Rational Reasons for Non-Disclosure

Lots of theories for a non-disclosure policy exist, ranging from secret malevolent military powers that outweigh the president and congress to selfish authorities wanting to maintain the status quo. But what about simpler, less evil reasons? You know, Occam’s Razor and all that jazz?

Some possibilities:

1) Disclosure could challenge belief systems and shake our faith in society, government, and military. This could create social and economic instability, potentially leading to massive economic repercussions including a major recession/depression or even collapse. We don’t know how people would respond, but people panicked pretty bad when COVID hit. A superior race that could annihilate us at any moment is definitely scarier to most people, even if it’s not scary to you personally. Not saying NHI would hurt us, but the thought will be out there.

When the risk of investment goes up, those investing (ie people and corporations spending money to make money) stop spending and wait until the risk goes down. This is part of a recession. When the economy starts to recede, even ordinary people start spending less. Simply not knowing what to expect could be enough to convince people and corporations to stop spending. Having confidence in the government, society, and economy all directly pertain to economic growth and stability.

2) Acquired technology could pertain to military secrets that we don’t want to disclose. Keeping military secrets, well, secret, gives us a major tactical advantage. It’s advantageous to not declare our punches before we throw them.

3) Let’s say disclosure happens. It would be cool to learn about…but then what? Aliens take it upon themselves to fix every problem we ever had? Why would they? It sounds like their existence wouldn’t really change much, but disclosure of their existence really could. So why risk it? To satisfy the curiosity of a few? I’d rather keep my job than get laid off in the event of company downsizing as a result from a major recession. I like the idea of getting paychecks and not missing mortgage payments.

4) People in the know could be waiting until they actually understand what they’re dealing with before disclosing so as to avoid sounding like a bunch of baboons that just found an iPad that fell out of the sky. Having a solid understanding could reduce the severity of scenario #1. Maybe gradual disclosure is part reducing the negative impact as well.