I keep seeing people attacking individuals in the UAP/UFO community as grifters or part of a grift, but there are some issues with using this language. First, grifts are typically uncomplicated and small-scale. Second, grifters have to be aware they are grifting. By definition, it doesn’t appear a lot of figures in the UAP/UFO community meeting either of these criterion. Accusing people of grifting only alienates the community, and risks keeping others from getting involved despite potentially having something to add to the discussion.
The accusations of government UAP/UFO retrieval programs are much too large and complicated to be considered a grift. Furthermore, the assumption is that these individuals are doing it for personal gain, either monetary or attention. However, a lot of these people (Nolan, Coulthart, Sheehan, Knapp, Vallee, etc.) could easily have earned money and/or fame through their own careers rather than maliciously using the UFO/UAP phenomenon.
My question is whether it is fair to consider these people as grifters when 1) this isn’t a small scale fraud, and 2) they appear to be heavily invested and believe in what they are saying.
Being skeptical of the claims these individuals are making and/or making fun of their “believe me, bruh” shit is totally warranted. However, it doesn’t mean they are trying to commit fraud. If none of this turns out to be true, it is much more likely that they truly believe what they are saying, but are mistaken.
Thoughts?
submitted by /u/Borderline_Autist
[link] [comments]