Why does this timeline start with Jimmy Carter? When Steven Spielberg was promoting Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1977, he genuinely expected President Carter to disclose the government’s UAP secrets — that’s why the film feels less like science fiction and more like preparation. Carter had personally witnessed a UAP, promised voters full transparency, and then was stonewalled by his own CIA. That moment of broken promise is the true beginning of the modern disclosure story. Everything since has been a consequence of that failure — and an attempt to correct it. Browse the timeline below, search by keyword, or filter by category to find what you’re looking for.