Keyhoe and Wallace Video: Lessons from the Past

I recently viewed the above 1958 Mike Wallace interview of Maj. Donald Keyhoe, then-director of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena. I initially thought I would only watch a couple minutes of the video but ended up sticking around for the entire half hour show. 

Several points stand out to me. To appreciate these points, one should understand some things about the 1958 UFO scene and Maj. Keyhoe. He was a former Marine Corps pilot and author. He wrote about aviation and flying saucers, and he managed publicity tours for aviation pioneers like Charles Lindbergh. In 1958 Keyhoe was in his second year of thirteen that he spent representing NICAP. He was convinced UFOs were alien spacecraft, proof of which he was optimistic he would soon pry from the United States Air Force. 

Maj. Donald Keyhoe

NICAP was a civilian UFO research organization that went on to be 7,500 members strong, with chapters in every state and several nations. Its leadership became vested (preoccupied, some argued) with proving the U.S. government was conducting a cover-up of an extraterrestrial presence.   

Keyhoe did not seem to grasp that the thousands of reported UFO sightings NICAP was compiling may both involve sincere, credible people and those people may simply be mistaken. In most circumstances it is not being challenged that a citizen, pilot, police officer, military officer, etc., encountered some type of event outside their normal range of experience. The question is whether they interpreted it correctly. This was a primary barrier during the discussion between Keyhoe and Wallace, who took a skeptical, investigative approach. The same fundamental challenge would go on to embed itself in the heart of the UFO genre and arguably come to define it.   

While doubtful about flying saucers, Wallace was supportive of statements and reports issued by the military, the likes of which contradicted Keyhoe. It should be considered that trusting Uncle Sam was a rather popular position to take in 1958. The show host pressed Keyhoe on why he thought the Air Force would lie to the American people.

Keyhoe had answers for Wallace, consisting of what became the usual talking points of public panic about aliens and such. I think a more interesting aspect of the discussion was how neither of the men addressed national security issues as a potential reason for a cover-up. I'd add that the culture at large tended to overlook the situation as well. 

My research into NICAP suggests minimal consideration was given to the likelihood the military and intelligence agencies might avert from transparency pertaining to UFOs for what, in 2020, seems like the most obvious possibility: some sightings involve sensitive natsec implications for reasons that have nothing whatsoever to do with alleged ET spacecraft. 

It just doesn't seem to be something most UFO researchers give much thought, for what are surely a variety of reasons. Even today the more 'down to earth' natsec issues seem to be neither understood nor received well among the general public. We tend to prefer suspicions of crashed saucers and interplanetary exchange programs. In fairness, those same intelligence agencies may very well have led the public in that direction. The media certainly did.   

I found one of the more striking moments of the interview to occur in the 24th minute of the video. As Keyhoe offers evermore info from UFO reports, Wallace interjects, "Major Keyhoe, what would you like to see done about flying saucers that is not currently being done?"

I think that is an important and practical line of reasoning. I also think it often still applies today, perhaps at times more rhetorically than literally.

Mike Wallace

Last but not least, the video contains three commercial segments for the show's sponsor, Parliament cigarettes. The dubious claims put forth, combined with proclamations that professional research proves the claims, are sights to see. Some of it might be considered humorous if it weren't for the associated health risk. 

Perhaps most notable of the commercial breaks is Mike Wallace giving his Parliament pitch, in which he repeatedly describes it as the "best" smoke going. He explains and supposedly demonstrates how the filters are designed for maximum effectiveness and tobacco flavor. Then, after meeting his obligation to praise the sponsor's cigarette, he sets the lung dart down, turns toward Keyhoe, and ironically puts his investigative journalist cap on and proceeds to critically question Keyhoe and the saucer story.

The video serves as a time capsule of 1958. It is also about as effective example as one could find of American culture, complete with implications to its evolution. The saucer stories, belief systems, and contradictions are "apple pie" without the wholesomeness. The video is a telling glimpse, we just might not like some of what it has to say.

