Hey there, it's Chimita here. We have a rerun for you this week, and it's relevant because of some recent news.

A few weeks ago, an investigation from the Wall Street Journal revealed that for decades, officials inside the Pentagon intentionally spread disinformation about UFO sightings and alien technology, in some cases to protect secret weapons programs.

So we are re-airing my conversation from last year

with journalist Garrett Graf. He unpacks our collective fascination with UFOs, some of the possible

explanations behind UFO sightings that go beyond just extraterrestrials, and how the U.S.

government's secrecy around all of this has helped fuel alien myths.

Besides, what better time to talk about aliens than Independence Day, right? I hope you enjoy it.

This is In Conversation from Apple News. I'm Shemita Basu. Today, what our fascination with UFOs says about us

earthlings. A couple years ago, the Pentagon released some pretty startling footage.

It was captured by a Navy jet pilot in 2015.

A little black dot moving shockingly fast over the ocean.

Oh, my gosh, dude.

Wow.

Look at a great Look at it.

So fast that even the pilots weren't quite sure what they were looking at.

The Pentagon released the videos to, quote, clear up any misconceptions about whether the

footage was real.

But in many pockets of the internet, the videos, and the Pentagon statement,

were proof of something else, alien life here on Earth.

The heart of the UFO question is, are we alone?

That's National Security journalist Garrett Graf.

And that is probably one of the most fundamental and long-standing questions in human

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