anyone from claiming that UFOs were real. They usually ran a public campaign against anyone who seemed to have a credible sighting. If you saw a UFO, you must be crazy. Military pilots who saw UFOs would not report it because it would mean the end of their careers. On January 7, 1948, in Kentucky, a military base saw a UFO from the control tower. They dispatched three P-51 Mustangs to investigate. One of the pilots was Thomas Montel. He reported the craft at 15,000 feet and it was climbing fast. He followed the UFO up to 20,000 feet, and it is assumed that Montell passed out and crashed. The United States Air Force later said that Montel was actually chasing the planet Venus, then later updated the report to a Skyhook weather balloon. Just another example of how the military dismisses an incident. You would think that a pilot would know the difference between a UFO and a planet or a weather balloon. I'm sure that the weather balloon wasn't traveling at 300 miles an hour. The military likes to keep its personnel under control. Now there's another person by the name of Donald Kehoe, but he was an exception. He was in the military, he was an aviator, and he was convinced that flying saucers were real. Kiho was retired from the military and was writing books and articles. One of Keho's articles, Flying Saucers Are Real, was published in the January 1950 issue of True Magazine. Kiho wrote the most popular article in the history of True Magazine. Capitalizing on his success, Keho turned the article into a book. Published in 1950. He sold more than 500,000 copies. In his book, he claimed the Air Force knew flying saucers were real, but covered up the reports to avoid panic in the streets. Kiho believed that the aliens did not seem hostile and that they have been surveilling the Earth for more than 200 years. Kiho wrote that their observations suddenly increased in 1947 following the series of A-bomb explosions in 1945. Kiho authored several war books about UFOs. Flying Saucers from Outer Space was the most impressive, based on interviews and official reports by the Air Force. The book included a report from Albert M. Chopp, the Air Force Press Secretary in the Pentagon. Albert Chop admitted that Keho was a responsible, accurate reporter. He further expressed approval for Kehoe's arguments in favor of continuing his research. In 1956, Kiho co-founded a group called the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomenon, known as NICAP. This was a well-known group with several high-ranking military personnel. NICAP attracted many people who were interested in UFOs. Kiho was instrumental in increasing the awareness of the UFO phenomenon. Kiho went on to appear on several television shows and documentaries concerning UFOs. Kiho passed away in 1988 at the age of 91. Another member of NICAP was Roscoe Henry Hillencotter. He was the first director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the CIA. After his retirement from the United States Navy, he was on the board of governors of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomenon, that is NICAP. A colleague of Donald Kehoe, Joseph Allen Heinick, developed the Close Encounter Classification System. Heinick was an American astronomer, a professor, and a UFO investigator. He acted as a scientific advisor to UFO studies undertaken by the United States Air Force. He was on Project Sign, Project Grunge, and finally on Project Blue Book. But the government shut down Project Blue Book in 1969. In 1972, Heinek wrote The UFO Experience, a scientific inquiry. This is where Heinick came up with his Close Encounters classification. Close Encounters of the First Kind, visual sightings of an unidentified flying object. Close Encounters of the Second Kind, a UFO event in which a physical effect is alleged. Close encounters of the third kind, UFO encounters in which an entity is present, and this includes humanoids, robots, and humans who seem to be occupants or pilots of a UFO. Close encounters of the fourth kind, a UFO event in which a human is abducted by a UFO or its occupants. Close encounters of the fifth kind, a UFO event that involves direct communication between aliens and humans. Close encounter of the sixth kind, death of a human or an animal associated with a UFO sighting. And finally, close encounter of the seventh kind, the creation of a human alien hybrid, either by sexual reproduction or by artificial scientific methods. Spielberg hires Heinek. It was the term Close Encounters of the Third Kind that inspired director Steven Spielberg's smash hit Close Encounters of the Third Kind, released in late 1977. By then, Heinek was a popular author and had the respect of the scientific community. Spielberg reportedly paid Heinek$1,000 to use his phrase, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, plus$500 a day as a technical advisor for the film. While on the set, Heinek was talking to Spielberg about making a Hitchcock type cameo in the movie, and Spielberg loved the idea. He filmed Heinek interacting with the aliens from the spaceship. So Heinek was actually in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. This movie started off with a very low budget but ended up spending 19.4 million dollars, but it went on to make more than 300 million dollars. Steve McQueen was Spielberg's first choice for the lead role. However, Steve felt that he was not right for the role. He said he was unable to cry on cue. Other choices were Gene Hackman and Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman and Jack Nicholson. Richard Dreyfus was finally chosen, and the rest is history. Columbia Pictures experienced financial difficulties and would have most likely dropped the film if they knew the cost was going to be so high. At first, Spielberg wanted to shoot the entire film on a sound stage, but quickly realized that using real locations would be better. The small extraterrestrials and the final scenes were played by 50 local six-year-old girls in Mobile, Alabama. Spielberg actually bought a house at 1613 Carlisle Drive East in Mobile, Alabama, for$35,000 so they could use and do whatever they wanted to in the movie. This was the house where Roy went a little crazy and built the Devil's Tower in the living room. Later they sold that same house for$50,000, after cleaning it up, of course. The$15,000 profit went back into the budget of the film. Carrie Guffey, a three-year-old, plays the little boy who is abducted by the alien in the movie. He had never acted before, so Spielberg figured out how to get a believable reaction to the aliens first approaching the house. Spielberg slowly unwrapped a present for the young actor just off camera to make him smile. Guffery even exclaims, Toys! Toys in the final take. Well, I hope you've enjoyed this walk down memory lane. And if you get a chance, go and re-watch Close Encounters of the Third Kind with your new information. Well, that's the end of that story. 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