In 1953, the Air Force and CIA knew that they could not adequately explain what was appearing in our skies. In order to hide their failures and/or cover things up until they figured it out, they decided to use a debunking/ridicule approach to delay disclosure of an extraterrestrial presence on Earth. The most charitable explanation is that, once they figured it out, they would then go to the President and Congress with the answers and ask for direction to deal with what they found. Since then, they have done everything they can to keep their extraterrestrial presence under wraps. They have never gone to the President with an answer that can be made public. To date, the American public is cut out of the decisionmaking process about the most important discovery of modern humanity. It is a gaping hole in our constitutional protections.
The Air Force and CIA embarked on their program to cover up knowledge of the ET presence by intimidating witnesses, stealing evidence, and keeping their programs secret from Congress. Declassified records provide a glimpse of the efforts that worried little about the toll these efforts took on Americans in the institutional quest to hide the “problem” in plain sight. In the 1950s and 1960s, Americans who discovered evidence of the extraterrestrial presence, out of a sense of patriotic duty, turned it over to the government significant evidence of the reality of alien visitation. In response, they were treated harshly. Some were called liars or frauds, all for giving their government evidence with no thought of reward. They had their reputations damaged and had to live with the moniker of a “flying saucer nut”. Most were never interested in the UFO Phenomenon prior to making their discovery. Some did not even believe that their evidence other-worldly. They thought their photographs were of terrestrial secret weapons. The regulations adopted at this time were intended to keep significant evidence out of the public eye. For example, commercial pilots were required to report all sightings to the Air Force and, if they talked to the press, faced possible criminal charges. The result was the elimination of pilot reports. None of these tactics were ever subject to congressional review or oversight.
In the 1970s, a special U.S. Senate panel uncovered many abuses by law enforcement, military, and intelligence agencies that used many of the same tactics to squelch dissent and harm the civil liberties of the American people. However, although the same departments of these agencies were investigated for other abuses, the UFO secrecy program escaped scrutiny.
The decision of whether to continue the secrecy should be put in the hands of our elected officials. After seventy-plus years of secrecy, perhaps there is another way to handle our inability to figure out what is behind the UFO phenomenon. Bringing our elected representatives into the decision making process would also reduce the possibility of continued civil rights violations against unsuspecting Americans. Also, the American people’s representatives should be given the responsibility to make decisions affecting the lives of every single American, whether they know it or not. Our elected representatives are the ones who should make decisions of what to disclose and what aspects that should not be shared.
Another possibility is that at some point, the military and intelligence communities have become aware that UFOs are of extraterrestrial or inter-dimensional origin. The cover up and “debunking” policies were put in place to allow the military to figure out how to use information about them for the defense benefit of the United States. This scenario means that the military still has not figured out how to use what they have learned to any significant extent. Or else we would have a military flying around in Flying Saucers giving them a massive advantage in any conflict. To date, we do not appear to have a Flying Saucer fleet. After seventy-plus years, shouldn’t the decisions on when and if to disclose be made by our elected representatives. While the sheer numbers of people that have been affected are likely small. While the numbers are dwarfed by those affected by race or gender discrimination, any policy that impinges on the civil rights of Americans cannot stand. Our civil rights depend on the good faith of our elected leaders. Absent knowledge, they are unable to protect those rights.
Under either possible scenario, the military and intelligence communities knew what they were dealing with. A group of interdimensional or extraterrestrials conundrum of a policy uses subterfuge and illegal methods undermines the rights of American citizens. If the UFO phenomenon is not real, ridicule should not be used as means to eliminate the problem. If the UFO phenomenon is real, the answers of how to deal with it should be put into the hands of our elected representatives. In a democratic republic, constitutional protections should be available to all. They should not be denied to those who are in the right place at the wrong time and are forever branded by their association with a phenomenon not of their making. Regardless of the merits of their arguments, people who wish to associate with others who study the phenomenon in a non-violent manner should not have their rights trampled. The Constitution should not have an exception for “stuff” the government does not understand.
One scenario that is not considered is that the cover up is about keeping a genuine threat to mankind in the dark until the military figures out how to defend us. If this scenario was true, why would an invading force wait seventy plus years to plan a takeover. An invading force does not give seventy years of warnings before invading. If there was a threat to our existence, it would already have happened.
My arguments are supported by declassified records made public over the last twenty years. The UFO phenomenon is not the main issue. The main issue is how, when confronted with an unusual set of circumstances, does our adherence to democratic principles continue to be our lodestar. From this declassified record and other selected instructive incidents, the military and intelligence communities have departed from the democratic protections that make this country unique among nations. Is it ok to damage the reputations of a small group of people with innocent motives for a “greater” good? Is it ok to steal their property to conceal evidence that disagrees with official government policy? Does “continued emphasis on the reporting of these phenomena …, in these parlous times, result in a threat to the orderly functioning of the protective organs of the body politic”? In the alternative, is our government stronger when it follows basic civil liberty protections? The answers to these questions define us a nation.