1. Character Profile: Ethan Hale
Ethan Hale is a journalist and whistleblower — a man who has uncovered evidence that the government has been concealing knowledge of extraterrestrial life from the public. While Emily Blunt's meteorologist becomes the unwitting vessel through which disclosure happens live on air, Hale is the one who has been actively pursuing the truth. He represents a different path to the same revelation: not accidental contact, but deliberate investigation.
Where Blunt's character is thrust into the extraordinary, Hale walks toward it willingly. He is the moral conscience of the story — the one asking the question the film centers on: Does humanity have the right to know?
2. "The Truth Belongs to 7 Billion People"
"The truth belongs to 7 billion people."
— Ethan Hale, Disclosure Day trailerThis single line, delivered by O'Connor in the teaser trailer, has become the thematic thesis of Disclosure Day. It distills the entire moral argument of the film into nine words: the truth about extraterrestrial life is not a state secret — it is a human birthright.
The phrasing is deliberate. Not "the American people." Not "the press." Seven billion — the entire species. Hale is not a nationalist whistleblower; he is a humanist one. He believes that the knowledge of alien life changes the fundamental equation of human existence, and that no government, agency, or institution has the authority to withhold it.
Spielberg's decision to put this line front and center in the marketing tells us where his sympathies lie. In a film about first contact, the real conflict is not with the aliens. It is with the institutions that would keep them secret.
3. "It's Old-School Spielberg"
"Like old-school Spielberg. I think people will be excited... 'Close Encounters,' 'E.T.'; that world."
— Josh O'Connor, interview
O'Connor's description of Disclosure Day as "old-school Spielberg" is the most important characterization anyone has given this film. It positions it not as a modern sci-fi spectacle in the mold of War of the Worlds (2005), but as a return to the Spielberg of wonder, awe, and deeply human storytelling.
"Close Encounters" and "E.T." share a quality that later Spielberg alien films did not: the aliens are not the threat. The systems around them are. Roy Neary in Close Encounters is gaslit by the military. Elliott in E.T. hides his friend from government agents. If Ethan Hale fits into this lineage, he is fighting the same fight — not against extraterrestrial beings, but against the human institutions that want to control the narrative.
4. From Challengers to Spielberg
Josh O'Connor's path to Disclosure Day is a case study in how quickly a career can escalate when the right directors take notice. His trajectory over just a few years:
- God's Own Country (2017) — Breakthrough indie role that put him on the map
- The Crown (2020) — Emmy-winning turn as Prince Charles established his range
- La Chimera (2023) — Italian art-house collaboration with Alice Rohrwacher
- Challengers (2024) — Luca Guadagnino's tennis drama made him a leading-man sensation
- Disclosure Day (2026) — Steven Spielberg's return to alien cinema
Like Emily Blunt, O'Connor was offered the role directly by Spielberg without an audition. That level of certainty from a director of Spielberg's stature is rare. It suggests Spielberg saw something specific in O'Connor — likely the combination of moral intensity and everyman relatability that Challengers showcased, blended with the regal authority he brought to Prince Charles.
The jump from Guadagnino to Spielberg is significant. Both directors are known for extracting deeply felt, physically committed performances. O'Connor has proven he can carry a film's emotional weight, and Ethan Hale demands exactly that.
5. He Knew Before the World Did KEY DETAIL
This is the most crucial piece of Ethan Hale's character: he knew about alien life before the public incident.
While the rest of the world discovers the truth through Emily Blunt's meteorologist being taken over on live television, Hale has already been down the rabbit hole. He has sources. He has documents. He has been trying to expose the government cover-up before the aliens forced the issue themselves.
This creates a fascinating dramatic tension. The public incident that shocks the world is, for Hale, a vindication — but also a crisis. If the government was willing to suppress the truth when it was just classified information, what will they do now that the secret is out? His fight does not end with disclosure. It may only be beginning.
This positions Hale as the film's bridge between conspiracy and confirmation. He is the character who can explain what is happening because he has been investigating it for years. In narrative terms, he is our guide through the cover-up.
6. The Screen Rant Exclusive Image
Screen Rant published an exclusive image showing Josh O'Connor and Emily Blunt together inside a red vehicle — likely mid-chase or mid-escape. The image is significant for several reasons:
- It confirms Hale and the meteorologist share significant screen time together
- The red vehicle matches footage from the Super Bowl trailer showing a high-speed pursuit alongside a train
- Both characters appear tense but determined — suggesting an alliance formed under pressure
- The framing suggests they are fleeing from something, not toward it — likely government agents or military forces
This image reframes the film's two leads: the accidental contactee and the deliberate truth-seeker, thrown together by circumstance and united by necessity. It is a classic Spielberg pairing — ordinary people on the run from systems larger than themselves.
