Greetings. Newspaper headlines about UFOs.
Prior to the advent of the Internet and social media, the general public received its news in two primary ways; on the television and via print media, newspapers. Headlines about UFOs were not that uncommon, especially when a major sighting came to the attention of the authorities. The Roswell event of July 1947 made the newspapers for a short time before disappearing. The Washington Nationals events from the summer of 1952 made the front pages of major newspapers all across the nation. Socorro, Dexter/Hillsdale, and of course, Rendlesham Forest across the pond. All these aforementioned cases and many others made the news after their initial reporting to local authorities.
Now the situation has changed dramatically. Most newspapers are struggling mightily to keep their financial heads above water, with many print outlets having gone the way of the Passenger Pigeon, into extinction. The continuing decline in the numbers of newspapers in operation is having a detrimental effect on the public at large, including the card-carrying members of the UFO subculture. In decades long past, editors-in-chief consistently challenged their field reporters to seek out information, validate all the information collected, and double-check and triple-check their sources. The late Ben Bradley of the Washington Post was famous for the demands he placed on his reporters. Such a meticulous and time consuming endeavor kept, for the most part, inaccurate or indefensible stories and information out of the pages of newspapers. Now that has all changed.
A growing number of people get their news online, not from legitimate media outlets, but from social media and the innumerable websites claiming to be reliable sources of information on a whole slew of topics. While the content on social media has, for the most part, not been properly vetted or scrutinized, there is a bit of quality information, but only a bit. Websites however, are quite a different category altogether. Often times, articles are posted that are void of supporting information, and don't provide the proof and evidence that readers should be demanding. The process undertaken to write such articles is in question too, with seemingly no editorial oversight at play, and only a name attached to the article in question. No sign of a strict adherence to any form of journalistic exercises. On occasion, articles that appear on such websites don't appear anywhere else, making them single source stories, which is only acceptable to the UFO subculture. When an investigator is unable to find additional chains of evidence, or additional sources of valid information, it places the initial claim firmly in doubt, confirming its potential fallaciousness.
In the UFO subculture however, the situation could not be more different. The UFO masses don't require valid information to embrace a claim. The UFO masses don't demand multiple sources of accurate information. The UFO masses don't question anything, in fact, those few individuals who do ask questions are often the subject of ridicule and personal attacks. Such actions speak volumes about the attackers and the UFO subculture as a whole.
It is often stated that the powers that be have been attempting to misinform the general public about the UFO subject. Nowadays, no such effort is necessary. The UFO subculture misinforms itself, to a far better degree than any government could accomplish.
The following organizations, blogspots, and websites provide accurate and dispassionate information about the UFO subject and other topics of importance:
Project1947, available at https://project1947.com/
A Different Perspective, available at http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/
The National UFO Historical Records Center, available at https://nufohrc.org/
Expanding Frontiers Research, available at https://www.expandingfrontiersresearch.org/
Bad UFOs: Skepticism, UFOs, and The Universe, available at https://badufos.blogspot.com/?m=1
Thank you for your time and consideration.
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