Editing Unidentified flying object (section)

==== Conspiracy theories ====

{{See also|UFO conspiracy theory|Steven M. Greer|Men in black| Brookings Report}}
UFOs are sometimes an element of conspiracy theories in which governments are allegedly intentionally "covering up" the existence of aliens by removing physical evidence of their presence or even collaborating with extraterrestrial beings. There are many versions of this story; some are exclusive, while others overlap with various other conspiracy theories.

In the U.S., an opinion poll conducted in 1997 suggested that 80% of Americans believed the U.S. government was withholding such information.<ref>{{cite press release |title=Is the Government Hiding Facts On UFOs & Extraterrestrial Life?; New Roper Poll Reveals that More Than Two-Thirds of Americans Think So |date=October 15, 2002 |publisher=[[Business Wire]] |location=New York |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Is+the+Government+Hiding+Facts+On+UFOs+%26+Extraterrestrial+Life%3F%3B+New...-a092843602 |access-date=September 12, 2013 |archive-date=December 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202230015/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Is+the+Government+Hiding+Facts+On+UFOs+%26+Extraterrestrial+Life%3F%3B+New...-a092843602 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="cnn97">{{cite news |title=Poll: U.S. hiding knowledge of aliens |url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9706/15/ufo.poll/index.html |work=CNN |publisher=Turner Broadcasting System |location=Atlanta, GA |date=June 15, 1997 |access-date=September 12, 2013 |archive-date=October 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017204345/http://www.cnn.com/US/9706/15/ufo.poll/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Various notables have also expressed such views. Some examples are astronauts Gordon Cooper and Edgar Mitchell, Senator [[Barry Goldwater]], Vice Admiral [[Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter]] (the first CIA director), [[Peter Hill-Norton, Baron Hill-Norton|Lord Hill-Norton]] (former British Chief of Defense Staff and NATO head), the 1999 French COMETA study by various French generals and aerospace experts, and [[Yves Sillard]] (former director of CNES, new director of French UFO research organization GEIPAN).<ref name="geipan" />

In June 2023, United States Air Force officer and former intelligence official [[David Grusch UFO whistleblower claims|David Grusch]] claimed that the U.S. federal government has maintained a highly secretive UFO retrieval program since the 1940s and that the government possesses multiple spacecraft of "non-human" origin.<ref>{{cite web |last=Coen |first=Susie |date=7 June 2023 |title='Non-human spacecraft' found by US 'for decades' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/06/07/ufos-made-with-non-human-materials-found-by-us/ |access-date=9 June 2023 |website=The Telegraph |archive-date=June 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610035130/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/06/07/ufos-made-with-non-human-materials-found-by-us/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="gab9">{{cite web |last=Gabbatt |first=Adam |date=9 June 2023 |title=A whistleblower claims the US has alien vehicles. But where's the proof? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/09/ufo-alien-vehicles-us-whistleblower-evidence-where-is-proof |access-date=9 June 2023 |work=The Guardian |archive-date=June 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610032500/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/09/ufo-alien-vehicles-us-whistleblower-evidence-where-is-proof |url-status=live }}</ref>

In May 2025, Matthew Brown, another former intelligence official, claimed elements of the US Government executive branch had conspired to prevent the US Congress from exercising its lawful powers of oversight with respect to UAP, Technology of Unknown Origin (TUO) and Non-Human Intelligence (NHI) issues. He also claimed there was a "criminal conspiracy" to keep the elected government of the United States ignorant of "the profound discoveries and dire threats originating from the existence of UAP, NHI, and their technologies." He claimed their was an Unacknowledged [[Special Access Program]] (USAP) called "[[Schriever_wargame#Immaculate_Constellation|Immaculate Constellation]]" that consolidated observations of UAP etc. and used "sophisticated internal information security controls" to enforce the detection, quarantining and compartmentalisation of UAP imagery collection incidents before they were circulated within the various branches of national and military intelligence. This was how such sightings and observations could be denied to exist by intelligence officials when questioned on it because it had been hidden to them by systems of internal secrecy they were unaware about.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Matthew Brown Discusses Immaculate Constellation Allegations |website=Open Minds UFO News |date=2022 |url=https://www.openminds.tv/tag/matthew-brown}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Analysis of UAP Allegations and Constellation Claims |website=UFOs Disclosure |date=2023 |url=https://ufodisclosure.org/analysis/immaculate-constellation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Evaluating UAP Claims: The Case of Immaculate Constellation |journal=Journal of Scientific Exploration |volume=36 |issue=2 |year=2022 |url=https://www.scientificexploration.org/jse/volume-36/issue-2}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=May 2025}}

