Among the many documents from Edward Snowden's archives was a computer presentation by the British Government Communications Center (GCHQ) entitled "The Art of Deception: Preparing for the Next Generation of Covert Operations on the Internet."
“Replace the truth with a lie and vice versa”, “People make decisions in groups”, “We want to prepare cyber magicians,” read the captions on the slides.
The classic example of a gullible, manipulative group is the ufologists. "It is believed that after spending too much time gazing at the sky and watching the X-Files, they will readily swallow any crumbs of 'evidence' that fit into their general theory," writes The Guardian journalist Steve Rose.
If a government conspiracy to hide the existence of UFOs exists, then this is the most poorly guarded secret in history: "Area 51", twinkling lights, little green men and abductions - pop culture fed us aliens to satiety.
However, a new documentary, Mirage Men, has amassed strong evidence that alien folklore was fabricated by the government. "Could it be that the real conspiracy was not about hiding the aliens, but about making us believe in their existence?" - asks the author of the article.
The filmmakers were fortunate enough to find a real "man in black" - the former Air Force Special Investigation Officer Richard Doty, who infiltrated the alien hunter environment.
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“Doty and his colleagues were feeding gullible ufologists outright lies and half-truths, knowing that their fertile imagination would complete the job. In return, they received information about rumors in their midst, notifying the military when someone got too close to top-secret technologies. And if the Soviets believe in US contacts with aliens, it’s even better,”the article says.
A classic example of their work is the case of Paul Bennewitz. In 1979, radio amateur Bennewitz noticed strange lights in the sky and intercepted unusual radio signals. The fact that he lived across the street from Kirtland Air Force Base did not bother him: he was firmly convinced of the unearthly origin of signals. As a true patriot, he informed the Air Force. There they realized that instead of aliens, Bennewitz was watching them. Then Doty and his colleagues feigned interest in the radio amateur's information and advised him to continue his research. They supplied him with special software to "decipher" alien messages and planted "artifacts" for him to find. Finally, in 1988, the Bennewitz family took him to a mental hospital.
Mark Pilkington, the author of the book that is lightweight on the basis of the film, says that Doty "remains an absolute mystery": "Some of what he said is true, but I'm sure a lot is fiction or a variation on the theme of truth." I have no doubt that Rick was standing at the lowest rung of the staircase that goes all the way to Washington. It is unclear to what extent he obeyed orders, and to what extent he took the initiative into his own hands.
A special place in the great UFO conspiracy is occupied by cinema: “Depending on the theory you support, the steady stream of Hollywood science fiction can be considered either a blatant exaggeration, the purpose of which is to make the 'truth' incredible by giving rise to excuses like 'you've seen enough of this movie', or by psychologically prepare the population for the overwhelming information about the aliens, which has yet to be declassified."
Shot from the movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still"
Pilkington draws attention to the Psychological Strategy Council created by the CIA after WWII to promote American propaganda. Film industry veteran Darryl Zanuck is known to be associated with him. In 1951, Zanuck was the producer of The Day the Earth Stood Still. It is believed that with this film, the US authorities were testing the reaction of Americans to possible contact with an alien civilization.
Steven Spielberg appears to be a less likely candidate for the role of a government agent, although he has been obsessed with aliens throughout his career. "If anyone is preparing the ground for the great exposure, it is Spielberg, but 30 years have passed, and we are all waiting," the journalist notes.
A more radical example is Robert Emenegger. The director claims that in 1971 he was asked by the Pentagon to make a film about "what the government really knows," promising to provide footage of a flying saucer landing at Holloman Air Force Base. The tape was never given to him, as expected, but Emenegger assures that he himself watched it.
In our time, the existence of UFOs seems more and more doubtful. Fewer and fewer people come to meetings of ufologists. In 2010, Julian Assange admitted that “many eccentrics write to us about UFOs,” but nothing concrete could be found in the wake of their messages. The diplomatic cables that got to Wikileaks mention flying saucers, but only in the context of "UFO cults".
“As always in the mirrored corridor of conspiracy theories, this hypothesis can be turned upside down," admits Rose. about aliens? What better way to hide them than a misleading "exposure"? How else to knock skeptics off the trail, if not by confessing ex-Men in Black like Richard Doughty in documentaries and articles by respected news outlets like The Guardian?
“We may not have come close to finding out if the truth is really somewhere nearby, but about deception it can be said with certainty,” concludes Rose.
