Debunking versus Counterintelligence:Reflections of a
Pro-ufologlst by Richard D. Butler To the
pro-ufologlst, debunking and counterintelligence (CI) efforts
are seen as the greatest hindrances to legitimate research. The
two terms are frequently used as synonyms. In fact, they are
two very distinct operations. Debunking has two sources: the
U.S. government and civilians. The civilian debunkers are
usually professional academics, whose motivation is principally
reactionary protection against a challenge to their world view.
They see UFOs, and belief in UFOs and even organized study of
UFOs as a threat to their own reality system. The protective
strategy is, in psychological terms, the well known process
called "denial." We see it in alcoholics, and we see it in
UFO-bashers. It is also quite an efficient way to handle complex
data and hypotheses.Simply deny it, make a joke, and move on and
away from the challenge. Ridicule is an almost essential part of
the denial process. The debunker strives to convince not only
his audience that the subject is nonsense, but he must also
convince himself. The self-imposed wall of denial is enforced by
ridicule.There is nothing new about thedebunking process. The
history of science is, in a sense, the history of
debunking.Clearly, every important advance in science has been
met with ridicule. A recent example is the development of the
atomic bomb. Top scientists were skeptical that the bomb would
work. President Roosevelt's military aide stated that, as an
expert in explosives, he could assure the President that the
atomic bomb would never, and could never, explode! Yet in the
early morning hours over the Trinity Site, a tiny flower of hell
blossomed in the desert. The impossible had become awesomely
real. Physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer was heard intoning,
"Behold I become death, a shatterer of worlds." This was
an apt epitaph for the debunkers, whose psychological world was
shattered. Debunking has been with us since the first
debunker laughed at the man who decided to move out of the cave.
In a particularly difficult field of research like ufology, the
debunker must be accepted as something that simply comes with
the territory. We must groan, but accept the old saying, "If
you can"t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."The second
category of debunking is the official U.S.government version.
This brings us into the deep waters of counterintelligence. CI
is defined as specific and planned activities conducted to
destroy the effectiveness of aforeign intelligence operation.
There are various sub-operationswithin the heading of CI.The one
of most importance to this discussion is counterespionage, which
is those activities carried out to neutralize another
intelligence gathering group. Its operational parameters include
penetration, deception, and manipulation of those suspected of
conducting espionage activities. And it's all perfectly legal:
presidential executive orders have made it so.Because these
activities are necessarily covert, not much is known about them
by the general public. CI operations are staffed by highly
skilled and dedicated personnel. Their goal is to deny an enemy
information which could be used to destroy our lives, property,
and way of life. But how does the UFO business tie in?National
Intelligence is the key term. This is defined as any
intelligence information produced by the CIA (or other
equivalent agency) that bears on the broad aspects of national
policy and the national security of the United States. This
intelligence is then analyzed to determine if a threat condition
exists. If the answer is "yes," a Threat Analysis Report is
prepared. The report identifies and locates the threat,and
estimates the potential damage levels which the threat could
inflict.The Threat Analysis Report is sent to the National
Security Council (NSC) for review. The Council, in turn,advises
the President with respect to formulation and integration of
domestic, foreign, and military policies.Once the threat is
confirmed by the NSC, various agencies will be tasked to perform
both the intelligence and counterintelligence functions, as well
as accelerated defensive weapons programs.It is time to look at
the UFO intelligence gathering program. Most ufologists will
probably be shocked by the nature and dimensions of this
operation.Every ufologist and UFO organization in the world is
an overt intelligence-gathering asset of the United States.Your
job as a ufologist is to monitor all UFO activities,including
sightings, landings and abductions. This information is
published, providing an intelligence channel back into the
system. The CIA has the mission of collecting all published
civilian UFO intelligence data. An Air Force public information
release (still in use) tells us that their investigation of UFOs
ended with the deactivation of Project Blue Book. Further, it
says that UFO investigations have been turned over to academic
institutions and civilian UFO research organizations.In
practice, this means that information of genuine scientific
value will not be overlooked. In other words,Blue Book never
really ended, it just changed hands. And, whether you know
it or not, or like it or not, you are part of the
intelligence-gathering network, feeding straight to the CIA's
UFO files.But this particular brand of intelligence data is
perfectly open to the public, in the form of UFO books, journals
and public meetings. And this presents the government with a
unique problem. As a UFO researcher, you are simultaneously
gathering data for the government, and trying to break through
the wall of secrecy to discover what the government knows. You
are spying for them, and spying on them.By spying on your own
government and, in fact, doing so in a very aggressive manner,
you automatically trigger the counter-intelligence
machinery.The task of screwing you up,meaning the official CI
operation against ufologists, is assigned to Security and
Counter-intelligence Special Operations departments within
various intelligence agencies. Note the three main mission
criteria:(1) Denial to ufologists of the government's offensive
and defensive weapons capabilities; (2) Denial to
ufologists of the government's intelligence gathering
capabilities and level of analysis; and (3) Prevention of direct
or indirect Psychological Warfare effect.Are these measures
justifiable? In the balance are our rights as U.S. citizens
versus the degradation of America's national security caused by
release of the UFO information. With this in mind, let's review
the three criteria in detail.Item (1) is fairly obvious. If a
potential enemy learns our weapons technology, he can develop
countermeasures. This in turn would render the weapons system
useless, and make us vulnerable to attack. So the answer is a
clear and resounding "No!" to release. Item (2) is the reverse
side of item (1). We are gathering information in order to make
the enemy's weapons ineffective. Here is a purely
hypothetical example.Suppose we are successful through FOIA, or
through what you must admit amounts to standard espionage
techniques which we call "UFO research," and discover that the
government has photos of a UFO hovering above a submarine.
