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How the U.S. Government Made Pilots Too Embarrassed to Admit They’d Seen UFOs
Slate ^ | JOELLE RENSTROM

Posted on 02/14/2023 3:31:20 AM PST by RoosterRedux

Over the Super Bowl weekend, the U.S. shot down at least three UFOs, or as they’re now called, UAPs (unidentified aerial phenomena).

*snip**

But the good news is that pilots felt comfortable saying something—which has not always been the case.

*snip*

Imagine being one of those military pilots, knowing you’d seen a mysterious object that was potentially dangerous, incredibly technologically advanced, and very much worth investigating. Imagine never having seen any aircraft, military or otherwise, maneuver with such speed or dexterity. Imagine not being able to talk about it for 13 years, knowing you’d be ridiculed and perhaps fired if you did.

The U.S. government deliberately cultivated stigma related to UFO sightings during the Cold War. An uptick in reports in 1947 spurred the creation of the first official UFO investigation, Project Sign. A few months later, after it became clear that the Air Force couldn’t handle the number of reports coming in, it hired a scientist, J. Allen Hynek, to evaluate the information. Hynek couldn’t explain roughly 20 percent of the cases he looked at, but the Air Force didn’t want to probe further.

*snip*

The government created a monster with its handling of the UFO issue. The bias and shame surrounding 50 years’ worth of UFO sightings in the U.S. reinforce the need for the public to think critically, rather than succumbing to what Kean called the “pure irrationality” of the stigma. It also underscores how misinformation or disinformation starts at the top and filters down through the public, until it takes on a life of its own.

(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...


TOPICS: UFO's
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To: cgbg

It is sometimes tough knowing too much about this stuff, since it does seem to repel the unenlightened.


41 posted on 02/14/2023 7:58:10 AM PST by GingisK
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To: RoosterRedux

Yes, we FReepmailed a lot. Once I asked him how he rose up to be a general given his understanding of UFOs. He said that he just never discussed it while in the military. When I asked him how he managed to keep from going berserk over “deep skeptics”, he indicated that what other believed or disbelieved never overcame the facts.


42 posted on 02/14/2023 8:04:03 AM PST by GingisK
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To: Alberta's Child
Nonsense. Most scientists would agree that the statistical odds alone would "empirically" lead one to conclude that there is life elsewhere in the universe.

That said, I don't think this discussion of life elsewhere in the universe is relevant to the "phenomenon" under consideration lately (stemming from sightings of tic-tacs and other craft by the Navy).

It is premature to suggest that there is some lifeform behind these sightings. They may be nothing more than natural phenomena or even directed by some kind of machine from sources unknown. Or they may be some kind of projection created by an adversary.

Pondering the imponderables automatically leads to the formation of biases and premature conclusions.

43 posted on 02/14/2023 8:07:13 AM PST by RoosterRedux
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To: GingisK

One of the points Exoacademian makes in the podcast I linked to earlier in the thread is that exposure to ideas that people disagree with—even if it is brief exposure and immediately rejected—is still valuable.

The reason is that the mind will store that piece of data in the “nonsense” file cabinet but will still retain it—and at some future date when the person is ready to take a second look it is still there open for examination.

That is why I never hesitate to post ideas that others may view as “crazy”. While they are busy attacking me their minds are absorbing the data.


44 posted on 02/14/2023 8:13:48 AM PST by cgbg (Claiming that laws and regs that limit “hate speech” stop freedom of speech is “hate speech”.)
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To: cgbg

You have a very pleasant attitude.


45 posted on 02/14/2023 8:17:47 AM PST by GingisK
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To: Sirius Lee

Check


46 posted on 02/14/2023 8:27:38 AM PST by Vaduz (LAWYERS )
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To: Alberta's Child
I remember when I was a kid back in the Jurassic Period, scientists said things like, "If I can't touch it or see it with my microscope or telescope, it doesn't exist."

They actually prided themselves in their materialist view of reality.

Things have changed.

Some scientists are now suggesting that the universe itself is conscious. For example:

One of the leading minds in physics, 2020 Nobel laureate and black hole pioneer Roger Penrose, has written extensively about quantum mechanics as a suspected vehicle of consciousness. In 1989, he wrote a book called The Emperor’s New Mind, in which he claimed “that human consciousness is non-algorithmic and a product of quantum effects.” Source
Such stuff is way over my pay grade.
47 posted on 02/14/2023 8:29:04 AM PST by RoosterRedux
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To: GingisK

Unfortunately not really. I was still young (around 12) the last time we visited them at their home in Weehawken NJ in the mid-70s, though he and Madame never failed to keep in touch, send B-Day and Christmas gifts, etc. I had not yet developed a full understanding of his amazing accomplishments until much older, and by the time I did he had passed away.

One of those great lost opportunities. But then, he was highly secretive too (by oath I’m sure) and unlikely to share much beyond his personal opinions. He destroyed all of his personal papers prior to his passing. Understandable, but still heart-breaking.

Everything I’ve learned about his life since has been a combination of my mother’s recollections and what I can find online.

So that’s probably more than anyone wants to know, but he was a great man with more major accomplishments than anyone I’ve ever known. But to my siblings and me he was simply “The Admiral”.


48 posted on 02/14/2023 8:30:15 AM PST by Hazwaste (Socialists are like slinkies. Only good for pushing down stairs.)
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To: cgbg
That is why I never hesitate to post ideas that others may view as “crazy”. While they are busy attacking me their minds are absorbing the data.

Heheh. Very sneaky.;-)

49 posted on 02/14/2023 8:31:14 AM PST by RoosterRedux
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To: RoosterRedux
The UFO issue is significantly greater than last week's balloon and, as yet, unidentified craft flap.

And the desire to insert an emotional retort ("retarded") seems inappropriate. Raises the question as to why someone is emotionally invested in the term "extraterrestrial." Is it fear?


The UFO issue is beside the point - the balloon flap is the issue, and it's being obfuscated by using 'alien' or 'extra-terrestrial' labeling. That is a 'retarded' tactic used by the powers that be to hide their failings with purely human activities - the unchecked reconnaissance acts of another country.

Not an emotional response. Your response however...looks like some personal issues there.

You have a great day!
50 posted on 02/14/2023 8:48:00 AM PST by larrytown (A Cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do. Then they graduate...)
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To: larrytown
Your response however...looks like some personal issues there.

Aha. Projection.

The last resort of people desperate to sell their illogical ideas.

51 posted on 02/14/2023 8:53:20 AM PST by RoosterRedux
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To: larrytown
You have a great day!

Heheh. I'll be you mean every word of it.

52 posted on 02/14/2023 8:54:59 AM PST by RoosterRedux
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To: larrytown; All
As an aside, has the government disclosed yet what the 3 non-balloon objects were?

And has anyone actually suggested that they were extraterrestrial craft?

53 posted on 02/14/2023 9:00:00 AM PST by RoosterRedux
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