Inside 'The Age of Disclosure': Filmmaker on why his UFO documentary could change everything

Transcript

Let me just start with this. I just watched it this morning actually. Um I streamed it. Uh I I do want to just say I thought it was as compelling as it was comprehensive. Um so I want to congratulate you.

I I I've been you I've been doing this for over 30 years and and this has been a sort of a passion project for me. I used to joke with people that I'm a card carrying member of the fraternal order of the tinfoil hat society. And I I made that joke because more often than not when I was asking members of Congress or scientists or anyone to comment on it, I would usually get the glance or the stare or the stigma that you talk about in the film. And and I guess my first question is after watching the film, it's my belief that that's going to put to rest uh much of the stigma attached to the issue of UAPs in particular. Was was that one of your missions or was that a byproduct of of what came out of the film? >> I think it's a a a a byproduct of what came out of the film.

You know, look, I I made the film in pursuit of the truth. You know, like a lot of people, I [clears throat] grew up curious about this this topic. I was a child of the 80s and early 90s. So, I grew up on movies like Close Encounters and ET and TV shows like XFiles. And, you know, like those like those films and TV shows did for a lot of people, they just made me curious.

They made me wonder, are we alone in the universe? Does the US government know more about this than the public? And so for my directorial debut, I decided to go make a documentary that pursued the truth and and make a documentary that did that by only interviewing people who have direct knowledge of this topic as a result of working for the US government. And what I quickly found out was that it's taken extremely seriously by people in the intelligence community, military and government, and that the stigma we have in our country is not only ridiculous and unjustified, but it it is actually a hurdle to people in the military, government, intelligence community doing something about this issue because every time they try to, you know, put resources towards it, they're contending with that same nonsensical stigma. and and and it's a hurdle. Uh we also found out I also found out doing the doing the interviews that the stigma was created by people in the 40s and 50s who had the job of covering this up. [music] And they thought the easiest way to prevent people from looking into this and taking it serious and to prevent newsmen like yourself from reporting on it would be to create a cultural stigma to make people think they're silly and and and nutty for for looking into it.

And you know, clearly that worked [music] and that idea got into our into our culture and and and created this this present- day issue where a lot of people, you know, prior to this film were afraid to talk about it. They thought they'd be they would look silly. They thought they'd get make made fun of. A lot of leaders were afraid to get in front of this issue because of that. But I do think this film ends that.

I think that um the result of this film being out there for the whole world to see will be a general acknowledgement that this is a valid area of inquiry. This is a serious issue and not only a national security issue for every nation but an issue for all of humanity and it's something we have to contend with and and and acknowledge and smartly deal with. As a career journalist, I of course appreciated the relationship between the media uh and the and the government in you know getting much of the information that we now have out in particular the you know the anecdotal reports from the the naval aviators and some of the others who encountered these UAPs. Can you just I want people to watch the movie obviously that that's my goal because I I I do think it is uh profoundly different than what we've seen in the past but just for the people who you know may not have ever heard of observables for example can you give me just one or two that in your mind uh really you know open the eyes of those people that may not understand the the the just the chasm the difference in technology between what we have and what we have observed. >> Yeah.

So when you say the observables, that's a term that a number of people in in the intelligence community and military community and government um have been using to to sum up the flight characteristics displayed by UAP, right? Um UAP are performing in ways that defy physics as we currently understand them, right? um and and and and what we see them doing uh is performance that that we are not capable of doing. So for example, our fastest aircraft, you know, take when they when they try to make a turn, they have a huge turning radius, massive. Um, these craft are moving at higher speeds than our aircraft and they're stopping on a dime and turning immediately like right-hand turns. Like that's not we don't have the ability to do that. These craft are transmedium.

They can travel between space and air and the ocean seamlessly. We don't have anything that can do that. Right. Um, these craft are defying the effects of gravity in ways that we don't we don't have the ability to do. Um, they are they have an energy source that is uncomparable to our energy sources, right? It's they're doing incredible things and it's not com combustion energy.

um they are they are doing things that would require such great amounts of energy that it's not even comprehendable for us. >> One of the things Dan that I love about the film is and I mentioned that it's compelling but there is also in my mind there there is a crescendo. It it builds as you go and you know I I'm watching this as a journalist and I'm I I'm just I'm glued to it because the storyline gets bigger as it goes and you know the legacy project I'm sure most Americans probably don't know what it is. Um, and and this coverup that you talk about in the film, again, I don't want to get too deep in the weeds because I want people to watch the movie, but this cold war that you talk about that is going on currently. Um, I I think if people watch the movie, that would be a a real um, you know, inflection moment for a lot of people to say, "Wait a minute.

