Secrets by Angela Rieck

All secrets become deep. All secrets become dark. That’s the nature of secrets. Cory Doctorow (Science Fiction Writer)

Secrets can be dangerous. Recent news stories have demonstrated the destructive power of secrets.

The New York Times Magazine published an article by David Quammen about the origin of COVID-19; focusing on the three primary theories: (a) an accidental animal-human transmission from the Wuhan markets, (b) an accidental leak from Wuhan Institute of Virology, or (c) a deliberately manipulated virus from a Wuhan biological weapons facility.

While Quammen provided a thorough restating of the facts and hypotheses, it remains unlikely that we will ever know what brought this epidemic into the world. China has a history of lying about COVID 19. There are lies of omission (which are basically secrets) and lies of commission. China lied when they vastly underreported their death toll from COVID; and they kept the virus secret until it had been transmitted to the world. So, even if China eventually tells the truth, we probably won’t believe them.

Lies and secrets, they are like a cancer in the soul. They eat away what is good and leave only destruction behind. Cassandra Clare (American Author)

A series of Congressional hearings about UFOs, now called UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) were held recently. The Air Force has lied about possessing evidence, evaluating evidence, and being the sole repository of evidence. So, even if the Air Force provided the America public with all the data that they have recovered about each unexplained occurrence, their past behavior would strain their credulity.

Do nothing secretly; for time sees and hears all things and discloses all. Sophocles

Despite what we have been led to believe there were many early sightings by credible sources (ignoring the well-known Area 51 incident). In the 1940s, pilots reported a number of incidents over a two week period; in 1952 a UFO was sighted in Washington DC; and there were a number of UFO sightings in the Hudson Valley in the 1980s.

To evaluate these incidents, the Air Force commissioned Project Blue Book. They gave the leadership position to a young professor from Ohio State, Dr. Hynek. Originally a skeptic, Hynek was able to explain approximately 80% of the incidents. But he was surprised when the Air Force was not interested in researching the remaining 20%. As more and more sightings were reported, the workload grew too large and the Air Force closed the program, concluding that there was no reason to continue. They appointed a commission led by a skeptic that concluded that there were no credible sightings (despite their report citing a number of credible cases). The Air Force chose to use a strategy of mocking those who reported sightings, and most of the media and the public participated.

Sightings continued, some in Arizona and Texas were witnessed independently by almost 100 people. Uninterested, the Air Force farmed out the reports to a volunteer civilian organization.

Recently, a whistle blower made public that there are videos of UFOs taken by pilots, the FAA, and Homeland Security. The videos recorded aircraft that have the ability to move faster than our aircraft, turn on a dime, split in half, go underwater, and disappear.

The secret to strong security: less reliance on secrets. Dr. Whitfield Diffie (cryptographer)

Who knows what this is, or if it is even true…but what this isn’t is a mockery. Senators Reid and later Gillibrand have insisted on including funding in the military budget to enable renown scientists to study these phenomena, which is what is what has been needed. Well-known scientists such as Dr. Avi Loeb have indicated that they want to be a part of the study.

But therein lies the problem, since the Air Force has been keeping secrets for so long, can anyone trust that they will declassify and/or turn over all of the relevant evidence? Other agencies, such as the FAA and Homeland Security also have evidence. A whistle blower claimed that they also have materials from objects that crashed, but, of course, that is not verifiable. To date, three unexplainable videos have been released…the most interesting shows a craft moving at high speed, going underwater and emerging from the water as two objects.

Yet, the shaming continues.

Of course, most are not saying that these are actual UFOs, rather they are events that require further investigation. These images and sightings could be glitches with the recording technology, advanced foreign technology, elaborate hoaxes, or unknown atmospheric phenomena. The point is that they should be researched instead of mocked.

Three things cannot stay hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth. –Buddha

And that is the real danger of secrets. Because of China’s secrecy, we may never know the actual origin of the deadly virus that put the world on lockdown. Regarding UFOs, many will never be convinced that sightings are NOT alien craft (because, after all, you cannot prove the null hypothesis).

Secrets bind and separate in strict accordance with who’s in them. Lionel Shriver (Writer)

But documents are now classified at a rate of 3 per second. And these can include newspaper articles, hotel receipts, and other public documents. The method to declassify documents is time-consuming and given the rate of classifications, now impossible without an advanced tool such as AI (Artificial Intelligence). With the discovery of classified documents in the possession of Trump, Biden, and Pence, it makes it clear to me that we need to revamp the classification and declassification process. Making declassified documents available to historians, scientists, and the general public is critical for us to learn and understand our past.

Secrets are made to be found out with time. Charles Sanford (historian)

Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.