Why the UFO Report Is Bad News for UFO Believers—and My Own UFO Tale by David Corn June 29, 2021 
A photograph from the Pentagon of the sort of unexplained objects that are the subject of a US intelligence report on "unidentified aerial phenomena," released last week. Department of Defense/AP As a kid, I was obsessed with UFOs. I pored over Erich von Daniken’s Chariots of the Gods? and the gazillion sequels that claimed aliens from other worlds had shaped human culture and helped us build pyramids, Stonehenge, and other ancient and mysterious sites. I fixated on the 1961 alien abduction story of Betty and Barney Hill. And there was the Roswell incident. I believed the truth was out there. I even witnessed a UFO. (More on that in a moment.) In the post-Watergate era of paranoia and conspiracy, it seemed obvious that the US government was covering up mind-blowing information about flying saucers and close encounters of the third kind.
Now I’m a skeptic. My assumption is that we have not been spied on, kidnapped, probed, or assisted by sentient beings from other planets. I also suspect there has not been a grand government conspiracy to hide evidence of intergalactic immigration. And it looks as if the much-awaited new UFO report released a few days ago by the director of national intelligence—which notes there have been more than 140 reports of “unidentified aerial phenomena” (or UAP) from US government and military sources—does not offer much to bolster the case of those who still believe.
The report is a breakthrough in that it acknowledges there have been some rather unusual sightings from reliable sources (including military pilots) of strange things in the air. “Some UAP appeared to remain stationary in winds aloft, move against the wind, maneuver abruptly, or move at considerable speed, without discernable means of propulsion,” the report states. But it basically says we have no idea what this stuff is.
Once upon a time, younger me was certain that schemers within the US government—the Deep State?—were sitting on evidence of alien contact. Didn’t you hear about the Men in Black who show up after UFO sightings? Area 51—what’s out there? The underlying premise of this suspicion was actually solid, though perhaps not for the reasons I then held. For years, the US government—the FAA, NASA, the military, the intelligence community—had been keeping a watch on the sky. And the technological means for doing this was becoming increasingly sophisticated. Think of the advances in satellites and various forms of imagery. Surely, this gigantic apparatus—not to mention those operated by other nations—would have spotted spaceships zipping in and out of Earth’s atmosphere and cruising through American airspace. If there were spaceships, they would be tracked and presumably chased, their courses charted. Were UFOs regularly—or occasionally—pulling over at the third rock from the sun, this vast machinery would have collected such flight information.
It’s possible that these tourists from other planets eluded systematic detection. But since there have been sightings at large, it’s tough to assume that ordinary folks (and a few pilots) were catching ganders of the aliens, and this big system missed them.
Yet the new report indicates that the US government has no good answers for the more puzzling sightings, and it adds no new knowledge useful for resolving this riddle. It states that “UAP probably lack a single explanation” and lists several possibilities: airborne clutter (ahh, the old weather balloon explanation), natural atmospheric phenomenon, advanced US commercial programs (Lockheed testing its tech), or “foreign adversary systems.” There is one other category: “other.” This suggests that the US government has not amassed through its sophisticated systems hard-and-fast information on these UAPs. And that causes me to wonder whether there’s not much there for the systems to see.
Yes, the UFO report contained only declassified information. Perhaps the classified briefing reveals far more. This nine-page document also only covers the years 2004–2021. Maybe there’s material and sightings from the decades before this period that are more illuminating. Maybe these 17 years were a slow time for alien space travel. Of course, there’s this: This report could be nothing more than a limited disclosure designed both to address the congressional demand for information and to keep the public in the dark by acknowledging UFOs—or UAPs—while protecting the big we-really-do-know secrets. That is, the truth is still out there and still being suppressed.
But let me interrupt our consideration of the report to recount my own UFO tale. I was about 12 years old and attending summer camp in New Hampshire. My group was on a multiday camping trip. One night we set up at the base of a ski mountain, in a clearing where several slopes ended. About a dozen of us opted to sleep under the stars, not in tents. We did what 12-year-old boys often do in such a circumstance: rather than turn in, we stayed up, telling ghost stories.
