UFO conspiracy theory: Encyclopedia - UFO conspiracy theory

UFO conspiracy theory

The UFO conspiracy theory is any one of many conspiracy theories in which it is suggested that major world governments (particularly the United States government) have proof that UFOs are the result of alien visitation, but are suppressing this information either for nefarious purposes and/or out of the belief that mankind is unprepared to deal with the psychological, social, or theological implications of such a reality.

Such theories often incorporate the idea that governments are in fact in communication or cooperation with extraterrestrials. Some of these theories claim that the government is explicitly allowing alien abduction in exchange for technology.

UFO conspiracy theory - Popular culture

Still, various polls have suggested that many Americans suspect that their government is withholding or suppressing UFO-related evidence. The contention that there is a widespread coverup of UFO information isn't limited to the UFO research community: a 1971 survey of Industrial Research/Development magazine found that 76% felt the government wasn't revealing all it knew about UFOs, 54% thought UFOs definitely or probably existed, and 32% thought they came from outer space.[1]

It has been suggested that UFO conspiracy theories have been presented to UFO enthusiasts as disinformation designed to distract from prosaic but secretive government efforts. Some UFO conspiracy theories have been studied as emergent folklore or urban legends.

Various conspiratorial UFO ideas have flourished on the internet and are frequently featured on Art Bell's program.

In fiction, television programs (The X-Files and Doctor Who), films (Men in Black and Independence Day) and any number of novels have featured elements of UFO conspiracy theories.

Elements may include the government's sinister Men in Black, the military base known as Area 51, a supposed crash site in Roswell, New Mexico, and a political committee dubbed the "Majestic 12".

UFO conspiracy theory - US government position

In fact, the United States' government has demonstrated a sometimes keen interest in UFO reports, but has also typically been reluctant to admit this or to discuss their opinions or findings. Some high-ranking military officials have reported that the military's private views of UFOs were very different from their public statements on the subject: In a signed statement to the United States Congress (also reported in the New York Times), dated February 28, 1960, former CIA Director Vice Admiral Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter stated,

The Brookings Report is a genuine study commissioned by the U.S. government under Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Valerie Mason, which suggested that evidence of extraterrestrials might prove disruptive to human society; this study has led to speculation that government agencies might cover up evidence of extraterrestrials, whether on Earth or elsewhere.

In his exhaustive The UFO Book, Jerome Clark devotes 22 pages to examination of various overlapping UFO conspiracy theories which he describes as

(Clark, 1998, 143) Clark also characterizes the tales as an "evolving legend". (Clark, 1998, 159)

Chronology

The following sections provide a chronological list of events, statements and personalities who have figured in various UFO conspiracy theories.

UFO conspiracy theory - 1940s

UFO conspiracy theory - Roswell Incident

In 1947, the United States Air Force issued a press release stating that a "flying saucer" had crashed near Roswell, New Mexico. This press release was quickly withdrawn, and officials stated that a weather balloon had been misidentified.

The Roswell case quickly faded even from the attention of ufologists until the 1970s; there has been continued speculation that an alien spacecraft did indeed crash near Roswell despite the official denial. (see, Roswell UFO Incident)

UFO conspiracy theory - Mantell Incident

The 1948 death of Air Force pilot Thomas Mantell (the so-called Mantell Incident) many have contributed to a distrust of governmental UFO studies. Mantell's airplane crashed and he was killed following the pursuit of an aerial artifact he described as "a metallic object ... it is of tremendous size." (Clark, 352) Project Sign personnel investigated the case and determined that Mantell had been chasing the planet Venus—a conclusion which met with incredulity.

UFO conspiracy theory - Project Sign

The U.S. Air Force may have planted the seeds of UFO conspiracy theories with Project Sign (which became Project Grudge and Project Blue Book). Edward J. Ruppelt characterized the Air Force's public behavior regarding UFOs as "schizophrenic": alternately open and transparent, then secretive and dismissive.

UFO conspiracy theory - 1950s

• Frank Scully's 1950 Behind the Flying Saucers suggested that the U.S. government had recovered a crashed flying saucer and its dead occupants near Aztec, New Mexico, in 1948. It was later revealed that Scully had been the victim of a prank by "two veteran confidence artists". (Clark 1998, 295) Still, Scully's book sold well and doubtless helped shape later UFO conspiracy theories.