Moreover, the information we have obtained tells us that the
submarine is at a depth of 50 fathoms. We also get pictures
taken at 100 and 200 fathoms, and quickly publish all the facts.
The Soviet submarine commanders would get the message at once
-the U.S. anti-submarine surveillance technology is only capable
of imaging down to 200 fathoms. So they would design attack
strategies in which they would cruise without worry at depths
below that level. Bad news for our side, and it puts ufologists
on the wrong end of the logic of item (2).Item (3) is by far the
most complex issue.Psychological Warfare is accomplished by two
main methods.First, direct aggressive efforts aimed at the
enemy, and second, indirect damage caused by release of
information regarding the enemy's capabilities and intentions.
The purpose of "Psy War" is to erode the will of the enemy
nation, and it can have a devastating impact on military
effectiveness. A battle lost in the mind usually translates
directly to military defeat. But the effects of Psy War go
beyond military targets.Both government and private institutions
can be severely damaged. An example is the stock market crash
which took place just before the Gulf War. This is minor
compared with the psychological shock waves that would be
produced by release of certain UFO information. In fact,
the harm would almost certainly be unprecedented in terms of
damage levels,with major impact on basic religious and economic institutions.The major methods employed by UFO
counterintelligence are debunking and disinformation. Debunking
can be as simple as using the technique of over-simplification
of analysis. For example, the time-honored quick answer to a UFO
sighting, such as "weather balloon," or "swamp gas."
Disinformation, however, should be our main area of concern. It
uses a technique known in the trade as "plausible denial." One
way to view this is that the information is 2% truth and 98%
nonsense, of some mixture of the two, but never the whole truth.
It must appear legitimate on the surface, but have
enough bunk in it to send you off in a totally wrong direction.
By far the most powerful weapon in the ufo counter-intelligence
arsenal is the ufologists themselves. A former CI officer once
remarked to me about a prominent New York City ufologist, "If he
didn't exist, we'd have to invent him." There is nothing that counter-intelligence operators appreciate more than a gullible
ufologist i.e. born again lesbian lizards from Antares,
seven-foot alien cockroaches with hyperactive libidos, etc. The
result is that the credibility of the entire UFO research
community is debased. Little wonder that the press treats the
subject as a joke. That's what the CI people work so
hard to accomplish. The "aliens are eating us" crowd is the
answer to the CI prayers.This brings us to the question of
whether the government is justified in witholding certain
information from the public based in its psychological impact
alone.The first NSC meeting was held in September, 1947. One of
the main topics is rumored to have been the retrieval of a
crashed alien aircraft at Roswell. We might know if this rumor
is true, but the minutes of that meeting have been removed by
the CIA from the National Archives. Interestingly, they were
removed in February, 1979. This is when intelligence operatives
discovered that a book telling the truth about the Roswell crash
was about to be published.It then became necessary to clean up
the "paper trail," among other CI moves to protect the Roswell
secret.The NSC had to consider the Roswell UFO crash only eight
years after the Orson Welles "War of the Worlds" broadcast, in
which panic ensued when the public thought Martians were
invading. Little wonder that President Truman kept mum. Was this
a sound policy? I believe it was in 1947, and on through to
today. At least in the sense that the public was not ready for
the stunning revelation of aliens in our midst. But the public
will never be ready! Nor is there any way to prepare the public.
Therefore, further concealment is futile, as well as morally
unjustifiable.In terms of national security, when a government
is forced to treat its own populace as an enemy, then that
government is already defeated and has lost its right to exist.
Abductees are the only directly affected portion of the
population. Granted, it is a very tiny fraction. But have we
decided to write them off, to list them as an acceptable loss in
this shadowy but nevertheless very real War of the Worlds? In
closing, I wish to express my sympathy for those in government
who are faced with these terrible decisions.I know you desire to
do the right thing. To my colleagues in ufology, my advice
is: be very careful what you ask for, because sometimes your
wishes are granted. If your fervent wishes are granted, our
whole civilization will suddenly have a new, revolutionary set
of ideas about who and what we are.Can you take responsibility
for the cataclysm? Although I have used the term "threat" in
this discussion, it should be obvious that if the aliens are
truly hostile, we would have learned that the very, very hard
way long ago. That there are great changes in store for mankind
is certain. How we as a people handle those changes will
determine the level of loss to our social and spiritual
realities. Or, as the alien may have said, "Lose a planet, gain
a galaxy."

Cori,
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