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155 The only other group that seems to stand much of a chance of effecting changes in the status quo is the UFO operators, be they aliens or Albanians. If they decide to alter their behavior and become more open—perhaps landing and presenting themselves for the TV cameras, or at least to the crowd at a softball game—all the rules will change instantly. So far, how- ever, their behavior can best be described as furtive, with little evidence that they want to be seen, let alone meet humans on anything like even terms. It wasn't that there wasn't a single scientist or reporter inter- ested in the UFO mystery; a lot of them had admitted to long- term interest, in private. Rather, it was that hardly any was willing to speak out in the face of general apathy and peer disapproval. There were increasing signs of fear in these two groups of people who were otherwise seen as courageous and far-sighted. They feared not physical harm, but professional and intellectual harm that could result from an open show of interest, let alone of support for UFO reality. A columnist for a major daily newspaper told one of the authors that he thought the story might actually be "too big"! This previously unknown journalistic concept was explained as the result of the probable chain of reasoning that would follow any serious investigation of UFOs. To wit, a reporter who took a close look at the evidence might well conclude that UFOs could be alien craft. This would inevitably lead to con- sideration of the staggering political, economic, and cultural ramifications of contact with another intelligent life-form. This in turn could lead the reporter to reject his other profes- sional responsibilities as suddenly inconsequential and focus on UFOs to the exclusion of all else. His effectiveness as a reporter would suffer and he could lose his job. It wouldn't be worth the trouble. By establishing a sham official investigation—Projects Sign, Grudge, and Blue Book—the government was able to convince enough people that it was dealing conscientiously with the problem. Not until the files of Project Blue Book, et al became available long after its demise could it be seen that, far from KEEPING THE SECRET