Where did the UFO and alien PsyOps begin and who was behind it?

In recent years, there has been a surge in corporate media coverage of unidentified flying objects (“UFOs”) and alien disclosure, with government agencies, intelligence services and space organisations actively discussing the topic.  The coordinated messaging across media and government agencies has raised questions about whether this is part of a larger agenda.

In the first part of a series of articles exposing a century of UFO PsyOps, Matthew Ehret explores the role of H.G. Wells, cybernetics, World War II Germany, the RAND Corporation, the US Central Intelligence Agency (“CIA”) and Britain’s Military Intelligence Section 6 (“MI6”).

The following is a summary of the article ‘A Century of UFO PsyOps Exposed Part 1: From War of the Worlds to Laurence Rockefeller’s Disclosure Project’ written by Matthew Ehret and published by The Last American Vagabond on 17 December 2024. Ehret’s article has many more hyperlinks to sources than we have included below.

In recent years, there has been a surge in corporate media coverage of UFOs and alien disclosure, with government agencies, intelligence services and space organisations actively discussing the topic, which has led to speculation about the motivations behind this sudden shift in attention.

The coordinated messaging across media and government agencies has raised questions about whether this is an attempt to deflect attention from other pressing issues or part of a larger agenda, leaving citizens to decide what to believe.

Table of Contents

‘The War of the Worlds’

To understand the context of this phenomenon, it is useful to look back at the 1938 radio broadcast of H.G. Wells’ ‘The War of the Worlds’, which was presented as a live news report and caused widespread panic among American listeners who believed a real alien invasion was underway.

The broadcast was organised by CBS and the Princeton Radio Research Project, which was funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, and serves as an early example of using science fiction to shape public perception and manipulate fear.

H.G. Wells, the author of ‘The War of the Worlds’, was not only a science fiction writer but also a leading strategist of the London Fabian Society, a group promoting a global secular religion of collectivism, and an early propagandist with British Intelligence’s Propaganda Bureau during World War I.

Wells’ non-fiction works, such as ‘Open Conspiracy: Blueprint for a World Revolution’ (1928) and ‘New World Order‘ (1940), reveal his thoughts on the need for a new system of faith to replace traditional values and promote a new world order, highlighting the connection between science fiction and the shaping of public opinion.

As outlined in his book ‘New World Order’, Wells envisioned a new age of world government, where the abolishment of private property was a pre-condition for remoulding human nature into a collective hive of obedient serfs.

Wells proposed “the handling of the common affairs of mankind by a common control.”  The “common control” Wells envisioned was in the form of a World Brain that would control all information and acceptable definitions and symbols used to direct the behaviour of humanity.

“In his ‘Open Conspiracy: Blueprint for a World Revolution’, Wells wrote of the new system of faith required to replace the obsolete age of Christianity which caused the minds of citizens to become too unruly and inclined to resist a new world order while also embracing their sense of nationalism, family, and of course sense of God,” Ehret wrote.

Cybernetics: The Science of Control and its Applications

The end of World War 2 saw the emergence of a new branch of science called cybernetics, founded by Norbert Wiener, a protégé of Lord Bertrand Russell, and sponsored by the US Air Force, Josiah Macy Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation.

Wiener’s work on radar defence systems was influenced by British Scientist Sir Henry Tizard, who headed the Tizard Mission to Washington in 1940, transferring knowledge of jet propulsion systems, microwave radar and integrated management systems to American scientists.

The Tizard Mission played a crucial role in the development of the joint US-British Manhattan Project, which saw the application of Tizard’s radar systems that could detect flying objects beyond human eyesight.

Wiener’s “science of control” emerged from his efforts to use radar information to shoot down enemy rockets and aircraft, using a three-fold process of feedback loops, which was later extended to analyse and control humanity as a whole.

Wiener and his patrons applied the logic of feedback loops, symbolic logic, and information interpretation to humanity, treating it as a computer system organised by expert programmers, with the goal of achieving a collective hive of obedient serfs.

By 1946, the science of cybernetics had advanced enough to be applied across various government, educational and military departments through “systems analysis” and systems planning, leading to the re-organisation and compartmentalisation of agencies under centralised control.

The RAND Corporation and the Shaping of Policy

The RAND Corporation, established in 1946 as an outgrowth of the US Army Air Force, was the first organisation to emerge based on cybernetic principles, bringing together specialists from universities, intelligence, the military and the private sector.

The RAND Corporation aimed to remove policy-making from elected leaders and instead use “scientific” decision-making managed by expert technicians, utilising statistical probability theory to craft policy proposals for various aspects of human life.

The RAND Corporation was given legitimacy by the roles played by leading generals Lauris Norstand and Major General Curtis Lemay, with Robert Stanton as its first director, who was also the President of CBS, a member of the Council of Foreign Relations and the manager of the 1938 War of the Worlds psychological experiment.  In this function, Stanton worked closely with another Rockefeller asset named Hadley Cantril who co-directed the Princeton Radio Research Project and later became the American agent for British Security Coordination under MI6 operative William Stephenson.