UFOs and Politics

When the Republicans release this as their closing paragraph of a multi-year investigation into Trump. Hard to call this fake news when the red team is the one that put it out. Stay tuned for some sealed indictments that may finally start rolling out - pic.twitter.com/nuGAkcpl1v

— Tom DeLonge (@tomdelonge) October 18, 2020

Tom DeLonge has been expressing his political views on Twitter. After writing a line like that about DeLonge, reporters and bloggers typically give readers an obligatory few sentences about how he is the unlikely front man of an organization consisting of former defense officials and contractors who purport to research UFOs. We'll skip the intro since you probably already know about TTSA if you're reading my blog in the first place, but we could add that very little in the way of compelling evidence has actually been produced by those former officials and contractors. After decades of spooky stories and promises of forthcoming UFO Disclosure, we continue to have little more than hearsay to show for it.

While plenty of the burden falls on the shoulders of self-described scientists who plundered around Skinwalker Ranch, it's not all their fault. It's been three years now since Kean and company broke the AATIP story in the Times, and there are a whole lot of relevant assertions made in that article that still haven't been verified. The Times, its writers, and TTSA bear responsibility for that.

As we have explored on this blog and elsewhere, the Disclosure movement is a chronic staple of the UFO genre. It has endured some 70 years of public hearings, Congressional panels, and forecasts of big things to come. Nonetheless, many UFO advocates continue to suggest a Congressional hearing will, this time, reveal the secrets that are surely withheld.

Deeply withheld secrets, we might add, that allegedly seem to be rather puzzlingly made available to men like Luis Elizondo. These men, secrets purportedly in hand, apparently decided to launch a corporation with a stock securities strategy for fundraising rather than seek counsel from attorneys with expertise in national security and whistleblower law. It might indeed be considered reasonable to tap some brakes on the validity and objectivity of their insider knowledge that rests so heavily on taking them at their word.   

As DeLonge weighs in on the upcoming election, we could consider a prevailing point that towers above the support and criticism he receives: The UFO topic is married to the political arena. 

In order to realistically discuss possible Congressional hearings and initiatives (like the Rubio-backed effort to obtain a DoD appraisal of the UAP situation), we must consider political allegiances and related dynamics. Moreover, while some high profile characters state they support a nonpartisan approach and that politics should stay out of the UFO fray, their actions suggest somewhat otherwise.

I thought @TuckerCarlson made two really good points during our interview the other day: 1. There is nothing partisan about the #UAP issue (and we need to keep it that way!) & 2. Were it not for COVID, the UAP issue would be getting a great deal more coverage than it already is.

— Christopher K. Mellon (@ChristopherKMe4) October 13, 2020

As suggested in the above tweet, TTSA personnel and its friends of the program are fond of guest spots on the right wing, highly dubious FOX News. The "highly dubious" description I opted to use is not just my personal observation, but is in line with court filings by FOX itself. Attorneys argued on behalf of FOX that reasonable viewers do not take Carlson seriously and understand his segments to be hyperbole, as suggested in the screenshot below.

In my interview with Tucker Carlson yesterday I floated the idea of a NASA sample-return mission to Venus, but stressed it would need strict adherence to the relevant back contamination protocols. Or, as I put it, guarding against "the Venus flu".https://t.co/T95Eyzj1GZ

— Nick Pope (@nickpopemod) September 15, 2020

The seemingly ever present Nick Pope is also among those who frequent Carlson's show and discuss issues which many would argue he is not the least bit qualified to address, much less explain. The political leanings of Pope, who generally supports TTSA or most anything that keeps people talking about UFOs, may be explored at his Twitter account. 

UFO enthusiasts and TTSA fans, whether they like it or not, are somewhat forced to accept that Congressional support for the UAP topic is enmeshed with political issues. Acknowledging the political factor in the UFO arena is a sensitive undertaking for the talking heads because it lays bare the topic's often overlooked social complexity. It is often overlooked, both mistakenly and as an insincere matter of convenience, in lieu of promoting an overly simplistic and unrealistic model. UFO buffs might also consider why their preferred spokespeople, if they sincerely want to keep the topic as apolitical and nonpartisan as possible, congregate to talk about it on the defacto state media channel.