UFOs and Government Conspiracies

Scott Hardie | October 28, 2002
According to a recent poll, 72% of Americans believe that the government isn't telling everything it knows about UFO activity. (The news story's here.)

If you know me, you know that I tend towards the skeptical on subjects such as this. While I don't believe the government has made contact with aliens or is hiding any living or dead aliens, I do actually agree with the 72% majority. Why? Because not all UFOs are alien visitors, and the government's knowledge on the subject doesn't necessarily include knowledge that any UFOs are alien visitors. Of all the reports of lights in the sky over the past decades, if the government has researched even one of them and filed away the report somewhere, then it knows more on the subject than the general public does, thus qualifying a yes answer. That's the problem with the survey. That, and the fact that it was sponsored by the Sci-Fi Channel, which is using the results to promote a new series, which just guarantees fair questions, right?

Anyway, what do you think about all this? Take a look at the article if you can; it contains some other interesting numbers. The government flak at the end of the article makes an almost laughably weak argument in favor of government secrecy.

Scott Hardie | February 26, 2024
Here's resurrecting this old discussion -- so old that Sci-Fi Channel has become Syfy, and "UFO" has become "UAP" to sidestep the taxonomic confusion that I rather pedantically whined about -- to ask: What's going on with UAP legitimacy lately? Is it my imagination, or has there been a recent surge in assumed credibility given to claims of extraterrestrial visitors? I don't know why they're suddenly being taken more seriously than before, other than the longstanding tendency for this ufological fad to recur in waves. To armchair-expert non-believers like me, it seems clear that the astronomical distance that intelligent life would have to travel to reach Earth is virtually impossible to cross, and I'm with Ross Douthat that UAP whistleblowers should put up or shut up already, but still, I can't help but feel like I missed something. I once summarized GamerGate here; if someone is similarly able and willing to tell me why UAPs are suddenly so hot, I'd be grateful. Otherwise, I'd also be happy just to know what people think of this topic overall.

Scott Hardie | April 5, 2024
Huh, imagine that.

Erik Bates | April 6, 2024
[hidden by request]

Scott Hardie | April 26, 2024
I'm grateful to John Oliver for breaking all of this down in a very funny and surprisingly sympathetic manner.