History Film / CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind

* {{Expy}}: Lacombe is based on RealLife French [=UFOlogist=] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Vallee Jacques Vallée]].

* IdiotBall: Why did a room full of scientists and technicians take so long to recognize that they were looking at latitude and longitude coordinates. True, there were astronomers there who started out thinking in terms of ascension/declination, but as soon as that didn't map onto anything that made sense, they would have immediately tried latitude and longitude as alternatives.

** In his truck, Roy looks for Tolono on his map. Tolono is in central Illinois and is nearly 200 miles from Muncie. The voices on his radio speak about activity at or near Harper Valley. There is no Harper Valley, [[https://caflook.medium.com/a-close-encounter-with-an-overlook-of-some-kind-efb4aeefffc8 as this Muncie historian details in his blog]]. The 1968 song is based on ''Harpeth'' Valley, Tennessee. However, Cornbread Road exists in Muncie. It's also the title of an [[https://k9zw.wordpress.com/2011/09/05/cornbread-road-a-ke9v-audio-amateur-radio-novel-fully-on-line/ on-again, off-again podcast radio series]] begun in 2011 and occasionally re-posted by ham radio operator [[http://ke9v.net/ Jeff Davis]] ([=KE9V=]) about a secret society of hams in a little country town where all is not as it seems.

* BeepingComputers: During the SensorSuspense scene at the Air Traffic Control near the beginning.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: We never learn why the aliens abducted people and why they're returning them now. They are depicted as an entirely unknowable force who do things for reasons the human characters cannot begin to fathom.

* PinballProtagonist: Roy is not a hero, merely the protagonist. He gets swept into constructing Devil's Tower models like several other people for reasons he does not understand. Then he realizes he's supposed to go to Devil's Tower and does, again only because he's compelled to. In the end he makes it past the army who are only trying to make sure FirstContact goes smoothly, and gets to go on the alien spaceship, making him the "winner". Compare his fellow trying-to-reach-the-aliens person Jillian, who is at least trying to find her lost son.

-->'''Scientist 1:''' They haven't aged a day. Einstein was right.\\

-->''"Monsieur Neary, what do you want?"''
-->''"I just want to know that it's, it's really happening."''
-->''"I envy you."''

** In his truck, Roy looks for Tolono on his map. Tolono is in central Illinois and is nearly 200 miles from Muncie. The voices on his radio speak about activity at or near Harper Valley. There is no Harper Valley. The song is based on ''Harpeth'' Valley, Tennessee. However, Cornbread Road exists in Muncie. It's also the title of an [[https://k9zw.wordpress.com/2011/09/05/cornbread-road-a-ke9v-audio-amateur-radio-novel-fully-on-line/ on-again, off-again podcast radio series]] begun in 2011 by ham radio operator [[http://ke9v.net/ Jeff Davis]] ([=KE9V=]) about a secret society of hams in a little country town where all is not as it seems...

* CoincidentalBroadcast: How Neary finally learns what it is he's been obsessing about.

-->''"I envy you.''

-->''"Monsieur Neary, what do you want?""''

!!Close encounters of the third trope: