Â鶹´«Ã½

From Ian Simmons, news editor at

Fortean Times, UK

Ufological culture has always been concerned about governments hiding “the truth” and distrustful of scientific authority. That isn’t new. The situation is complicated, though, by the dominant narrative about aliens and UFOs changing, moving from benign space brothers to evil greys and now to “disclosure”, the idea that citizens can get authorities to reveal “the truth”. Rather than being anti-science or anti-government, this treats both with a kind of reverence (8 February, p 21).

At least in the US, ufologists have gone from investigating phenomena to writing letters to get “all-wise” authorities to reveal “the truth”, showing a somewhat touching faith in government procedures and scientific omniscience. Rather than being driven by a new anti-elite impulse, it is more a product of the social media age, where stories spread rapidly, believers can organise more effectively and rumours can be magnified fast. It is something the Trumpian right has exploited, not driven. US ufology seems more interested in evidence standards than before – at least today it seeks results from government labs.