British Vision Issue 64, 美英曾隐瞒不明飞行物体实情

Did the British and American governments routinely cover up information about UFOs? The answer appears to be yes to an extent, anyway. The Ministry¹ of Defence has said that it will start releasing thousands of secret UFO documents it's held, for in some cases, decades. It comes as the most famous UFO incident in America, the alleged² crashing of an alien craft at Roswell--celebrates its 60th anniversary with a bizarre new twist. Helene Cacace reports.

Roswell, New Mexico, 1947. It's a time and place that lives forever, well, on some of the wild expanses of the Internet anyway. On the morning of July the 8th, the Roswell Army Air Field issued a press release, claiming they had recovered a crushed flying disk. Later that day, the story changed, and the statement was retracted³. Rather than a flying saucer, the Roswell army said they had recovered a weather balloon. A mistake or a cover-up, this week saw the sixtieth anniversary of the incidents, and a celebration showed the continued fascination⁴ amongst Ufologists, conspiracy⁵ theorists, and the plain weird⁶. And a new dramatic twist in the tale has once again breathed life into the young. Walter Haut was an army press officer at Roswell in 1947. He was the man who told the world that it was only a weather balloon. But after his death last year, he apparently⁷ left a sworn affidavit⁸, whose contents have just come to light, in which he says the weather balloon line was just hot air.

It was approximately 12 to 15 feet in length, not quite as wide, about 6 feet high, and more of an egg shape. Lighting⁹ was poor, but its surface did appear metallic¹⁰. No windows, portholes, wings, tail section or landing gear were visible. I was able to see a couple of bodies under a canvas tarpaulin¹¹. Only the heads extended beyond the covering, and I was not able to make out any features. But the heads did appear larger than normal, and the contour of canvas suggested the size of a ten-year-old child. I'm convinced that what I personally observed was some kind of craft and its crew from outer space.

Roswell has always been the world's most famous UFO case, and I think whilst this affidavit won't prove that an extraterrestrial spacecraft crashed at Roswell, it will make the, the weather balloon story, perhaps far more open to question, and if Roswell happened, it makes you wonder and think, oh, how many of these other UFO cases are the real thing.

But investigator¹² Mark Pilkington is more skeptical¹³ about the discovery. This latest Walter Haut deathbed letter isn't the last word on the story, er, should and certainly shouldn't be considered the Fernando of the Roswell myth; certainly Haut had a very key role(s) of play in the original story as pretty much the person that released it to the world. However, there are a lot of questions being asked about his, this, his physical and mental state at the time of his death.

With the recent release of a large mass of CIA files, known as the Crown Jewels, speculations¹⁴ mounted that a new US president might order the release of more UFO files. And it's not just the other side of the Atlantic in which UFO files from the 40th of president day are being disclosed. The Ministry of Defense¹⁵ inundated¹⁶ by freedom of information requests has decided¹⁷ to release a huge quantity of files relating to UFO reports. The MOD told More4 News that there are so many, it could take three years to make them all available. And if you thought they relate to the UFO-obsessed 40s or 50s, you'd be surprised. Some of them are likely to be from project Condign¹⁸, a secret UFO investigation¹⁹ which was launched and then after seven years' roundup under Tony Blair's government.

We are gonna find a whole mixture of things. We are going to find some reports on classic UFO cases. Also, we are gonna find some new cases that we haven't heard of before. We will find UFOs reported by pilots and police officers. We will find evidence of UFOs tracked on radar²⁰.

Problem is, of course, to the true believers, no amount of dusty files will satisfy. As with Roswell in 1947, there'll always be a dissatisfied conspiracy theorist somewhere.

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1.hot air:(colloq.) pretentious²¹ or unsubstantial statements or claims.

2.contour: The outline of a figure, object, topographical feature, etc.

3.whilst:Whilst means the same as the conjunction while. (mainly BRIT, FORMAL or LITERARY)

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

3 retracted   

v.撤回或撤消( retract的过去式和过去分词 )；拒绝执行或遵守；缩回；拉回

参考例句：

• He made a false confession which he later retracted. 他作了假供词，后来又翻供。
• A caddy retracted his statement. 一个球童收回了他的话。 来自辞典例句

4 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

5 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

6 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

7 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

8 affidavit   

n.宣誓书

参考例句：

• I gave an affidavit to the judge about the accident I witnessed.我向法官提交了一份关于我目击的事故的证词。
• The affidavit was formally read to the court.书面证词正式向出席法庭的人宣读了。

9 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

10 metallic   

adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的

参考例句：

• A sharp metallic note coming from the outside frightened me.外面传来尖锐铿锵的声音吓了我一跳。
• He picked up a metallic ring last night.昨夜他捡了一个金属戒指。

11 tarpaulin   

n.涂油防水布，防水衣，防水帽

参考例句：

• The pool furniture was folded,stacked,and covered with a tarpaulin.游泳池的设备都已经折叠起来，堆在那里，还盖上了防水布。
• The pool furniture was folded,stacked,and covered with a tarpaulin.游泳池的设备都已经折叠起来，堆在那里，还盖上了防水布。

12 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

13 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

14 speculations   

n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断

参考例句：

• Your speculations were all quite close to the truth. 你的揣测都很接近于事实。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• This possibility gives rise to interesting speculations. 这种可能性引起了有趣的推测。 来自《用法词典》

15 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

16 inundated   

v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
• We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

18 condign   

adj.应得的，相当的

参考例句：

• The public approved the condign punishment.公众一致称赞这个罪判得很恰当。
• Chinese didn’t obtain the equal position and condign respect.中方并没有取得平等的地位和应有的尊重。

19 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

20 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

21 pretentious   

adj.自命不凡的，自负的，炫耀的

参考例句：

• He is a talented but pretentious writer.他是一个有才华但自命不凡的作家。
• Speaking well of yourself would only make you appear conceited and pretentious.自夸只会使你显得自负和虚伪。