Cantril played a significant role in pioneering public opinion polling systems to assist in social manipulation and cybernetic systems control, receiving funding from the Rockefeller Foundation for various projects, including the Institute for International Social Research and the Office of Public Opinion Research at Princeton.

During the 1940s-1950s, Cantril also pioneered public opinion polling systems to assist in social manipulation and cybernetic systems control.

First, in 1940, Cantril headed the Institute for International Social Research with Rockefeller Foundation funding.

That same year, Cantril co-founded the Office of Public Opinion Research at Princeton with a $90,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.

In 1941, George Gallup (a close friend of Nelson Rockefeller) and Cantril were employed by the Rockefeller Brothers fund to set up The American Social Survey, and in 1955, Cantril set up the Research Council Inc. with Lloyd Free (Secretary for the Rockefeller Communications Group).

A Century of UFO Psyops Exposed Part 1: From War of the Worlds to Laurence Rockefeller’s Disclosure Project by Matthew Ehret, The Last American Vagabond, 17 December 2024

As later revealed by Frances Stonner Saunders in his ‘The Cultural Cold War,’ the Rockefeller Foundation and the Macy Foundation were a front for CIA funding.

And to protect the secrets of Cantril and Dr. Gallup, David Ogilvy, a close associate of Cantril, requested that the author of ‘The Quiet Canadian‘, a biography of William Stephenson, remove references to Cantril and Dr. Gallup to avoid compromising their secret work with the US government and MI6.

Cantril had conducted a significant amount of secret polling for the US government, and Ogilvy sought to protect his friend’s reputation and the sensitive nature of his work.

The use of polling was intended to encourage citizens to adapt to correct “popular opinions,” with MI6 operative William Stephenson stating that “Great care was taken beforehand to make certain the poll results would turn out as desired.”

The RAND Corporation published a report in 1950 titled ‘Exploitation of Superstitions for Purposes of Psychological Warfare’, which outlined the need to identify and manipulate superstitions in target populations for psychological warfare purposes.  The report’s author suggested studying local superstitions and folklore to determine the most effective ways to propagandise various audiences, including Eastern Europeans, Russians and Soviet nationalities, as well as peasants, combat troops, airmen and civilians.  It noted that superstitions tend to flourish in environments of tension and insecurity, making them a useful tool for psychological manipulation.

German Aerospace Engineering and Flying Saucer Technology

In the 1930s, German aerospace engineers at the Peenemünde Army Research Centre developed a department to explore new aerial vehicle designs, including “flying discs” that could overcome limitations in conventional aviation and rocketry.

Professor Ludwig Prandtl proposed a solution to the “Bounded Layer Effect” problem in 1936, which was later developed by Dr. Alexander Lippisch into a design that used suction technology and circular wings.  The design, dubbed “J1253,” was tested in 1941 and led to breakthroughs in rotating circular aircraft design, including the use of hypergolic fuels and the potential to overcome the sound barrier without sonic booms.

The Peenemünde team, including Victor Schauberger, made significant contributions to the development of flying saucer technology, which was later absorbed into America’s secret post-war science programme through operations like Project Paperclip.

Schauberger’s work was later used in Canada’s Avro Arrow programme but he pushed back when he discovered his designs would only be used for military purposes. His patents were subsequently stolen, leading to his return to Austria and death.  Schauberger’s grandson revealed that his grandfather was forced to sign a contract transferring the rights to his ideas, patents and thoughts to an American consortium in order to return home and he died just five days later.

After World War II, many scientists from Peenemünde were absorbed into the Anglo-American secret science apparatus and their designs disappeared under a veil of secrecy. However, evidence of continued flying saucer designs can be found in declassified programmes such as the American Silver Bug Project and Canadian Avro Arrow’s Project 1794.

Declassified images of prototype saucers that survived the purges of 1945 are available HERE, and other advanced models of aircraft developed during the war include the Vought Flying Flap Jack V173 fighter jet and the Horton H IX turbojet fighter bomber.

Post-War Developments and the CIA’s Interest in UFOs

A declassified CIA report from May 1953 noted that construction on flying saucers continued after 1945 under Canada’s Avro Arrow and the Soviets, but did not mention the USA.

The CIA recognised the need to control the narrative surrounding sightings of advanced technologies acquired as spoils of war, and CIA director Walter Beddell-Smith suggested discussing the possible use of UFO phenomena for psychological warfare purposes.

The Robertson Panel – a CIA-run UFO investigation commission led by a Manhattan Project quantum physicist named Howard P. Robertson – recommended that the Air Force train personnel to report on UFO sightings and monitor civilian UFO groups due to their potential influence on mass thinking and possible use for subversive purposes.

“After WW2, Robertson had become a classified CIA employee in the Office of the Secretary of Defence, and scientific advisor to NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander of Europe, where he would have worked in close proximity to none other than Lord Louis Mountbatten,” Ehret wrote.

The Robertson Panel’s recommendations raise questions about the later role of former CIA Director Roscoe Hillenkoeter as director of the National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena, and whether his involvement was part of a CIA effort to manipulate the public rather than promote UFO disclosure.

