The alien spacecraft approaches Devils Tower in the final scene of Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Devils Tower is a striking geological formation in Wyoming, and it becomes the film’s central meeting site between humans and visitors from beyond Earth. Roy Neary’s obsessive attempts to reproduce its shape are the key visual clue that leads him toward the location.
The film was released in 1977 and presents contact with extraterrestrial life as a mysterious, ultimately hopeful encounter. Its title uses a classification from ufology: a “third kind” encounter involves observing beings associated with an unidentified flying object.
Spielberg’s production used the real Devils Tower as the story’s destination, while some shots were created or enhanced with visual effects and studio work. The landmark is sometimes called a mountain in casual descriptions, but it is officially a butte or monolith. It became one of the most recognizable locations in science-fiction cinema.