The Fallacy of Disclosure

Imagine that you killed someone in your youth, were never found out, and you lived with that terrible secret until you took it to your own grave. The guilt may have haunted you every day, but the fear of what would happen to your life if you ever revealed your secret, outweighed your desire to appease your conscious. Now imagine that there were co-conspirators who were also guilty of the crime, and your fear was magnified by not knowing how the others would react to the same pressures. How likely would it be for all involved to show up at police headquarters and turn themselves in simultaneously with a co-signed written confession? Very unlikely.

I am not trying to compare murder to UFO secrecy, although they are both criminal acts, but instead to illustrate what the internal struggles are of those "in the know" over whether to disclose what they know to the world. Disclosure is the UFO buzzword that describes a coming clean on the UFO subject to a cynical American public, 76% of who according to the latest AOL poll already believe that their government is hiding the truth.

Well let's talk a little about the criminality of hiding the truth from the American people. The United States is a country of laws and we would like to believe that our legal system, although imperfect, will sustain our society and prevent us from falling into chaos. Although we don't trust our leaders, we trust that the system will right itself if it ever falls out of balance. For the most part, the system does behave that way, although it ususally takes a crisis to act as a catalyst for correction.

Take for example our recent economic crisis spurred on by uncontrolled greed and indifference. When on the verge of economic collapse, bank failures and the threat of another great depression - the seriousness of the situation was realized and steps taken to correct the problems. One of the steps was to hold public congressional hearings and to disclose the greed and excesses that contributed to the problem. Those who could be accused of a crime like Bernie Madoff were sent to jail. You simply can't hide economic collapse from the American public and when the public unanimously cries foul, heads have to roll.

How does this apply to UFO disclosure? Let's revisit the AOL poll. Even if a majority of Americans believe that UFO secrecy is real, this does not translate into a call for action because there is no associated crisis that requires immediate attention. The American people are more concerned about jobs, health care and whether or not they will be able to retire as they planned given the current economic situation. The only thing that would change this status quo is the proverbial landing on the White House lawn, in other words, an undeniable public display of non-human interaction. I for one won't plan my retirement around that happening.

If UFO secrecy was put into place to maintain national security or as some would like to believe, to maintain societal control, then the controls have been very successful because national security is intact and American society is still for the most part civil. If laws were broken and crimes committed in the process, these criminals don't lose sleep at night, because in their minds the ends have justified the means. Why then would those "in the know" want to rock this boat that has been soundly afloat for some 60 plus years? They wouldn't as long as the cons of disclosure outweigh the pros of disclosure.

Another indication that disclosure is a fallacy is the repeated promise of disclosure by inside sources and the failure to deliver on those promises. This in itself is a control technique to keep the faithful who believe that disclosure is unilaterally possible, hopeful and waiting instead of taking other actions to effectuate it. This carrot has been held out in front of Ufology for over 40 years and like Charlie Brown's football is always pulled away at the last moment. If you don't know how I really feel about so called inside sources, then look for my blog entry with that title.

So what kind of actions will be necessary to "force" disclosure if it is not forthcoming and the White House landings don't occur? There is a crack in the secrecy egg that can be exploited. You see, these same criminals who originally justified breaking laws for the good of the country, just like the bankers and fat cats on Wall Street, got very greedy and decided that UFO secrecy could be taken advantage of for more then just hiding an ultimate truth. It could also be used for other operational purposes related to national security - counterintelligence, psychological warfare, mind control, societal manipulation and all of the other nefarious schemes that the CIA and other intelligence agencies have been accused of in the past. These very mundane uses leave traces as indelible as any fingerprint, and there are many folks outside of Ufology who have an interest in such subjects. Imagine if Ufology was able to enlist the help of cold war historians, investigative journalists or the James Bamfords of the world into looking into UFO secrecy to expose these very mundane purposes. The resulting dominoe effect of exposure is what those "in the know" fear most - that Ufology goes mainstream and is looked at through a different set of lenses than just that of extraterrestrial visitation.