Secret documents: government covering secrets, not UFOs

[delphi_ote]

There is one question that persistently circles the community of Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) true-believers: If the government has nothing to hide, UFO fans often ask, then why is it keeping so many UFO records under lock and key?

“Well, it turns out that the government does have something to hide, but it has nothing to do with extraterrestrials,” said Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, D.C.
http://space.com/news/051116_nsa_ufo.html

[kiku]

I never understood why government secrecy was deciphered as proof of a UFO cover-up. It isn't as if governments are forthcoming about everything else.

[Bluegill]

Well, I'd say there's an aspect of paranoia to it. If someone's keeping a secret, then it must have to do with something relating to you. If you are into UFOs, then the secrets must have to do with UFOs.

[kiku]

Well, I'd say there's an aspect of paranoia to it. If someone's keeping a secret, then it must have to do with something relating to you. If you are into UFOs, then the secrets must have to do with UFOs.

It's quite disturbing once you apply that logic to relatively intelligent people with degrees in science who spend much of their time investigating alien abductions, crop circles, cattle mutilations, etc. to prove their validity.

I personally see otherwise rational people who believe in extraterrestrial nonsense as finding emotional excitement with the possibility of those things being real. If you take away the hype, fulfillment, and excitement away from stories of conspiracies, alien abductions, and religious dogma, the world is relatively boring. Government conspiracies regarding UFOs just seems real enough a fantasy for some people to find fulfilling excitement.

[Bikewer]

Sagan had an excellent answer to the "military cover-up" types. Especially during the Cold War, identification of a new threat of some sort would have produced a windfall of new spending on space defenses and high-tech weaponry. The generals would have been clamoring for weapons to counter the little green men.

Was there any such spending to adress the threat of invasion from space?

[c4ts]

The government couldn't hide Watergate or the Iran contra scandal, but they could hide aliens for 55 years? Doesn't make a lot of sense.

[delphi_ote]

The government couldn't hide Watergate or the Iran contra scandal, but they could hide aliens for 55 years? Doesn't make a lot of sense.

But the government could and did cover up lots of secrets about the NSA. I find the reality more interesting than the UFOs, but that's only because I want to work for the NSA so bad I can taste it.

[Bluegill]

But the government could and did cover up lots of secrets about the NSA. I find the reality more interesting than the UFOs, but that's only because I want to work for the NSA so bad I can taste it.


;) Dude, looks like you'd better shave and get a haircut!

[delphi_ote]

;) Dude, looks like you'd better shave and get a haircut!

I've got an application for an internship with them this summer. If I so much as hear a hint about an interview, I'm going straight to the barber shop.

[Freakshow]

But the government could and did cover up lots of secrets about the NSA. I find the reality more interesting than the UFOs, but that's only because I want to work for the NSA so bad I can taste it.Ummm...WHY? :D

What sort of work would you want to be doing with them?

[David Swidler]

Oh, as if he'd be allowed to tell you and live.

[delphi_ote]

Ummm...WHY? :D

What sort of work would you want to be doing with them?

Any kind of raw data processing. Staring at a billion random symbols and trying to arrange them into something coherent is the type of thing I lose sleep over.

Yes. I know. I need to get out more.

[Ladewig]

I've got an application for an internship with them this summer. If I so much as hear a hint about an interview, I'm going straight to the barber shop.

I recommend reading "Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret NSA" by James Bradford. It sounds like a pretty cool place.

If you are really serious about joining, it might be a good idea to not mention it any more on this or any other board.

[casebro]

If you are really serious about joining, it might be a good idea to not mention it any more on this or any other board.

Yeah. You don't want it known that you have been consorting with the likes of people who consort with the likes of you....

[Freakshow]

Any kind of raw data processing. Staring at a billion random symbols and trying to arrange them into something coherent is the type of thing I lose sleep over.

Yes. I know. I need to get out more.No, that's perfectly understandable, actually. :) If that's the sort of thing that you lose sleep over, then the NSA is a great place to find lots of raw data to play with. :)

Did I tell you about what I do for a living? If not, we'll have to trade some PM's on it. ETA: It's not secretive, or anything. I just mentioned PM's to save everyone else the boredom of reading about other people's computing careers. :)

[Freakshow]

Yeah. You don't want it known that you have been consorting with the likes of people who consort with the likes of you...."I would not join any club that would consider having me as a member." - Groucho Marx