A document written by an anonymous whistleblower (since revealed to have been authored by Matthew Brown in about 2018) was submitted to the [[Congressional Record]] at a public hearing of the [[House Oversight Committee]] in November 2024. <ref>{{Cite web |title=House Oversight Committee Hearing on UAPs |date=November 2024 |url=https://www.congress.gov/118/meeting/house/117721/documents/HHRG-118-GO12-20241113-SD003.pdf |access-date=2024-11-13}}</ref>

In a later interview with [[Jeremy Corbell]] and [[George Knapp (television journalist)|George Knapp]], released online in May 2024, Brown claimed that a secret group of people had successfully "reverse engineered" TUO from downed UAP and the rest of humanity had been "left behind".<ref>{{Cite video |title=Interview with Matthew Brown about Immaculate Constellation |author=Jeremy Corbell |publisher=YouTube |date=2023 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXXXX}}</ref>
===== "Disclosure" advocates =====
In May 2001, a press conference was held at the [[National Press Club (United States)|National Press Club]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], by an organization called the [[Steven M. Greer|Disclosure Project]], featuring twenty persons including retired Air Force and FAA personnel, intelligence officers and an air traffic controller.<ref>{{YouTube|id=K5Mv0_RFEB8|title=2001 National Press Club Event|link=no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Government is covering up UFO evidence, group says |first=Julia |last=Duin |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2001/may/11/20010511-022955-2774r/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Times]] |publisher=[[News World Communications]] |location=Washington, D.C. |date=May 11, 2001 |access-date=September 11, 2013 |archive-date=January 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119203739/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2001/may/11/20010511-022955-2774r/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=They're Here; UFO Watchers to Reveal Proof That Aliens Have Visited Earth |first=Vicky |last=Spavin |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/They%27re+Here%3B+UFO+watchers+to+reveal+proof+that+aliens+have+visited...-a074321804 |work=[[Daily Record (Scotland)|The Daily Record]] |publisher=[[Trinity Mirror]] |location=Glasgow |date=May 9, 2001 |access-date=March 10, 2013 |archive-date=March 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305060038/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/They%27re+Here%3B+UFO+watchers+to+reveal+proof+that+aliens+have+visited...-a074321804 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Group Calls for Disclosure of UFO Info |first1=Katelynn |last1=Raymer |first2=David |last2=Ruppe |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=98572 |work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |date=May 10, 2001 |access-date=March 11, 2013 |archive-date=July 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728235120/http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=98572 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=UFO spotters slam 'US cover-up' |first=Rob |last=Watson |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1322432.stm |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |location=London |date=May 10, 2001 |access-date=September 11, 2013 |archive-date=July 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723074515/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1322432.stm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Men in Suits See Aliens as Part of Solution, Not Problem |first=Sharon |last=Kehnemui |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/men-in-suits-see-aliens-as-part-of-solution-not-problem |work=FoxNews.com |publisher=Fox Entertainment Group |location=New York |date=May 10, 2001 |access-date=May 10, 2007 |archive-date=August 25, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825092411/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,24364,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Ooo-WEE-ooo Fans Come to D.C. |first=Declan |last=McCullagh |author-link=Declan McCullagh |url=https://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2001/05/43526 |work=[[Wired (website)|Wired News]] |publisher=[[Lycos]] |location=Waltham, MA |date=May 10, 2001 |access-date=May 10, 2007 |archive-date=June 9, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080609085452/http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2001/05/43526 |url-status=live }}</ref> They all gave a brief account of their claims that evidence of UFOs was being suppressed and said they would be willing to testify under oath to a Congressional committee. According to a 2002 report in the [[Daily Emerald|Oregon ''Daily Emerald'']], Disclosure Project founder [[Steven M. Greer]] is an "alien theorist" who claims "proof of government coverup" consisting of 120 hours of testimony from various government officials on the topic of UFOs, including astronaut [[Gordon Cooper]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Alien theorist offers proof of government coverup |first=Brad |last=Schmidt |url=http://dailyemerald.com/2002/04/25/alien-theorist-offers-proof-of-government-coverup/ |newspaper=[[Daily Emerald|Oregon Daily Emerald]] |location=Eugene, OR |date=April 25, 2002 |access-date=December 12, 2012 |archive-date=August 14, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120814040025/http://dailyemerald.com/2002/04/25/alien-theorist-offers-proof-of-government-coverup/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2007, the German UFO conspiracy forum [[Disclose.tv]] was created. The website's name references the concept of disclosure.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last1=Thomas |first1=W. F. |date=12 January 2022 |title=Disclose.tv: Conspiracy Forum Turned Disinformation Factory |url=https://www.logically.ai/articles/disclose.tv-conspiracy-forum-turned-disinformation-factory |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220112153617/https://www.logically.ai/articles/disclose.tv-conspiracy-forum-turned-disinformation-factory |archive-date=12 January 2022 |access-date=2022-10-26 |website=[[Logically (company)|Logically]] |language=en |quote=The name "Disclose" references the concept within UFO enthusiast circles of "disclosure," the time when the government will confirm the existence of aliens and release information regarding them.}}</ref>