• 1956 saw the publication of Grey Barker's They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers, the book which publicized the idea of sinister men in black who appear to UFO witnesses and warn them to keep quiet. There has been continued speculation that the men in black are government agents who harass and threaten UFO witnesses.

• Donald Keyhoe was a retired U.S. Marine who wrote a series of popular books and magazine articles (published beginning in the 1950s), arguing that the U.S. government was suppressing UFO evidence.

• Some contemporary critics charged that the United States Air Force was perpetrating a cover-up with its Project Blue Book.

• The Robertson Panel was a government program initiated in 1952. In part, it recommended a public relations campaign to reduce public interest, including ridiculing and discrediting those who have had UFO/Alien encounters and/or study UFOs, and to spy on civilian UFO groups. There is evidence these directives are still followed more than two decades after the Panel closed.

UFO conspiracy theory - 1960s

• Throughout much of the 1960s, atmospheric physicist James E. McDonald suggested—via lectures, articles and letters—that the U.S. Government was mishandling evidence which would support the extraterrestrial hypothesis.

UFO conspiracy theory - 1970s

• Although strictly unrelated to a UFO conspiracy theory, the Watergate affair brought the curtain down on the era when authorities were generally trusted by the public. A decade after the assassination of John F. Kennedy a cottage industry of JFK conspiracy theorists seemed to spring up out of the woodwork, fed by the tabloids. UFO conspiracy theories found fertile ground in this paranoid zeitgeist.
• Clark also notes that many UFO conspiracy theory tales "can be traced to a mock documentary, Alternative 3, broadcast on British television on June 20, 1977, and subsequently turned into a paperback book." (Clark, 213–4)

UFO conspiracy theory - Alleged Holloman Air Force Base UFO Landing

Clark cites a 1973 encounter as perhaps the earliest suggestion that the U.S. government was involved with ETs. That year, Robert Emenegger and Allan Sandler of Los Angeles, California, were in contact with officials at Norton Air Force Base in order to make a documentary film.

Emenegger and Sandler report that Air Force Officials (including Paul Shartle) suggested incorporating UFO information in the documentary, including as its centerpiece genuine footage of a 1971 UFO landing at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. Furthermore, says Emenegger, he was given a tour of Holloman AFB and was shown where officials conferred with EBEs. This was supposedly not the first time the U.S. had met these aliens, as Emenegger reported that his U.S. military sources had "been monitoring signals from an alien group with which they were unfamiliar, and did their ET guests know anything about them? The ET's said no." (Clark 1998, 144)

No film was even presented, however, and the documentary was released in 1974 as UFO's: Past, Present and Future (narrated by Rod Serling). The alleged Holloman UFO landing was discussed in the documentary and was depicted with illustrations.

(Years later, in 1988, Shartle would declare that the film in question was genuine, and that he had seen it several times.)

UFO conspiracy theory - Paul Bennewitz

The late 1970s also saw the beginning of an affair centered around Paul Bennewitz of Albuquerque, New Mexico. See Paul Bennewitz for further details.

UFO conspiracy theory - 1980s

UFO conspiracy theory - MJ-12

The so-called Majestic 12 documents surfaced in 1982, suggesting that there was secret, high-level U.S. government interest in UFOs dating to the 1940s. (See Majestic 12 for further information.)

UFO conspiracy theory - Linda Moulton Howe

In the late 1970s, Denver, Colorado-based journalist Linda Mounton Howe had produced Strange Harvest, a documentary film about the many allegedly strange deaths of cows throughout the western U.S. See cattle mutilation

Strange Harvest was a modest success, and Howe became interested in UFO reports in general and the Bennewitz affair especially.

In 1983, Howe agreed to produce a new documentary called UFO's: The ET Factor for HBO. Peter Gersted (head of Citizens Against UFO Secrecy) told Howe that Air Force Sergeant Richard C. Doty wanted to meet her and disclose some secret UFO information, specifically a supposed UFO account from Ellsworth Air Force Base.

Howe says that she met Doty at Kirtland AFB, and rather than discuss the Elleman incident, he allowed her to read a secret document. "A Briefing Paper for the President of the United States on the Subject of Unidentified Flying Vehicles." (Clark 1998, 154) Howe says she was not allowed to copy the paper or take notes, and was required to read it in Doty's presence.

