In a bizarre story that could literally have been teleported from an «X Files» script, the Defense Department just released a document detailing a review of nearly 80 years of secretive government programs concerning UFOs (that’s «unidentified anomalous phenomenon», or UAPs in government-speak) and aliens. Among the trove of weird and wonderful information, something that would’ve delighted Agent Mulder really stands out.
At one point the government seriously considered how it would break down and then re-engineer any crashed UFO technology. That’s if one actually did crash, ever. Even though this project, codename Kona Blue, never actually became a reality, it’s a stunning example of some very left-field business planning, and a great example of how entrepreneurs could consider even the unlikely or improbable when looking for inspiration.
The newly available Defense Department report disclosed that Kona Blue was a proposal made to the Department of Homeland Security to restart investigations into UAPs. These earlier investigations centered around a supposed UAP «hotspot» in Utah, and were actually part of a bigger aerospace weapons research program that spent years examining and innovating real science and engineering problems to advance the state of the art of aerospace design. When that program was shut down, its political supporters proposed that the Department of Homeland Security should actually continue its UAP investigations. The proposal for this new program, Kona Blue, included among its objectives a plan for how researchers could reverse-engineer alien UFO technology.
Politico reports that the congressionally ordered review of years of government documents and programs turned up no evidence of alien activity or proof that information was withheld from Congress.
But the report dose explain two important facts about Kona Blue. First, its supporters were apparently convinced that the government really was hiding alien tech, despite a lack of evidence of any gizmos. Tim Philips, acting director of the Defense Department All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office–the office that compiled the new report–told Politico he thinks most UAP rumors, including ones that drove supporters to suggest Kona Blue to the Pentagon, were caused by «circular reporting,» where «a small group of individuals have repeated inaccurate claims they have heard from others.» Secondly, Kona Blue was never approved to become a real program.
Sad as this is for UFO believers, there are a couple of excellent leadership lessons here. The first lesson comes from the actual secret research program predating Kona Blue. The Defense Department was looking into both real aerospace science, and also the admittedly weird and wacky notions that people were seeing UFOs in Utah. The purpose of long-term research is to advance the cutting edge of a project, be it scientific or a simple consumer product with the goal of discovering something new. With such a wide remit, if researchers didn’t sometimes consider outlandish ideas–like UFO reports–then they might miss out on potential innovations.
The real-life F117 stealth fighter serves as a great example. This weird, alien-looking aircraft was unbelievably cutting edge when it was developed in the 1970s under the codename Have Blue, and it wouldn’t have been possible if some engineers hadn’t considered throwing out the aerodynamics rulebook and turning normal aircraft design rules on their head. While it’s now standard issue for millions of customers worldwide, the iPhone presents another great example: a design totally unlike any other smartphone at the time, and without physical keys–a choice many critics then considered laughable.
The second lesson from the DoD report is that while following outlandish ideas is sometimes a good thing, persistent rumors are a terrible thing.
Whether they circulate about UFOs in the corridors of power, or among your company’s staff around the water-cooler, they can end up leading teams down the wrong path and even sabotage your business. The supporters of Kona Blue convinced each other of the truthfulness of each other’s beliefs about UFO technology despite the obvious fact that there was zero real evidence supporting their beliefs. Keeping truthfulness at the core of your company’s day-to-day operations and decision-making is a good idea, perhaps especially so in an era when we’re all using more AI tech, and its outputs are known to be unreliable and sometimes downright false.
In conclusion: Keep rumors at bay, but if your company is researching a new next-generation product, it might be an idea to allow some weird and wacky research ideas into the mix. You never know where an innovative idea will spring from–the truth really may be out there.
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