Kooks and spooks

 

"UFO" is a recent four-part sort-of-documentary about the UFO phenomenon, made by J J Abrams, a succesful US film-maker involved in both the "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" franchises. It´s extremely confusing, jumping back and forth between different topics for four episodes straight. Is it meant to confuse? I couldn´t help wondering, since the truth (the real truth) about UFOs *is* mentioned in the third episode... 

However, that truth is surrounded by all the usual bunk and myth-making. UFO cases extensively discussed include the observations made by the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, the Chicago O´Hare International Airport case, and the almost proverbial Phoenix Lights (yes, we get to see Fife Symington´s alien buddie again). We are also taken on a long but very disjointed and non-chronological excursion through UFO la-la-land from Kenneth Arnold, Roswell, "The Day the Earth Stod Still" and the Hill abduction case, all the way to Budd Hopkins and John Mack (but, alas, not Whitley Strieber). Even Richard Doty, the man who fed disinfo to UFO-logist Paul Bennewitz, agreed to appear on camera (and continued lying, as usual). 

The docu series takes the US government faux disclosure of the UFO phenomenon earlier this year as its point of departure. Or rather the beginning of the story on 16 December 2017, when the New York Times published an article revealing the existence of a secret group (called AATIP) within the Pentagon tasked with investigating UFOs. The price tag: 22 million dollars. The NYT also released the now famous Pentagon UFO videos. What the documentary shows, perhaps inadvertently, is that the whole thing is probably a psy op or black op by the Pentagon, and that the NYT has been fed the information by certain interested parties. Probably the same guys who were behind the "secret UFO research" in the first place...

The truth is disclosed in the third episode, with some context provided in the second. So what is the truth? Here´s a hint: I´m not saying its the government, but it´s the government. There are no alien space craft. People are seeing top secret American military test flights: spy balloons, stealth planes, high-altitude blimps, and (these days) advanced drones. Obviously, the military can´t admit that they exist. Here, the widespread belief in UFOs come in handy as a smoke screen or sleight-of-hand. The proper authorities are encouraging belief in aliens and military cover-ups of aliens, making everyone look the other way, not noticing the real cover-up (of the secret military craft). To this end, UFO researchers must be controlled. AATIP tried to "buy" MUFON, according to a former director of the organization interviewed in the documentary. Another example is the previously mentioned Bennewitz case, where the military clearly applied the principle "keep your friends close, and the kooks even closer". (I review Greg Bishop´s book on the case, "Project Beta", elsewhere on this blog.) And yes, the NYT´s own exposé is probably just another example of UFO researchers being "played" by forces they can´t or won´t understand (unless they too are part of the kook op). And it continues: the NYT´s main source, Luis Elizondo of the AATIP, later worked for "To the Stars", a pro-ufology group largely made up of "former" CIA agents and such! 

I think it´s rather obvious that the Phoenix Lights were military test flights - one proposal made in "UFO" is that it was a high alitude blimp known as the Ascender - while the weird craft seen by the Nimitz pilots may have been drones. It´s quite frankly *weird* that so few people have thought of this possibility, but as the ex-MUFON guy points out, you really can´t argue against a true believer. UFOs and aliens are like a religion to them! 

One name that turns up quite often is that of Robert Bigelow, a multi-millionaire who may have a quite serious interest in UFOs and the paranormal. Bigelow´s business is part of the US space industry, and he has excellent political contacts. Indeed, it seems to have been Bigelow who headed AATIP, the secret team tasked with "investigating UFOs" (and take over MUFON). It´s possible that AATIP did *something*, since the US black budget sometimes does fund exotic research ranging all the way from parapsychology to the military training of cats or dolphins. Bigelow & Co were looking into topics such as "can you travel in outer space through worm holes" and so on. Probably absurd, but if you can just print the money and send the bills to the tax-payers, why the heck not? Before his stint for Pentagon, Bigelow carried out research at the so-called Skinwalker ranch in Utah, where a plethora of bizarre paranormal phenomena had been reported. (See my review of Colm Kelleher´s and George Knapp´s "Hunt for the Skinwalker".) 

Several of the true believers on this show point out - quite correctly - that strange phenomena in the skies and elsewhere have been observed since ancient times, and that "alien abductions" are a very old thing, too. It´s certainly possible that some of these events were truly paranormal. But that doesn´t contradict the fact that the modern UFO phenomenon is to a large extent driven by science fiction, quasi-religious fanaticism and (surprise) American spooks trying to cover-up very human gizmos. 

I´m frankly surprised that the UFO phenomenon has managed to survive for this long. One person in the docu suggests that it´s because of deliberate government policy. Every time the public gets less interested in UFOs, some new "revelation" is published in the media, making the thing go center stage again. If true, then new "disclosures" will continue happening until our earthly high technology is permanently taken off line around the year 2100 or so, making disinformation about it pointless...