Post by auntym on Jan 29, 2015 13:47:26 GMT -6
www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2015/01/26/alien-secrets/AZ4TNBNkGcEFxTglVgYzZJ/story.html
Alien secrets
The release of government documents on UFOs illustrates how official secrecy invites deep public suspicion
By Dante Ramos Boston Globe Columnist
January 27, 2015
If extraterrestrials were really visiting the Earth, you probably would have read about them on social media already. Telltale video, shot by one of billions of people with a camera phone, would be “liked” like no video has ever been “liked” before. Then you’d see the Upworthy version: “This Spacecraft Landed in a Cornfield, and What Happened Next Will Blow Your Mind.” Finally, you’d click on the inevitable BuzzFeed listicle —“9 Space Aliens who Literally Couldn’t Even” — and decide for yourself whether to believe it.
Until recently, Americans had to rely on the authorities. Flying-saucer stories are all in fun for those of us raised on cheesy science fiction, but from the late 1940s until the late ’60s the US military took them seriously enough to investigate them, most notably in a classified effort called Project Blue Book. Though made public years ago, the more than 100,000 pages of documents from these investigations became easily searchable online only this month, thanks to UFO buff John Greenewald and his website The Black Vault.
Beyond prompting lots of warmed-over “X-Files” jokes, these Cold War-era documents also illustrate how official secrecy invites deep public suspicion. And they hint at how, once a conspiracy theory of any sort gains a foothold in the culture, there’s almost no getting rid of it. Project Blue Book shut down in 1969 without announcing proof of extraterrestrial activities, fueling decades of speculation that the government was covering up something juicy.
When Air Force officials first began soliciting reports of UFOs, they got plenty of leads, and not just from credulous average citizens. Among those spotting unusual objects over Massachusetts were knowledgeable military veterans, a Logan Airport control tower employee, and MIT weather radar researchers.
One notable report came from a Beacon Hill man named John who, while gazing at the stars before dawn one morning in 1948, spotted three low-flying aircraft. His account is almost poetic: “The planes had no lights, but city lights made them visible like three pale moths.” He added, with an underline, “There was no sound.” Channeling the mood of the early Cold War years, a Colonel W.R. Clingerman thanked John for his “patriotic interest and prompt action in reporting this incident to the proper authorities.”
CONTINUE READING: www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2015/01/26/alien-secrets/AZ4TNBNkGcEFxTglVgYzZJ/story.html
Alien secrets
The release of government documents on UFOs illustrates how official secrecy invites deep public suspicion
By Dante Ramos Boston Globe Columnist
January 27, 2015
If extraterrestrials were really visiting the Earth, you probably would have read about them on social media already. Telltale video, shot by one of billions of people with a camera phone, would be “liked” like no video has ever been “liked” before. Then you’d see the Upworthy version: “This Spacecraft Landed in a Cornfield, and What Happened Next Will Blow Your Mind.” Finally, you’d click on the inevitable BuzzFeed listicle —“9 Space Aliens who Literally Couldn’t Even” — and decide for yourself whether to believe it.
Until recently, Americans had to rely on the authorities. Flying-saucer stories are all in fun for those of us raised on cheesy science fiction, but from the late 1940s until the late ’60s the US military took them seriously enough to investigate them, most notably in a classified effort called Project Blue Book. Though made public years ago, the more than 100,000 pages of documents from these investigations became easily searchable online only this month, thanks to UFO buff John Greenewald and his website The Black Vault.
Beyond prompting lots of warmed-over “X-Files” jokes, these Cold War-era documents also illustrate how official secrecy invites deep public suspicion. And they hint at how, once a conspiracy theory of any sort gains a foothold in the culture, there’s almost no getting rid of it. Project Blue Book shut down in 1969 without announcing proof of extraterrestrial activities, fueling decades of speculation that the government was covering up something juicy.
When Air Force officials first began soliciting reports of UFOs, they got plenty of leads, and not just from credulous average citizens. Among those spotting unusual objects over Massachusetts were knowledgeable military veterans, a Logan Airport control tower employee, and MIT weather radar researchers.
One notable report came from a Beacon Hill man named John who, while gazing at the stars before dawn one morning in 1948, spotted three low-flying aircraft. His account is almost poetic: “The planes had no lights, but city lights made them visible like three pale moths.” He added, with an underline, “There was no sound.” Channeling the mood of the early Cold War years, a Colonel W.R. Clingerman thanked John for his “patriotic interest and prompt action in reporting this incident to the proper authorities.”
CONTINUE READING: www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2015/01/26/alien-secrets/AZ4TNBNkGcEFxTglVgYzZJ/story.html