The UFO phenomenon has become one of the most controversial and culturally embedded supernatural beliefs to emerge in the Western world during the later half of the twentieth century. Reports of strange flying objects in the sky have been recorded from the dawn of human history. The earliest UFO sightings can be found in 4th century Chinese texts, claiming that a "moon boat" hovered above China every 12 years. Other enthusiasts cite the Book of Ezekiel, in which an inquisitive ship dropped from the sky and landed in Chaldea, modern-day Kuwait. A flourish of sightings occurred near Rome in 218 B.C. and again in Germany in 1561. During World War II, Allied pilots coined the term foo fighters for the bizarre orbs of light that flew alongside their planes during combat (Stephey, 2009). Although sightings have been reported for centuries, it was the sighting by American Pilot Kenneth Arnold in 1947 that sparked the current public interest in the UFO phenomenon. Days later, the foundations of today’s UFO beliefs were perpetuated by a report that the U.S. Army had recovered alien bodies and a crashed “flying disk” in Roswell, New Mexico. The press originally reported the recovered material was from a UFO, however higher military authority quickly dismissed this report. The United States Air Force (USAF) claims the downed aircraft was a top-secret weather balloon designed to spy on Soviet forces. This retraction from the USAF caused people to question the events that took place in Roswell. There have been multiple claims by military personnel and alleged witnesses that a flying disk had been found, and the government replaced the evidence from the crash site with parts of a weather balloon (Harrison, 1997). The Roswell incident made the public skeptical of the honesty of the U.S. government and ignited the idea that they were covering up the truth about UFOs. Today, conspiracy enthusiasts desperately try to prove the governments true knowledge of the UFO phenomenon. In this essay, I will present and analyze some of the most significant evidence suggesting that a government cover-up is plausible.

After the Roswell Incident of 1947 and a multitude of reports claiming of “flying saucers”, the public interest into the phenomenon grew. Cold War tensions and public demands forced the U.S. government to investigate the significance of UFOs. In 1948 the USAF began Project Blue Book, a systematic study of UFOs. There were two main goals to the study: 1) to determine if UFOs were a threat to National Security and 2) to scientifically analyze UFO related data. Members of Project Blue Book, which included Air Force personnel and civilian scientists hired as consultants, investigated over 12,000 reported UFOs. Most UFO sightings were determined to have explainable causes. Some were misidentified human made objects such as aircraft or artificial satellites. Other sightings resulted from natural phenomena such as planets, meteors, light reflections off of clouds, flocks of birds, ball lightning, or bright stars. However, investigators were unable to find explanations for 701 of the sightings, which were classified as “unidentified” (United States Of America).

Sightings and reports of UFOs kept increasing throughout the 1950’s and so did the public’s demand for an explanation. This prompted the CIA and the U.S. government to establish an expert panel of scientist to investigate the phenomenon. In 1952 the Robertson Panel reviewed films, photographs and interviewed military personnel on the subject. The USAF established another committee in 1966, the Condon Committee, to investigate UFO reports. Both of these programs concluded similar explanations as Project Blue Book. Officially, the Condon Committee stated,
“Our general conclusion is that nothing has come from the study of UFOs in the past 21 years that has added to scientific knowledge. Careful consideration of the record as it is available to us leads us to conclude that further extensive study of UFOs probably cannot be justified in the expectation that science will be advanced thereby.” (Sullivan, 1969)
As a result of these studies, investigations into the UFO phenomenon were terminated in 1969, and the U.S government to date has conducted no further studies. Government efforts to solve the case of UFOs may have answered the public’s demands, however critics were not convinced.

