Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a 1977 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg. Richard Dreyfuss stars as Roy Neary, an ordinary Indiana electrical lineman whose close encounter with a UFO during a power outage leaves him with an obsessive compulsion to sculpt a distinctive mountain shape and an overwhelming urge to travel to a location he doesn't consciously know. As Roy's obsession destroys his marriage and his life, he discovers that others — including Jillian Guiler, played by Melinda Dillon, whose young son was taken by the aliens — share the same vision, and a secret government operation led by a French scientist, played by Francois Truffaut, is preparing for humanity's first official contact with extraterrestrial intelligence.

Spielberg's vision of alien contact was radical for its era — instead of invasion and destruction, the aliens were curious, benevolent, and musical, communicating through a five-tone sequence composed by John Williams that became one of cinema's most recognizable musical motifs. The mothership's appearance at Devils Tower, Wyoming — a massive, jeweled vessel emerging from behind the mountain — was one of the most awe-inspiring images in cinema. Close Encounters earned $304 million worldwide on a $20 million budget.