A large crack appeared in the stonewalling of high strangeness on October 14, 1988. On that date, there was a semi-official admission of extra-terrestrial intervention in human affairs, in the guise of a two-hour TV special entitled UFO COVER-UP?... LIVE! Participation by US and Soviet officials was so extensive that the broadcast could not have occurred without the consent of both governments.
The program was presented to the public simultaneously in the United States and the Soviet Union, the first time in history that any TV program had received such preferential treatment. However, in spite of this clearly implied US-USSR seal of approval (or perhaps because of it?) the program contained a clever mix of information and disinformation.
The valid information was that we are not alone, and that the government has made a hitherto secret agreement with short gray humanoids - the "Grays" - who say they are from Zeta Reticuli.
Although it was not specifically stated that the Grays were the only ET group our government has made contact with, that implication was made. To the extent the implication was made, it was a falsehood.
UFO COVER-UP?... LIVE! hosted by Mike Farrell, implied that Uncle Sam had made a smart deal. However, the truth of the matter is that this deal was the most disastrous mistake, not only in the history of our nation, but in the history of our entire civilization. There were other ET groups that we could have made incomparably better arrangements with. Although this scandal is similar in nature to the Iran-Contra deal, it is a tragedy on a scale of such unprecedented magnitude that in comparison Iran-Contra seems like very small change indeed.