The Condon Report earned a mixed reception from scientists and academic journals, while receiving "almost universal praise from the news media". Many newspapers, magazines and journals published approving reviews or editorials related to the Condon Report. Science, the official publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said, "The Colorado Study is unquestionably the most thorough and sophisticated investigation of the nebulous UFO phenomenon ever conducted”. Critics analyzing the reports thought otherwise (Crane, 1969). In the December 1969 issue of Physics Today, Committee consultant Gerald Rothberg wrote that he had thoroughly investigated about 100 UFO cases, three of four of which left him puzzled. He thought that this "residue of unexplained reports indicated a legitimate scientific controversy” (Sturrock, 1987). Critics charged that Condon's case summaries were inaccurate or misleading with enigmatic reports "buried" among the confirmed cases. In December 1969, physicist James E. McDonald called the Report "inadequate" and said "it represents an examination of only a tiny fraction of the most puzzling UFO reports of the past two decades, and that its level of scientific argumentation is wholly unsatisfactory" (McDonald, 1969). Critics claim the research conducted by the government lacked the resources to thoroughly analyze the incoming UFO reports; they were understaffed, underfunded, and few field investigations took place. Dr. Jay Heinick, a scientific advisor for Project Blue Book, began the investigation as a skeptic and afterwards drastically altered his view about UFOs. He publicly spoke about his disagreements and disappointments with the USAF. He accused his counterpart’s of ignorance and apathy and said the project went from being the investigation of the unexplained to the explanation of the uninvestigated (UFO, 2011). These claims are worth a valid thought, especially when it’s the government’s own staff which makes them. These critiques of the investigations show a false lack of interest and render the idea that the government carried them out to just keep the public satisfied and disinterested. The recent history of the UFO phenomenon and subsequent government involvement has been very controversial, giving much credence to the idea of a UFO cover-up.

Today, the U.S. Government currently states, “we have no evidence that any life exists outside our planet, or that an extraterrestrial presence has contacted or engaged any member of the human race.” Despite the governments view on the phenomenon, according to a 2002 Roper poll, 56 percent of the American public thinks UFOs are real, while 48 percent believe UFO’s have visited Earth in some form. Another poll conducted by the SCI-FI Channel shows that 72 percent of Americans believe the government is withholding information from the public about UFOs and extraterrestrials (Stephey, 2009). Clearly, the public has little faith in the validity of the statements made by the U.S. government. Skeptics claim this is nonsense and the idea of a conspiracy is perpetuated by myth and hoaxes. However, over the last 60 years significant evidence has developed to suggest that a “UFO cover-up” is not so far fetched.

Many UFO enthusiasts site the Roswell incident as a perfect example of the U.S. government withholding information about UFO’s. However, there are a multitude of debunkers that claim it was only a weather balloon. Perhaps the Rendlesham Forest Incident, a lesser-known UFO case, presents more credible evidence that the U.S. government is covering-up knowledge of UFOs. In 1980 at Bentwaters Air Force Base in England, military personnel reported strange multicolor lights in the woods. Sgt. James Penniston and his fellow officers investigate the strange lights that supposedly landed in the woods. Sgt. Penniston records his experience on a notepad. He describes the craft as triangular in shape, with a smooth metallic surface, warm to the touch. The light, which they saw coming from the craft, was actually emanating from the material itself. After examining the craft it silently ascends, hovers for a moment, and then speeds away in an instant. The next day the craft returns, and grabs the attention of Lt. Col. Charles Halt. Halt and other military personnel take a Geiger counter, recording tape, and camera to the landing site to investigate. Halt reports a 10 times normal radiation level at the sight, broken branches and a break in the tree canopy. The recording tape, which is available to the public, reveals the firsthand reactions of the men who were investigating. Halt types up a memo of the event, also available to the public domain, and sends it to the Ministry of Defense, suggesting further investigation is needed. His superiors bury the memo and take no further action. Halt and Penniston claim that after the incident USAF personnel told them to keep their mouths shut and to never speak of what they saw. This particular incident is intriguing because more than 60 military personnel claim to have witnessed the UFO (UFO, 2011). In addition, there is a significant amount of physical evidence accompanied by detailed descriptions of the craft. These are high-ranking military personnel, not the ordinary “nut job”, claiming they saw a UFO. The lack of further investigation and explanation for the phenomenon leads me to question the intentions of the USAF.

