Colonel Joseph J. Bryan II is the founder of the CIA's
psychological warfare staff, former Special Assistant to the
Secretary of the Air Force as well as advisor to NATO and board
member of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial
Phenomenon (NICAP).
The question is often asked, “Why do we need to have the
government make full disclosure regarding what they know about
unidentified flying objects?” Clearly, there is a lot of
evidence out there already, that unidentified flying objects
either exist or they don’t. So, do we really see the need for
the government to have to reveal anything? What is the real
issue with full disclosure by the government regarding what it
knows about Unidentified Flying Objects?
I don’t have any personal need to have the government
disclose anything about unidentified flying objects. I also
find no reason to have to “believe in” unidentified flying
objects. It is simply an established fact that there are flying
objects that have defied explanation as either natural phenomena
or known man-made flying objects.
Of course I would dearly love to know what these objects
actually are and their origin. This is human nature. As a
species we always seem to be in search of answers. We want to
know the what, why, where, and how of everything.
So, while I have no “need” for the government to disclose
what they know about unidentified flying objects, I would sure
like them to disclose what they know because it might add
another piece to the puzzle that could lead to answers to the
questions I have on the subject. At the same time I realize
there may be a number of very valid reasons why the amount of
information from the government regarding these objects is very
limited.
The lack of governmental disclosure could be an indication
of simple lack of knowledge to disclose. This seems unlikely
based upon the number of years the government was involved in
collecting information on UFOs, statements that have been made
about sightings at government facilities, and statements by
present and former government employees. Still the government
might not know as much as we might suspect. This lack of real
information can lead to a certain degree of hesitancy about
disclosing what is known. Governments seldom want to disclose
that they don’t know what is happening.
In the late 40’s immediately following World War II, the
U.S. military would have obviously been very hesitant to
disclose to the general public any information pertaining to
vehicles operating in American airspace with impunity that could
out fly all aircraft in the military inventory. This could be
both a matter of national security not to mention a public
embarrassment. Over the years UFOs continue to out fly all
aircraft known to the public. So, a public disclosure by the
government of this would amount to a direct admission that our
government is incapable of policing its own airspace and
admitting we are essentially at the mercy of whomever or
whatever is responsible for the UFOs that are sighted. This is
not the kind of disclosure that any government is likely to be
interested in making.
If we ignore for the moment that there are UFO sightings
that predate the 1940’s we might also consider that at least
some present UFOs might be advance aircraft developed by our
government. One thing we do know is that there are indeed
advanced aircraft that operate for ten, fifteen, and even twenty
years before there existence is revealed publicly. The
Blackbird and the Stealth Fighter are two prime examples of
this. Clearly, if some of the UFO sightings are advanced
military aircraft there is not going to be public disclosure
since this is a matter of national security. In fact, the
government would likely prefer that people think what they are
seeing are alien spacecraft. This helps keep sightings of an
advanced aircraft from being taken too seriously.
There is also the possibility that the Unidentified Flying
Objects are some sort of alien spacecraft. There are those who
are proponents of this point of view that would have us believe
that there are multiple alien species involved, they have made
various treaties or arrangements with the government, and we are
all being “sold down the river” in some respect. My hesitance
to subscribe to this point of view is largely due to its
proponents. While they make extraordinary claims they are often
involved in profiting in proportion to how outlandish their
claims may be. They sell books, go on speaking tours, sell
videos, and are paid to attend various UFO conventions largely
because of the extreme nature of their claims. The potential
for a major conflict of interest between objective disclosures
versus profiteering make what many of these people claim highly
suspect from my perspective. This is especially true when they
cite lack of government disclosure as some kind of proof of
their point of view.
The possibility that our government has some secret
treaties or arrangements with one or more alien species is a bit
of a stretch in the credibility department. First, it would be
pretty hard for our government to make a secret treaty of this
magnitude, and on top of this manage to keep it secret. Having
had a security clearance myself, I know how hard it is for the
government to keep a secret. As an employee working on
government contracts I really had to take great care in the
handling of classified documents and materials. Yet, when I was
put through an extensive audit of the documents I had in my
possession I had to turn in several for destruction due to
security mis-marking. Were they mis-marked by me? No. They
were mis-marked by the government. What I found time and time
again was that government employees were very poor at following
their own security directives. So, it never surprises me when
government facilities, including nuclear research labs, manage
to lose laptop computers and hard disks containing highly
classified information. As a result I find it hard to believe
that our government has managed to keep one of the most amazing
secrets in the world for 50+ years.
As bad as the government is about keeping secrets, they do
seem to have kept some of their cards pretty close to the vest.
Over the years there is a significant amount of evidence that
various Unidentified Flying Objects have indeed crashed under a
variety of circumstances. It is also rather obvious that the
remains of such crashes invariably come into the hands of the
governments of the countries where the crashes have occurred.
So, with little doubt there are crash remains in the hands of
our government.
Crash remains that are advanced military aircraft are not
disclosed for what they really are until long after the fact. I
recall there was a highly secretive crash in the Sierra Nevada
mountains only about a hundred miles from my home town in the
late 70’s or early 80’s. The area was locked down by the
military and completely sanitized before the public was allowed
back into that region of the forest. Only after the F-117
fighter was publicly disclosed was it revealed that the crash
had indeed been a Stealth Fighter on a training mission. If the
craft had been something else we might still be waiting to find
out what it was for very good reason.
If we assume that some crashed UFOs utilize extremely
advanced technologies beyond the present capability of our
civilization, the strategic and tactical implications are
staggering. Things that could be learned from crash remains
could lead to new propulsion systems, ways of counteracting
inertial effects, new types of stealth technology and advanced
weapon systems as well as new concepts for control systems and
computer technology. Just as we had a space race in the 1950s
and 60s we would have a UFO race today between the various
governments that have access to crash remains. No government in
that situation is going to want to “show their cards.” At the
same time any government that has crash remains isn’t going to
want to admit that they can’t figure out what it is that they
have.
So, while I might like the government to disclose what it
knows about UFOs, the prospect of this happening would seem to
be somewhere between slim and none for a lot of very good
reasons. That being said, I suppose I’ll just have to wait for
a direct broadcast from the alien mother ship or a phone call
from the mysterious Mr. Wilson (reference: W. A. Harbinson’s,
“Genesis,” the UFO flap of 1897, and mentioned by Walter Bosley
on the 3/1/07 broadcast of The Kevin Smith Show).
