MUFON UFO Journal (January 2001)

Reviewed by John Schuessler

UFOs and the National Security State
by Richard M. Dolan
Keyhole Publishing Company
5x8 paperback, 544 pages, $27.95

Richard Dolan claims to be a "history and politics" sort of a person, and it was from that viewpoint that he researched the UFO problem. In UFOs and the National Security State, Dolan presents a thorough historical analysis of the national security dimensions of the UFO phenomenon and concludes that the military and intelligence community take UFOs very seriously, despite their public statements about the matter.

He makes the case for the UFO problem being a real one because it has involved military personnel around the world for more than fifty years, and is wrapped in secrecy.

Dolan says, "I have tried to weave together three strands of narrative that have important relationships to one another: (1) UFO reports themselves, with an emphasis on military encounters; (2) the response to UFOs by national security organizations in the U.S.; and (3) additional activities by American national security groups that, while not directly UFO-related, still provide important context to the problem, and at times unique insights and connections."

This volume covers the period 1941 to 1973 and provides a good argument for UFOs being objects, not just misidentified natural phenomena It covers a period when nearly all military and intelligence operations were cloaked in secrecy, but the cloak had holes in it and important information leaked out. Dolan interprets the "available facts" gathered from these leaks to provide a clear and concise roadmap through the maze of UFO history to expose the fact that there was, and is now, a UFO cover-up in place.

It is no longer necessary to "believe" there is a UFO problem. Dolan clearly scopes the massive nature of the problem and illustrates how each and every intelligence group delved into it. It is important to read how Dolan arrived at the conclusion that "at some point during the mid-1940s, the intelligence apparatus of the U.S., as well as of several other nations, had reason to believe that there were artifacts in the skies that did not originate from America, Russia, Germany or any other country. Within the U.S., these objects violated some highly sensitive military air space, and did not appear to be natural phenomena. One may presume that the affected national security authorities made it an immediate obsession to determine the nature and purpose of these objects, and we may infer that the issue probably became a deep secret by 1946, or 1947 at the latest."

Dolan answers the question about how power and fear contribute to the UFO problem by describing how the bottom 80% of the population must be controlled, pacified, and made compliant. In the "National Security State" nearly everything of significance undertaken by America's military and intelligence community in the past half-century has occurred in secrecy.

This could be done because the U.S. Defense and Intelligence establishment has had more money at its disposal than most nations. Even though there is supposed to exist an official oversight of these operations, the fact is that oversight does not occur because of the compartmentalized nature of the security establishment. He shoots holes in the claims that secrets really cannot be kept and shows how "they" really can cover this up.

Because there are some flaws in the system, we do learn something about what is going on, while exposing the whole truth of the situation is avoided. However, deception is a key element of warfare, and when winning is all that matters, the conventional morality held by ordinary people becomes an impediment. Examples of public deception by national security elements are provided in many of the chapters.

This book gives some common sense answers to questions such as: Is interstellar travel still impossible? Do we need breakthroughs in propulsion for "them to get here from there?" Why would presumably superior aliens be interested in us? 'Why haven't they made themselves known to us? Where is the infrastructure of this alien civilization that can produce such incredible technology and enormous vessels?

Dolan’s research provides facts to substantiate the claims that the UFO phenomenon has always been global; that UFOs are actual objects; that the actual number of UFO sightings exceeds any official total; and that official government investigators found that some people were actually seeing alien beings.

He concludes that the UFO cover-up is one secret among many within the American system. Like other areas within its domain, the UFO problem has been handled secretly, with great deception, and significant resources.

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