In addition to the Rendelsham Forest Incident, over the years there has been a multitude of reputable people that claim UFOs are a real phenomenon and the government is actively covering up their existence. For example, Apollo 14 Astronaut, Edgar Mitchell believes there have been extraterrestrial visitations, recovered spacecraft, and the government is keeping it secret (Mitchell, 2008). Another astronaut, Gordon Cooper, also claims UFOs are real and the government is withholding information. When interviewed, Cooper quotes President Harry Truman, who said on April 4, 1950 “I can assure you that flying saucers, given that they exist, are not constructed by any power on Earth” (Cooper, 2002). President Jimmy Carter also claims to have witnessed a UFO. After his sighting he said, “One thing is for sure, I’ll never make fun of people who say they’ve seen UFOs in the sky. If I become president, I’ll make every piece of information this country has about UFO sightings available to the public and scientists” (Cross, 2004). Despite this pledge, Carter distanced himself from disclosure, citing defense implications as behind his decision. John Alexander, Retired Army Col., Richard Haines, a NASA scientist, and Ben Rich, the second director of Lockheed’s Skunk Works, all claim the UFO phenomenon is real. The vast amount of credible people who have come forward to share their knowledge and experiences cannot be overlooked. These are well-established military and government personnel and their word should count for something. Skeptics may downgrade the significance of these personal reports and say its all conjecture and based on heresy. This may be a valid argument and many stories are indeed fabricated or complete hoaxes, however, with the enormous amounts of reports made by credible sources, it is hard to believe they are all false.

Skeptics have a hard time discounting personal experiences and reports and yet there is still more evidence to consider. Recently governments around the world have released classified UFO documents to the public domain. Among these include the United Kingdom, Mexico, France, Russia, and Canada. Foreign governments have acknowledged that the UFO phenomenon is real and requires further study. Michio Kaku, a theoretical physicists, says it well, “95% of all sightings are immediately identified as the planet Venus, weather balloons, swamp gas, or some other natural or manmade explanation. It is the 5% that remain unidentified that are significant and require further scientific study” (Ratigan). So, why hasn’t the United States opened up its UFO archives for the public to view? Conspiracy theorists say it’s because they are hiding the truth about extraterrestrials and UFOs. Skeptics and the U.S. government claim the classified documents would jeopardize national security. Conspiracy theorists site a multitude of reasons to why they government might keep the truth about UFOs a secret. These explanations include mass panic and population resistance, collapse in belief system, technological and economic control, and simply the public does not “need to know”. These are all conceivable reasons to why the government might cover-up the UFO phenomenon, however they are dubious at best. The study of UFOs is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Simply, it is unfalsifiable; there is no way to prove or disprove the government is hiding the truth. Also, there is no concrete physical evidence that we know of), like an alien computer chip to verify their existence. Even though enormous amounts or radar, photographic, and video evidence exist, there is no “smoking gun”.

Despite the downfalls that revolve around UFO research and the question of a government conspiracy, it is safe to say the U.S. government’s involvement is a thought-provoking topic. The evidence supporting a government cover-up is intriguing and abundant. The history of the government’s UFO investigations, thousands of UFO sightings, reports made by credible individuals, and world governments releasing classified UFO documents exemplify the notion of a government conspiracy. However, the lack of concrete evidence and proper scientific study will surely keep this conspiracy a mystery for many years. If one thing is for certain, the UFO phenomenon has been engrained in the human psyche. Whether or not the government is covering up UFOs, the UFO phenomenon is an area that science needs to tackle. The stigma that those who believe in UFOs are drug addicts and nut jobs needs to be lifted and proper scientific research needs to be conducted. The scientific community should not be ridiculed for pursuing UFO studies, but rather encouraged; the implications of proving or disproving the UFO phenomenon could change humanity forever.

Works Cited
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