The Great Cover-Up: The Age of Disclosure
Alien Life & UFO/UAPs
Saturday 15th, March 2025
5 minute read.
A new documentary, The Age of Disclosure, is causing a stir at the SXSW Film Festival, raising significant questions about the presence of extraterrestrial life on Earth and the possibility of a government cover-up. Directed by Dan Farah, the film brings together 34 military and intelligence veterans, all of whom claim direct knowledge or experience with Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP), the government’s rebranding of UFOs. These individuals testify not only to the existence of alien flying objects but also, in some cases, extraterrestrial beings.
The film's key subject, Luis Elizondo, a former member of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), goes even further, suggesting that the US government has conducted the "most successful disinformation campaign in the history of the US government," claiming that the cover-up spans “80 years of lies and deception.” These assertions form the backbone of The Age of Disclosure, which is generating both excitement and skepticism in equal measure.
Several prominent politicians, including former Florida senator Marco Rubio, Democratic senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, and Republican senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota, also make appearances in the documentary. All three have called for greater transparency regarding UAPs, citing the difficulties they have faced when trying to access information on the subject. According to Farah, The Age of Disclosure presents a significant moment in the ongoing push for public disclosure: “This is a very real situation, and the stakes are incredibly high, and it’s clearly the most bipartisan issue of our time,” he said during the post-screening Q&A at the Paramount Theatre in Austin.
While the film has been praised for its thorough reporting on government programs and its serious tone, critics have pointed out its reliance on witness testimonies that lack verifiable evidence. IndieWire noted that the documentary presents “the most convincing argument you can make without showing any actual evidence,” while Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter dismissed the film as “a basic cable exploitation doc done up with a fancy gloss,” arguing that "nothing is proven, and thus nothing can be refuted."
Despite these criticisms, The Age of Disclosure stands out as the most substantial documentary to date on the handling of UAP information by the US government. It builds on years of reporting, including a 2017 New York Times article that first revealed the existence of AATIP, and continues with further Pentagon reports and congressional testimonies that confirm hundreds of UAP sightings by military personnel.
While the testimonies of the veterans are compelling, the film faces the same fundamental problem that has plagued UAP investigations for decades: a lack of concrete evidence. Many of the veterans, such as Elizondo, Christopher Mellon, and physicist Harold Puthoff, speak of classified encounters and the difficulty of sharing their full experiences due to national security concerns.
One of the most notable events featured in the documentary is the 2004 sighting of the so-called “Tic Tac object” by Navy Lieutenant Commander Alex Dietrich. Dietrich describes the object as having no visible wings, markings, or exhaust plumes. Radar tracked the object, which demonstrated incredible manoeuvrability—turning on a dime and descending from 24,000 metres to just 24 metres in less than one second. The sighting, along with others like it, fuels the claim that UAPs could possess technologies far beyond what is known to current science.
Some participants, such as astrophysicist Eric Davis, are more direct in their assertions, claiming that extraterrestrial interference on Earth is not just possible but a reality. According to Davis, UAPs have frequently been spotted near US nuclear facilities. However, like many others in the film, these claims are presented without concrete documentation or direct proof.
The film also touches upon the 2019 Intercept report that cast doubt on Elizondo’s claims of leading a government UFO program. Elizondo and fellow participant Jay Stratton dismiss the report as part of a wider disinformation campaign designed to discredit those speaking out about UAPs. Jim Semivan, a former CIA officer, echoes this sentiment, describing the suppression of information as a “tradition of disbelief.”
As the documentary draws to a close, the filmmakers leave the audience with a stark message: it is up to the public to demand greater transparency. Jay Stratton, a former defence intelligence official who worked on the US government’s UAP task force, calls on viewers to pressure their representatives and the executive branch to release more information. “Push your representatives, push the executive branch, push the president to make this come to light, make the transparency happen, so the world can understand what we’ve been dealing with is real,” Stratton urges. “We are not alone.”
The Age of Disclosure is set to have a wide release later this year, promising to continue the conversation around UAPs and the mysteries of extraterrestrial life. Whether it will succeed in convincing sceptics or simply fuel the ongoing debate remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: the stakes are high, and the public's desire for transparency has never been greater.
