On Monday, September 20, NBC will launch a new dramatic series, The Event. In it, Blair Underwood stars as what X-Conference organizer Steve Bassett would call "the disclosure president:" that Commander-in-Chief to whom it falls to announce to the world that our planet is being engaged by extraterrestrial intelligence.
Subsequent episodes will address the fallout of the President's announcement.
Rumor has it (in ufology circles, anyway) that The Event is the latest in a long line of infotainments designed to raise the curtain ever-so-slowly on truths that many will find too terrible to contemplate. We're being acclimatized, in other words, to minimize the number of suicides, riots, business failures and bedwettings that are expected to occur when our government reverses its 60-plus-year-old policy of deflection and denial.
UFO historian Richard Dolan's book, A.D. After UFO Disclosure, will be released October 11, timed perfectly to ride the wave of interest in such matters likely to be generated by The Event. It's co-authored by former CNN correspondent, now Hollywood screenwriter, Bryce Zabel.
Is it coincidence that a Hollywood screenwriter has co-authored a book that will be released within weeks of the premiere of a network series that fictionalizes his rather esoteric topic?
Perhaps, but no matter.
Whatever the backstory, whatever the motives of the producers or publishers, the fact remains that concepts are being introduced into the mainstream that, once digested, will make it easier for journalists to investigate, for scientists to study and for average Joes to discuss open-mindedly the topic of UFOs.
We're not holding our breath for disclosure or unambiguous contact, nor are we especially worried about 2012, but we are encouraged to see the era of the Little Green Man drawing to a close.
