Now I'm hungry for steak...

After seeing this as a kid I could never eat maggots again.

It's not actually 'by' Spielberg... as in he does not have the director's credit. Apparently he was so involved he may as well have, but he isn't the official 'director'.

Speilberg directed the film. It was his baby. He was only uncredited because of contractual limitations. From the Wikipedia entry...

A clause in his contract with Universal Studios prevented Spielberg from directing any other film while preparing E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Time and Newsweek tagged the summer of 1982 "The Spielberg Summer" because E.T. and Poltergeist were released a week apart in June. As such a marketable name, some began to question Spielberg's role during production. Suggestions that Spielberg had greater directorial influence than the credits suggest were aided by comments made by the writer/producer:

"Tobe isn't... a take-charge sort of guy. If a question was asked and an answer wasn't immediately forthcoming, I'd jump in and say what we could do. Tobe would nod agreement, and that become the process of collaboration."

Well, no matter who directed it, it's a great movie.