The document, Howe reported, detailed a series of events: Several UFO crashes and recoveries, including some where the alien occupants were alive and remained in the care of the U.S. government. The aliens gave several aircraft to the U.S. as a gift, and the government were reverse engineering them to determine how they worked. A UFO landing had indeed been filmed at Holloman AFB but in 1964, not 1971.

Howe reported that Doty promised considerable confirmation, including documents, film and photographs. The U.S. government had wanted to reveal the reality of UFOs for some time, Doty allegedly reported, but had waited until the political and cultural climate was receptive.

When she told HBO about Doty's statement, they were intrigued, but insisted on a letter of intent from the U.S. government before pursuing the documentary any further. Howe reported that Doty promised to obtain guarantees.

Through the summer of 1983, Howe says Doty repeatedly made and canceled various conferences with her: A meeting with a retired Air Force Colonel who had extensive contact with an EBE, and various opportunities for Howe to view UFO films or documents. Howe says she spoke to other ostensible government officials who confirmed parts of the UFO conspiracy she had read in the classified memo, but always with Doty as liaison.

Then in July 1983, Howe says, Doty told her that he was no longer allowed to be involved with her UFO documentary. Without his aid, Howe says she lost her contacts with other officials. By 1984, HBO gave up on the documentary.

In 1989, UFOlogist William L. Moore would report that "I became aware that Rick (Doty) was involved with a team of several others ... in playing an elaborate disinformation scheme against a major UFO researcher who, at the time, had close connections with a major television film company interested in doing a UFO documentary." Moore says that Howe was discredited due to her interest in Bennewitz. (Clark 1998, 156) Clark does note if Moore offered proof of his assertions.

UFO conspiracy theory - John Lear

In the late 1980s, John Lear became prominent in UFO circles. Citing "unnamed but well-connected sources" (Clark 1998, 157), Lear asserted that the U.S. government had in fact recovered dozens of UFOs over the decades. In exchange for advanced technology, the government allowed for a limited number of alien abductions.

This proceeded for some years, until in 1972 the government discovered that the aliens were kidnapping far more persons than their agreement had stipulated. This dispute culminated in a conflict between aliens and humans at a secret military base near Dulce, New Mexico. The aliens supposedly killed about 40 high-ranking military officials or scientists, and many more military personnel who tried to invade the base.

Following this conflict, Lear reports, the aliens have essentially gone about their schemes with no interference. Up to 10% of the U.S. population has been abducted, and the Strategic Defense Initiative was actually proposed to protect from alien invaders, not Soviet missiles.

Lear relied heavily on Bennewitz' stories, which Bennewitz claimed to have heard from officials at Kirtland AFB.

UFO conspiracy theory - William Milton Cooper

As unlikely as Lear's accounts might seem, William Milton Cooper's tales were wilder still. Clark writes that "Cooper told his lurid and outlandish claim as if it were so self-evidently true that sources or supporting data were irrelevant." (Clark, 1998, 162) Cooper came to public awareness in the late 1980s.

Cooper claimed to have been a Naval intelligence officer, and in many ways, his accounts were similar to earlier UFO conspiracy theories: UFOs had crashed, the ships and their alien pilots had been recovered, and the government made agreements with aliens. There were further details as well, in Cooper's self-published 1989 screed "The Secret Government: The Origin, Identity and Purpose of MJ-12".[2]

Cooper's 25-page pamphlet was crammed full of lurid claims: UFOs had been crashing on Earth by the dozens since the mid-1940s, and Secretary of Defense James Forrestal threatened to publicize the fact and was killed to prevent him from doing so; In 1954 "His Omnipotent Highness Krlll"—leader of a species living on a planet orbiting Betelgeuse—appeared on earth and suggested a treaty: The aliens would abduct humans and wipe their memories of the event in exchange for sharing their technology. U.S. officials feared the aliens' superior technology, and felt they had no choice by to accept the conditions offered by the aliens. Aliens quickly broke the treaty, kidnapping and killing humans and livestock. The Cold War, Cooper says, was largely a facade: The United States and the Soviet Union were actually in close collaboration, both to combat the aliens and to pave the way for a totalitarian one world government. The Majestic 12 committee began selling drugs to raise funds to combat the aliens, reports Cooper, and President John F. Kennedy was assassinated when he objected. Cooper borrowed liberally from Alternative 3, a tongue-in-cheek Anglia Television prank program.

Cooper manages to involve Our Lady of Fatima, the Antichrist, and an impending nuclear World War III in 1999. He predicted that Jesus would return in 2011.

