The U.S. Government Says UFOs Are Real, And So Do I

Also: Will It Be The Filibuster Or Democracy? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  [View in Browser]( | [Donate [WBUR]]( [WBUR](  [WBUR]( June 6, 2021 Dear Cog reader, I (Cloe) am not a person who has historically been interested in UFOs. I haven’t read Carl Sagan or Jacques Valle or felt any pull to research the strange happenings in Roswell, New Mexico. Then, in late April, The [New Yorker]( published a big investigative piece about how the U.S. government is taking UFOs seriously. A couple of weeks later, “[60 Minutes]( ran a segment featuring Navy pilots and high-level military officials attempting to explain the unexplainable. What was happening? Why were aliens breaking into the mainstream news? Enter Jim Sullivan. Jim has previously written for Cognoscenti (though he’s a more regular contributor to WBUR’s arts and culture coverage). This time, he pitched us a story about his own [encounter with an unidentified flying object]( back in 1972. He was a 16-year-old high school kid in Maine at the time – and mostly because he didn’t want people thinking he was delusional – he’d kept his story under wraps, until now. I love working on pieces like [this]( they’re way outside my lane of interest. After the year we’ve had — at the mercy of an invisible, deadly virus — it felt good to give myself over to something beyond rational explanation. It also got me thinking about Jodie Foster’s star turn in “Contact,” the 1997 Robert Zemeckis movie. “If there isn't life out there somewhere,” Foster says as Dr. Ellie Arroway, “it sure would be an awful waste of space.” Last week, so many of you read (and raved about) Barbara Moran's stirring essay on the conundrum of what to do with her family's bungalow in Breezy Point, Queens. Consider this my plea to listen to the [radio version]( which aired this week. It's keep-you-in-your-driveway beautiful. Here’s to the unknown — and the unknowable. P.S.– One of the most rewarding parts of our work right now is knowing how meaningful it is to so many people in Boston and beyond. We read it in your emails and comments, and we are grateful to all of you. Know that WBUR wouldn’t be here without the financial support of people like you. Member contributions make up the most reliable share of the funding for everything you get from WBUR, including this newsletter. So, if you can, please become a Member by [making a gift in any amount.]( -- Cloe Axelson and Kathleen Burge Cognoscenti editors newsletters@wbur.org Must Reads url[The U.S. Government Says UFOs Are Real, And So Do I]( Jim Sullivan swears he saw a UFO in 1972, when he was a 16-year-old high school student in Maine. Now, the Pentagon is preparing to release an unclassified report on unidentified aerial phenomena. [Read more](.   #%23%23[Twitter](   #%23%23[Facebook](    [Enough Is Enough. It's Time To Shut Down The Weymouth Compressor]( The North Weymouth compressor station has had four near-misses in nine months, write Dr. Caren Solomon and Dr. Philip Landrigan. As physicians concerned about community health, social justice and climate change, we think it's time to shut it down. [Read more](. [I'm Waiting Tables Without A Mask Again. Is It Too Soon?]( After a year of distancing, masking and sanitizing, restaurants are adjusting to the end of most COVID restrictions, writes Rebecca Johnson, a server at a Nantucket restaurant. [Read more](.  Support the news [What's More Sacred: The Filibuster Or American Democracy?]( The filibuster has become the linchpin of the GOP attack on voting rights, and thus the single greatest threat to democracy, writes Steve Almond. Kill it and the coup dies. [Read more](. [Biden's Big-Hearted $6 Trillion Budget Has One Big Omission — A Public Option]( Americans say insufficient access to health care is one of their biggest financial concerns. Yet President Biden's budget doesn't include money for the public option he proposed during the campaign, writes Rich Barlow. [Read more](. [Why Joe Biden's Plea For Bipartisanship Is Shrewd Strategy]( Joe Biden’s overtures for bipartisanship are unlikely to win any Republican votes in the Senate, write Robert C. Bordone and Sarah Doktori. But they may just win over Joe Manchin. [Read more](. What We're Reading "It’s as if the gods looked down and decided to add erupting beauty to all the other strangeness in America." The Washington Post, "[I’ve seen a lot of springs. This was the loveliest.]( "'If birth control was made for men it’d taste like bacon and be free.'" The New York Times, "[A Vaccine Side Effect Leaves Women Wondering: Why Isn’t the Pill Safer?]( "Today’s GOP is desperate to cover up the Jan. 6 attack because — like the whites who ran Tulsa in 1921 — it grasps how bad this looks for it politically, since its supporters carried out the attack." MSNBC, "[The GOP is treating Jan. 6 the way white supremacists treated the Tulsa Race Massacre]( “ After so much hardship and loss, the psychological recovery from this trauma will be long. — Molly Colvin, "[Why You Can't Shake Pandemic Anxiety]( ICYMI [I Know The Water Is Coming. But I Can't Bear To Sell My Family's Cottage]( This house is the thread that holds me to my father, whom we buried in March with a seashell in his casket, writes Barbara Moran.       If you’d like to write for Cognoscenti, send your submission, pasted into your email and not as an attachment, to opinion@wbur.org. Please tell us in one line what the piece is about, and please tell us in one line who you are. 😎 Forward to a friend. They can sign up [here](. 📣 Give us your feedback: newsletters@wbur.org 📨 Get more WBUR stories sent to your inbox. [Check out all of our newsletter offerings.]( Support the news [WBUR]( [WBUR]  [WBUR]( [95289b97-66e8-43d4-a174-3bc3520a79a9.png]( [Instagram](  [Twitter]( [Facebook]( Want to change how you receive these emails? [Stop getting this newsletter by updating your preferences.]( I don't want to hear from WBUR anymore. [Unsubscribe from all newsletters.]( Interested in learning more about corporate sponsorship? [Click here.]( Copyright © 2021 WBUR-FM, All rights reserved. You signed up for this newsletter at wbur.org. Our mailing address is: WBUR-FM 890 Commonwealth AveBoston, MA 02215-1205 [Add us to your address book](