THEN AND NOW

It can be argued that concerns of this kind may be part of the reasons for the alleged secrecy of the U.S. Government's handling of the UFO situation.

In the late 1940s, the U.S. had just emerged from the trauma of World War II. As the '50s began, the Cold War with the Soviet Union commenced. Fear of attacks on U.S. soil was part of both WWII and the Cold War.

Sightings of UFOs were becoming more frequent and some Americans were naturally somewhat unsophisticated about what these might mean.

If accounts of federal government inside activities during those decades are correct, there was anxiety in Washington, D.C., about a possible invasion or infiltration of a new kind of adversary - intelligent non-human ones.

The reasonable conclusions that these visitors were probably much more advanced technologically, and possibly in other ways, than humans also would have caused government leaders to worry.

As a result, it would be logical for them react with high levels of security, secrecy and discretion regarding public reaction to such a scenario.

It could be that programs to prepare and acclimate the public on these topics was implemented.

Now, in 2009, Americans appear to be more sophisticated about the possibilities or probabilities that UFOs and other anomalous phenomena may be real, and may be something quite complex, sensitive and unusual.

Movies, TV shows, books and other media platforms have tackled the themes of unusual situations such as UFOs and extraterrestrial visitation to our planet. Sometimes the visitors are friendly, sometimes hostile, and sometimes fairly neutral.

Maybe this is also the case in real life.

For most of us, the situation is unclear and we can only evaluate the available information and use our own intelligence, common sense and gut feelings to try to get an understanding of what might be going on.

Considering all the possibilities and outcomes from something like a daylight version of the Phoenix lights incident might help our communities and society prepare for that kind of contingency.

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