Editing UFO conspiracy theories (section)

====Keyhoe's "Flying Saucer Conspiracy"====
On December 26, 1949,   ''True'' magazine published an article by [[Donald Keyhoe]] titled "[[The Flying Saucers Are Real]]".<ref name="Peebles"/>{{rp|40–41}}<ref name="Gulyas20210"/>  Keyhoe, a former Major in the US Marines, claimed that elements within the Air Force knew that saucers existed and had concluded they were likely 'inter-planetary'.<ref name="Gulyas20210">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a_hPEAAAQBAJ|title=Conspiracy and Triumph: Theories of a Victorious Future for the Faithful|first=Aaron John|last=Gulyas|date=November 8, 2021|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476680767|via=Google Books|access-date=December 23, 2021|archive-date=December 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223072307/https://books.google.com/books?id=a_hPEAAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

The article  examined the [[Mantell UFO incident]] and quoted an unnamed pilot who opined that the Air Force's explanation "looks like a cover up to me". The article claimed a "rocket authority at Wright field" had concluded saucers were interplanetary. Concern over a public panic, of the kind that supposedly occurred after the [[The War of the Worlds (1938 radio drama)|1938 War of the Worlds broadcast]], is cited in the article as a possible motive for the cover up.

The ''True'' article caused a sensation.<ref name="Peebles"/>  When Keyhoe expanded the article into a book, ''The Flying Saucers Are Real'' (1950), it sold over half a million copies in paperback. The Air Force denied "flying saucers" exist and further denied that they were US technology being covered-up.<ref name="Peebles"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/321202817/|title=19 Mar 1950, 1 - The Tribune at Newspapers.com|website=Newspapers.com|access-date=25 December 2021|archive-date=20 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211220032735/https://www.newspapers.com/image/321202817/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Donald Keyhoe on Mike Wallace.gif|thumb|UFO conspiracy proponent Donald Keyhoe (right) interviewed by Mike Wallace on March 8, 1958<ref name="Gulyas2015"/>{{rp|38–39}}]]
In 1954, before Sputnik the first man-made satellite,  Keyhoe told press that [[Black Knight satellite conspiracy theory|alien satellites]] had been detected in Earth orbit.   
In 1955,  Donald Keyhoe authored a new book that pointedly accused elements of the United States government of engaging in a conspiracy to cover up knowledge of flying saucers.<ref name="Peebles"/>{{rp|111–113}}<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tD7bAAAAMAAJ|isbn=9781523928668|title=The Flying Saucer Conspiracy|year=1955|last1=Keyhoe|first1=Donald Edward}}</ref> Keyhoe claims the existence of a "silence group" orchestrating this conspiracy.<ref name="Peebles"/>{{rp|110–113}} Historian of Folklore [[Curtis Peebles]] argues:   "''The Flying Saucer Conspiracy'' marked a shift in Keyhoe's belief system. No longer were flying saucers the central theme; that now belonged to the silence group and its coverup. For the next two decades Keyhoe's beliefs about this would dominate the flying saucer myth."<ref name="Peebles"/>{{rp|110–113}}<!--''The Flying Saucer Conspiracy'' also incorporated legends of the [[Bermuda Triangle]] disappearances.<ref name="Peebles"/>{{rp|110-113}} Keyhoe sensationalized claims, ultimately stemming from optical illusions, of unusual structures on the Moon.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.amusingplanet.com/2019/10/a-natural-land-bridge-on-moon.html|title=A Natural Land Bridge on The Moon|website=www.amusingplanet.com}}</ref>{{better|date=February 2025}} -->

On January 22, 1958, Donald Keyhoe appeared on CBS's [[Armstrong Circle Theatre]] in an episode titled "UFO: Enigma of the Skies".   During the live broadcast, Keyhoe deviated from the pre-approved script, announcing "now I’m going to reveal something that has never been disclosed before".  At this point in the broadcast, Keyhoe's microphone was cut. According to Peebles,  "Millions of people thought the Air Force had (literally) "silenced" Keyhoe. Keyhoe emerged as the winner of the Armstrong Theater battle. Believers would point to it as an example of 'silencing.' To the public at large, CBS's cutting off of the audio gave Keyhoe's appearance an impact much greater than anything he said."<ref name="Peebles"/>{{rp|129}}