Statistics, records, and other records are surprisingly easy to manipulate. As some wit once said, "I've never met a statistic I couldn't tweak in my favor." This page gives some historical background on the manner in which the Air Force and others slanted results.
As I have reviewed the records found in the pages of Project Blue Book files I have been amazed to see this fact in wide play.
Here are the top ways to tweak a record to fit a conclusion:
1. Clump together in one file assorted sightings, then pick the weakest one, the one easiest to explain away and use that as the defining record for the file. This then makes the Planet Venus or a Balloon or Aircraft fit as an explanation instead of finding a solution based on the totality of the witness statements.
2. Multiple incidences of similar objects in a region label "mass hysteria". Oddly, the CIA and the AF mutually patted each other on the back for this one. They were so fearful they apparently transferred a lot of fears onto John P. and Jane Q. Public. Scanning records, newspapers, and books from the era - there was little evidence that the public was actually fearful. Curious, nervous, but not hysterical. They frequently labeled a flap a 'scare', labeled people as in a 'panic,' and 'hallucinating'.
3.Ensure control of the research by releasing only those reports 'explained' and explain them using a set of predetermined answers.
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