Where is the Evidence?
What has been done to collect evidence by the United States government and why isn't more done with regards to the phenomenon of UFOs? Personnel from the government and military have come forward over the years attesting to the atmosphere of obfuscation that exists around the subject of UFOs and, more broadly, contact. Here is broadly known evidence that the government does have an interest in the subject and does actively cover it up.
The Brookings Report
Formally known as the 1960 Proposed Studies on the Implications of Peaceful Space Activities for Human Affairs, this report was commissioned by NASA and drawn up by the Brookings Institute. It was submitted to the United States Congress in April of 1961.
The short version of this report is that the people are not ready to know about extraterrestrial life, and certainly not contact with it. It advises a policy of denial and concealment because confirmation that humanity is not alone in the universe would cause social upheaval from groups like religious fundamentalists and uneducated traditionalists. It is a public affirmation that intellectual organizations advising the United States government do recommend lying and concealment as good policy with regards to the subject of ufology.
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19640053196.pdf
Projects Sign, Grudge, and Bluebook
Project Sign
The first Government and Military study of UFOs, undertaken in 1947. This study's published results in 1949 confirmed that some radar contacts and sightings were indeed actual aircraft. Unfortunately there was not enough data to determine the origins of these aircraft.
While the project was disclosed to the public in 1956 by Captain Edward Ruppelt, it was not fully declassified until 1961. Captain Ruppelt's book The Report On Unidentified Flying Objects is an interesting study in and of itself. The book is highly controversial, as is its author.
The book itself went through an evolution of sorts, its first edition being an open minded and candid presentation of the facts as discovered during the course of this early investigation. With its subsequent rerelease by Captain Ruppelt, it took on a more skeptical air as the officer seemed to have become a skeptic. Suffice to say, the first edition is very different from its later incarnations.
Project Grudge
This Project was also shortlived, but lasted longer in official capacity if not legitimate. It began almost immediately after Sign ended in 1949, and it's full capacity did not last the year. It was severely curtailed until 1951 when it formally ended.
A curiosity with Project Grudge was that much of the brainpower behind Project Sign no longer operated under Grudge. It has been complained by whistleblowers who worked during this era that the Air Force was no longer operating under the formal intelligence gathering methodology with this investigation, but from the premise that UFOs cannot be real as a matter of course.
During its final months there was outcry within the Air Force itself over the conduct of investigators. Accusations were rampant over disregard for evidence as well as protocol. It reached its pinnacle in 1951 when General Charles Cabell intervened and began clearing out investigators he perceived as being complicit in covering up or disregarding important facts.
Project Bluebook
The longest lasting and most famous of the investigative efforts by the Air Force into Ufology. It began under the direction of Captain Ruppelt of Project Sign fame thanks to General Cabell in 1952. General Cabell demanded an open minded and earnest investigative effort, and Captain Ruppelt insisted that efforts be taken to meet this goal with minimal public exposure to avoid needless controversy.
Project Bluebook had two official goals:
1) To determine if UFOs constitute a threat to national security
2) To investigate UFO reports in a scientific manner
Robertson Panel Era
The beginning chapter of the long story of Bluebook involved the Robertson Panel in 1953 shortly after the Washington, DC flap of '52. The capitol was in a near panic over the sheer volume of sightings in this period and outcry from the public demanded answers, and physicist Dr HP Robertson of the California Institute of Technology was brought in try to get these answers. Six years later, the Panel convened to review the evidence gathered thus far.
The general conclusion was that further earnest investigation could provide answers to the phenomenon of UFOs, but would not be worth the effort. The final report recommended a low key campaign of disinformation and debunking to calm the population as alarm over UFOs represented a greater threat to National Security than the UFOs themselves. They also recommended keeping a watch on private UFO related organizations a possible subversive groups.
Rotating Leadership
Several officers headed Bluebook during its early years, as Captain Ruppelt requested reassignment. From 1954 to 1963 it was headed by four different officers, and has been admitted to have been largely a debunking and disinformation operation during this timeframe with little actual investigation. The third of these, Major Robert Friend, openly voiced that Project Blue Book ought to be dissolved, even at the risk of public outcry.The Fourth, Major Hector Quintanilla, handled Bluebook until its deactivation in 1970.
Condon Committee
Criticism of Project Bluebook was relentless, not only by the public and assorted private agencies like NICAP but even by Congress. The Condon Committe was convened as a neutral scientific investigative body after a series of Congressional hearings regarding allegations of coverup. It wouldn't be long before this effort too became mired in controversy, including open accusations of fraud.
Wow! Signal
In 1977, the Big Ear Radio Telescope at Ohio State University received the best candidate for extraterrestrial contact on official record thus far. The telescope had been assigned at the time to a SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) project at the time and was trained on the constellation Sagittarius.
Astronomer Roger Ehrman discovered it while reviewing data. Upon discovery of the signal, he was so excited that he circled the relevant data and wrote 'Wow!' in big letters on the printout. While natural phenomena has not been discounted, most agree that it is an extremely strong candidate. The narrow band signal lasted 72 seconds and has never been detected again since.
Alien Abduction
While the Betty and Barney case is the first publicized case, and the first formally investigated, there is considerable evidence for earlier incidents. References have arisen going back to the 20s of possible abductions. Abduction victims frequently display aberrant medical problems and inexplicable injuries. Further evidence for this being viable evidence is the fact that abductees often seem to inherit the experience as it seems to transfer to family members. There have also been cases where abduction has happened to people who stay for extended periods of time in the same household with abductees.
According to a Roper Poll conducted by Ufologist Budd Hopkins and sociologist Dr Ron Westrum in 1991, it is possible that as many 3.7 million Americans have had abduction experiences. This should be tempered by the similarities between abduction and certain extreme cases of sleep paralysis.
http://www.csicop.org/si/show/abduction_by_aliens_or_sleep_paralysis
http://www.ufoabduction.com/faq1.htm#q3
Men In Black
The Men In Black are a subject of mystery going back a long time. First brought into the public consciousness by Ufologist Albert Bender, dozens of reports from celebrities and layfolk alike have been filed and investigated pertaining to this mystery group. They have been involved not only in the suppressing of Ufological investigation, but cryptozoological and historical as well. The FBI has attempted to determine their true origins and affiliations to no avail, and J Edgar Hoover even spoke publicly about his concern pertaining to this group. Are they a private Intelligence gathering/suppressing organization? Are they ET operatives? Are they an ongoing Government Psychological Operation? Is there more than one group fitting this modus operandi? Who knows.
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