On September 27, 2010, a group of six former USAF officers and one former enlisted Air Force man held a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on the theme "U.S. Nuclear Weapons Have Been Compromised by Unidentified Aerial Objects"<ref>{{cite press release |last1=Salas |first1=Robert |last2=Hastings |first2=Robert |title=U.S. Nuclear Weapons Have Been Compromised by Unidentified Aerial Objects |date=September 15, 2010 |publisher=[[PR Newswire]] |location=Washington, D.C. |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUS166901+15-Sep-2010+PRN20100915 |access-date=September 11, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110127022656/http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS166901+15-Sep-2010+PRN20100915 |archive-date=January 27, 2011  }} {{YouTube|id=lR3Fhyi14Pw|title="National Press Club: UFOs Tampering with Nukes – Part 1/7"|link=no}}</ref> in which they claimed they had witnessed UFOs hovering near missile sites and even disarming the missiles.

From April 29 to May 3, 2013, the Paradigm Research Group held the "Citizen Hearing on Disclosure" at the National Press Club. The group paid former U.S. Senator [[Mike Gravel]] and former Representatives [[Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick]], [[Roscoe Bartlett]], [[Merrill Cook]], [[Darlene Hooley]], and [[Lynn Woolsey]] $20,000 each to hear testimony from a panel of researchers which included witnesses from military, agency, and political backgrounds.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ex-Rep. Kilpatrick 'waiting to hear' evidence of space aliens |first=Marisa |last=Schultz |url=http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130429/POLITICS03/304290397 |work=[[The Detroit News]] |publisher=[[Digital First Media|MediaNews Group]] |date=April 29, 2013 |access-date=September 11, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130531170741/http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130429/POLITICS03/304290397 |archive-date=May 31, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.citizenhearing.org/ |title=Citizen Hearing on Disclosure |website=Citizen Hearing on Disclosure |publisher=Paradigm Research Group |location=Bethesda, MD |access-date=September 11, 2013 |archive-date=September 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130915073916/http://www.citizenhearing.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref>