Disclosure Day, the upcoming alien film from Steven Spielberg, couldn’t be more in the zeitgeist: The film’s screenwriter, David Koepp, tells MovieMaker that religion is very much a part of the film, and of his thinking about extraterrestrial life.

That’s a timely disclosure because it comes as numerous religious leaders have recently reported that they have briefed by people connected to U.S. intelligence about the release of UFO or UAP related material. The concern, some say. is that the new information could shake people’s faith.

The Trump Administration began releasing some new images Friday, but so far most are of the type we typically see of UAPs, aka unidentified anomalous phenomena: They are grainy, with small, unidentified objects in the sky, filmed form a great distance.

Disclosure Day follows the release of the recent, similarly named documentary Age of Disclosure, which argues that the government has been hiding evidence of alien life for decades. Interestingly, the documentary’s director, Dan Farah, worked with Spielberg on the 2018 film Ready Player One.

Disclosure Day Writer David Koepp on Aliens and God

Disclosure Day screenwriter David Koepp on the set of of the film. Universal Pictures. Photosby Niko Tavernise/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment

In an interview with MovieMaker for the current print issue of MovieMaker Magazine, Koepp — who wrote the Disclosure Day screenplay based on a story by Spielberg — told writer Greg Gilman that religion plays a role in the film. Asked if he believes in aliens, Koepp compared aliens to God or religion, in what we can believe in them or not, but not see them.

“My personal belief is the same as my personal belief in God, which is why I think religion is an important part of Disclosure Day,” Koepp said. “I was raised Catholic. I know people who are fervent atheists, and I know people who are fervent believers. And I’ve always felt like the only reasonable position is agnostic; is only to admit: Possibly. I don’t know. 

“And that ties into what is my favorite theory [about aliens], which is, yes, other intelligent life forms exist. Yes, they’ve been here. They may even be here now. We can’t perceive them.”

Koepp added:  “I think that the visual spectrum is a very narrow thing, and we know that so much exists outside it, right? The things we can hear. The audio spectrum is narrow. Tons of sounds exist outside it. Those are just our biological senses, right? But all the things we’ve invented to sense things, all our modern technology, why don’t we believe that also has a narrow spectrum and that things may exist outside of it? Why should we trust our devices more than we trust the possibility that things exist we can’t perceive?

“That’s kind of my favorite theory, because it is an agnostic theory,” he added. “Maybe. I don’t know.”You can read Gilman’s full interview with Koepp in the latest issue of MovieMaker. 

Disclosure Day arrives in theaters June 12, from Universal Pictures.

Main image: Emily Blunt in Disclosure Day. Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment.

Editor’s Note: Corrects broken link.