Steven Spielberg’s new film Disclosure Day imagines humanity receiving the ultimate blockbuster revelation: we’re not alone. But real-life disclosure is likely to be far less glamorous, involving long-running scientific research and verifiable results.

The prospect of a government announcement that aliens have contacted Earth has been fueling UFO enthusiasts for 80 years. Yet recent congressional hearings and released Pentagon files on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) suggest the truth will come in drips rather than a cinematic reveal.

Witnesses like Ryan Graves, a former Navy pilot who testified before Congress, see signs of progress. However, hard data remains elusive. “Fuzzy blob videos” and unverifiable testimonies are far from convincing proof of alien visitations.

The scientific method, as demonstrated by discoveries like the Higgs boson and gravitational waves, offers a better analogy for how real disclosure might unfold. Independent verification through measurements, samples and sensor logs could be key to building consensus among scientists worldwide.