I would believe this is happening given the nature of you know the superpowers on earth and and how we behave uh without knowing that there there may be extraterrestrial life but can you just touch on this reverse engineering and and and what is happening behind the scenes and why it is such a secret so many of the people in my film reveal that the US is involved in a long-standing deeply hidden cold war race with adversarial nations like China and Russia to reverse engineer technology of non-human origin. This UAP technology uh the stakes couldn't be higher. They refer to it as the Manhattan project on steroids because as we just talked about this technology um is so advanced that it would be a horrible thing if an adversarial nation cracked it before we did. Right? Uh advanced technology can be weaponized. You know, there's that famous uh Kennedy space race speech where he says space technology like nuclear technology has no conscious of its own.

It's up to mankind how it is used, whether it is used for good or evil. And it's the same thing here. This is far advanced technology. Um, if we as a nation get in front of cracking it, we can use it for good and we can, you know, play a role in making sure it's used for good for the betterment of mankind to revolutionize the way we live and, you know, lead to lead to scientific breakthroughs like clean energy or how we travel and get from point A to B. But it can also be used by bad actors for bad.

It can be weaponized and it can be weaponized to be far more destructive than nuclear weapons. And so there is a race right now to make sure the US understands this technology before adversaries and really guides how it's used for good versus evil. Um, Rubio and others, Senator Rounds, Gillibrand talk pretty openly about how their biggest concern is China in this cold war race and that they are taking it extremely seriously and we need to we need to not only match but you know exceed their efforts um that I think the reality of it is even if you are someone who can't wrap your head around the idea that we are dealing with non-human intelligent life you your average person has to accept the fact that if this is China or Russia that has leaprogged us technologically and is penetrating our most secure airspace like our nuclear weapon sites our military bases that is a problem in itself right so even if you have to to wrap your head around it if you have to tell yourself that this is an adversarial nation we're dealing with then then do that but in reality we're dealing with non-human intelligent life and reverse engineered efforts by our adversaries >> a lot of times especially if you're if you're speaking to you area died individuals. You know, some of the counterargument is, well, you know, who's keeping it secret and why? And I thought just the way it hit me when Chris Melon, former, you know, assistant secretary of defense, was speaking, I I I just thought he really landed the counter punch to that when he said, you know, you've got a group of individuals who are controlling what is arguably the greatest information, you know, ever held by any individuals. Of course, they're going to want to keep it to themselves because that is power.

And that really hit home for me I as far as a motive for not sharing it with presidents or you know senators some of the most powerful people in this country. Um and I I worry as somebody who is a truth seeker as yourself um that we may never know in particular towards the end of the film we we you talk about you touch on the fact that there is legislation uh that that still is is you know lingering um that that may never be passed. We we know how powerful the defense contractors are. Um but again, it stands to reason that this is arguably some of the most important information that has ever been known to mankind and that we may never know the full extent of the truth. Is is that safe to say? >> I mean, I think it's definitely safe to say that this information is the most significant information in the history of humanity by far.

Um, I think that this film reveals so so so much that has been deeply hidden for 80 years. It isn't it is a conversation changer. There is no there's no way to put the genie back in the bottle as they say. Um, I've been getting messages from senior senators and people that are involved in the administration all weekend saying basically the doors just been blown open and the government doesn't have any choice but to walk through it in in in some in some regard. I think it's only a matter of time before we see a sitting president step to the microphone and tell the world we're not alone in the universe and that the US intends to lead the way in this new chapter for humanity.

I think that is that is that is going to happen as a result of this movie. The only question is when. Um I don't think we're too far off from that point. >> That was one of my questions. I'm glad you answered that.

