The truth is (slightly more) out there. This month the FBI announced an improved document area on its website, The Vault, with more than 2,000 government files. Many of them had previously been available, but not easily accessible. Now they've all been scanned and are searchable. The UK made a similar information release last month.
Conspiracy theory lovers and alien hunters are particularly enjoying the documents added to the Unexplained Phenomenon category. This section contains documents related to:
- Guy Hottel
- The Magestic 12
- The National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena
- Roswell UFO
- Animal mutilation
- Extra-sensory perception (ESP)
- UFOs
- Project Blue Book
Some of those categories are thin on content. The "Roswell UFO" section is exactly one page, the already-famous 1947 teletype note from Dallas that mentions "an object purporting to be a flying disc was recovered near Roswell, New Mexico." The Guy Hottel category contains only one page as well, but a page that has been the center of much of the news about The Vault.
The Majestic 12 documents are among the most interesting to conspiracy theory buffs. "This file relates to an FBI inquiry into the possible unauthorized disclosure of classified information when a document marked 'Top Secret' was made public. This investigation was closed after it was learned that the document was completely bogus.” Most of the subsequent pages have "BOGUS" written in large, bold letters across them.
The UFO category has 1600 pages for you to make your way through. Through all the documents, you'll find stories of "bodies of human shape," tales of cattle mutilation, and assorted other sci-fi-esque incidents.
In a less Mulder-and-Scully direction, The Vault also contains documents on a wide range of themes, including anti-war and civil rights movements, organized crime, and pop culture--a section nearly as fun to read as the UFO documents. Read about death threats against Colonel Sanders and what Biggie Smalls was carrying when he died, and 102 pages about the details of the unsolved murder of Tupac Shakur. The most recently added files include documents on Lucille Ball, Bettie Page, Paul Harvey, and Jimi Hendrix.
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