WHY DON'T THEY FAKE IT?

Pictured:Edward J. Ruppelt, General Ramey, image source:Answers.com
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UFO Is Reported at O'Hare; Feds Are Silent

All Things Considered, January 1, 2007 · In November, a gray, metallic, saucer-like object was spotted hovering above Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. As many as 12 United Airlines employees spotted the object and filed reports with United.

Officials at the airline say they have no knowledge of the incident, and the Federal Aviation Administration is not investigating.

Melissa Block speaks with Chicago Tribune transportation reporter Jon Hilkevtich, who reported on the incident.

Reading Dr. Lynne Kitei’s book The Phoenix LIghts, two things struck me as odd. One, the apathetic and bewildered response (or lack of response) from official agencies (military, law, etc.) and the lack of response from both UFO researchers and anti-UFOists (chronic skeptics) about this.

About the Phoenix Lights: forget the “flare theory.” Even if you accept that as the explanation (sigh)) it doesn’t cover the nights previous to, and following, that night’s UFO events. (Not to mention a decades long history of UFO sightings in the area.)

UFOs were filmed and photographed; and literally hundreds of citizens witnessed these objects. Numerous calls to agencies went ignored, or were shuffled off to other agencies who didn’t know (or pretended not to know) anything either. Explanations, when forthcoming, changed, and it was clear no one in any official capacity knew a damn thing.

Seems to be the way with the O’Hare sighting. Whatever the object was, it was something and no, a natural phenomeana, like the flares story, just won't do.

It is beside the point, for the sake of this argument, what the UFOs in Phoenix and Chicago were, if they came from space or not, if they were ours, or aliens. I’m not so much concerned with inane questions about “beliefs” in UFOs and/or aliens, but the lack of a vital and active response from those supposedly in control.

The point is, we have layers upon layers of baffled bureaucracies that don’t know a damn thing, and have long ago given up any illusion of pretending to care.

Damn it. When we see weird objects in the skies above our cities, I expect local, state, and federal agencies to act like they have everything under control. That they know what’s what.

I want a few people -- in uniform, if at all possible -- to hit the airwaves, the radio, CNN, and somberly state that they are investigating, or that it’s classified, or that... anything, something, as long as that something conveys a solid sense of We Know What We’re Doing.

Even if it’s clear they’re lying (they’re politicians, law, and government, of course they’re lying) or that they really don’t have a clue, who cares? These days in particular, with our current administration, we’re well used to them lying even while not knowing what they’re doing. That’s a minor point; the point is, where is everyone?

From roughly the late 1940s to the 1960s our government had several official programs (Project Twinkle, Project Grudge, Project Bluebook, and the Air Force as official agency handling UFO reports) devoted to studying UFOs. Of course, as we know, the general purpose seemed to be debunking UFOs or passing on disinformation. But they at least pretended to assure the country everything was A-OK.

When it comes to UFOs flying over our cities, it’s insane to pretend that they’re not. And that is what various agencies of authority have been doing in recent years regarding UFOs. We’ll just say “what UFOs”and maybe they’ll go away. Like Alfred E. Neuman, the reaction to UFO reports is "What, me worry?"

Even if the UFOs don’t go away, as long as they’re not really doing anything (the UFOs, not the humans) the agencies can get away with acting oblivious.

They can get away with it because no one is calling them on it. The ones that are, are the ‘UFO kooks,,” the ones the chronic skeptics, the anti-UFOists, call anyone who refuses to quietly accept the silly explanations like swamp gas, plasma, flares, or clouds. Refusing to immediately accept the all too quick and weak explanations, those of us who say “hey, wait a minute...’ are allowed to get beat up by the anti-UFOists because no one’s shaking them by their collars and telling them to knock it off.

One would think the U.S. government would act all gruff and strong and humbug and serious and state firmly that the UFO event (Phoenix, O’Hare, etc.) is being taken care of. “We care,” they should be saying, “We really do. We’re looking into this. and now go back to whatever you were doing, nothing to see here.” One would think the government would at least pretend to act like it’s ready to take charge in a big blustery way and put up a good show to the rest of the world.

Instead, when it comes to UFOs, the United States seems to enjoy looking like buffoons. In this post 9/11 era, one would hope for something better. The Air Force no longer has anything to do with UFOs; no official agency does. (At least on the surface; it's a safe and rational assumption to think they're actually paying great attention.) As many have pointed out, including George Hansen in his book Trickster and the Paranormal, there is no official policy of being remotely interested in the subject. If it weren’t for people like Peter Davenport and his National UFO Reporting Agency, or MUFON, -- neither of who receive any government money at all -- we’d be up a creek in regards to UFO activity.


We have a smattering of reporters who risk credibility and their jobs in taking serious looks into UFO reports, dedicated individual UFO researchers like Peter Davenport, MUFON members, various bloggers, writers, investigators and UFO related publications and a scant handful of national television programs, like Out There TV, and C2C. After that are pod casts, local radio and televisions programming, satellite programs, etc.

As to officials, their seems to be a hierarchy among “officials” when it comes to UFOs. Municipal police seem to be neutral to matter of fact when it comes to UFOs. This is purely an observation, nothing more. But police will follow up on reports, and many a police officer has seen a UFO. (The Illinois UFO sighting in 2000 is a good example.) But the higher up you go, the more dysfunctional things get.

The rest are left to their own devices, sneered at by the chronic skeptics, ignored by government agencies at just about all levels. We pay taxes for these services and should expect more, even if they are faking it.

Instead, we get either a mad dash at a silly explanation before it gets squashed, or it’s ignored altogether.

Maybe “they’ (you know, them) have given up. After all, as I admit freely here, any uniformed official, as a Representative of Something (preferably Air Force/military) is going to be lying. We all know that.

One example: if the Triangles are classified military craft, and not something extraterrestrial, then what the hell are they doing flying over populated areas, and in the restricted airspace's of other countries? The officials can't very well admit that they’re doing something illegal. They can’t acknowledge they’re performing illegal maneuvers in restricted air space. Still, they could just lieif only to make us feel a bit better, even for a few moments. It wouldn’t be the first time.

But sometimes there’s comfort in faking it, even if all of us know damn well they’re faking it. The faker is a sort of scapegoat for us who don’t trust a thing he/she says. For the chronic skeptics, the faker will be perceived as a rational voice in the midst of UFO insanity. Which in turn will propel the rest of us to laugh heartily before getting pissed off and doing something about it, like exposing the faker for the faking faker he/she is. And for rest of the culture, people are left to decide for themselves what to do. Ignore the whole thing, believe the official explanation, etc. Witnesses who may not have had much previous interest in UFOs may now say ‘Hey just wait a goddamn minute” and begin their own journeys.

The Representative of Something can provide needed functions for our culture. In trickster like reversal, it’s possible the ostensible purpose of officials placating the public might actually do the reverse.