The documentary is now screening at the SXSW Film Festival, but its release to the wider public will undoubtedly ignite further discussions about the role of government secrecy in the matter of UAPs and the possibility of life beyond Earth.
The film's key subject, Luis Elizondo, a former member of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), goes even further, suggesting that the US government has conducted the "most successful disinformation campaign in the history of the US government," claiming that the cover-up spans “80 years of lies and deception.” These assertions form the backbone of The Age of Disclosure, which is generating both excitement and skepticism in equal measure.
Several prominent politicians, including former Florida senator Marco Rubio, Democratic senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, and Republican senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota, also make appearances in the documentary. All three have called for greater transparency regarding UAPs, citing the difficulties they have faced when trying to access information on the subject. According to Farah, The Age of Disclosure presents a significant moment in the ongoing push for public disclosure: “This is a very real situation, and the stakes are incredibly high, and it’s clearly the most bipartisan issue of our time,” he said during the post-screening Q&A at the Paramount Theatre in Austin.
While the film has been praised for its thorough reporting on government programs and its serious tone, critics have pointed out its reliance on witness testimonies that lack verifiable evidence. IndieWire noted that the documentary presents “the most convincing argument you can make without showing any actual evidence,” while Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter dismissed the film as “a basic cable exploitation doc done up with a fancy gloss,” arguing that "nothing is proven, and thus nothing can be refuted."
Despite these criticisms, The Age of Disclosure stands out as the most substantial documentary to date on the handling of UAP information by the US government. It builds on years of reporting, including a 2017 New York Times article that first revealed the existence of AATIP, and continues with further Pentagon reports and congressional testimonies that confirm hundreds of UAP sightings by military personnel.
While the testimonies of the veterans are compelling, the film faces the same fundamental problem that has plagued UAP investigations for decades: a lack of concrete evidence. Many of the veterans, such as Elizondo, Christopher Mellon, and physicist Harold Puthoff, speak of classified encounters and the difficulty of sharing their full experiences due to national security concerns.
One of the most notable events featured in the documentary is the 2004 sighting of the so-called “Tic Tac object” by Navy Lieutenant Commander Alex Dietrich. Dietrich describes the object as having no visible wings, markings, or exhaust plumes. Radar tracked the object, which demonstrated incredible manoeuvrability—turning on a dime and descending from 24,000 metres to just 24 metres in less than one second. The sighting, along with others like it, fuels the claim that UAPs could possess technologies far beyond what is known to current science.
Some participants, such as astrophysicist Eric Davis, are more direct in their assertions, claiming that extraterrestrial interference on Earth is not just possible but a reality. According to Davis, UAPs have frequently been spotted near US nuclear facilities. However, like many others in the film, these claims are presented without concrete documentation or direct proof.
The film also touches upon the 2019 Intercept report that cast doubt on Elizondo’s claims of leading a government UFO program. Elizondo and fellow participant Jay Stratton dismiss the report as part of a wider disinformation campaign designed to discredit those speaking out about UAPs. Jim Semivan, a former CIA officer, echoes this sentiment, describing the suppression of information as a “tradition of disbelief.”
As the documentary draws to a close, the filmmakers leave the audience with a stark message: it is up to the public to demand greater transparency. Jay Stratton, a former defence intelligence official who worked on the US government’s UAP task force, calls on viewers to pressure their representatives and the executive branch to release more information. “Push your representatives, push the executive branch, push the president to make this come to light, make the transparency happen, so the world can understand what we’ve been dealing with is real,” Stratton urges. “We are not alone.”
The Age of Disclosure is set to have a wide release later this year, promising to continue the conversation around UAPs and the mysteries of extraterrestrial life. Whether it will succeed in convincing sceptics or simply fuel the ongoing debate remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: the stakes are high, and the public's desire for transparency has never been greater.
The documentary is now screening at the SXSW Film Festival, but its release to the wider public will undoubtedly ignite further discussions about the role of government secrecy in the matter of UAPs and the possibility of life beyond Earth.
