The perils of governmental "disclosure"...

This is something I've been thinking of for a while now. After watching the fervor build up over the rather recent Peter Jennings special, I returned to this thought for some time now. Seeing so many of the community with star-filled eyes, hoping that "this would be it" this would be the mark where the water broke, and we began down the road to disclosure.

The basic peril that exists from any eventual government sponsored disclosure of Alien life is blind acceptance. Not just blind acceptance that comes from your normal masses, which are spoon-fed by the government regarding the most basic of news. No, I have no doubt that the general masses will accept whatever is said of the aliens without much questioning at all.

This peril could cause the greatest potential damage to the UFO community itself. After so long, literally decades for some, the constant denial of the government to even acknowledge the possibility of the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence has become almost second nature to the general "ufologist".

If the government, and the media were to announce the disclosure that so many of us were hoping and waiting for, how many would be so happy, so relieved to hear the government "come clean"; that they would take all the government's information as the whole, unabashed truth?

The emotional release of those who have sought the "truth" and "acceptance" from the general public and their government for so long, can make for a very pandemonium-filled situation where logical observance of the information takes a back seat to the emotional pretense of the information.

How many can honestly state that they would not be so overcome with the information, that they stop looking at the situation objectively?

I hope many of us would not be so easily swayed, but I'm sure many would.

And that is probably the biggest danger we face here. What will the state-controlled information say? How close will it be to the actual truth?

This doesn't only apply in a situation where the government announces ETI contact as "malevolent" or "harmful". They could release information that the ETI is benign in nature, and still have an ulterior agenda that they wish to sell to mankind.

Where do we draw the line of government believability? How do we ensure that we don't forget the alleged misinformation and disinformation efforts that the government has launched toward this subject?

How do we ensure we keep objectivity at the forefront of this situation?

Can we?

X

What I'm basically getting from your question, because it's extremely complex but well-written, is how are we going to keep our heads in light of such an extraordinary event? How can we still trust a government that we know had been lying and denying all along?

Even though people say they are ready for disclosure, I don't think that anybody's mind is ever really going to be prepared for something that will, in effect, change the course of humanity. We're talking an event on the scale of Jesus here. When the time comes we will forgive the government and look to them for guidance because there is nowhere else to look. They'll come up with a good reason for keeping it a secret all these years, and we'll forgive and forget like the herd always does. There's no use in fighting it at that point.

Peace

[edit on 3-3-2005 by Dr Love]

Originally posted by Dr Love
What I'm basically getting from your question, because it's extremely complex but well-written, is how are we going to keep our heads in light of such an extraordinary event? How can we still trust a government that we know had been lying and denying all along?

That is the exact "spirit" of what I'm asking/stating.

I worry though, that the admission by the government will stop the majority of "ufology" from questioning the information released by the government.

If we decide to accept what they "admit" to us, how will we know that we are hearing the full truth?

How will we know we won't be decieved by them for their own goals?

Great response, btw.

X

Originally posted by Xatnys
I worry though, that the admission by the government will stop the majority of "ufology" from questioning the information released by the government.

And your worries are well-founded. Once our government discloses this information to us, what else is there for UFOlogists to do at that point? They will be in the same boat as everyone else. I guess they could move on with a new goal in mind of finding out what the government isn't telling us about our new friends, but basically we will all be in the same state of infancy at that point.

If we decide to accept what they "admit" to us, how will we know that we are hearing the full truth?

How will we know we won't be decieved by them for their own goals?

We won't, and there will be nothing we can do about it. That's the part that really sucks!

Peace

If the government, and the media were to announce the disclosure that so many of us were hoping and waiting for, how many would be so happy, so relieved to hear the government "come clean"; that they would take all the government's information as the whole, unabashed truth?

Not many, I'm sure. They've lied too long for us to swallow it all. Sure, the masses will drink it down and go mmm good, gimme some more, but we're the ones who'll start the questions. I suspect that with disclosure, you'll also see a renewal of the investigative reporter. With the stigma of ridicule gone, reporters won't be held up by it in finding out what they knew, when they knew it, what they know now, and what they're still keeping from us, even after disclosure... The big one the press will want answers to right away..... "Why are they here?", and the government better have a pretty damned good answer ready to go, and defend from scrutiny.....

Good point, and upon thinking about your last post, it seems there would be a whole slew of variables that would alter how much any of us could "uncover" via rigid investigation.

Namely how much civilian access would be allowed with any ETI, and would the government's admission coincide with some form of physical apperance of ETIs? If not, then what would they wish to gain by the original admission?

From there it devolves into which path they decide to take with it:

Threat? Weaponization of space? Unification of earth against common "enemy"?

Benign? Unification of earth to "greet and partner with alien brothers". Technology for resource exchange? Trade routes?

What would they be after gaining? Who would actually gain the most?

Hopefully those alive at that point in time would desire to ask questions along those lines, perhaps it would be the key to a greater understanding of whatever situation we find ourselves in...

X