The first few years of the 2020s have seen the debate over whether humanity is alone in the universe evolve from a far-fetched distraction to a pressing bipartisan issue. An increasing amount of military encounters with flying objects that defy all laws of existing human technology has led many of the most serious leaders we have left to start seriously considering the prospect that alien civilizations have made their way to earth. That led to two of the first public congressional hearings about alien sightings in 50 years, with representatives from both sides of the aisle grilling former Pentagon officials about what the military knows — and isn’t telling us — about what we now call Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (or UAPs, because “UFO” is apparently passé).
It’s ironic that a rise in seemingly credible evidence of alien encounters has coincided with our media ecosystem turning into a free-for-all that allows conspiracy theorists of every stripe to spew bullshit without consequences. If you haven’t been paying attention, you’d be forgiven for assuming that a new documentary about the Pentagon’s alleged encounters with aliens was Roganite nonsense that’s best ignored by anyone who hasn’t pre-ordered UFC 314 yet. But first-time documentarian Dan Farah is determined to convince you otherwise with “The Age of Disclosure,” which features 34 former military and intelligence officials speaking on the record about what they see as compelling evidence that alien civilizations pose a geopolitical threat that needs to be further studied. Elected officials from both parties, many of whom are known for their serious foreign policy chops, also appear in the documentary to emphasize that the issue deserves serious attention.
The evidence for UAPs begins with the claim that certain flying objects picked up by American military radar in recent years couldn’t possibly have been made by humans. For one, the fastest aircrafts known to mankind max out at around 5,000 miles per hour, while UAPs have been seen traveling at nearly ten times that speed. They’re also allegedly able to stop on a dime in midair and make turns at sharp right angles that would be impossible for any jet that we designed. Combine that with a puzzling lack of environmental emissions and strange medical after-effects on people who encounter them, and it begins to seem like we’re dealing with something from beyond this world.
People who have seen UAPs also make similar claims about their appearance, often describing the vehicles as massive matte black prisms housed inside giant floating bubbles. The fact that many of these alleged sightings have taken place around military bases have led many, including UAP whistleblower and “Age of Disclosure” main character Luis Elizondo, to believe that extraterrestrial civilizations are actively trying to study our military and nuclear capabilities.
A former Pentagon counterintelligence official who claims to have researched UAPs as a director of the classified Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), Elizondo says he resigned his position due to his belief that the Pentagon wasn’t treating the issue with the seriousness it deserved. While he and the military officials who back him up refuse to disclose classified information, they claim that the declassified tidbits are enough to justify the commitment of significantly more resources to the UAP problem.
Elizondo serves as the film‘s protagonist and narrator, detailing the scientific evidence for UAPs, the geopolitical threat they pose, and what he sees as the United States military’s longstanding refusal to treat them as a serious issue. He claims that the Pentagon has overseen a decades-spanning UAP investigation known as the Legacy Program, with career bureaucrats protecting sensitive information by keeping it out of the hands of presidents who might feel compelled to impulsively blab about it (the film makes no comment on who that might be). In his view, many of the powers that be have a vested interest in keeping knowledge of UAPs a secret, and we’re all the suckers who will pay a price for their arrogance.
That line of thinking eventually succumbs to the Achilles heel that brings down so many promising conspiracy theories: individual components are compelling and credible, but linking them all together into a worldview that simplifies our endlessly complex society into a single good vs. evil narrative requires gaps in logic. I’m willing to entertain the idea that certain people in the U.S. military have viewed conclusive evidence of alien technology. I’m even open to the notion that parts of the Pentagon might have felt the need to hide such information from other branches of the military and government that could have used it. But you lose me once you start insisting there’s a shadow government that has spent 80 years colluding with defense contractors to hide aliens from the public by funding Hollywood movies that portray UFO observers as nutcases who lack credibility. The scientific claims are interesting enough on their own, but anyone who has encountered enough human nature should be able to tell you that we’re just not that good at cooperating and keeping secrets.
Farah is a little too willing to let his subjects veer into conspiracy territory at times, but I think those tangents can be forgiven for two reasons. For one, they’re not spreading anything truly harmful or inciting audiences to take any dangerous actions. But more importantly, it all builds towards the rather reasonable goal from which the film takes its name: disclosure. Farah is primarily advocating for our government to show its hand to the public by revealing the status of its many investigations into alien life — and regardless of their findings, it now seems evident that such investigations have taken place. Whether that information turns life into a sci-fi movie or forces us to come to terms with mundanity doesn’t change the fact that people have a right to know what’s going on. That’s a point that should be able to unite the most diehard alien truthers and the skeptics who are sick of hearing about this.
As someone who has never been persuaded by anything I had ever heard about aliens before watching the film, I feel qualified to tell you that “The Age of Disclosure” is really, really convincing. The amount of military officials who share detailed, corroborating stories of alien encounters, and congresspeople who vouch for the credibility of their claims, make this feel like a documentary with front-page news potential. Of course, there’s still the problem of never being able to see this classified evidence, and each viewer will have to decide how many generals swearing that they’ve seen aliens with their own eyes is enough to convince them. And for some, no amount of adamant testimony will ever be enough. But it nevertheless it feels fair to say that “The Age of Disclosure” makes a more serious argument for the idea that we’ve had close encounters with the third kind than any documentary that preceded it.
Grade: B+
“The Age of Disclosure” premiered at SXSW 2025. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution.
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