Opinion writer Ross Douthat notes that despite heightened political attention and a series of whistle-blower claims since 2023, the promised “disclosure” of secret government knowledge about UFOs has never materialized.
Instead, recent Wall Street Journal reporting, relying on former Pentagon anomaly-office chief Sean Kirkpatrick, points to decades of psychological operations, pranks, and classified weapons tests that seeded UFO beliefs within the military itself, with supposed evidence often evaporating under scrutiny.
This picture suggests that many insider tales reflect disinformation designed to shield advanced programs, which, coupled with the ongoing failure of claimants to furnish hard proof, makes mundane cover stories a more likely source of today's UFO lore than hidden alien craft.