How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Quote #1
[After Roy's close encounter with the UFO, he sits dazed in his truck. When the flashlight turns on, he jumps and lets out a scream.]
Roy is obviously freaked out over his close encounter. Of course, it doesn't help that the aliens said, "Howdy" with all the subtlety of a tornado. But Roy's fear of the unknown quickly changes into a desire to understand what he saw.
Quote #2
BARRY: You can come and play now. You can come and play now. Come in through the door.
Barry's an innocent child. At three years old, the whole world's a new and unknown place to explore and figure out. How's he supposed to know aliens aren't typical visitors? He's Spielberg's prototype of the innocent, open-minded seeker of knowledge with a sense of wonder uncorrupted by fear. The grownups "know better."
Quote #3
GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL: If this mission fully develops, I get white knuckles just thinking about what might be ahead for those folks.
Those "folks" are the ones chosen for the Mayflower project. Again, the fear here originates entirely from the unknowns they face. For all anyone knows, once the aliens arrive, their guts will be sucked out and used for fertilizer.