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Benjamin Sand
Professor Schuhart
ENG 111- College Composition I
24 September 2023
“The U.S. Is About to Change the Way the World Thinks About UFOs” Summary and Response
In the article “The U.S. Is About to Change the Way the World Thinks About UFO” Paul D. Shinkman:, explains to the reader the current state of affairs regarding UFOs worldwide and how
the U.S. is spearheading the movement to redefine the public perception of UFOs. Often, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) are dismissed as just a fantasy, however a report to Congress on June 24th, 2021, served to help to validate the existence of UAPs. More than just validating the existence of UAPs, the report also helped to begin destigmatizing UAPs altogether. “Progress in the ufology world would be far more achievable if there was less stigma surrounding it” (Shinkman 2). Each time the government or the military makes a comment on or investigates UAPs they gain more credibility in public perception. This destigmatizing is important because the more government, military, and public intrigue there is surrounding UAPs,
the more action to help understand UAPs will be taken. “If UAP were taken seriously just imagine the discoveries we could have made by now.” (Shinkman 2). The first steps towards legitimizing the study of extraterrestrial phenomena are easily achievable by world governments.
Some major world powers such as China and Russia have taken the first steps towards legitimizing the study of UAPs. For example, Russia has provided credible news coverage of the massive jellyfish-shaped "star” that illuminated the heavens and China has acknowledged and embraced UFO investigations. China went so far as to create the government-sponsored “China
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UFO Research Organization” with the theme of "searching for creatures that might be living in other solar systems." These two high level government events were hailed as breakthroughs in the ufology community. A critical step ufologists are waiting for is for the U.S. government to take a leadership role in the UAP legitimization. “America will always claim to have a leading role in the international search for extraterrestrials, solidified in its culture through now-infamous
sightings at Roswell, New Mexico, and elsewhere.” (Shinkman 3). If the U.S. government acknowledged Extraterrestrial Phenomenon fully then the world would follow the U.S.’s lead, but the U.S. is constrained by existing security agreements such as “Five Eyes”. Five Eyes is a security agreement between the 5 governments that have been the least receptive to UAP and consists of U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and England. The U.S. government may be unwilling to publicly break with their Five Eyes allies on a subject as controversial as UAP. At times, the Pentagon has even publicly ridiculed organizations and people that believe in UAP despite the significant amount of time and resources the U.S. government has put into research. Robert Spearing, director of international investigations for the Mutual UFO Network, one of the
oldest UFO research organizations, believes that the Pentagon is trying to hide their classified discoveries behind their public ridicule.
The purpose of this article is to destigmatize the research and public interest in UAP. It conveys this main theme by discussing the actions of major governments. By showing the reader numerous instances of observed UAP as well as government acknowledgment of these instances,
the writer’s goal is to convince the reader of the existence of UAP. This approach is effective because it takes a trusted governing body and shows that they thought it was worth investigating or acknowledging. A major government allocating resources to investigate UAPs lends legitimacy and credibility to the overall subject. The article also addressed the elimination of
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social bias surrounding the historically controversial topic of UFOs. Personally, I had never really thought about UFOs before this article and after reading the article I realized that I had an unconscious bias against UFOs. I used to include UFOs in all the other popular conspiracy theories such as the “Flat Earth Theory” and the “Moon Landing Hoax”. However, after witnessing the significant investment of time and resources that multiple governments have dedicated to UAP research, my perspective has been swayed. The same hidden bias that I had is also prevalent throughout the world. "Prejudices are one of the primary impediments to advancements in the field of UFO research." (Shinkman 4). Without prevalent prejudices against UFOs, UAP research would be much more advanced than where it is today. The primary reason this article is so important is because of the way that it reduces bias and promotes awareness of the infinite possibilities that are associated with UAP. Whether or not UAP bring with them catastrophic, world ending danger or incredible benefits unknown to civilization remains to be seen. I believe it is essential for humans to embrace our innate curiosity and explore everything there is to learn about both our world and others.
Shinkman, Paul D. “The U.S. Is about to Change the Way the World Thinks about Ufos.” Usnews.Com
, 24 June 2021, www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2021-06-24/the-us-is-about-to-change-the-
way-the-world-thinks-about-ufos
.
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