7. Real-World Whistleblower Parallels
Ethan Hale does not exist in a vacuum. His character resonates deeply with real-world figures who have risked everything to reveal classified truths. Spielberg — a filmmaker who has always drawn from reality — appears to be channeling a very specific moment in history.
David Grusch
Former intelligence officer who testified before Congress in 2023 that the U.S. government possesses recovered non-human craft and biologics. His testimony mirrors Hale's conviction that the truth is being hidden.
Ethan Hale
Journalist who has discovered evidence of extraterrestrial contact and government suppression. Believes disclosure is a moral imperative, not a policy question.
Edward Snowden
NSA contractor who leaked classified surveillance programs in 2013, arguing that citizens had a right to know their government was watching them. The "right to know" framing directly echoes Hale.
UAP Disclosure Movement
The ongoing push by lawmakers and former officials to declassify UAP information. The 2023-2024 congressional hearings created the real-world backdrop against which Spielberg conceived this film.
The timing is not coincidental. Spielberg began developing Disclosure Day during the peak of the UAP disclosure movement. Hale is a fictional composite of every real whistleblower who has stood before a microphone and said: the government is hiding something, and you deserve to know.
8. The Journalist-as-Hero in Spielberg Films
Ethan Hale is not the first truth-seeker to anchor a Spielberg narrative. The director has a long history of centering journalists and moral witnesses in his most important films:
There is a direct line from The Post to Disclosure Day. In The Post, Spielberg told the story of journalists who published the Pentagon Papers despite government threats. The moral argument was identical to Hale's: the public has a right to know what its government is doing, even when — especially when — the government says otherwise.
Hale escalates that principle to its ultimate form. If the truth about alien life is the biggest secret ever kept, then revealing it is the biggest act of journalism ever attempted. Spielberg is using the whistleblower archetype to ask: is there a limit to what the public deserves to know?
9. Fan Theories: What Does Ethan Hale Know? SPECULATION
Based on trailer footage and the film's marketing, fans have developed several theories about the extent of Hale's knowledge and his role in the story:
Theory 1: Hale Has Physical Evidence
Some fans believe Hale possesses not just documents but physical proof — perhaps recovered materials or recordings — that the government has been in contact with extraterrestrials for decades. The red vehicle chase scene may involve him transporting this evidence.
Theory 2: He Was a Government Insider
Rather than a traditional journalist, Hale may be a former government employee who turned whistleblower after seeing classified programs firsthand. This would parallel David Grusch's real-world trajectory and explain how he gained access to suppressed information.
Theory 3: He Triggered the Contact Event
The most dramatic theory: Hale's investigation somehow triggered the aliens to make contact. Perhaps his proximity to classified information — or his attempt to leak it — prompted the extraterrestrials to bypass the government entirely and go public through the meteorologist's broadcast.
Theory 4: Hale and the Meteorologist Were Connected Before
The Screen Rant image of both characters in a vehicle together may hint at a pre-existing relationship. Some fans speculate Hale sought out the meteorologist as a media ally before the contact event, and that the aliens chose her precisely because of that connection.
For more fan theories, see our full theories breakdown after the trailer.
10. Character Arc: What the Trailer Footage Tells Us
Piecing together the teaser, the Super Bowl trailer, and the Screen Rant exclusive, we can sketch a possible arc for Ethan Hale across the film:
Act 1: The Outsider
Hale is a journalist investigating UAP cover-ups, dismissed as a conspiracy theorist. He has evidence but no platform. The system is designed to silence people like him.
The Inciting Incident
The meteorologist's live broadcast changes everything. What Hale has been saying for years is suddenly, undeniably true. The world is in shock. He is vindicated — but the danger is just beginning.
Act 2: The Alliance
Hale and the meteorologist find each other. She has experienced contact; he understands what it means. Together, they become the two people who can piece together the full picture — the experiencer and the investigator.
The Pursuit
The government wants to control the narrative. Hale and the meteorologist are on the run (the red vehicle, the train chase). They carry the truth that powerful forces want suppressed.
Act 3: Disclosure
The climax likely involves Hale's ultimate choice: how far is he willing to go to ensure the truth reaches all 7 billion people? The Super Bowl trailer's closing line — "People deserve to know" — suggests he sees it through.
This arc mirrors the classic Spielberg structure of ordinary people caught in extraordinary circumstances, forced to act on conscience when institutions fail. Hale is the Spielberg protagonist who chooses the fight — making him a counterpart to Blunt's character, who has the fight thrust upon her.