I'm From the Government and I'm Here to Help
Looking at the year ahead ...
Last year, I thought it might be fun to write an article about what everybody does for a living. By “everybody” I mean the many podcasters, artists, and amateur journalists who make up the UFO Community. My guess was that I would find an eclectic mix of professional backgrounds and I thought there could be a good human interest story on what they all had in common.
Instead, what I found were real estate agents. A lot of them! That list included some notable figures like Alejandro Rojas (of OpenMinds TV), Robert Powell (of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies) and … David Grusch (of recent whistleblower fame).1 Somewhere in there is a good story I’ve yet to find, but one thing is clear, I’m definitely in the wrong line of work.
You see, I’ve spent the majority of my career working for the government. Not THE government, as in, the United States Federal Government, but more like government(s) which include a major city and state. Aside from a brief internship in Washington D.C., I have no exposure to U.S. national security and I don’t really have any kind of insider knowledge on how the military works.
What I do have is about 12 years of experience in how large, government-funded projects work. And I think as we’re talking about all the recent UFO studies (past and present) that could be a good skillset to bring forward this year. How do I plan to do that?
Can you take a compliment?
I’m relying on your maturity to see that I’m not trying to put down any of the people who don’t share a professional background like mine. I have absolutely no idea how to appraise an antique, but I promise that if I find something in my attic, Martin Willis (of Podcast UFO) is going to be my first call.
I just happened to notice that a lack of government experience has led to some notable podcasters and journalists being taken for a ride. And I’m not here to criticize them. I’m here to offer my background as a resource and complement to their efforts.
One good example of this problem could be found in the early interviews conducted with Luis Elizondo. As the former Director of a Pentagon effort called the “Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program,” Elizondo claims he was blocked from briefing the Secretary of Defense and that’s part of what prompted his resignation.2 The overall discussion of this claim suggested that it was discomfort with the UFO subject that created that block. But someone with a background like mine might have recognized that the type of effort he was running is probably what killed the briefing.
Even though it had the word “Program” in its title, it’s pretty clear from description that Elizondo was actually running an unfunded “working group.” Would the Secretary of Defense take a briefing from an unfunded working group? That’s very unlikely. This has less to do with the military’s attitude on UFOs than it does with how bureaucracies work. So if you’re someone wanting to be informed on this topic and deciding whether or not there is a conspiracy inside the Pentagon, I think you need to be aware of all the “normal” reasons that UFO investigations like this might have floundered.
Specialists V. Generalists
Of course, since that famous New York Times article in 2017, more and more “government insiders” have come forward to discuss this topic openly. But here, again, I need to make a delicate point that brings your attention to another gap.
Working on a government track generally streams you into being a specialist in a very niche topic or a generalist who moves from project to project. This is the difference between maintaining the inter-state highway for 25-years (specialist) or building new transit projects whenever they crop up (generalist).
As far as I can see, most of the people who have come forward so far are specialists with a very intimate knowledge of their portfolio. But because of the track they chose, they would also be insulated from some of the important reasons that decisions are made, money is spent, and legislation is written. I am a generalist with a project background exposing me to all three. So when we’re trying to understand something like “what’s going on with the Navy’s UAP Task Force?” (2018-2021), I’m your man when it comes to talking about the “Task Force” part of that title.
So in that sense, it’s not just that I’m “from the government and here to help.” It’s that I’m from the very high-level part of the government that spends money on big stuff, which exposes me to the ins and outs of how decisions are made. Looking at the year ahead, I hope I can use some of that experience to shed some light on the big questions still lingering inside the UFO Community, and, of course, I hope my readership might include you.
Next week we’ll get started by looking at “what’s up with all these Pentagon UFO programs?” Until then.
Best,
The Author
Of The Other Topic
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Results for Alejandro Rojas and Robert Powell were pulled from Linkedin. David Grusch’s resume is publicly available and indicates that he became a licensed real estate broker in 2020.
Bender, Bryan. “The Pentagon’s Secret Search for UFOs.” Politico, December 16, 2017. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/12/16/pentagon-ufo-search-harry-reid-216111/.