In a prior column I related how I’d been a passenger on a bus with a group of other people on our way to the airport. Some of the passengers - myself included, were MUFON members and the rest were ‘ordinary citizens’. When someone spoke up about UFOs, the temporary awkwardness of the situation was palatable. Since the ‘ordinary citizens’ were outnumbered, there wasn’t any outcry, nor rolling of the eyes or strange looks. As the scene played out I took mental note of the effect of ‘peer pressure’, the macro kind - experienced as a member of the society at large and the micro kind – what was going on at that very moment, trapped inside the confines of the bus for a 45 minute ride.
The 2006 MUFON symposium was still fresh in my mind and besides The Phenomena itself, the other major topic seems be disclosure. People I spoke to had all sorts of insights and opinions about the subject. When I speak of the subject of ‘Disclosure’, I’m talking about the whole ball of wax – the government’s efforts at non-disclosure as well as the efforts of so many to bring about declassification and revelation.
Looking at the whole picture, it becomes evident that the one technique instituted so long ago that has been the most successful is public ridicule. We all know the drill, to be outside the official paradigm is to be a flake, a lunatic, a subject of derision. This form of peer pressure within our society is a more powerful force of persuasion than secret classifications, security oaths, and threats of physical violence or jail time.
I made the comment to many a fellow MUFON attendee that whoever came up with this tactic a) certainly knew a lot about psychology and the power of propaganda, b) is probably having a good laugh on all of us because of how wildly successful this has been.
You can trace it back to the Robertson panel I guess or some individual within our secret government. Whoever it was, they couldn’t have possibly predicted that it would all work out so well. There must have been a collective ‘holding of the breath’ while this little game played out. Would it actually work? Would the American people be so gullible? Can this approach convince them all that something they’re seeing with they’re own eyes isn’t real?
Apparently, yes.
There’s an old political axiom that if you repeat something often enough, particularly in the mass media, it takes on a life of its own – it becomes a truth whether it is factually true or not. It becomes common knowledge – like the urban myths that people hear and repeat until everybody has heard about it. Even if the myth is outrageously unbelievable, even otherwise intelligent folks who, while deep down inside may not actually believe it, never the less fall under the influence of prevailing dogma.
Public ridicule of anyone and anything UFO related has been carried out hand and hand with Denial. Back in the day, denial used to mean that government leaders and military spokesmen had to publicly speak about UFOs and deny them on a regular basis. Have any of you seen a public briefing from our military or the White House on UFOs lately? There was a time when this sort of thing was happening. Today, denial means no one talks about it at all. As Steve Bassett says, the subject has been relegated to an intellectual ghetto, a no man’s land, a place we don’t even talk about anymore.
How then to counter this tactic? The people controlling this information have more money than God. They have guns. They make and re-make the laws to suit themselves. They have all the power – military, monetary and legal they will ever need. What formidable weapons does Ufology have? FOIA suits? The Disclosure Project? The X-Conference? Senate Hearings? Electing UFO candidates? Another Roswell Festival? These are all worthy causes and I tip my hat to all the good people trying to make these strategies work. It's a lot of work with little reward most of the time. At the same time these are extraordinarily uphill, lopsided battles. There is an implicit assumption underlying these strategies that the other guys have to play by the same rules and that our government actually works the way it is taught in middle-school civics classes.
It doesn’t.
Taking on the government via the legal system is playing to the government’s strength. The Nazi's had a legal system, courts and judges. So did the old Soviet Union. Taking on the corporate controlled media in the media is playing to the corporate media’s strength. ABC/Peter Jennings anyone? Since the idea that there is anything like a level playing field is simply an illusion, anyone trying to beat some sector of the mega-funded establishment at that sector's own game is simply out gunned, out spent and out maneuvered by a vastly superior opponent with almost unlimited resources.
To use the metaphor of warfare, most countries wouldn’t dare take on the U.S. military in a head on fight. The U.S. military has superiority in weapons technology (better tanks, better planes) as well as in numbers. So what do America’s adversaries who lack a standing army to match ours do? They switch tactics. They avoid any sort of head-on clash. They hit and run. They incessantly nibble away with constant "pin prick" attacks that result in attrition and degradation of morale. They know for example, that there’s strength in numbers. One bee or wasp is no match for a human being. But a swarm of a million or so would send anyone fleeing for their life.
I’ve been thinking about how little things mean a lot. Especially if those little things are multiplied many times over. While I was at MUFON I saw an old MUFON bumper sticker that read: “UFOs are real. Just ask the government”. I remember thinking that was pretty clever. I recall the bus ride experience where some people were reluctant to even breach the subject. Clearly an effect of the successful program of denial and ridicule instituted so long ago and continued to this day.
Maybe we should start simple. I’d like to see a zillion bumper stickers that say something as simple as “It’s OK talk about UFOs” or maybe “Have you talked to your kids today about UFOs”. Even UFO Believers aren’t exempt from public peer pressure. Don’t you sometimes feel uncomfortable stating your beliefs? I can’t help but think we need a re-education program of our own to counter this. A grass roots effort. Legions of small, personal acts of courage and determination that counter the denial and ridicule factor.
Imagine if everyone did talk about this issue. Imagine that this issue was on everyone’s lips and in everyone’s consciousness. How could such a widely held belief be ignored or denied then? Statistic show that a majority of Americans do believe in the existence of ET and do believe that the government knows more than it is telling. That's encouraging. I'm not sure of the latest numbers but as I recall it's a simple majority, not an overwhleming one. The free flow of information around the world via the internet has helped as well as some movies and some media.
It remains to be seen how much longer the internet will remain virtually free before it is taken over by corporate interests. Besides the internet, the other last bastion of free speech is simple word of mouth communication. We can all play a part in pushing this subject still further into the open by continuing to drive home the reality of the phenomena with continued and open communication amongst our circles of influence. There is strength in our numbers and as our numbers grow, so does our strength.
I know as well as the next person that there's a lot going on in the world today that takes up the majority of everyone's time. Some people are watching world events closely. Some are focused on local politics. Some of us are just trying to do our job, have a life and hope to still be here tomorrow. I'm in the same boat. I wasn't planning on quitting my day job and preaching this stuff from a street corner any time soon. I'm not going to berate my friends and co-workers about it. It's just that I'm going to be comfortable talking about this subject with anyone who's interested. I've done my homework and have some pretty sound, logical reasons for what I believe to be true and why. I want to facilitate discussion of this topic and try to make others feel comfortable about it as well.
While I'm at it, I will continue to support all the efforts on all the fronts. Constant pressure and activism coming at this issue from so many angles may bring about needed change. It may also cause the opponents of disclosure to stumble and initiate a rogue event that results in some degree of disclosure. One tiny act of personal activism I'm planning on doing is to refuse to go along with, or help perpetuate the stigma. Hey, it's OK to talk about UFOs.
"History, although sometimes made up of a fews acts of the great, is more often shaped by the many acts of the small"
- Mark Yost
RM
Contact Ralph
Tall Tales Archive
