By Robert Sheaffer
BadUFOs.com8-8-12
Robert Hasting's recent wild flight of fantasy (July 2) is titled "CSI Skeptic Robert Sheaffer Doubts the U.S. Government Uses the Media to Debunk UFOs." In it he suggests we skeptics are knowingly or not doing the government's work debunking UFOs, and makes a major error in the very first sentence! "He refers to me as "a leading spokesman for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI)," which is surely not the case (although he does spell my name correctly, a rarity in UFO texts). I do not speak for CSI(COP), nor does anyone else unless authorized to do so. The contents of my Blog BadUFOs.com, my column and book Psychic Vibrations," and all my other writings are mine alone. What I write represents only my own opinion, and you - as well as CSI - are free to agree or disagree.
Hastings says that I "apparently dismiss the idea that the U.S. government might be using the media to help debunk UFOs." Let's clarify this: I AM QUITE EXPLICITLY DISMISSING THE IDEA THAT THE U.S. GOVERNMENT IS USING THE MEDIA, OR ANY OTHER SOURCES, TO HELP DEBUNK UFOS. Let's face it, there is no subject that the U.S. government shows less interest in and cares less about than UFOs. They'd rather give spare change to the homeless than deal with a UFO fanatic. In fact, when somebody approaches them with a sighting of a UFO, or a question or claim about one, the government official groans, squirms, and tries to ignore the matter as best possible. They - the "civil servants" - have been through this many times before. For any government official or agency that touches the UFO controversy in any way, it's a no-win situation, as the Air Force found out the hard way. No matter what you tell the hard-core believers, if it's anything short of "Martians are here," they'll accuse you of cover-up and conspiracy for as long as they live.
Hastings quotes Hansen saying "If the [CIA] had wanted to set up a front organization to debunk the UFO phenomenon, it could have hardly done a better job than to infiltrate CSICOP and encourage its media management activities." This is laughable. There are only about a half-dozen active UFO skeptics in CSI(COP). If suddenly a group of government types turned up and wanted fervently to promote UFO skepticism, we would notice that at once! Besides, the Fellows and Consultants of CSI(COP) receive no payment. If the government were funding our activities, we would all be much better-off. I wouldn't be driving a 20-year-old car!
Hastings refers to his own "expos'e" of "Sheaffer's 'skeptical' organization's intriguing but almost completely unpublicized links to the U.S. government's nuclear weapons program." By which he means two people (out of dozens of Fellows, Scientific Consultants, and other officials). Kendrick Frazier, longtime editor of "The Skeptical Inquirer," is described as having "worked for over 20 years as a public relations spokesman for one of the leading nuclear weapons labs in the United States," Sandia Labs in Albuquerque. What Hastings doesn't say is that Frazier was a science writer and editor of Skeptical Inquirer" long before he joined Sandia. Perhaps this is an example of a skeptic infiltrating the military establishment, instead of vice-versa?
CSI(COP) Fellow James Oberg is also mentioned:
From 1970-72, Oberg was an Air Force officer whose assignments with the Battle Environments Branch at the weapons lab involved the development and utilization of computer codes related to the modeling of laser and nuclear weapons. Oberg also served as a "Security Officer" while at the weapons lab and was, therefore, responsible for monitoring the security procedures used to safeguard the classified documents generated by his group.Let's see, that was over 40 years ago, years before CSI(COP) was founded. Since leaving the military, Oberg worked for a NASA contractor on the Space Shuttle program, and now is a full-time space writer for clients such as NBC. But he is apparently a government conspirator. Then there's good old Uncle Phil, who was indeed on a first-name basis with many Washington insiders, and wasn't shy about name-dropping when he wanted to boast. Klass knew these intelligence and military leaders because of his work on the magazine fondly known as "Aviation Leak."
You forgot to mention James McGaha, who is very upset at being overlooked! Really, you are doing very sloppy research if you didn't even turn up anything on McGaha. He is a retired Air Force officer and pilot who held a Top Secret clearance and worked in military operations that actually involved nuclear weapons. Of course, James has long been retired from the Air Force, but he must be part of the conspiracy, too.
And you also forgot to mention former intelligence-types John Alexander, Bruce Maccabee, Karl Pflock, etc. - but wait - they're on the other side! Maybe the government has been paying them to PROMOTE BELIEF in UFOs? Why did former CIA director Vice Admiral Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter join NICAP? To help promote UFOs?
This obsession by Conspiracy Theorists with the CIA is especially humorous because, as John T. Carlson points out:
"... the CIA would never commit such an act without legal precedence -- and the CIA just doesnt have it in regard to U.S.-based organizations. They deal entirely with foreign intelligence gathering and distribution. Only the NSA and FBI act in regard to U.S. undercover assignments. The CIA simply couldnt justify such an act under any conditions, and all three branches of the government would pounce on them hard, Shere Kahn-like, for even suggesting such internal interference within a U.S.-based organization, regardless of international membership. Theyd produce and star in their own little C-SPAN production, featuring the Justice Department on lead guitar, and the Supreme Court on drums supplying the back beat. Do these guys ever take into account federal law? The fact that they ALWAYS blame the CIA leads me to believe that they dont know what the hell theyre talking about."Indeed. And for those wishing to see 'the other side' of the wild "UFOs zap missiles" claims made by Hastings and others, see:
Echo Flights of Fantasy - Anatomy of a UFO Hoax
Did UFOs Disable Minuteman Missiles at Malmstrom AFB in 1967?
The Malmstrom AFB Missile/UFO Incident, March 1967
Continue Reading...
See Also:
CSI Skeptic Robert Sheaffer Doubts the U.S. Government Uses the Media to Debunk UFOs
CHASING UFOs: "... The Most Paranoid and Absurd Pieces of Supposedly Non-Fiction TV That I Have Ever Seen"
Former CIA Director Adm. R.H. Hillenkoetter on UFOs:
"It is Time for the Truth to be Brought Out in Open Congressional Hearings
Nat Geo's Chasing UFOs:
Investigation as Farce
Malmstrom Air Force Base Picks Up UFO on Radar; "Sabotage Alert Team Located Another UFO Directly Over The Base"
Air Force Staff Message: Malmstrom AFB Receives Multiple Reports of UFOs in The Great Falls, Montana Area
Cutting to the Chase: Robert Hastings Exposes James Carlson's Chief Falsehood Regarding The Echo Flight UFO Incident
James Carlson Gets it Wrong Again
Science and UFOs: Part 4 - Sincere but Uninformed Skeptics Have Been Duped by Skeptical Inquirer Magazine
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