“The majority in the UFO community are clueless about the depths that an intelligence agency can go to manage people of interest.”
- James Carrion, commenting in The Greys Have Been Framed: Exploitation in the UFO Community
People
interested in UFOs often possess vast amounts of knowledge on popular
cases and intricate details of happenings within the community. High
profile ufology personalities and their followings know their UFO
stuff. Unfortunately, we might sometimes be viewed as knowing a lot about a little, and those observations may at times have merit.
The
genre is rather infamously notable for neglecting to
give adequate study to topics often found less enthralling than saucer stories, yet nonetheless extremely relevant. Procedures of the intelligence community is one such
relevant topic, among many. Let's take a relatively brief look
at how better understanding the intelligence community might be
important for those desiring to know more about events
taking place within ufology.
The
Pentagon spent over $500 million – half a billion bucks – to
create fake videos, according to sources such as Independent
and The Bureau of Investigative Journalism. But it was much
more than perception management. As a matter of fact, the videos were
designed to appeal to Al-Qaeda members and sympathizers, not change their minds. This particular batch of propaganda consisted of fake terrorist vids that tracked the locations of
viewers. The material was created by a UK-based public relations firm hired by the U.S. Department of Defense.
Former
video editor Martin Wells reportedly worked on the project, which
took place between about 2006 and 2011. Requirements included
specific format and code, he explained. Marines would leave copies of
the completed videos, contained on compact discs, at the scenes of
raids and ransacked houses in Iraq so that enemies would later find
them. According to Independent,
Wells further explained:
“If one if looked at in the middle of Baghdad… you know there’s a hit there,” Mr. Wells said. “If one, 48 hours or a week later shows up in another part of the world, then that’s the more interesting one, and that’s what they’re looking for more, because that gives you a trail.”
A
former chairman of Bell Pottinger, the PR firm, reportedly confirmed
the existence of its contract with the Pentagon. Likewise, the
Pentagon also confirmed the contract, while insisting all material
distributed was truthful. That may actually be the case while the
videos nonetheless fall well under the definition of Al-Qaeda propaganda.
“Bell
Pottinger was first tasked by the interim Iraqi government in 2004 to
promote democratic elections,” Independent
reported. “They received $540m between May 2007 and December
2011, but could have earned as much as $120m from the US in
2006.”
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| Howard Hughes, 1938 |
We
might also consider what history teaches us about relationships
between intelligence agencies and wealthy eccentrics. The CIA recruited Howard Hughes to supply cover for Project Azorian,
a multi-million dollar effort to secretly raise a sunken Russian
submarine from the bottom of the ocean. The project took years to
fully execute and involved Hughes announcing a fabricated plan to mine
the seafloor. In actuality, sailors would work to raise the
sub under the guise of mining, which, by the way, was reasonably successful. The CIA eventually released
documents indicating about 40 feet of the over 300-foot vessel was
retrieved.
We
might be wise to familiarize ourselves with such operations and
keep them in mind when contemplating the Advanced Aviation Threat
Identification Program and its close relations to Robert Bigelow and
To The Stars Academy. Every instance of career intelligence officials
moonlighting as ufologists is certainly not the tip of a far reaching
conspiracy. That stated, it is not unreasonable by any means to
expect verification of evidence presented. The same can be said for
claims asserted. That might particularly be considered the case when
To The Stars claimed able to present a verifiable chain of custody of
videos published, yet has failed to do so.
There
is not a lot of wiggle room in the definition of a fact. It can be
publicly reviewed and confirmed by third parties or it can't. When it
can't, it simply shouldn't yet be accepted as a fact.
It's
reasonable to be open-minded. It's also reasonable to be inquisitive
and interested in what might be navigating the skies.
But
don't be gullible. Don't be guilty of confirmation bias. Demand
professionally presented evidence. The truth depends on it.
