Summary
Variety’s Owen Gleiberman reviews the-age-of-disclosure, the SXSW-premiered documentary built around 34 senior U.S. government, military, and intelligence figures who claim “direct knowledge” of UAPs. The film leans on declassified 2021 Navy footage and on-camera testimony from Sen. marco-rubio, former DNI jim-clapper, Sen. mike-rounds, former DoD official chris-mellon, and former UAP Task Force director jay-stratton to argue that an extraterrestrial crash-retrieval and uap-reverse-engineering arms race is underway against China and Russia. Gleiberman acknowledges the film’s somber, bureaucratic register — UAPs, not UFOs — but registers strong skepticism, arguing that ubiquitous cameras have still produced no clear photographic evidence of alien craft. He situates the film within a historical pattern of era-tailored ET evidence (1938 War of the Worlds, 1980s abduction lore, 1990s X-Files conspiracy entertainment).
Key Claims
- The documentary features 34 senior U.S. government, military, and intelligence officials claiming direct UAP knowledge.
- On-camera witnesses named in the review include Sen. Rubio, former DNI Clapper, Sen. Rounds, former DoD official Mellon, and former UAP Task Force director Stratton.
- Witnesses describe non-human craft and beings, extraterrestrial crash landings, and a U.S. effort to reverse-engineer recovered alien technology before China or Russia does.
- The visual evidence shown is the same 2021-declassified Navy footage — blurry black-and-white objects over water — not new imagery.
- The film deliberately uses the bureaucratic frame “UAP” over “UFO” and adopts a national-security tone rather than a wonder-and-awe register.
- Gleiberman’s central skeptical argument: in a camera-saturated era, the absence of clear photographic evidence of actual craft is a fundamental logical problem for the film’s thesis.
- The reviewer frames each era’s ET narrative as culturally tailored: 1938 War of the Worlds panic; 1980s abduction narratives; 1990s X-Files-style conspiracy entertainment; 2020s national-security/disclosure framing.
Notable Quotes
“I have seen with my own eyes non-human craft and non-human beings.” — jay-stratton, former director of the Government UAP Task Force
“This is the biggest discovery in human history.” — chris-mellon, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
“I’ll believe it when I see it.” — Owen Gleiberman, concluding the review