<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
On Jan. 10, just one day after my article on UFO secrecy appeared in
\nthis newspaper and on this Web site (\u201cIntelligent Extraterrestrial
\nlife: The Other Inconvenient truth?\u201d Jan. 9), I was unceremoniously
\ndropped as a Cato Institute adjunct scholar, a position I\u2019d held for
\nmore than 20 years.<\/p>\n
First some background. I\u2019m a Ph.D. economist with a national
\nreputation in the antitrust area. I\u2019ve written books, journal articles,
\nand many dozens of op-ed articles over the years on a variety of
\npublic-policy issues. My association with the libertarian Cato
\nInstitute in Washington, D. C. goes back many decades. Yet they cut me
\naway in a heartbeat because I dared call for more government disclosure
\non the UFO phenomenon.<\/p>\n
I really didn\u2019t believe that calling for more disclosure was all
\nthat controversial. After all, John Podesta, former chief of staff
\nunder Bill Clinton, has called for more government disclosure on the
\nUFO subject. Former astronaut Ed Mitchell has repeatedly called for
\nmore disclosure, as has Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M. Former Canadian
\nMinister of Defense Paul Hellyer has stated that our government knows
\nthat UFOs are interplanetary machines and that the secrecy should end.
\nGiven these bold assertions by \u201cinsiders,\u201d I thought that I was in safe
\ncompany; apparently I was wrong.<\/p>\n
Actually the most classic call for disclosure came 48 years ago from
\nformer CIA Director Vice Admiral Roscoe H. Hillenkotter. As reported in
\nThe New York Times of Feb. 28, 1960, Hillenkotter (in a letter to
\nCongress) argued that \u201cit is time that the truth (about UFOs) be
\nbrought out in open Congressional Hearings.\u201d He went on to say that
\n\u201cthrough official SECRECY and ridicule, many citizens are led to
\nbelieve the unknown flying objects are nonsense …\u201d and, further, that
\nthe Air Force \u201chas silenced its personnel\u201d in order \u201cto hide the facts.\u201d<\/p>\n
If a former CIA director could say that, why couldn\u2019t I?<\/p>\n
The most recent attempt to \u201cchill\u201d serious media interest in UFO
\nsecrecy occurred in Stephenville, Texas. Stephenville currently is a
\nhotbed of UFO activity, and much of the newspaper reporting has been
\ndone by the Empire Tribune\u2019s Angelia Joiner. Ms. Joiner filed some of
\nthe first stories, talked to many witnesses of the phenomenon, and even
\nappeared on a CNN Larry King special in January.<\/p>\n
Yet despite a worldwide interest in the sightings, Ms. Joiner
\nrecently was fired by the Empire Tribune for, among other things,
\nopenly questioning the U.S. Air Force\u2019s improbable explanation of the
\nsightings.<\/p>\n
So much for courage and truth.<\/p>\n
None of this intimidation and media censorship is new. I first
\nbecame interested in UFO secrecy when CBS aired an Armstrong Circle
\nTheater episode on UFOs on Jan. 22, 1958. On that program, an Air Force
\nspokesman recited the standard mantra that UFOs were all nonsense and
\nthat the government wasn\u2019t hiding anything.<\/p>\n
Also on the program was Donald E. Keyhoe, executive director of the
\nNational Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena and the leading
\ncritic of an Air Force cover-up. At one point during the live
\nbroadcast, Keyhoe broke away from his pre-approved remarks and said,
\n\u201cAnd now I\u2019m going to reveal something that has never been disclosed
\nbefore …\u201d but then his microphone suddenly went dead. The live TV
\naudience saw his lips moving (me included) but his audio had been
\nterminated by CBS and the U. S. Air Force under a prior agreement.
\nKeyhoe intended to tell the American public that NICAP had proof that
\nUFOs were real machines under intelligent control but he never got the
\nchance. He\u2019d been censored by those who claimed that they had nothing
\nto hide.<\/p>\n
In this presidential year of \u201chope,\u201d let us all hope that someone,
\nsomewhere will finally be honest with the American people about
\nunidentified flying objects. Censorship and intimidation have no place
\nin a free and democratic society. We (they) continue this policy at our
\nperil.<\/p>\n
Armentano is professor emeritus in economics
\nat the University of Hartford and has written op-ed articles for The
\nNew York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and many other newspapers. He
\nlives in Vero Beach.<\/em><\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.tcpalm.com\/news\/2008\/feb\/25\/dom-armentano-ufos-and-censorship-why-cato-institu\/<\/a>
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