Waiting with Bated Breath.

Greetings. Disclosure? Many in the UFO subculture don't realize how long the wait has been, and how many declarations have been made concerning a potential disclosure event.

The late Stanton T. Friedman once stated, and I quote: "Scientists and military men are about to 'lift the laughter curtain' and reveal that flying saucers are real." More on Mr. Friedman's statement at the conclusion of this writing. 

Such promises have been offered to the public for decades now, some originating from dedicated authors and researchers of the UFO issue, some from people who have no interest in and no capability of attempting to research the problem in question. In decades past, people like Richard Hall and Donald Keyhoe, both having affiliation with NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena,) pushed for government transparency and hearings on the UFO issue, and were convinced that an overall cover-up of the UFO phenomenon was in place. Their efforts were mostly for naught, although there were congressional hearings held in the late 1960's, but they went nowhere, unless one sees the Condon Committee as a legitimate investigative effort. I am not numbered among those individuals. 

As we move past the Project Blue Book era, past the 1970's and 1980's, we arrive at a time of unrestrained promises. For the past thirty years or so, the promising of disclosure has become the poker card of choice for many UFO personalities, with their legions of fans eating it all up. Stephen Bassett has been lobbying (allegedly) for disclosure in Washington D.C. for decades now, with no results to speak of, but that has not stopped him from making many such promises on innumerable shows, podcasts, and programs. I came across Mr. Bassett in Roswell, New Mexico a few years back, 2018 if memory serves, and I attended one of his lectures inside the International UFO Museum and Research Center. Whilst an interesting and well-constructed presentation, the focus of the talk was set squarely on his promises of an imminent disclosure event. Of course, it did not come to pass. No surprise there.

The names of Howe, Greer, and a few others are infamous, but they are not of any consequence, however, when legitimate investigative researchers of the UFO issue make such false and misleading promises, it places their focus, integrity, and credibility in question, and that is unfortunate to say the very least. Now I don't know if a disclosure event will ever come to pass, I don't think it ever will, but it seems to me that making false promises about such an event are counterproductive, and firmly beneath the professional integrity of some who make such statements. Such behavior suggests an attempt to keep one's name in the limelight, to maintain one's position in the UFO subculture, and an effort to self-promote one's name and "work." It is a sad state of affairs, and I for one am melancholy about the whole situation. 

Note: Mr. Friedman's aforementioned quote appeared in the Dallas Times Herald on September 29th of 1968. That is quite a long time ago, and it did not come to fruition. The UFO subculture is still waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and waiting. I am not holding my breath. 

Thank you for your time and consideration.