Seeking the Truth?: The UFO Community and Politics in 'Republic of Lies' Joshua Tran College

In “The Politics of UFOs,” a chapter from her book Republic of Lies, author Anna Merlan recounts her attendance at a conference for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), the largest and oldest UFO research group in America. Being established in 1969, MUFON presents itself as a scientific organization, seeking concrete evidence on UFOs and aliens. At their conferences, speakers tell detailed narratives involving secret programs and their interactions with extraterrestrials, among other things. Throughout the chapter, Merlan repeatedly refers to these narratives and argues that the UFO community seeks the truth, although their methods of procuring it vary. She does this by analyzing three things: the differing accounts and approaches to UFO research in the modern-day, the history of UFO interest and research, and the inner UFO research community and their attitude towards the government and public.

The world of UFO researchers and conspiracy theorists is a diverse one with varying approaches and contradicting stories, but it is a world that Merlan is familiar with. During her time at the MUFON conference, she hears Corey Goody’s colorful account; he claims to have been “identified as being on the intuitive empath spectrum” at a young...