Many ufologists who were striving for legitimacy ignored Lear and Cooper, yet both men were popular speakers on the UFO lecture circuit, and Cooper expanded his account into the book Behold A Pale Horse.

Lear remains active in UFO circles; Cooper was shot and killed in a confrontation with police.

UFO conspiracy theory - Bob Lazar

Bob Lazar came to public prominence in the late 1980's; he claimed to have taken part in the back-engineering of extra-terrestrial craft at Area S-4 (approx. 10 miles south of Area 51). (See Bob Lazar for further information.)

UFO conspiracy theory - UFO Cover-Up?: Live!

On October 14 1988, actor Mike Farrell hosted "UFO Cover-Up?: Live!" a two-hour prime-time syndicated television special that was broadcast in the United States (and elsewhere). William Moore and Jamie Shandera appeared (among many other guests) and discussed the acquisition of the Majestic 12 documents, and introduced their sources "Falcon" and "Condor", allegedly high-level government intelligence officials. Interviewed in shadow and with masked voices, Falcon and Condor disclosed information about the U.S. government’s involvement in UFO’s and alien interaction, UFO crashes and occupant retrievals, and alien biology. This broadcast also included the first known mention of Area 51 on television.

UFO conspiracy theory - July 1989 MUFON Convention

The Mutual UFO Network held their 1989 annual convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 1, 1989.

Moore was scheduled as the main speaker, and he generated controversy even before his appearance: He refused to submit his paper for review prior to the convention, and also announced that he would not answer any follow-up questions as was common practice. Unlike most of the convention's attendees, Moore did not stay at the same hotel that was hosting the convention.

When he spoke, Moore said that he and others had been part of an elaborate, long-term disinformation campaign begun primarily to discredit Paul Bennewitz: "My role in the affair ... was primarily that of a freelancer providing information on Paul's (Bennewitz) current thinking and activities." (Clark, 1998, 163) Air Force Sergeant Richard C. Doty was also involved, said Moore, though Moore thought Doty was "simply a pawn in a much larger game, as was I." (ibid.) One of their goals, Moore said, was to disseminate information and watch as it was passed from person to person in order to study information channels.

Moore said that he "was in a rather unique position" in the disinformation campaign: "judging by the positions of the people I knew to be directly involved in it, [the disinformation] definitely had something to do with national security. There was no way I was going to allow the opportunity to pass me by ... I would play the disinformation game, get my hands dirty just often enough to lead those directing the process into believing I was doing what they wanted me to do, and all the while continuing to burrow my way into the matrix so as to learn as much as possible about who was directing it and why."(ibid., 164)

Once he finished the speech, Moore immediately left the hotel. He left Las Vegas that same night.

Moore's claims sent shock waves through the small, tight-knit UFO community, which remains divided as to the reliability of his assertions.

UFO conspiracy theory - 1990s

• The Branton Files have circulated on the internet at least since the mid-1990s. They essentially recirculate the information presented above in rambling fashion, with many run-on parenthetical asides from "Branton", the document's editor.

• Phil Schneider made a few appearances at UFO conventions in the 1990s, espousing essentially a new version of the theories mentioned above. He claimed to have survived the Dulce Base catastrophe and decided to tell his tale.

• In 1999 the French government published a study, "UFOs and Defense: What Must We Be Prepared For?" Among other topics, the study concludes that the United States government has withheld valuable evidence.[3]

UFO conspiracy theory - 2000s

UFO conspiracy theories show no signs of abating. 2003 saw the publication of Alien Encounters, by Chuck Missler and Mark Eastman, which primarily re-states the notions presented above (especially Cooper's) and presents them as fact. In November 2005 former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Paul Hellyer said, "The United States military are preparing weapons which could be used against the aliens, and they could get us into an intergalactic war without us ever having any warning."

See also

UFO conspiracy theory - Related articles

• The Disclosure Project
• The Bielefeld conspiracy
• Kecksburg UFO incident
• alien
• crop circle
• anomalous phenomenon
• List of magazines of anomalous phenomena
• List of major UFO sightings
• Ufology
• Ummo
• Robertson Panel
• Brookings Report

UFO conspiracy theory - Reference

• Jerome Clark, The Ufo Book: Encyclopedia of the Extraterrestrial, Visible Ink, 1998, ISBN 1578590299

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "UFO conspiracy theory", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki