Opinion | The new UFO scare
By Tom Fowdy
The 1950s and 60s were a tense time for the United States. The escalating tensions of the Cold War, of which encompassed the space race, had effectively opened new frontiers in the fields of military and technology. The growing fascination with outer space, combined with the mass expansion of television media, created a "Golden Age" of Science-fiction, which in turn with the military and political climate, led to explosion in so-called "UFO" sightings throughout America.
These so-called UFO sightings were alleged by conspiracy theorists to be associated with extra-terrestrial life, and in turn were being subject to a coverup by the United States government who sought to keep the public from the truth. In many instances, it was military testing and experiments, such as the "Roswell UFO incident" in 1947, which contributed to the hysteria, as well as facilities like the mysterious "Area 51". While these are obviously air force related matters, their legacies in science fiction demonstrate the lasting cultural influences of the Cold War.
Yet history appears to be repeating itself. A new wave of mass hysteria over "UFOs" is being driven, ironically not by alien believing conspiracy theorists, but by the United States government itself as part of its escalatory paranoia pertaining to China. Following the notorious "spy balloon" incident last week, the US government has claimed to have detected and shot down numerous more "unidentified" objects within its airspace, including one in Canada. Oddly enough, these objects have not strictly been identified as "Chinese". Then suddenly, on Sunday evening China also claimed that a similar "UFO" was present in its waters, and would shoot it down accordingly.
It is difficult to know as to whether China's response was a "tit for tat" ruse, yet it seems otherwise clear the United States is promulgating a campaign of mass hysteria and paranoia over potential "surveillance" in the bid to raise military tensions, while of course also escalating its technological war against Beijing. What the lessons of the original Cold War teach us that the United States understood very well that the weaponization of "paranoia", in particular the spectre of Soviet infiltration and espionage, was critical in advancing support and legitimation for large scale military confrontation. It might go unnoticed that just days ago, the Biden administration has asked for "the largest US military budget in history".
This reminds us that the United States has always marketed "fear" as a political weapon of sorts, whether it be fear of "Russian interference", "Weapons of Mass Destruction", "Communist infiltration", "espionage", terrorism", or other perceived threats, and subsequently uses these fears to shape the international narrative in its favour, influence the mainstream media, and buy support for its goals. These acts tend to intensify when internal-partisan struggle within the US intensifies, hence the Republicans are now in control of the Houser of Representatives. Furthermore, it might be noted the UK has decided it will conduct a "taskforce" into these "Chinese balloons" despite having not been involved in the matter, another example of how Britain always finds itself roped in to whatever the US wants.
The year 2022 in particular was a turning point for US foreign policy, as owing to the impact of the Ukrainian war, the Biden administration's strategy became overtly militaristic in character, a significant departure from the legacy of the Trump administration. The war in Ukraine allowed the administration to reshape the international context into a struggle between democracy and autocracy, and as such has intensified the scope of military containment policies against China and placing renewed emphasis on Taiwan. As such, the rampant tidal wave of hysteria over balloons and UFOs are being used to manufacture consent for a marked increase in defence spending, more attempts to militarily encircle China and of course stronger alliances through the declaration of a "common threat".
In conclusion, the United States pursues foreign policy and government via an appeal to mass paranoia and hysteria. When viewed in the historical context, it feels almost surreal to recognize how this constant geopolitical scaremongering has decisively impacted US culture and discourse, with an entire genre of science-fiction and fascination over aliens having been a product of America's highly secretive, military-centric and paranoia driven public discourse. A certain Green Day Song comes to mind yet again.
The author is a well-seasoned writer and analyst with a large portfolio related to China topics, especially in the field of politics, international relations and more. He graduated with an Msc. in Chinese Studies from Oxford University in 2018.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
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