
Is There a UFO Cover-Up? A Government Insider Speaks Out - evo_9
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leslie-kean/is-there-a-ufo-coverup-a-_b_9865184.html?
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jerf
So, in summary, this is a person who had very high levels of access to exactly
the sort of documents that might indicate this sort of thing, he's a person
_searching_ for UFOs and UFO information so he might also tease out a pattern
in suppressed information in these very high-level documents, and he's got
literally nothing the rest of us haven't got.

The eternal-conspiracy answer is that there's an enormous coverup that knew he
was interested and planned in advance that despite or because of this interest
they would engage in a complicated dance in which they merely _appeared_ to
give him very high level access to government documents, but somehow
completely sealed away all the evidence that would have led him to the
putative truth (presumably dedicating untold thousands of man hours to this
task, using their presumed army of informed people who still not a one of them
ever leak the secret in any way), and then deliberately allowed him out into
the public to say that despite his hopes he could find no evidence of aliens,
to continue the coverup of the existence of aliens that still doesn't seem to
be of particular benefit to anyone.

Alternatively, there really aren't any UFOs, because UFOs are uniquely a
product of a 20th-century media portrayals, and if there really _were_ aliens
among us, they wouldn't be flying around in large primitive aircraft and
occasionally crashing, they'd be a dusting of nanotechnology so sophisticated
that it could quite likely edit out our own perceptions of the technology in
real time. Because even though the latter may _sound_ more fantastical at
first, it's actually a plausible possibility of a high-level Kardashev 1+
civilization, whereas flying around in huge physical aircraft is just an
unbelievably silly thing for a sophisticated alien race to do, now that we
know much more about the limits of technology.

(Even we humans, with 21st century technology, do not have a purpose in flying
around in low-flying craft that occasionally crash. We use satellites, or tap
oceanic fiber cables, or fly in very _high_ craft and use optics, or do any of
dozens of far more sensible things, and we _aren 't_ a Kardeshev 1+
civilization.)

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pklausler
I wish people would not link HuffPo "news" to HN. I come here to avoid UFOs,
Deepak Chopra, and other mindlessness.

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mbenjaminsmith
Depressing to see this thread immediately devolve into dismissals from people
who obviously didn't take the time to read the article. It's actually pretty
interesting -- both because of who it's about (pretty serious classified
government dude) and what action he's taking (collecting hard data).

To paraphrase:

 _I 've spent a lot of time in classified programs and there doesn't seem to
be any official government UFO program, so getting the government to disclose
what it knowns won't amount to much. Having said that, if such programs exist
they're likely conducted by separate, extra-government organizations.
Personally, I think the phenomenon is worth studying based on a high number of
credible people giving credible reports. Because of that, I've joined the
board of UFODATA which is using automated surveillance stations to try to
collect (more) hard data about UFOs._

~~~
pklausler
A better phenomenon to study: why haven't "credible" "UFO" reports skyrocketed
since cellphones with digital cameras became common?

~~~
gverri
If you had taken the time to read the article you would have an answer.

~~~
Mithaldu
He asked for credible videos. The videos mentioned in the article ( found
here:
[https://www.youtube.com/user/MUFONHQ/videos](https://www.youtube.com/user/MUFONHQ/videos)
) are things like recordings of drones:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khdW87DblIo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khdW87DblIo)

Many of them are just straight-up pitch-black, lacking any kind of frame of
reference, with one or more lights in them that move on the screen. There's
literally no way to tell whether the thing moves or the people just move their
phone.

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eip
"There are 2 types of UFOs -- the ones we build and ones 'they' build. We
learned from both crash retrievals and actual "hand-me-downs." The Government
knew and until 1969 took an active hand in the administration of that
information. After a 1969 Nixon "purge", administration was handled by an
international board of directors in the private sector…"

\--Dr. Ben R. Rich former Lockheed Skunk Works director

[http://www.thodio.com/ben-rich.jpg](http://www.thodio.com/ben-rich.jpg)

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pavel_lishin
Betteridge's Law of Headlines strikes again:

> _Q. Do you think that if Clinton is elected we can expect to learn new
> information about UFOs?_

> _A. I highly doubt DoD or any other government agency is concealing UFO
> information._

> _Q. Are you certain there is no government cover-up?_

> _A. It’s impossible to prove the negative, so all I can say is that I never
> saw any evidence of official interest in UFOs._

> _Q. So where does this all leave us, and what is to be done?_

> _A. In my view, calling for the end to an alleged government UFO cover-up is
> almost certainly a dead end, and does not help inspire anyone in government
> to become more open to the topic. The UFO mystery is a scientific problem._

(That's not to say there isn't a UFO cover-up. But we're discussing this
article, and the insiders' opinion is that the answer is no.)

There's also a big difference between UFO and Alien Vehicle. A UFO could be a
foreign airplane, or satellite, or a weird meteor, or two birds duct-taped
together.

~~~
anoonmoose
Looks like the only reason this interview was given/article was written was to
try to get a few page views in the wake of Clinton saying some dumb off-the-
cuff stuff about UFOs.

~~~
chmike
I disagree. One of the relevant information provided by the article is that
this topic should be considered a mater of scientific research and that he
joined the effort of UFODATA. Maybe we don't have the same information
filters. I tend to filter out anything related to Clinton and US elections ;)

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anu7df
I was genuinely expecting a bubble burster article with copious amounts of
weather balloons thrown in. Surprised to know that there are well recorded
events with no reasonable explanation. But the question whether there is a
government cover up is almost meaningless. Any answer given by any one is open
to interpretation. Either at face value or a part of elaborate cover up or the
ramblings of a crazy person.

