How explosive new UFO doc got Marco Rubio and other high-ranking officials to break their silence on aliens

We are not alone in the universe.

Proof of that statement alone would constitute the most important discovery in human history. But in the new documentary, The Age of Disclosure, it’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Premiering Sunday at SXSW, the groundbreaking doc — featuring interviews with 34 senior members of the U.S. legislative, military, and intelligence communities — “reveals an 80-year cover-up of the existence of non-human intelligent life and a secret war amongst major nations to reverse engineer technology of non-human origin,” per an official synopsis.

Though it sounds like the realm of science fiction, unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) sightings, particularly over military installations, have caused enough real-world bipartisan concern to spark congressional hearings on the subject. “We’ve had repeated instances of something operating in the airspace over restricted nuclear facilities, and it’s not ours. And we don’t know whose it is. That alone deserves inquiry, deserves attention, deserves focus,” U.S. Senator-turned-Secretary of State Marco Rubio says in the film.

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Featuring authoritative voices from both sides of the aisle — including Rubio, Sen. Mike Rounds, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and many more — The Age of Disclosure goes beyond what has already been made public, alleging that the U.S. government has been hiding evidence of alien encounters for over 80 years, and offering explanations as to how such a massive secret could be kept hidden for so long.

Below, The Age of Disclosure director and producer Dan Farah answers our burning questions about the film, including how he managed to earn the trust of high-profile officials with firsthand knowledge of UAPs and what he hopes to accomplish with the film.

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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: It’s striking how the dozens of high-ranking officials interviewed in the film seem to take the existence of UAPs as indisputable at this point. 

DAN FARAH: Oh, yeah. No, it is happening, indisputably. This is the biggest disinformation campaign in the history of the U.S. government. Clearly, the facts around this topic have been covered up for 80 years and kept from the public, and every single high-level, credible person I interviewed did not think that was right. They knew that was the case, and they did not think it was acceptable.

Something I’m proud of with the film is that it’s really not people sharing theories. It’s people who have direct knowledge of the topic as a result of working for the U.S. government, sharing what they can lawfully disclose about what they know, and that is what I think separates the film from everything else that’s been made on the topic. Every single one of them has classified knowledge that they could never share, but they’re breaking their silence on what they lawfully can disclose.

How were you able to get so many subjects to speak on such a taboo topic?

I think a lot of people participated in the movie specifically because they knew they were going to be surrounded by other credible people. So it wasn’t one guy going out on a limb and putting his reputation on the line. There was strength in numbers, is a good way to say it. And when I would get introduced to some of these high-level people, a senator, a high-level intelligence official, an admiral, a general, I would tell them, off the record, who else is going to be there alongside them arm in arm.

How did you become interested in this subject?

I came at this as an outsider. My interest in it really comes from growing up in the ’80s and ’90s and watching movies like E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind countless times. Three or four years ago, I was doing some research on the topic, and through a mutual friend, I got introduced to a couple of intelligence officials who worked on this topic for the U.S. government.

One of them was [former intelligence officer] Lou Elizondo, and Lou introduced me to some of his other colleagues that worked with him, and then some of those people introduced me to some other people. As I was doing research, I went down this rabbit hole, and I started meeting a number of very credible intelligence and government officials who had direct knowledge of this topic. So I asked the same questions anyone would.

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What is your goal with this documentary?

I would say my intent is, simply put, to uncover the truth on a topic that has been covered up for 80 years and kept from the public. One thing I realized pretty quickly from my interviews is that at a time when Democrats and Republicans don’t agree on anything, the leadership in our country on both sides of the aisle think this is the most significant issue of our time. When you hear elected leaders who have run for president or have very significant roles in our government say that to your face, it’s pretty eye-opening because they’re people who are aware of classified information they could never share.

Their conclusion after being aware of the facts is that this is something that keeps them up at night and that they’re worried about. The more I realized that that was the collective opinion of a lot of leadership in our government, the more I realized it’s important for a film like this to be made to educate the public, because if it’s that serious of a situation, the public should be aware of at least the base facts.