Um I I was curious. Anytime I have spoken in my 30 plus year career to a documentary filmmaker, I I always ask, you know, what what did you know, you start on a journey and and sometimes it's very revealing. And I I'm just wondering if along this journey, have you come to any sort of uh decision- making or realizations with regard to intent uh a benevolence or uh something more nefarious with regard to the UAPs with the fact that they have hovered over bases that they have tapped into our nuclear capabilities? Are are you are you optimistic? Are you worrisome about the future given what you know? I know there are some things you can't even disclose, but a after, you know, after editing the film, after having a chance to digest it, um, are are you optimistic? Are you pessimistic about the future? >> So, >> having just spent four years going down this rabbit hole and talking to a lot of people on the record and off the record, I'm I'm now certain about a couple things. One of them is I don't think we're dealing with one non-human intelligent life. I think we are dealing with multiple species that all have different intentions and all come from different places.

I think we are going to quickly find out that not only are we not alone in the universe, but that we are in fact surrounded by lots of life and that we are in a melting pot of intelligent life throughout the galaxy. I think that's what we are on the verge of of of being told and and finally being aware of, right? And so I think some of the non-human intelligent life that's here that's found us has benign intentions, but I but I do worry about the intentions of some some other non-human intelligent life. Um there is a lot of attention paid to our nuclear weapons sites and our defense capabilities um to our harnessing of nuclear energy. the fact that we are coming up this technology curve where we're starting to do the things that they do and maybe in our deeply hidden black programs we already are doing those things. Um, you could see as as some of the intelligent officials in my film reveal, you could understand and see how a more intelligent species that sees us coming up this technology curve and getting to the place where they're at, they might see humanity as a threat because we are a dangerous species.

We're a waring species. you know, 80 years after World War II, we're still invading sovereign nations, we're still threatening nuclear war. Um, if you were more advanced intelligent species, you'd be worried about our progress and that, you know, we're going to soon be a life form that they have to deal with. And so that might bring us to a crossroads. And that's that when you start having like those sober, honest conversations about that, that's concerning, you know.

And then last question, Dan. Um, you know, I I don't tell people the truth when they ask me if I have a bucket list about my number one item on the bucket list. And that is just what you mentioned that, you know, maybe this this film will open doors and get somebody to to actually say it's time. Your confidence level that perhaps in the near future that we're going to get full transparency. I I you know, I I for one would like to know everything.

Do do you think we'll know everything in our lifetimes? No, I don't I don't look I don't think I don't think we'll ever get full transparency from the US government because frankly I don't think any responsible citizen would want the government to to to share literally everything they know about this. You want your government to keep you safe and sometimes that requires keeping certain information secret for national security reasons. You know uh what I hope is that the base facts of the situation they become transparent about where we have a president step to the microphone and say yes it is true there is other intelligent life out there. We are not alone in the universe. Yes it is true that the US government and other nations have retrieved crashed UAP of non-human origin and are actively in a race to reverse engineer this technology.

like those base facts that I think needs to be shared with the public. I think the public deserves to know the base facts of the situation we're in and I think that level of transparency is realistic in the near future. In the meantime, I think this film is is as close as you can get to a president stepping to the microphone and saying we're not alone in the universe. This this film is 34 extremely credible like unimpeachably credible military government intelligence officials like former secretaries of defense, former directors of national intelligence, our our secretary of state, our national security adviser, sitting senators who are on the armed services committee, the intelligence committee, house ranking house members, house members who were running the House Intelligence Committee. I mean, it's it is a collection of extremely serious, credible people who all hold national security clearances who all are trusted with extremely sensitive information and they're all telling you this is real.

This is a real situation and here's the lay of the land. Here's the circumstances. So, you know, this movie makes it clear that that we are in an unprecedented situation that we we it is transparency on a level we've never had. And so, sure, I hope there's more. I hope the president steps to the microphone and and and you know is the icing on the cake, you know, saying on behalf of the entire country this this is what the situation is.

But this film is disclosure. I mean, this is what people have been waiting for for 80 years. >> Well, I'm sure I'm not alone when I would argue it is the definitive work on the topic and I just I really encourage people it's streaming. I watched it this morning to go out and and and and watched it. It is it it is it kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end.

So, thank you for making the film. Um, and I'm sure there are good things to come from you in the future and thank you so much for your time today. >> Thank you. Yes. So, everyone in the world can watch it on Prime Video.

They can rent it. They can purchase it. If you're in the US, you can see it in theaters on the big screen in New York, Los Angeles, DC. But, but I ask everyone, you know, tell their friends and family to watch this. >> Hey, Dan, thank you so much for your time today.

Appreciate it. >> Thank you, Scott. Appreciate it. >> Okay, take care. Bye.