Last year, a Pentagon report concluded that no credible evidence exists that we've been visited by little green men from outer space or that the US has covered up UFO activity. Now, the Wall Street Journal follows up with an investigation that provides a remarkable twist to the narrative:
- Last year's report, it found, "left out the truth behind some of the foundational myths about UFOs: The Pentagon itself sometimes deliberately fanned the flames, in what amounted to the US government targeting its own citizens with disinformation."
For example, the story begins by recounting how an Air Force colonel visited a bar near the military's famous Area 51 in Nevada back in the 1980s and gave the owner photos that appeared to show flying saucers. After they went up on the walls, UFO lore intensified. As it turns out, the colonel was on mission "of disinformation," one meant to conceal the development of top-secret stealth fighters at the site. "Military leaders were worried that the programs might get exposed if locals somehow glimpsed a test flight of, say, the F-117 stealth fighter, an aircraft that truly did look out of this world," the story explains. "Better that they believe it came from Andromeda."
Pentagon investigators learned of the ruse while compiling last year's report, but it wasn't included, and the Journal is reporting it for the first time. In fact, "evidence is emerging that government efforts to propagate UFO mythology date back all the way to the 1950s." What's unclear is if the incidents were isolated or part of a "centralized, institutional program." Read the full story, which includes the example of new commanders in a classified Air Force program being shown bogus photos of purported UFOs as part of a "bizarre hazing ritual." (Or check out other Longforms.)
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