Antigovernment politics fused with UFO belief throughout the 1990s

Evidence

While McVeigh’s interests may seem merely the peculiarities of an individual whose true motives remain diffi cult to fathom, the connection he made between antigovernment politics and UFOs was not unique. Throughout the 1990s, right-wing conspiracy theories increasingly came together with beliefs about visiting creatures from outer space. We do not know whether McVeigh himself was affected by these speculations, but it is clear that his interests were shared by others. — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 47

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: New World Order fears merged with UFO conspiracy theories during the 1990s — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 481; Early UFO conspiracism and extreme-right conspiracism developed independently — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 423; New World Order conspiracy ideas and UFO beliefs merged into two diametrically opposed syntheses — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 420 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• New World Order fears merged with UFO conspiracy theories during the 1990s #corroborates (0.92) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 481
• Ufology’s dark side fused alien narratives with fears of secret government tyranny. #corroborates (0.90) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 479
• New World Order conspiracy ideas and UFO beliefs merged into two diametrically opposed syntheses #expands (0.85) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 420
• UFO belief pulled New World Order conspiracism out of political exile #expands (0.82) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 1081
• Early UFO conspiracism and extreme-right conspiracism developed independently #contradicts (0.80) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 423
• UFO conspiracy narratives absorbed right-wing plot motifs without clear influence #qualifies (0.78) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 457
• Political exclusion drives the mob toward conspiratorial readings of power #responds-to (0.75) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 311
• A counter-counterculture of right-wing weirdos turned subversiveness against Democratic partisans #corroborates (0.74) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 835