Is the Government Hiding Proof of Aliens? | Unveiled

Is the Government Hiding Proof of Aliens?

The twentieth century saw the arrival of a brand-new mythology in popular culture, centered around UFOs, extra-terrestrial visitors, and alien abductions. And along with the idea that aliens are out there and interested in our planet, came the belief that the world’s governments want to hide this from us. But is the truth really out there? This is Unveiled, and today we’re answering the extraordinary question; is the government hiding proof of aliens? Unidentified flying objects have been reported for over a hundred years. Though modern ufology is generally preoccupied with flying saucers and triangular aircraft, as soon as humans started taking to the skies in zeppelins, we started seeing mysterious objects in the heavens. Just as floating ghost ships have been spotted on the high seas, “phantom airships” were sighted and supposedly even photographed in the early twentieth century. But UFOs, as we know them today, didn’t enter the public consciousness until the 1940s when a man named Kenneth Arnold witnessed what was widely described as “flying saucers” over Washington’s Mount Rainier in 1947. The image of the “flying saucer” was immortalized in film in 1956 and is now globally recognizable. Years later, in the 1960s, a new part of the culture emerged: during a long drive home in New Hampshire in 1961, Barney and Betty Hill were allegedly abducted by aliens. The Hill abduction story took over the world, and Betty maintained that it was true for her entire life. The idea that the United States government was involved in covering up alleged encounters grew in the 1970s, when retroactive conspiracies began to circulate about another 1947 incident: Roswell. The news story claiming a “flying saucer” had crashed in Roswell, New Mexico appeared just weeks after Kenneth Arnold’s Mount Rainier encounter, though it wasn’t latched onto until decades later. And though the US military initially said the fallen object was a mere weather balloon, over forty years later declassification revealed that the balloon was actually monitoring radiation from nearby nuclear test sites. Was this the truth about Roswell, or just another clever lie hiding something even more sinister than nuclear bombs going off close to populated areas? The conspiracy theory about the government covering up proof of aliens isn’t a vague idea, either; it has firm, geographical roots in one legendary location: Area 51, located at Groom Lake in rural Nevada. Built in the 1950s and known about for years, Area 51’s existence wasn’t publicly acknowledged by the CIA until 2013. Up until then, the enigmatic base’s purpose was unknown - though the area became so famous for UFO sightings that a nearby road, State Route 375, has been officially renamed the “Extraterrestrial Highway”. The US has bases all over the world and many of them are top-secret, but it’s widely believed that if evidence about alien visitors is anywhere, it’s at Area 51. The base has taken on a life of its own in pop culture, even being the subject of an internet meme in 2019, when millions of people signed up to a Facebook event to “Storm Area 51” that September. Only a small number actually went, and some were even arrested. Despite the declassified papers and Area 51’s omnipresence in science-fiction, the US Air Force still takes its security incredibly seriously. A number of the sightings around Area 51 came under investigation as part of Project Blue Book. Blue Book was a US Air Force initiative to investigate UFO reports, on the assumption they might be related to the Cold War, if not legitimate alien invaders. Though it had two short-lived precursors, Blue Book itself ran from 1952 to 1970, and one man was there from start to finish: J. Allen Hynek. Hynek, a well-regarded astronomer and ufologist, was the man behind the close encounters classification system, and was a major part of Blue Book’s investigations. Blue Book had many different commanding officers, some of whom took their job seriously and some of whom decided it was a waste of time. All in all, the department received more than 12,000 UFO reports. The vast majority of them could be debunked – even those centered on classified bases like Area 51. Blue Book never proved whether aliens exist or not, just that most UFO sightings can be explained away as aerial phenomena that most people won’t be able to recognize on sight. So then, why have there been so many reports around Area 51? Well, it’s probably not because the base is keeping stranded aliens as prisoners. The base is concealing something though - the existence of top-secret aircraft. Area 51 was established during the Cold War when international espionage was at its height, and both the US and the Soviet Union couldn’t be too careful where their military technology was concerned. Some of the planes developed at Area 51, while more recognizable now, are bizarre – even more so if you were driving down a highway in the middle of the desert in the 1960s when you saw one in the night sky. High-altitude spy planes like the U-2 and the triangular F-117 Nighthawk were first tested in Area 51’s restricted air space. The US spends more on its military than any other country in the world, and it likes to keep things to itself, which is why Area 51 went unacknowledged for sixty years. But what if this is all an elaborate ruse? What if the US Air Force only wants us to think Area 51 is developing high-tech planes? What if the Roswell Incident actually was an alien spacecraft all along, not a weather balloon or part of nuclear tests? Conspiracy theories about alien visitors have propagated for decades, and are now a prevalent part of pop culture. It’s easy to imagine that aliens are hiding out in Area 51, despite the official narrative that the base is used to test experimental aircraft. Of course, these aircraft do actually exist and have been used in reconnaissance and warfare for decades. But you’ll still find plenty of people who believe in the long-con. The “Storm Area 51” meme, ridiculous as it was, is evidence enough of that. On the other hand, it’s hard to imagine that such an explosive and long-running secret wouldn’t have been exposed by now. People talk, leaks are common, and several high-profile politicians have been at least interested in UFO claims. In terms of whistleblowers, there is conspiracy theorist Bob Lazar, who claims to have worked on alien ships in Area 51. But records contradict his statements about his education and employment history, plunging his story into doubt. Sure, it’s possible that they’ve been expunged; but that doesn’t make it more probable than the idea that he made it all up. As for politicians, in the late 1960s, future President Jimmy Carter saw a UFO, and during his 1976 election campaign pledged to reveal “every piece of information this country has about UFO sightings”. Former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a similar pledge in 2016, but lost her election bid. Donald Trump claimed to have heard “very interesting” things about Roswell. But so far, no one from the top has revealed anything of note. Either they’ve been persuaded not to, or the truth about aliens is so revelatory that they’ve decided to keep silent. Or, there isn’t actually a hidden truth waiting to be bestowed upon humanity at all. NASA’s existence also seems to pose a problem for UFO conspiracy theorists. The organization is the most highly funded space agency in the world. Wouldn’t NASA’s missions be a threat to keeping the secret of alien life under wraps? Why does NASA cooperate not only with foreign space agencies but global, private corporations? Or is NASA part of the cover-up as well, making the lie even more convincing? Finally, there’s the question of motive. Why would the United States government not want us to know about aliens anyway? To avoid mass panic? Finding out that extraterrestrials have visited Earth would certainly be mind-blowing … but how many of us would run through the streets in a blind panic, or even quit our jobs, in response? It would be difficult for people to wrap their heads around, but humans are remarkably durable; society would continue. Another explanation for the secrecy is the theory that the US’s military technology is reverse engineered from alien machines, like a crashed spaceship. Since we already know the US prizes secrecy and is always developing experimental technology, this seems plausible - and gels with Bob Lazar’s claims. Perhaps the bizarre spy planes held up as an explanation for the secrecy are actually the proof we’ve been dreaming of all along? If the US government is covering up the existence of aliens, it’s probably not doing a very good job because this is one of the most popular, widely believed, and widely joked-about conspiracy theories anywhere on Earth. And that’s why the government could be hiding proof of aliens, but probably isn’t.