While I certainly don't know for a fact whether Mr. Sorrells is telling the truth or not, I do know for a fact that the US Military Intelligence
services have, in the past, specified what the local military is allowed to divulge to the press and the public. We have FOIA documents that make this
very clear. Considering the Air Force announced, with great publicity and fan fare, back in 1969 that they were washing their hands of the UFO
Phenomena this doesn't add up does it?
Additionally, I have observed for more than 20 years the cultural manipulation of the entire "UFO Phenomena" by the Military/Industrial Complex here
in the US.
What I mean by cultural manipulation is the instant "woo woo" or "nutjob" label applied to the vast majority of those who report seeing something
they don't understand. It is definitely a cultural enigma within the aviation profession and Dr. Richard Haines of NARCAP,
www.narcap.org
, has done wonderful work proving this in several of his studies including his anonymous pilot survey.
What I find intriguing is the fact that 50 or 60 years ago when someone reported seeing a UFO they were met with sober and genuine inquiry by the
authorities and the public at large. Today people are met with what can only be described as ridicule.
There are several schools of thought about this, my favorite is, groups within the intelligence services (whether officially sanctioned or not is a
mystery) have created a complex web of hoaxes in order to guarantee the ridicule is justified when the truth comes out. By doing this they have
assured the public and the media will scoff and giggle first and hopefully drop it all together shortly after most reports are made.
There is lots of evidence of this behavior and several instances wherein the "dis info agent(s)" have actually confessed. Isn't that odd?
The cover has usually been that these hoaxes were perpetrated to protect classified military assets from discovery. I buy that, it makes sense even
though it is an amazingly stupid thing to do for obvious reasons.
My problem is, that this story doesn't "cover" all the instances, nor does it explain the reason for the dichotomy of wanting to perpetuate the UFO
Phenom to use it as a cover for the Secret Military Craft while at the same time creating a cultural intolerance for those who believe what they saw
was otherworldly.
I can't reconcile those two issues.
When it comes to stories like Mr. Sorrell's, there is further muddying of the waters with the fact so many people claim to have seen these things,
there is video and still imagery of very strange things in the sky, and the kicker... The Air Force WRT this case, is full of it IMHO.
Let's look at the Air Force's responses to this so far:
"We had nothing in the sky that night" was the first response.
Then the images and lots of witness testimony comes forward and all of a sudden the Air Force claims they had
TEN F-16s IN THE AIR that night on a
TRAINING MISSION. They can't produce any pilots naturally and the fact that would be one heck of a BIZARRE training mission doesn't lend much
credibility to that statement either. BUT this statement lends lots of credibility to the eye witnesses who claim they saw F-16s chasing the
"lights". Training or scrambling?
The next issue I have is if Mr. Sorrells wasn't really threatened or at least thought he was and, as some have postulated here, he is in this for
fame and or fortune why would he have passed up the golden opportunity to bring himself into the national spotlight on "Larry King Live" and get
lots of that fame instantly and for free?
Yes there is an argument that can be made that he elevated his story's "play" by calling out the threat card as it were, but to what end?
Why would someone looking for fame take the risk of being blown off as a nutter over the
guarantee of a national television spotlight?
And finally, I know a little about the "business end" of Ufology and it is NOT a good way to get rich.
Most of these people, even the "big
names" struggle to make to ends meet in between books and lectures. I know a few of the "big names" personally and these people, excluding those
who inherited or otherwise earned their fortunes, are NOT rich or even financially independent.
So after all of this, I have to think that there is much more to this story than the simple explanation of a massive hoax can define. There are way
too many people involved who have nothing to gain and much to lose (ala Mrs. Joiner), a very shady (I am being kind) set of stories from the Air
Force, video and still imagery of BIZARRE things in the sky and no decent explanation as to what's really happening.
I only hope that we here at AboveTopSecret.cmo can keep an open mind and a civil typing hand while we explore this in the hope of getting at the
truth.
Springer...
[edit on 2-10-2008 by Springer]