I think given how widespread these stories are from different people within the government, a psyop is more likely than rumors gone awry. I don't think convincing the Chinese or the Russians that the Pentagon has access to alien technology makes much sense either since those countries are not stupid and the U.S. already has superior technology that is known to them. I think, given the present moment, that the most likely scenario is a psyop on the general public in the U.S. by the Pentagon to measure how impressionable the general public is in believing implausible stories. That tracks with other recent developments like how DHS tried creating a Disinformation Governance Board last year
Having retired from the US military and later US Government service, I can say that the military and government are too disjointed and parochial to keep a secret long term or to run a sustained psyop of this scale. I'd say that explanation 5 makes the most sense.
I think given how widespread these stories are from different people within the government, a psyop is more likely than rumors gone awry. I don't think convincing the Chinese or the Russians that the Pentagon has access to alien technology makes much sense either since those countries are not stupid and the U.S. already has superior technology that is known to them. I think, given the present moment, that the most likely scenario is a psyop on the general public in the U.S. by the Pentagon to measure how impressionable the general public is in believing implausible stories. That tracks with other recent developments like how DHS tried creating a Disinformation Governance Board last year
Having retired from the US military and later US Government service, I can say that the military and government are too disjointed and parochial to keep a secret long term or to run a sustained psyop of this scale. I'd say that explanation 5 makes the most sense.