Advertisement

Make a video with this sound

Put this sound on your own clip — text, speech bubbles and speed controls, all in the app.

Related keywords

✦ AI

About this sound

✦ AI

The iconic five-tone alien motif from Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). Creators use it for UFO reveals, mysterious discoveries and sci-fi punchlines.

The clip plays the famous five-note phrase used to communicate with the alien mothership, a simple sequence of synthetic bell-like tones that rise and resolve with a sense of wonder. Each note is clean, bright and slightly otherworldly, spaced just enough to feel like a musical question waiting for an answer. Hearing it instantly triggers recognition, even for viewers who have never seen the film, because the melody has become shorthand for first contact. It creates curiosity and playful awe, turning an ordinary reveal into something mysterious, cinematic and larger than life.

John Williams composed the five-tone motif for Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind, released in 1977, where scientists use the musical phrase to communicate with an alien mothership. The simple melody became one of cinema's most quoted musical ideas and was widely parodied and referenced in later films, cartoons and commercials. Online it survives as shorthand for alien contact, often titled in Portuguese as contatos imediatos de terceiro grau, and creators still drop the short clip to signal a mysterious or otherworldly moment.

Pro Tip for Usage

✦ AI

Drop the tones right as the reveal lands, not underneath dialogue, and let the final note ring out before your punchline. Pair it with a slow zoom or a glowing light effect, and avoid looping it, since the magic fades if the phrase repeats.

Use Cases

✦ AI
  • Teasing a supposed UFO sighting in a vlog.
  • Revealing a bizarre food combination on camera.
  • Introducing a mysterious package unboxing video.
  • Punchline after a friend says something alien.

Frequently Asked Questions

✦ AI
What is the 'contatos de 3 grau' sound?
It is the famous five-note alien communication motif from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The clean, bell-like tones are played as a musical phrase scientists use to talk to the mothership, and the clip usually lasts just a few seconds.
Where does the Close Encounters five-tone motif come from?
It was composed by John Williams for Steven Spielberg's 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In the story, researchers broadcast the five tones to establish contact, and the melody became one of the most recognizable musical motifs in cinema history.
Why is this sound popular in videos and memes?
Because the melody instantly signals aliens, mystery or first contact without any explanation. Creators use it as a punchline for strange reveals, fake UFO clips and sci-fi jokes, since most viewers recognize the reference immediately.

Upload your own sounds New

Got a funny clip? Upload your MP3 in the SoundInstants app. Once it's approved, everyone can play it.

Upload in the app
Advertisement

Most popular

See all
Advertisement