Ufological Skullduggery: The Skeletal Framework of Conspiracy.

Greetings. Conspiracy theories. Ideas and beliefs that confirm preconceived notions, conjectures that have been constructed over the course of decades, by multiple individuals working independently of each other, yet building on each other's efforts. Such theories have become more and more common in our everyday society, but are the foundation of a good majority of the UFO mythological spiel.

The initial conspiracy theory that featured an alleged crash and subsequent retrieval of an alien spacecraft and its crew surfaced in October and November of 1949, when "journalist" Frank Scully published two columns in Variety magazine. Scully claimed that deceased extraterrestrial beings were recovered from the location of a flying saucer crash, with Scully's claim based solely on information provided by an unnamed "scientist." Scully's book "Behind the Flying Saucers," published in 1950, greatly expanded on the scenario, asserting that multiple crashes had occurred, two in Arizona and one near Aztec, New Mexico, an incident from early 1948 that allegedly involved a saucer that was nearly 30 meters in diameter. By January of 1950, Time Magazine had begun to repeatedly, and skeptically, publish stories of crashed flying saucers crewed by alien occupants.

It was later revealed that Scully had been victimized by two con artists, Silas Newton and Leo GeBauer. In 1952 and 1956, True magazine published lengthy articles written by San Francisco Chronicle reporter John Philip Cahn that exposed Newton and GeBauer as the oil con artists who had hoaxed Scully. Decades later, in 1997, U.S. Air Force investigator James McAndrew wrote that "even with the exposure of this obvious fraud, the Aztec story is still revered by UFO theorists. Elements of this story occasionally reemerge and are thought to be the catalyst for other crashed flying saucer stories, including the Roswell Incident." McAndrew was quite correct, with UFO notables like Richard Dolan, Frank Warren, Scott and Suzanne Ramsey, and Stanton T. Friedman all strongly advocating for the reality of the event. What an embarrassment for the UFO research community.  

While the Maury Island hoax was widely known by the summer of 1947, that alleged event was void of several of the usual aspects of subsequent hoaxes; alien bodies and a crash, with an eventual retrieval courtesy of military forces. After the Aztec story came to public awareness, several others surfaced, each one continuing to formulate the structure of the modern-day UFO conspiracy. The names are familiar, Kingman, Del Rio, San Agustin, Trinity, with the details of each common to all the others, resulting in a doubling down of all of the pertinent mythological details.

Nowadays, the situation has changed, with UFO conspiracies squarely focused on alleged whistleblowers, government cover-ups of alien contact, retrieved alien technology, and direct interactions between world leaders and extraterrestrials. Alleged whistleblowers have become the flavor of the decade, all touting their knowledge, none having provided any evidence to support their talking points. David Charles Grusch, the most well-known of today's whistleblowers, has declared that alleged retrieved materials are, and I quote: 

"of exotic origin (non-human intelligence, whether extraterrestrial or unknown origin) based on the vehicle morphologies and material science testing and the possession of unique atomic arrangements and radiological signature."

Grusch’s claims are supported by Jonathan Grey, who works, or worked, for the National Air and Space Intelligence Center, where he focuses, or focused, on the analysis of unidentified aerial phenomena. Grey has stated, and again I quote: 

"The non-human intelligence phenomenon is real. We are not alone. Retrievals of this kind are not limited to the United States."  

When taken in combination with the sensationalized and self-aggrandizing promotional efforts of George Knapp, Ross Coulthart, Jeremy Corbell, Luis Elizondo, and a multitude of other ufological prophets and their supporting cast of elected officials, all the talk, and by extension, the conspiratorial feelings within the UFO subculture have moved completely away from the actual mystery of unidentified flying objects. 

Are daylight disk sightings discussed? No.

Where have all the landings gone? Unknown. 

Abductions? That particular narrative seems to have been abducted. 

All we hear about are the players, the celebrities, the podcasters, and the talking heads. Not a peep about the phenomenon itself, and that makes not a sound in the echo chamber of the UFO religion. 

Thank you for your time and consideration.