It was a bright night with a full—or nearly full—moon in the sky. At one point, I looked up and saw an object hovering above us. It was oval-shaped and seemed large, silhouetted against the luminescent evening sky. I told my fellow campers to look up. They all saw it—whatever it was. Judging its size was difficult. But this thing looked solid, and at the time I estimated that its altitude was several times the height of the tall trees that surrounded us.
We were spooked and called to our counselors who were in tents about 20 yards away. At first, we kept our voices low and got no response. We increasingly raised the volume of our shouts until a counselor popped out of a tent and charged at us angrily. Then he followed our pointing fingers. My recollection is that he sputtered, “Oh shit.” He saw it, too.
The object—unidentified and apparently able to fly—hovered for a while. No motion, no sound. Then it shot off. No sign of propulsion. No whoosh. It was gone.
The story does not end there. Prior to this, uh, encounter, some of us had decided to awake way too early and hike to the mountaintop for the sunrise. Since no one was able to sleep after this, we stuck to the plan. When we were about halfway up, we saw across the valley an object hovering above the opposing mountain peak. The same object? How could we know? We were looking at this thing from the side, and it appeared disk-shaped. It remained in place for at least several minutes and repeatedly flashed a sequence of lights. I once remembered the order: red, yellow, blue, green, orange—or something like that.
We kept our eyes on this UAP while we trekked up the mountain. At one point, it flew off in a zigzag maneuver at what seemed to be an incredible speed. Once more, no sound. And then we saw it no more.
The next morning, we pleaded with our counselors to report our sightings to the local police. They hemmed and hawed and later told us they had called the local authorities and were told similar reports had been received. (In retrospect, I wonder if the counselors did this, now realizing that they were probably regularly smoking weed and not eager to interact with cops who might question their sobriety.)
That’s it. An object—maybe two—in the night sky, hovering and zooming about in an inexplicable manner. Or so we thought.
Let’s consider this episode and the five types of explanations offered in the new UFO report. Could it have been advanced technology developed by the US government, private industry, or a foreign adversary? This occurred over four decades ago. It seems likely that if that object had been a top-secret vehicle from one of these sources—and flying around New Hampshire—that we might well know about it by now. Was it random airborne clutter or debris? For this observer, that’s not a satisfactory explanation. So that leaves “other.” But that doesn’t mean visitors from outer space. It means...I don’t know what.
So back to the UFO-turned-UAP report. It does officially confirm what was already widely known: People (including me) have seen bizarre stuff in the sky. But is any of this extraterrestrial? Given the report’s highly inconclusive conclusion, it seems there are three possibilities regarding the ET scenario. First, the expansive surveillance state run by the United States (and other nations) has failed to collect concrete evidence of any such visits. (Are the visitors that crafty? I can spot them but high-tech spy satellites cannot locate and track them?) Second, there is simply nothing ETish out there to detect. Finally, the wily government is continuing to mount a brazen cover-up and using this report as a ruse.
All these options are disappointing for the believers: Alien visits cannot be confirmed; there are no alien visits; or the US government is capable of maintaining a gargantuan secret while feigning transparency. Ultimately, I hope my analysis here is wrong. I would be delighted to return to believing that beings from a faraway place (or time) have knocked on our door. Some believers, no doubt, will assume that the government is still smothering the truth. Perhaps that is easier to accept than that we’re alone—or that no one from outside our solar system has bothered to stop by and say hello.
Got your own UFO story? Send it along to thisland@motherjones.com. 
