The ET theory behind UFOs has long been a default mechanism for lack of better explanations to account for the appearance of mysterious aerial phenomena with technological overtones that baffle eyewitnesses, leave behind radar tracks, and sometimes impact weapons, flight and communications systems. Still, De Void gets nervous when researchers attempt to dialogue with politicians about “extraterrestrials.” They’d stand a better chance making introductory connections with a racial epithet.

But loaded language is exactly why the latest quixotic “We The People” White House petition from UFO lobbyist Stephen Bassett is noteworthy. Bassett is calling for the Obama administration to investigate a retired senior CIA official’s recent claims that the Agency is, in fact, in possession of material confirming the “extraterrestrial nature” of the 1947 Roswell controversy. Man-in-question Chase Brandon wasn’t some obscure bit player; he was the CIA’s public face in Hollywood when it came to determining whether or not to cooperate with big-screen storylines. Last month he stepped into a massive pile of self-inflicted doo-doo when he volunteered on a national radio show he’d examined a “Roswell” box in the CIA archives containing smoking-gun photos and official records of an ET crash in the desert.

Critics are charging, perhaps correctly, Brandon timed his announcement to coincide with the release of his sci-fi novel The Cryptos Conundrum. But what he’s done goes beyond shilling for a book; Chase Brandon’s allegation directly repudiates the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy’s contention that “The U.S. government has no evidence that any life exists outside our planet, or that an extraterrestrial presence has contacted or engaged any member of the human race.”

Bassett extracted that pronouncement from OSTP advisor Phil Larson last November in response to his first petition, shortly after the “We The People” website was launched. Back then, the signature threshhold for elicting a formal online response from the White House on any issue was 5,000 sign-ons collected within a 30-day window. Bassett’s petition more than doubled that, easily, as did many other solicitations. So the administration wised up by raising the bar to 25,000 names. The direct consequence has been a dramatic dropoff of interest in “We The People.” Hundreds of petitions flooded the site during its premiere last autumn. Only 32 are active today.

Bassett’s investigate-Brandon petition, filed July 10, has garnered only 332 signatures at last count, so it doesn’t stand a chance of getting the administration on record again. But should 25,000 names really be the motivational standard for plugging leaks these days? Brandon’s Roswell allegations reject not only the White House’s official position, but the CIA as well, which used diplomatic language to call him a liar last week. Skeptics are dismissing Brandon’s claims as bogus, but if they’re right, it raises bigger questions. Why did the CIA enlist such a loose cannon to protect its image in Hollywood? When is it OK for a high-ranking intelligence official to make up stories involving national security? Disinformation is obviously an age-old tactic to protect state secrets. Is it in play this time? Canadian investigator Grant Cameron is attempting to gauge the public pulse on Brandon’s gambit with an online poll.

The 35-year Agency veteran is not backing away from his claims that the military recovered “a craft that clearly did not come from this planet,” and has repeated the charges in multiple venues. Were this a more conventional security issue, Brandon would likely be telling his story under oath by now. And nobody would be waiting for 25,000 names to make it happen.