Judging by the content of the MoD's UFO files it has become a tradition that each new Prime Minister receives a full postbag of letters from pressure groups who demand the release of ‘the truth’ about flying saucers and aliens.
David Cameron is no exception and last year he promised to be “entirely open and frank” about the subject if elected. At one of his 'Cameron Direct' public meetings Cameron fielded a question from UFO buff Richard Hall (who believes, among other bizarre things, that I work for MI5). In response, the Tory leader laughed and said he was “convinced we have been visited by alien life forms - and one of them is the trade secretary Lord Mandelson."
Hall was not pleased and said Cameron “will not be making jokes when the truth comes out” - but at least an alien invasion might provide him with a distraction from cutting the deficit. Anyway, a year passes and a new version of this exchange reappears on the internet not as a joke but as a unequivocal declaration from the coalition leader that “aliens in UFOs have visited earth.” According to George Filer’s ‘Filers Files’ Cameron actually said: ‘I am convinced the Earth has been visited by aliens and vow to publish any secret files that may exist on UFOs if I become Prime Minister.”
Of course this isn’t nearly as exciting as Cameron’s honest admission that he has no idea “whether any of the sightings which have taken place have any basis in truth” and that most UFO claims, when subjected to critical scrutiny, turn out to have rational explanations. While Dave checks his postbag you can revisit the amusing exchange between Cameron and Hall on YouTube.
Politicians will always do what's in their own best interest whether you're talking about the UFO phenomenon or not.
ReplyDeleteFuture president Gerald Ford called for Congressional hearings when he was representing Michigan in the HOR after numerous constituents reported sightings. When the phenomenon died down, so did his interest.
President Truman alluded to the Moon Hoax of the 1830s when asked about UFOs in 1947. On July 20, 1952 after a series of UFO incident over Washington DC, Truman's response was much more serious.
REPORTER: "Did the Joint Chiefs of Staff talk to you or concern you about the unknown, or unidentified, flying objects?"
TRUMAN: "Oh yes, we discussed this at every conference that we had with the military and they were never able to make me a concrete report on that."