Did Ivanka Trump Testify Falsely in the Inauguration Scandal Case? In my latest scoop, I report that Ivanka Trump, the former first daughter, made statements during a deposition that are contradicted by public documents and by material that I obtained. Her testimony came in the inauguration scandal case, which was filed by the Washington, DC, attorney general and which alleges that Trump’s inauguration committee and the Trump Organization connived during the 2016 inauguration to enrich the Trump clan to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is a major charge of Trump grifting that has not received the attention it deserves. When Donald Trump Jr. was deposed in the case, he made a series of apparently false statements, as I reported in April. And assorted documents—including those I recently unearthed—indicate Ivanka did the same. Like father, like son and daughter, it seems. As Ivanka and Jared try to distance themselves from Daddy Trump and rehab their reps, I wonder if this is going to stick to her. What to Read, Watch, and Listen To Hacks. Joy Reid told me to watch Hacks, the new HBO Max original series about a soon-to-be-washed-up Las Vegas star comic and a Gen Z comedy writer in Hollywood who’s been canceled for an unfortunate tweet. And Reid was right. The pairing of the Vegas diva (who’s also a QVC personality hawking goods) and this insecure but ambitious LA striver—played, respectively, by Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder—is a marvelous device for exploring assorted cultural and generational clashes. And it’s damn funny. Elements of the show might be trope-ish. Deborah Vance is the boss/comedian-from-hell with a heart of gold—though that heart only beats occasionally. Ava Daniels, a snobby hipster who looks down on the Middle Americans who are suckered into parting with their money in the casino factories of tacky Las Vegas, yearns to escape the Babbits of Sin City and return to the Los Angeles of $11 lattes. But life sucks. Deborah is losing her yearslong casino residency, and Ava is too radioactive to get a gig in La La Land. This odd couple is thrown together by the Hollywood agent they share to revive Deborah’s career and rescue Ava’s. No surprise, they initially despise each other. But then...yes, they form a bond and realize—what do you know?—they need one another. In certain hands, this plot would come across as trite and predictable. Yet the writers of Hacks deftly lift the story far above hack level. The jokes are sharp. The twists are served fully chilled. And Smart is wonderful. Pick your cliche, but this role is a tour de force for the former ditzy office manager of Designing Women. She eats it up. You will, too.
Smart has been on a tear lately, with impressive performances in some of the better or best television series of recent years: Fargo, Legion, Watchmen, and Mare of Easttown. Which reminds me. After watching The Undoing, the disappointing HBO offering featuring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant, I thought it would be best to avoid other grisly murder whodunits showcasing glam actresses. (Too many shots of Kidman wearing coats costing thousands of dollars while strolling—that is, gliding—through the avenues of Manhattan.) But I’m glad I abandoned that position for Mare of Easttown. Kate Winslet brilliantly pulls off the transformation into a gritty detective in a gritty Pennsylvania town. And Smart was a fabulous diversion as her mom. But if you haven’t watched this series yet, when you do, keep your eye on Julianne Nicholson. She’s the detective’s best friend. I won’t tell you who the perp is, but I will say this: Nicholson is guilty of stealing scene after scene.
Gary Clark Jr., “This Land.” As noted previously, I had a certain song in mind when I christened this newsletter. But a reader suggests that I promote the newsletter with a more recent song with a similar name: Gary Clark Jr.’s “This Land.” This 2019 composition is a powerful anti-racist anthem that the Grammy-winning guitar prodigy and songwriter created after a disturbing encounter with a neighbor. The fellow asked Clark who lived on the 50-acre spread in Austin that Clark had purchased for himself and his family. Clark, a Black man, said, “I do.” The neighbor said he didn’t believe that and demanded to speak with “the homeowner.” Afterward, Clark’s anger over this exchange erupted when he was in the recording studio, and the result was an intense blast at the white paranoia and racism of the Trump era. “Fuck you, I'm America's son,” Clark sings over a rough guitar riff. “This is where I come from. This land is mine.” Woody Guthrie’s song was a call for a communal vision of America and its bounty. Writing from a much different spot, Clark is defying the racist demagoguery of the moment and declaring his rightful share of the American story. I bet Guthrie would approve.
Got any feedback on the above or recommendations of what I should be reading, watching, or listening to? Send them to thisland@motherjones.com. Read Previous Issues of This Land June 22, 2021: Why the GOP is pushing “political apartheid”; Ted Cruz wins Dumbass Comment of the Week; recommendations for an Apple TV+ series and a book on the curious origins of the universe; the first Clash tour of the United States (and being trapped in a van driven by a punk on acid); MoxieCam™; and more.
June 24, 2021: How an alleged 1/6 conspirator who called for executing Trump’s foes hooked up with a prominent Republican Party official; new Los Lobos; and more.
June 26, 2021: Is Josh Hawley dumb or evil? (The answer is not both); Dumbassery that encourages mass “executions” in the United States; renowned guitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson’s new tour and new book (and his claim regarding the best strings arrangement ever on a popular song); MoxieCam™ (before and after photos!), and more.
Got suggestions, comments, complaints, tips related to any of the above, or anything else? Email me at thisland@motherjones.com.
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