“UFOs exist and everyone needs to adjust to that fact.” (Dis)Information Campaigns on the UFO Phenomenon

Abstract

“UFOs exist and everyone needs to adjust to that fact” was the headline of the renowned U. S. daily newspaper Washington Post on May 28, 2019. The basic message of the article is that in the wake of recent releases of various U. S. military information on the UFO issue, there could no longer be any doubts about the reality of the UFO phenomenon (in the sense of unidentified flying objects with anomalous characteristics). This positioning differs in a significant way from the usual reporting of important leading media in the USA on the UFO topic for decades. However, the Washington Post article does not stand alone, but is part of a whole wave of media events related to the UFO phenomenon that have attracted much attention in the U. S. and worldwide since late 2017. Among other things, it became known that the U. S. military intelligence agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), maintained a secret UFO research program called the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) from 2007 to 2012. This article sheds light on the background of the events and, with a view to historical PR campaigns and intelligence activities in connection with the UFO topic in the USA, endeavors to critically assess and contextualize the current situation. The focus is on the question of whether a targeted disinformation campaign could be behind the current reporting.