Paul Bennewitz-type UFO lore grew into a full alien-government collusion narrative by 1987.
Evidence
The “horrible truth” to which MJ-12 was allegedly privy was so frightening that it drove at least one member—Secretary of Defense Forrestal—to suicide, his death disguised as the result of mental illness. According to Lear, the U.S. government began to hold meetings with the aliens on April 30, 1964, and by 1971 had negotiated a “deal.” Its terms called for transfer of the aliens’ technology to the government, in exchange for which the government would acquiesce in cattle mutilations and in the temporary abduction of American citizens. The abductees would be implanted with tracking and control devices, given posthypnotic suggestions, sometimes used as guinea pigs in genetic engineering and cross-breeding programs, and occasionally killed. — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 446
Categorization
- XREF: Echoes the conspiracy narrative structure found in contemporary alien-abduction lore and distrust-of-state genres; connects to the author’s broader chapter thesis about how conspiracy claims elaborate over time. — connects to: Satanic ritual abuse panics and UFO abduction tales both peaked in the 1980s. — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 393; The hidden-government theme unexpectedly surged through UFO documents in the late 1980s — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 438; Antigovernment politics fused with UFO belief throughout the 1990s — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 47 (+3 more)
Broader Connections
- By the late 1980s some ufologists grafted New World Order conspiracy onto UFO belief
#corroborates(0.85) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 412 - The hidden-government theme unexpectedly surged through UFO documents in the late 1980s
#corroborates(0.80) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 438 - Antigovernment politics fused with UFO belief throughout the 1990s
#expands(0.75) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 47 - Early UFO conspiracism and extreme-right conspiracism developed independently
#complicates(0.72) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 423 - Mutual corroboration among UFO whistleblowers proves nothing about truth.
#complicates(0.70) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 855