60. The Truth About UFOs: The CIA's Alien Obsession (Ep 3)

The Rest Is Classified

In 1955, a United States Senator claimed he saw a "greenish-yellow ball rising rapidly" over the Soviet Union. Was it a Soviet secret weapon, an extraterrestrial visitation, or something else entirely? And why was the CIA so intent on keeping its UFO investigations under wraps?


From the early days of the Cold War, the CIA found itself drawn into the burgeoning world of UFO sightings, not because of aliens, but due to a deeper fear: what if these unidentified objects were Soviet aircraft or a psychological warfare tool designed to disrupt US air defences and undermine society? This chilling possibility led the agency down a path of secret monitoring and debunking, a path that inadvertently fuelled the very conspiracy theories it sought to suppress.


Join Gordon and David as they uncover the CIA's surprising role in the UFO phenomenon, from their secret U2 spy plane tests to the farcical attempts to silence witnesses, and explore how their efforts to protect classified programs only solidified public belief in a grand cover-up.


-------------------


To sign up to The Declassified Club, go to www.therestisclassified.com or click this ⁠⁠⁠link⁠⁠⁠.


To sign up to the free newsletter, go to: ⁠https://mailchi.mp/goalhanger.com/tric-free-newsletter-sign-up⁠


-------------------


Get our exclusive NordVPN deal here ➼ nordvpn.com/restisclassified It's risk-free with Nord's 30 day money back guarantee


-------------------


Order a signed edition of Gordon's latest book, The Spy in the Archive, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠via this link.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


Order a signed edition of David's latest book, The Seventh Floor, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠via this link.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


-------------------


Email: classified@goalhanger.com


Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@triclassified⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


Assistant Producer: Becki Hills


Producer: Callum Hill


Senior Producer: Dom Johnson


Exec Producer: Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

More description

In 1955, a United States Senator claimed he saw a "greenish-yellow ball rising rapidly" over the Soviet Union. Was it a Soviet secret weapon, an extraterrestrial visitation, or something else entirely? And why was the CIA so intent on keeping its UFO investigations under wraps?


From the early days of the Cold War, the CIA found itself drawn into the burgeoning world of UFO sightings, not because of aliens, but due to a deeper fear: what if these unidentified objects were Soviet aircraft or a psychological warfare tool designed to disrupt US air defences and undermine society? This chilling possibility led the agency down a path of secret monitoring and debunking, a path that inadvertently fuelled the very conspiracy theories it sought to suppress.


Join Gordon and David as they uncover the CIA's surprising role in the UFO phenomenon, from their secret U2 spy plane tests to the farcical attempts to silence witnesses, and explore how their efforts to protect classified programs only solidified public belief in a grand cover-up.


-------------------


To sign up to The Declassified Club, go to www.therestisclassified.com or click this ⁠⁠⁠link⁠⁠⁠.


To sign up to the free newsletter, go to: ⁠https://mailchi.mp/goalhanger.com/tric-free-newsletter-sign-up⁠


-------------------


Get our exclusive NordVPN deal here ➼ nordvpn.com/restisclassified It's risk-free with Nord's 30 day money back guarantee


-------------------


Order a signed edition of Gordon's latest book, The Spy in the Archive, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠via this link.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


Order a signed edition of David's latest book, The Seventh Floor, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠via this link.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


-------------------


Email: classified@goalhanger.com


Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@triclassified⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠


Assistant Producer: Becki Hills


Producer: Callum Hill


Senior Producer: Dom Johnson


Exec Producer: Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

2025-06-29 32 min
Listen elsewhere

Available Results

Generated results are saved to your library for reuse and search.

No generated results are available for this episode yet.

Transcript

No transcript is available for this episode yet.
Sign in to generate a transcript for review.
Sign in

Chapters

No chapters available.