Churchill Accused of Sealing UFO Files, Fearing Public Panic

Newly released secret files show that Winston Churchill ordered a cover-up of an alleged encounter between a UFO and a RAF bomber because he feared public panic. From the article: "Mr Churchill is reported to have made a declaration to the effect of the following: 'This event should be immediately classified since it would create mass panic among the general population and destroy one's belief in the Church.'"

Comments

He saves the human race time and time again . . .

[rev_sanchez]

and still the doctor never gets any credit.

It's probably the safe thing to do

[joeflies]

The world is too caught up that the Earth is the one place for any type of life in the universe, we're not prepared to deal with other possibilities. I think that even the course that NASA is demonstrating now - proving that it's possible that there was water on Mars, opening up the possibility of a discovery of some type of life perhaps long extinct - is preparing the general public to slowly get ready to the idea that there's the existiance of extraterrestrial life. Tin foil hat time - Perhaps NASA already knows that this life exists, but they need to get the public ready for acceptance of it by slowly introducing more and more evidence so that society doesn't lose its marbles.

Re:It's probably the safe thing to do

[timholman]

The world is too caught up that the Earth is the one place for any type of life in the universe, we're not prepared to deal with other possibilities. I think that even the course that NASA is demonstrating now - proving that it's possible that there was water on Mars, opening up the possibility of a discovery of some type of life perhaps long extinct - is preparing the general public to slowly get ready to the idea that there's the existiance of extraterrestrial life. Tin foil hat time - Perhaps NASA already knows that this life exists, but they need to get the public ready for acceptance of it by slowly introducing more and more evidence so that society doesn't lose its marbles.

I would argue that the boom in popularity of science fiction/fantasy movies and TV (e.g. E.T., Star Trek, Star Wars, Babylon 5, Stargate SG-1, etc.) over the past 40 years has done more to prepare people for the possibility of extraterrestrial life than any NASA press release.

Re:Bad summary

[Runefox]

Actually, it should say:

Newly released secret files show that the grandson of one of Winston Churchill's personal bodyguards once claimed that Churchill ordered a cover-up of an alleged encounter between a UFO and a RAF bomber"

Consider that...

[minogully]

Winston probably called himself "the Church".

Panic

[ADRA]

This could be:
a. Yet another part of the ever growing, ever large conspiracy to cover up the existence of seeming observational aliens
b. A maneuver by Churchill to silence a few pilots who didn't want to fly the channel anymore and made up a story to get out of getting themselves blown up. If the story had gotten out (true or not), it would've caused possible panic and more importantly a good reasons for pilots to refuse to fly, this with the backdrop of the a truly catastrophic war.

Read the article and find that the story is told by the grandson of a guard who overheard a conversation. Wow, that is just brilliant.

Re:He saves the human race time and time again . .

[romu]

Doctor who ?

Re:blah

[kalirion]

One can take the bolded section in one of two ways:

1. If you believe in god, why would the existence of aliens prove that god doesn't exist?

Or

2. Why would you deny evidence in front of you?

"Belief in God" is quite different from "Belief in what the Church tells you."

Re:blah

[Alyred]

Of course, it could also be that he was so ahead of his time he referred to himself as "The Church, yo".

Re:blah

[darien.train]

It's not that he didn't want her to hear the word. He didn't want her pledging to a god neither he nor she believed in. Apparently the religious are extremely ignorant in legal matters (see it sounds stupid the other way around too.)

Re:blah

[Anonymous Coward]

Disturbed spirituality is common in Atheists (for example, the guy that sued the school board because the Pledge of Allegiance contains the word "God" and he doesn't want his daughter to hear THAT WORD).

Yikes, so many ad-hominems, and so many attempts at mind-reading. I don't normally dignify such comments with replies, but I'll pinch my nose and make an exception this time.

I'm not an athiest, and I don't want appeals to "God" or any other "higher power" in our Pledge of Allegiance; the fact that "under God" wasn't even a part of the pledge until 1954 underscores my belief that it doesn't belong there. I don't think "God" belongs on our currency, either, or any other piece of government officialdom. Attempts to retcon the religious belifefs, or lack thereof, of the Founding Fathers aside, I don't think religion or "spirituality" belong in the public sphere.

Re:blah

[easterberry]

I'm confronted with people who try and force their beliefs down my throat all the time. Vegetarians, vegans, gays, straights, liberals, libertarians, conservatives, and many others are far more guilty of it than Christians.

I was going to ask what gay people were trying to force down your throat. But I can't think of a way to word it that doesn't sound dirty.

Re:blah

[Kagura]

Note to all readers who are looking for comments about UFOs on this story:

Scroll down. And I mean WAAAY down, because half of the fucking comments are arguments about religion that have NOTHING to do with this story, regardless of a Churchill one-liner. Seriously, 50% of the comments below are stupid side-bars about religion.

Re:blah

[bill_mcgonigle]

"Belief in God" is quite different from "Belief in what the Church tells you."

Here's a two-thousand year old quote for you:

Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful. - Seneca (ca. 4 BC -AD 65)

Churchill was a ruler.

Re:blah

[scot4875]

I'm confronted with people who try and force their beliefs down my throat all the time.

Or, more likely, when confronted by a Christian "forcing their beliefs down your throat," you just don't notice, because it doesn't bother you as much as one of those damn gays trying to force you to not persecute or discriminate against them.

--Jeremy