The CIA’s interest in using UFO phenomena for psychological warfare purposes suggests that the agency was seeking to shape humanity’s deepest beliefs about existence in the post-national age of world government.

The involvement of prominent figures such as Lord Louis Mountbatten and Howard P. Robertson in the CIA’s UFO investigations highlights the agency’s efforts to control the narrative surrounding advanced technologies and their potential impact on the public.

The Robertson Panel’s final report noted that the discovery of extraterrestrial artifacts would unite countries due to a common threat, highlighting the potential for a unified global response to an external threat.

Radar Deception and its Potential for Manipulation

Radar deception techniques, including electronic countermeasures (“ECMs”) and radar spoofing, were developed during World War II to disrupt enemy radar operators and create false objects, such as “ghost aircraft,” on radar screens.

General Robert Samford, the first director of the NSA, described the capability of radar to play tricks in 1952, and Dr. Leon Davidson, a leading chemical engineer who worked on the Manhattan Project, suggested in 1959 that the CIA had caused or sponsored saucer sightings for its own purposes using radar deception techniques.

Dr. Davidson cited a 1957 edition of ‘Aviation Research and Development’ that described a radar moving target simulator system capable of generating up to 6 individual targets on radar indicators, simulating realistic flight paths and speeds of up to 11,500 mph.

The CIA took radar deception to new levels in the 1960s under Project Palladium, redefining the art of projecting “phantom aircraft” on radar and later used Digital Radio Frequency Units to send false signals to Libya in the 1980s as part of a programme to overthrow President Qaddafi under the CIA’s VECTOR programme.

The CIA’s VECTOR programme was discontinued in 1986 after being leaked to the press but similar tactics were used again in 2004 to create “ghost aircraft” on Iranian radar as part of Dick Cheney’s efforts to conduct regime change in Iran.

There is reason to believe that this technology was used again in January 2020, when Iranian radar operators detected an incoming missile that was later found to be a civilian aeroplane, highlighting the potential for radar deception to be used for malicious purposes.

US Government UFO Investigations and the Potential for Global Unity

US government UFO investigations began in 1947 under ‘Project Sign’ which was followed by ‘Project Grudge’ in 1949.  The most influential government-sponsored UFO research project was created in 1949 with the UK’s ‘Flying Saucer Working Party’ under the chairmanship of Sir Henry Tizard.

Lord Louis Mountbatten, former Allied Commander of The Pacific Fleet during World War II, noted the usefulness of a potential alien threat in uniting the world together, highlighting the potential for UFOs to be used as a tool for global unity.

Lord Mountbatten stated in 1950 that the existence of advanced UFOs could potentially unite humanity against a common threat, echoing earlier sentiments expressed by British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden in 1947.

The idea of an external threat uniting humanity was first proposed by H.G. Wells in his novel ‘The War of the Worlds’ and later reiterated by John Dewey, a fellow Fabian Socialist, in a 1917 speech to an Imperial Japanese delegation in Washington.

Project Bluebook and the CIA’s Role in Shaping the UFO Mythos

Following the publication of Tizard’s report in 1950, Air Force General Charles Cabell launched ‘Project Bluebook’, an American programme that operated from 1952-1969 and was initially headed by Captain Edward J. Ruppelt.

Cabell, who served as Deputy Director of the CIA from 1953-1961, worked alongside Allen Dulles to cultivate the UFO myth as a tool for psychological warfare and to confuse the Russians about American technology.

Dr. Leon Davidson recognised the role of Allen Dulles in creating the UFO mythos, which served a two-fold purpose of engaging in mass psychological warfare with the American people and confusing the Russians about American technology.

Dr. Davidson noted that Dulles worked closely with his friend Carl Jung (an occultist who worked as an OSS agent and personal guru to Dulles) to revise humanity’s entire identity by re-writing history and religions with aliens replacing the role of God.

The CIA’s efforts were aided by a dramatic increase in UFO sightings in 1952, with 889 reports recorded between June and October of that year, which provided a basis for the creation of a psychological warfare campaign.

Dr. Davidson’s research revealed that the CIA planned and carried out a series of “incidents” involving regular military units, which led to cases considered as authentic evidence of UFOs, and that Ruppelt was selected and groomed for the job of public relations without his knowledge.

The US government used magicians’ illusions and showmanship to blend in UFO sightings with legitimate military test sightings, creating a public perception that space travel was a real possibility and easing Congressional appropriations for the “moon race” with Russia.

Allen Dulles found that UFO believers and their clubs were an ideal propaganda vehicle, which was utilised to further the government’s agenda.

The 1952 Washington DC Overflights and the Use of UFOs for Psychological Warfare

The Tizard report and the July 1952 Washington DC overflights of two mysterious objects were significant events that contributed to the Air Force’s UFO research project, sparking concerns about a potential security breach and the possibility of Soviet involvement or the existence of American classified flying machines.

The 1952 Washington DC overflights drew parallels to the 1951 Hollywood film ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still,’ which featured Martians landing in Washington DC. This topic will be explored further in the next instalment of the series, Ehret said.