Alex Bruno
The United States government is re-entering the UFO industry.
And, depending on whatever UFO believer you ask, it is either a historic step toward uncovering conspiracy theories or a ruse to reclaim narrative control — and potentially even prepare for interplanetary war.
The creation of a new agency to examine “unidentified aerial phenomena,” which was passed into law shortly before New Year’s, has splintered the informal network of activists, researchers, and pseudo scientists searching for evidence that we are not alone in the cosmos.
Some applaud the bill creating the new office, which is tucked away in section 1683 of the massive National Defense Authorization Act, for bringing new resources, rigor, and officialdom to the investigation of a phenomenon — and a potential national security threat — that has long been stigmatized in a way that makes it difficult to study.
“Our national security operations depend on aerial superiority, and these occurrences pose a threat to our dominance,” said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, who pushed the bipartisan bill. “A concerted effort by the United States is required to gain control and determine if these airborne occurrences are the work of a foreign nation or something else entirely.”
It has been decades since the US government conducted a thorough study of UFOs, thus the news should be reason for excitement among so-called ufologists.
However, because the movement has long believed the government is concealing the greatest secret in history, many are skeptical that the feds will do anything other than tighten their grip after several years of social acceptance for former presidents and CIA directors to publicly discuss strange things they would see in the skies.
Debates have raged on social media and sites like AboveTopSecret, a hotbed of ufology and conspiracy theories, on whether the new office marks the end of the purported cover-up or its rebirth.
“This is a topic with a proven history of secrecy, and anything that lacks a fresh openness about the facts is prone to greater, maybe improper control,” Ron James, a spokesman for the Mutual UFO Network, stated.
“We do not believe this indicates more resources will be allocated to the problem.” “We think that significant resources have always been devoted to the issue at some level throughout deep government and business,” James said.
Former government insiders Luis Elizondo and Christopher Mellon, who helped rekindle interest in Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, or UAPs, by publicizing video from military aircraft, applauded Gillibrand’s amendment — but are concerned that it was watered down before final passage and will be buried by the Pentagon.
In an op-ed for The Hill, Elizondo blasted the Pentagon for locating the new UAP office under the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security, which he claims is the “ideal location” if “we want 70 more years of secrecy on this issue.”
Activists protest about the new Pentagon office’s lack of citizen input, assuming that it would simply classify anything relevant it discovers, making its unclassified briefings to Congress nothing more than fig leaves.
Dr. Steven Greer, the self-described “world’s authority on UFOs” who resigned from the emergency department to pursue the search for aliens, disagrees with the idea that UFOs should be viewed as a national security concern at all.
According to him, aliens are here to help us, and the military-industrial complex is exaggerating their danger and creating the United States Space Force to prepare for interplanetary war, claiming that films like “Independence Day” are part of a “false narrative created by covert groups seeking to generate fear of ETs.”
But Stephen Bassett, the sole lobbyist in Washington committed to the “formal admission by the United States government of an alien presence,” as his official lobbying record puts it, views this as the conclusion of all he and others have worked towards.
“This is not a brand-new psyops operation.” The campaign to lift the truth embargo is planned, according to Bassett. “While I respect skeptics, that group has spent their time looking for the dark side of every advancement – the hidden hand.”
Rather than a fresh cover-up, Bassett sees the new agency as part of a multiyear plot by a group of insiders to ultimately push the government to admit it has had decades of communication with aliens.
“This is a tidal shift brought about over 70 years by the efforts of thousands of individuals and campaigners,” he remarked. “However, some of these folks can not help but think of it as a brilliant black operations mission.”
Meanwhile, the national security agency is preoccupied with issues on the ground.
According to the Pentagon, the new Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group would “synchronize efforts throughout the Department and the larger United States government to detect, identify, and attribute objects of interest.”
The military has made it apparent that it is primarily concerned with intrusions into restricted airspace, such as military facilities, and that it is more interested in drones and new technology produced by Russians, Chinese, and other human beings.
The bill’s wording goes a step further, requiring quick field examinations of UAP events, including “adverse physiological impacts.” It anticipates “materials testing, medical investigations, and theoretical model development,” as well as future funding, to “replicate any such enhanced traits and performance” identified.
According to Mick West, a well-known UFO debunker and ufologist’s arch-enemy, ufologists have “sort of hijacked actual concerns,” such as military pilots seeing things they can not explain.
“If you read the wording of this bill, it seems to represent the worries of believers in the alien idea,” he stated. “Now, despite conducting important job, the military is kind of obliged to jump through some little ludicrous hoops.”
Whatever the new agency exposes, he fears it will just serve to further persuade those who want to believe, whether it is because they will claim the government is finally admitting the truth about aliens or because it is still hiding the good stuff.
“I believe it will clarify some things out, but it will also add fuel to the fire,” he remarked.
Via – NBC
