weird history for today
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Skies
So basically Steven Spielberg wanted to have control of any potential sequel to Close Encounters. He didn't want to make a literal, direct sequel, so he wanted to make a survival horror film take. He was well on the way to making that when he was sort of burned out on violence during Raiders of the Lost Ark, and decided to focus on one of the elements from his script, the benevolent abandoned alien among the totally bastardly aliens in the original story. He got ET out of the deal.
So basically Steven Spielberg wanted to have control of any potential sequel to Close Encounters. He didn't want to make a literal, direct sequel, so he wanted to make a survival horror film take. He was well on the way to making that when he was sort of burned out on violence during Raiders of the Lost Ark, and decided to focus on one of the elements from his script, the benevolent abandoned alien among the totally bastardly aliens in the original story. He got ET out of the deal.