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especially during the Cold War. If the military was unable to identify that something, it seems even more logical that the event would be kept under wraps. But this does not mean that there is a cover-up specifically of UFOs, or that we ever learned what the nature of these unknowns may have been. A host of national security concerns can compel government secrecy, and the military always prefers to err on the side of excessive secrecy rather than the opposite. Returning to the easier analysis, perhaps the sensitive research projects hidden within the U.S. government avoid dealing with UFOs simply because even our most specialized intelligence officials actually don't know much about them and can see that there is nothing to be done one way or the other. The objects haven't caused us harm and there are many other, more immediately dangerous and pressing issues to be addressed, involving human survival both economical and environmental. This would mean that the only cover-up in place is that which conceals any recognition that UFOs exist, and involves nothing more than that. And this nonacknowledgment has its own logic. It makes sense that the authorities 444 aa4e4 alas a would have no motivation to announce publicly that there are apparently all- powerful unknown machines flying without restriction in our skies and 10 ox 44 1 a4 beyond our control. Would our government want to acknowledge its own impotence in the face of something unidentified yet well-documented? Some authorities may worry about public panic, whether we know what they are or not. Even if the U.S. government acknowledged the presence of an unexplained phenomenon, the extraterrestrial hypothesis would become part of the debate, and if the thinking became that these likely are vehicles or drones from somewhere else, it would appear that they have complete power over us. What official body would want to unload such a bombshell in an already unstable world? On the other hand, it is important to remember that the Belgian Air Force did just this in 1990, and other countries have done so, as well, in relationship to specific events, and no dire popular upheavals or waves of fear have disturbed these societies. Instead, people continued their regular lives with much less need than we find here in America to create alternative explanations or conspiracy theories in order to satisfy their natural human curiosity. Nonetheless, in this huge, multicultural country that sees itself as a planetary leader on many fronts, opening that door through any kind of organized official statement seems to remain entirely unappealing. However, such government reticence must and can be overcome, or at least outflanked, according to former governor Fife Symington of Arizona, who has had unique experience—to say the least—on both sides of this complicated fence, leading to his current stance on the issue. Beginning with the landmark press conference of 2007, he and others from around the world have formed a united platform seeking a new approach. The citizens of the world, including Americans, are ready to move forward.