Disclosure Day Brings An Infamous Urban Legend About Richard Nixon And A Classic TV Star To Life – SlashFilm

Keep in mind that time when President Richard Nixon confirmed “The Honeymooners” star Jackie Gleason some lifeless alien our bodies? For those who’re nicely-versed in conspiracy theories and concrete legends, you have in all probability heard about this positively bonkers rumor in some unspecified time in the future. The story goes that in 1973, then-President Nixon took his good pal Jackie Gleason to Homestead Air Drive Base in Florida, the place he proceeded to point out Gleason “six or eight of what regarded like glass-topped Coke freezers” which contained what Gleason first thought had been “the mangled stays” of youngsters.

However ah! They weren’t youngsters in any respect! They had been lifeless aliens recovered from a crashed flying saucer! The expertise rattled Gleason, who ultimately spilled the beans of what occurred to his spouse Beverly. A decade later, the Gleasons had divorced, and Beverly revealed a narrative concerning the incident within the tabloid rag the Nationwide Enquirer. All of it sounds arduous to imagine, however based on Steven Spielberg’s new alien conspiracy thriller “Disclosure Day,” it actually occurred. Actually, Spielberg goes forward and recreates the notorious second, full with actors taking part in Nixon and Gleason.

Early in “Disclosure Day,” whistleblower Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) reveals his girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson) some outdated safety digicam footage he is stolen from the nefarious, secretive firm he works for. The black and white footage reveals somebody who seems to be Richard Nixon greeting a heavyset man at a navy base. When Jane asks Daniel who the “man with Nixon” is, he replies: “Some outdated TV comic.” Whereas Gleason’s title isn’t talked about, anybody conversant in the city legend can join the dots. Because the footage continues, Nixon takes Gleason right into a constructing and reveals him some glass containers housing lifeless alien our bodies. Watching the video, Jane is understandably shocked.

So … did this occasion actually occur? It will depend on who you ask, I suppose. In line with Skeptoid, the story revealed within the Nationwide Enquirer was billed as being from Beverly Gleason’s “bombshell ebook” that might reveal the actual Jackie Gleason as a man obsessive about the occult and aliens.

Past that, Skeptoid provides that Larry Warren, a nicely-recognized UFO skilled, allegedly tracked Jackie Gleason right down to unravel issues in 1986, at which level Gleason confirmed that sure, the Nixon alien story was true. A 12 months later, Gleason died, taking regardless of the reality actually was to his grave. However there appears to be virtually nothing concrete to again any up any of those claims.

Would Richard Nixon actually danger nationwide safety by exhibiting the man who performed Ralph Kramden and Buford T. Justice some lifeless aliens? I suppose you might argue that Nixon, notoriously corrupt, wasn’t precisely essentially the most by-the-ebook President. However within the annals of far-fetched alien tales, this one appears notably far-fetched.

So why does it present up in “Disclosure Day” as a real story? I bought to ask “Disclosure Day” screenwriter David Koepp that very query, and he had an excellent reply. “What we’re seeking to do isn’t invent a complete new mythology or attempt to create new cultural recollections,” Koepp advised me. “Steven [Spielberg] stated, ‘We wish to honor all that lore, and we wish to draw on individuals’s … collective cultural reminiscence.”

In different phrases, since this story is already nicely-recognized amongst people who find themselves fascinated by the prospect of alien guests to earth, it made sense to incorporate it as true in “Disclosure Day.” And hey, who is aware of? Possibly it actually did occur.