DeKALB – Official reports of a government conspiracy to repurpose crashed alien aircraft aren’t making much of an impact on people.  

On July 26, retired Air Force intelligence officer Maj. David Grusch testified to Congress that the U.S. government has been retrieving and attempting to reverse engineer wrecked UAPs (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena) for decades and claims “non-human biologics” were found at some crash sites.

The Pentagon has denied all claims.  

Grusch’s testimony would have abducted listeners from their seats 50 years ago, but today, it’s not so out of this world. NIU’s Associate Professor of Sociology Kristopher Robison said the answer is simple.  

“Unless it affects people’s everyday lives, the revelation of aliens, I don’t see that much of an impact on people,” Robison said. “And therefore, it would have to be a revelation that kind of changes the economy, people’s daily routines and our systems of meaning.”

Even with the advent of such a revelation, it will take convincing for some students to believe the government. 

First-year health science major, Ivette Villa, remains skeptical. 

“You wouldn’t expect to get that kind of information from the government, would you,” Villa said. “They would need a lot of facts and information for me to believe it. If it happens, it happens. You’ll adapt to that new thing in the world.”  

However, even if the government did share more information, a lack of past transparency and an internet overflowing with misinformation has left many people questioning what to believe.

“We’re going through what I call and what others have called the ‘legitimation crisis’ right now and that there’s kind of a decline in trust in our major social institutions,” Robison said.  

Sophomore computer science major, William Letterman, is skeptical of government transparency and is on the fence about Grusch’s testimony. 

“I don’t think it’s improbable,” Letterman said. “I don’t think our government is the most honest. I believe they’ve been trying to find stuff out, and I’m skeptical about the facts.” 

Cynicism aside, deep down, some believe that people need to believe in something.  

“You know, everybody’s been deeply cynical about politics, deeply cynical about the police and so on,” Robinson said. “And at the same time, we have a deep need for systems of meaning and purpose.”

On Sept. 14, an independent task force commissioned by NASA released a report on the nature and origin of UAPs after a yearlong investigation.  

The report found no evidence to suggest any of the UAPs were of extraterrestrial origin. However, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson added that the origin of these UAPs is still unknown. 

For now, humanity will have to keep looking to the stars for answers.