Page 5 - 201004 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - April 2010
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April 2010_june_july_2009.qxd 22/04/2010 11:26 PM Page 5 No Space Aliens at Area 51 5 Area 51 veterans speak: No space aliens Continued from Page 2 Although the story doesn't provide a lot of detail, Noce's recollections do suggest that the military and CIA actually didn't mind the notoriety of the place and the stories of aliens and spaceships that had popped up over the years. The reason is that such tales served as a lovely bit of misdirection to obfuscate and cover up the real secret projects going on there, specifically the secret planes that were being tested. Although I find parts of Noce's story to sound a bit fishy, specifically the story about a pilot putting on a gorilla mask and flying upside down alongside a private pilot and how afterward the pilot told reporters that he had seen a plane without a propeller that was being flown by a monkey. of UFO buffs since the modern UFO UFO stories that don't have anything to do with In evaluating a story like Noce's, it's phenomena emerged in the late 1940s. Area 51. (As a certain Saturday Night Live hard not to shake the thought in the back of my character from the 1970s used to say, "Never mind that the guy is enjoying himself entirely After describing the history of the CIA's mind.") too much and may be--shall we say?-- investigations of UFO sightings over five There are two things I've never embellishing some of his stories a bit. It's also decades, the report concludes: understood about UFO conspiracy theorists and bothersome that there's no good way to verify theories. First, if there really are extraterrestrials that any of these men ever actually worked for Like the JFK assassination conspiracy of such awesome intelligence and possessing Area 51 other than the word of other men who theories, the UFO issue probably will not go such incredibly advanced technology, why, of claimed to have worked in Area 51. On the other away soon, no matter what the Agency does or all the places they could go in the galaxies, hand, no one has as yet produced compelling says. The belief that we are not alone in the would they spend all that time, energy, and evidence that extraterrestrials have visited the universe is too emotionally appealing and the technology to travel to earth? The other thing I earth or that alien spaceships have crashed and distrust of our government is too pervasive to can't understand is how, in the improbable been dismantled and studied by our make the issue amenable to traditional scientific circumstance that such a race actually did travel government. Inevitably, any evidence presented studies of rational explanation and evidence. many light years to visit us, the government is of the variety of the testimonial of a "friend of could maintain a conspiracy of secrecy for a friend," stories with little or no evidence to And this is certainly correct. UFO several decades, be it over the purported support them, or physical evidence that proves stories aren't going away any time soon, any Roswell crash or the sightings around Area 51. nothing but is held up of evidence of more than stories of extraterrestrials. it is After all, the longer a conspiracy continues and extraterrestrials. Skeptic or not, I do share one something the people want to believe so badly the more people who know about it, the smaller thing with UFO conspiracy theorists. I would that evidence almost doesn't matter. The same the chance that secrecy will be maintained. love to see conclusive evidence of intelligent techniques to deny, twist, cherry pick, and Someone will talk. Someone always talks if life elsewhere in the universe before I die. misrepresent data and studdies that do not enough people are involved. Holocaust deniers, Unfortunately, I have not seen anything that support stories about the existence of UFO- for instance, are masters at constructing even comes close to qualifying. For all the spaceships and aliens visiting earth are very elaborate conspiracy theories to explain why the accusations of being "close-minded," I'm similar to the same techniques used by the anti- "Holohoax" persists, sometimes even going so actually fairly open-minded towards the vaccine movement to attack studies that fail to far as to claim that the Jews fabricated all that possibility of extraterrestrial intelligence, find a link between vaccines and autism, evidence. Alt-med mavens construct similar although the idea that there are aliens out there creationists attacking evolution, 9/11 Truthers yarns, postulating that the "medical-industrial abducting people and performing various attacking the "official" story about the terrorist complex" is keepoing all those "natural cures" examinations on them, often involving sticking attacks of that day; "alternative medicine" from you because...well, they never really make probes into various orifices, to be almost as mavens attacking evidence showing that it clear why. After all, even evil big pharma improbable as homeopathy. conventional medicine works and their woo executives get cancer; so do their families. If The reason that stories of UFOs and doesn't; and, as much as I get into trouble those natural, sure-fire cures existed, someone extraterrestrials persist is explained relatively pointing it out, Holocaust deniers attacking would talk eventually. well by, of all organizations, the CIA. A evidence supporting the historicity of the In the end, humans believe what they companion story to the Area 51 story points out Holocaust or the scope of the mass murder. want to believe--what they need to believe, for a fascinating CIA report entitled CIA's Role in In the techniques used by its advocates, whatever reason, ideological, religious, or the Study of UFOs, 1947-90, which points out: Area 51 is no different than those other forms of emotional. Science and skepticism are the tools woo. It does, however, have the complicating we need to overcome our natural tendency to An extraordinary 95 percent of all factor of a real government base where real top believe in such things, but these tools are Americans have at least heard or read secret projects were carried out during the Cold useless if we don't want to embrace them.[] something about Unidentified Flying Objects War and may still be going on today. The (UFOs), and 57 percent believe they are real. existence of the government base makes it (1) Former US Presidents Carter and Reagan harder for skeptics, historians, and scientists claim to have seen a UFO. UFOlogists--a ever to verify for sure that the conspiracy neologism for UFO buffs--and private UFO theories regarding UFOs and aliens are not true, organizations are found throughout the United even though there is no convincing evidence States. Many are convinced that the US that they are true. On the other hand, there is no Government, and particularly CIA, are engaged such complicating factor for those other forms in a massive conspiracy and coverup of the of woo, and they maintain a hold on believers issue. The idea that CIA has secretly concealed just as well as any conspiracy theory to which its research into UFOs has been a major theme UFO believers cling. Come to think of it, there are few or no such complicating factors for
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