Plot Summary:

When Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) encounters a UFO, he's left with a sunburned face, a skeptical family and a shaken psyche. In an attempt to make sense of what he saw, Roy starts seeking out others who've had similar "visions." Among those he finds are a woman (Melinda Dillon) who's lost her son to the aliens, and a researcher (Francois Truffaut) preparing for Earth's first contact with extraterrestrials.