Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Many moons ago, I published an STRicle here [3] on what certain people calling themselves Government might or might not have known regarding the entire unidentified flying object phenomenon, and what incentives they might've possessed to withhold any such knowledge from public (or any outside) scrutiny.
But my, how times have changed! In mid-December last year, the [4]New York Times [4]broke a story [4] that went viral, covered by innumerable media outlets small and large. Government people had indeed been studying the UFO phenomenon, and recently. Actual footage was released from US Navy fighter jets flying a reconnaissance mission in 2004 off the California coastline showing a UFO detected on radar. Pilots upon approach within ten nautical miles could not visually see the object in question – though its image was on radar and it seemed to be disturbing the ocean water beneath it. The object also moved at speeds and performed maneuvers no known aircraft were capable of, and which in fact, in some cases, defied the known laws of physics.
More astonishing still was admission of governmental possession of material [5] recovered from one or several past UFO encounters which defied ready explanation. Reputedly, one sample was a metal alloy of sorts that displayed a kind of rubbery elasticity. Upon analysis, its composition supposedly contained nothing outside of the Universal Table of Elements – yet the manner in which these elements were bonded together defied all current (human) scientific explanation.
In fact, Luis Elizondo, former head of the Pentagon's formerly secretive Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, has openly speculated that “we may not be alone.” [6] It is interesting to note that Elizondo allegedly resigned his post in protest of, according to the New York Times, “excessive secrecy and internal opposition to the program.”
For decades heretofore, it has been US government standard operating procedure to immediately deny any knowledge of or interest in this topic. Yet, suddenly, and with no warning, in December of 2017, that all began to change.
The question that needs to be asked, of course, is Why? What possible motivation might the ruling bureaucrats have for implementing UFO disclosure at this time? It is doubtful that Elizondo's forthcomingness with the media was not in some way sanctioned by his former employers. A simple threat of arrest and prosecution under some “national security” rubric would likely be enough to ensure silence from anyone such as Elizondo. After all, such threats seem to have worked quite well prior to all of the above revelations.
We can – as is so often the case when dealing with such intractable subject matter – merely speculate. Might the powers-that-shouldn't-be, after decades of denial, finally be acquiescing to both external and internal pressure to reveal the truth? Perhaps they now view continued stonewalling of the subject to have been counter-productive to their own purposes – producing levels of paranoia and government distrust they'd rather attempt to alleviate . . . at the very least for the good PR. Disclosure might also serve as a kind of bellwether in terms of gauging public reaction. And if in fact this was the case, I'd call their gambit a major success: What in my view should've been one of the greatest revelations of not just our own time, but of all time seemed to have trouble eliciting even yawns from the hoi polloi. No riots. No panicking. Sports scores, Christmas celebrations, and the weather were topics of paramount interest by comparison.
Again, we're left to merely wonder. But my cynicism towards all things governmental leads me to conclude that whatever their m.o. with respect to UFO disclosure at this juncture, it is not rooted in any nobility of cause. There is almost without doubt some ulterior motive (or several, most likely) at hand. We may not yet be able to place our fingers on just what those things may be, but we would naturally do well to keep our eyes and ears open – as well as our minds. No level of skulduggery has ever been beyond those in government, and we should not look for them to alter their habits anytime soon.
Might they simply be lying about all of this? In most cases, on virtually any other topic dealing with government, I'd say yes. On this though, I turn away from my usual conclusion. Their possible motives for doing so then become even more elusive and implausible.
Perhaps if you're reading this, you can think of some plausible motivation(s) for these developments? If so, please make use of the Comments feature below. I'd enjoy reading your own thoughts.
Meanwhile, I'm left to wonder how much we have still not been told about further past – or subsequent to 2004 – UFO incidents of which government forces have knowledge and were involved . . . and why not.
[7]
