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The official position of the U.S. government regarding extraterrestrial UFOs has not changed in over 50 years, and is quite simple: that there is no credible, irrefutable evidence that beings from beyond Earth or their vehicles have visited this planet.

This position, of course, is itself considered evidence of a cover-up in the odd logic of the conspiracy theorists, who conveniently ignore a few significant points of the government's stance that might actually require them to think and develop a rational defense of their assertion. The U.S. government does not categorically deny the existence of extraterrestrial life, and in fact has provided a small amount of funding through NASA to the SETI project. Although the contribution is small, that the government would support this potentially controversial research at all is significant. And the government does not categorically deny that UFOs have visited Earth, only that such study as has been done on the matter has failed to reveal good evidence of them.

The U.S. Air Force in fact studied over 12,000 reported UFO sightings between 1948 and 1969 under a program called "Project Blue Book," and characterized a mere 701 of those as "unexplained." The study drew three conclusions: first, that no reported UFO sighting or encounter indicated a threat to national security, which was the primary concern that motivated the study in the first place; second, that nothing that was reported indicated technology or engineering beyond the normal capabilities of Man; and third, that no evidence that any of the reports indicated an extraterrestrial intelligence was discovered. Conspiracy theorists are quick to deride the Project Blue Book study as unscientific and a contrivance on the part of the government to cover up the real existence of UFOs. But in doing so, they rely on the same questionable "evidence" that was often presented to Air Force investigators, such as low-quality photographs, and uncorroborated testimony. And the admission of the Air Force that several hundred sightings did in fact elude explanation only adds fuel to the conspiracy fire.

There are three possible explanations as to why the U.S. government maintains its official position regarding extraterrestrial UFOs. The first is that the government is telling the truth, and its position can be taken at face value. The second possibility is that the government is deliberately hiding the truth that extraterrestrial UFOs have in fact visited Earth. And the third possibility is that the government has simply overlooked or misinterpreted the evidence, and is mistaken.

Skepticism about the government's position is not only natural, but helpful as well because it encourages further inquiry and research into all aspects of the UFO phenomenon. But it is also important to remember a basic principle: the absence of evidence for or against an idea does not prove its opposite. Perhaps the conspiracy theorists are right after all. But lacking an irrefutable body of evidence to the contrary, we cannot categorically deny that they are; no more than they can categorically state that UFOs have been visiting for decades and that the government knows it.

Learn more about this author, John Stall.
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