Michael Kitz (National Security Advisor):
"Dr. Arroway, wait a minute, let me get this straight.
You admit that you have absolutely no physical evidence to back this up?"
Ellie: "Yes."
Kitz: "You admit that you may very well have hallucinated this whole thing?"
Ellie: "Yes."
Kitz: "You admit that if you were in our position, you would respond with exactly
the same degree of incredulity and skepticism?"
Ellie: "Yes."
Kitz: "Then why don't you simply withdraw your testimony and concede that this
journey to the center of the galaxy in fact never took place!"
Ellie: "Because I can't."
"I had an experience. I can't prove it, I can't even explain it, but everything
that I know as a human being, everything that I am, tells me that it was real.
I was given something wonderful, something that changed me forever, a
vision of the Universe that tells us undeniably how tiny and insignificant
and how rare and precious we all are. A vision that tells us that we belong
to something that is greater than ourselves. That we are not...that none of us
are alone. I wish I could share that...I wish that everyone, if even for one
moment, could feel that awe and humility and that hope. But...
(long pause)
That continues to be my wish."