Were there people you wanted to interview who didn’t want to talk about this or people who thought maybe making this movie is not such a good idea?

One of the challenges I faced making the documentary was that I got introduced to a number of government officials and intelligence officials who I spent significant time getting to know and getting comfortable with the idea of participating in the film. These people all felt it was important to participate and bring the truth out to the public. A number of them ultimately decided not to participate due to various concerns. Those concerns ranged from the historical stigma around the topic and fear that it might in some way hurt their reputation or their political standing, but also included some people passing because they were concerned that their safety would be in danger.

What are some of your biggest takeaways from making this film?

I think it was very eye-opening to me that every single person I interviewed was not questioning any of the base facts that we normal people are questioning. Are we alone in the universe? Does the U.S. government know more than it’s told us? Those weren’t questions. The questions and the concerns were: What happens if an adversarial nation with bad intentions reverse engineers this technology and weaponizes it before we can figure it out? That’s a concern that is the equivalent of what would happen if only one country, and it was an adversarial country, had nuclear weapons. It’s a bad set of circumstances.

Then the other thing that I thought was very eye-opening was that all the interview subjects made it clear that this technology could revolutionize the way we live. It could solve the energy crisis, it could change the way we get from point A to point B, the way we travel. It could expand our horizons, it could take humanity to the stars. So there’s all these pros, these positive things that could come out of this technology. But at the same time, there are all these really dangerous and concerning circumstances that could come out of this technology.

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In addition to technology, you speak with people who believe the government is in possession of alien bodies.

Numerous people in this film go on the record about the recovery of non-human bodies. And what I think is one of the most fascinating things is the film points out to the public that Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader, and Senator Rounds, a leader in the Republican Party, co-sponsored an act called the UAP Disclosure Act that literally tried to pass laws to declassify facts around the recovery of non-human bodies and non-human technology. You can pull up the act online and read it.

One of the more concerning claims is that there seems to be a concentration of sightings around military bases, specifically sites where we store our nuclear weapons. 

When you hear Air Force security guards who we trust to guard our nuclear weapon facilities, when you hear them say completely straight-faced and dead serious that they saw a UAP the size of a football field enter the secure airspace above a nuclear weapons facility, it’s concerning to say the least.

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Some of the interview subjects have had their credibility called into question in the past. David Grusch was the subject of an exposé about alleged substance abuse issues. The Pentagon has disputed Luis Elizondo’s work with the AATIP. Physicist Harold E. Puthoff has been criticized for his research into psychic phenomenon. What would you say to those skeptical of their testimony? 

Lue and Dave Grusch were asked by Congress to testify under oath because Congress knows how real deal they are and wanted them on the record. Congress doesn’t invite non-credible people to testify in congressional hearings on national television.

I think Hal Puthoff is one of the most interesting people in the world. First off, the guy’s a genius quantum physicist. He’s extremely intelligent, and he’s been working as a scientist on classified projects for the U.S. government since the ’70s. He’s been involved with a lot of really cutting-edge programs that our government and intelligence agencies have financed, and he has maintained a really high-level security clearance since the ’70s. He’s not someone you can’t take seriously, in my opinion. And just because he’s been involved with things that are not known to us, topics that are not known to us, doesn’t make it any less real.

Was there anything you uncovered that you thought was too sensitive to be put in the movie?

Yeah, a hundred percent. There was a lot of footage from interviews that was extremely fascinating, and by all means, bombshell testimony that I ultimately felt was a bridge too far for your average person to wrap their heads around.

Maybe, down the line, there’ll be an extended version or deleted scenes.

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Did you speak with anyone who claimed that we have communicated with non-human intelligence?

Yes.

Where do you see this all going? Will the government ever come clean? 

I’ve been told by leaders in both political parties that they intend to use the film as a stepping stone to bring the truth out. That’d be very cool. They believe the film will become their most effective tool for educating the public and other elements of government on the truth because it does the job for them. As a filmmaker, it’s really exciting to make a film that not only is interesting and informative to the public but also can actually be helpful to people in a position of power within our government to bring more transparency to the public.

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