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JFK-UFO conspiracy theories are conspiracy theories that merge John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories with UFO conspiracy theories. One historian dates the "first full published statement of such a theory" to 1986. Such theories often feature themes of Antisemitism, Anti-Catholicism, or Anti-Masonry; According to a scholar of extremism, "alleged connections between Masonry and the [JFK] assassination appear particularly prominent in UFO sources".

By the 1990s, such theories were prominent both in conspiracy literature and popular fiction. Fact-based sources roundly reject such theories. When asked to cite the 'most unbelievable theories' about Kennedy's death, scholar Mark Fenster answered:  "I would put the entire genre of alien conspiracy theories in there. Most of them are focused on Kennedy's supposed knowledge of or interest in aliens and alien abduction. No doubt someone has alleged the reptilians did it. I prefer plausibility in my conspiracy narratives."

Background
The JFK-UFO conspiracy theories emerged from a culture of conspiracy dating back to the 1940s.

UFO conspiracy theories
The modern "flying saucer" hysteria began on June 24, 1947 when American civilian pilot Kenneth Arnold gave live interviews about having witnessed a number of "flying discs". Weeks later, on July 28, Arnold investigated the Maury Island incident, where he came to believe he was being bugged. Arnold interviewed a Maury Island boat operator who allegedly had been warned not to discuss his sighting by men in black suits. By 1949, conspiracy theorists such Donald Keyhoe were publicly alleging that the US Government was covering-up the existence of flying discs.

Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories
On November 22, 1963, United States President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade. Dallas Police arrested Lee Harvey Oswald and charged him with murder. On November 24, as live television cameras were covering his transfer from the city jail to the county jail, Oswald was fatally shot in the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters by nightclub operator Jack Ruby. By 1966, conspiracy theorists like Mark Lane were publicly alleging that elements within the US government may have been responsible for the assassination.

JFK-UFO conspiracy theories
Historically, UFO writers exhibited suspicion toward the government, but they were largely apolitical, not anti-government.

In 1976, paranormal author John Keel published a letter in which he argued "There is a definite link between flying saucers, the Shaver Mystery, The Kennedy(s) Asassinations, Watergate, and Fred Crisman."

Starting in the mid-1980s, UFO writers began to propagate stories of an unelected cabal that was willing to kill to cover-up UFO secrets, with its most notable victim being President Kennedy.

By the early 1990s, "at least some of the ufology literature had gone through several transformations. It had become intensely politicized. It insisted that powerful elements in the U. S. government were in continuing collaboration with an evil, alien race. And it claimed that in order to protect this information, the secret government was prepared to destroy American liberties." According to Barkun, the theories of George Andrews, Bill Cooper, and others helped create this new "conspiracist form of UFO speculation, which Jerome Clark refers to as ufology's 'dark side'."

Andrews
In 1986, conspiracy theorist George C. Andrews authored Extra-Terrestrials Among Us, accusing the CIA of the Kennedy assassination. Andrews claimed that the discredited 'contactee' George Adamski was actually a CIA disinformation agent and that CIA is a "government within the government" implementing a form of "corporate fascism". Andrews further claimed Pope John Paul I was poisoned days after UFOs appeared over the Vatican, and he propagated long-debunked conspiracy theories of US concentration camps being readied for dissenters, imminent martial law, and end to American democracy. Scholar of extremism Michael Barkun notes that "Andrew's political views are almost indistinguishable from those associated with militias, only his placement of extraterrestrials at the pinnacle of conspiracies identifies him as a ufologist."

Philosophy professor David Lamb cites Andrews's theory as non-falsifiable, noting that "we can never prove that [extraterrestrial visitors] and their UFOs do not exist, any more than we can prove that ghosts and leprechauns do not exist. But even when claims of UFO sightings are demonstrably mistaken, one encounters the fact that evasions of falsification frequently abound in UFO literature.

According to Barkun, "the publication of Extra-Terrestrials Among Us marked the beginning of a feverish period of UFO conspiracism, from 1986 to 1989. Much of the literature of this period was based on the concept of a secret governing apparatus, unknown and unaccountable, not unlike Andrews's notion of the CIA as a 'government within the government'.

Cooper
Citing Andrews as a source, in 1991 the UFO conspiracy author Bill Cooper published the influential conspiracy work Behold a Pale Horse which claimed that Kennedy was shot by his Secret Service limo driver after he "informed Majestic 12 that he intended to reveal the presence of aliens to the American people". Cooper biographer Mark Jacobson remarked on the absurdity of Cooper's theories, writing: "Over the years, there had been many proposed scenarios of what happened on November 22, 1963. The docket of usual suspects included the CIA, the Mafia, Cubans, gay southern businessman Clay Shaw, Lyndon Johnson, and a trio of bums, two of whom looked a lot like the Watergate burglars Frank Sturgis and E. Howard Hunt. There was the man with the black umbrella, shooters from the Grassy Knoll, and many others. It was the deepest of rabbit holes...  Still, I must say, in the byzantine annals of what came to be called assassinationology, I had never heard a theory so outside the accepted realm of possibility".

Behold a Pale Horse became 'wildly popular' with conspiracy theorists and went on to become one of the most-read books in the US prison system. Cooper's claims are alleged to have influenced Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, who had traveled to visit "Area 51" in the months prior to the bombing, apparently "to protest restrictions on public access to the base". Barkun reports that "a friend of Cooper's claims that McVeigh visited Cooper shortly before the Oklahoma City bombing". In 2018, Rolling Stone described Cooper as "the Granddaddy of American Conspiracy Theorists".

Later authors
Jim Marrs was a JFK conspiracy theorist who served as a primary advisor to the film JFK. By 1997, Marrs's writings encompassed the UFO conspiracy theory as well. In 1999, conspiracy theorist Kenn Thomas authored JFK & UFO: Military-Industrial Conspiracy and Cover-Up from Maury Island to Dallas speculating that Kennedy was killed to protect UFO secrets. Also in 1999, Mothman Prophecies author John Keel speculated about a JFK-UFO conspiracy.

Influence on "New World Order" mythology
The New World Order conspiracy theories hypothesize a secretly emerging totalitarian world government. By the mid 1990s, "New World Order ideas about a coming global tyranny coalesced with UFO conspiracist theories". In these conspiracy theories, aliens have been among us for decades, centuries or millennia. Motivated by speciesism and imperialism, these aliens have been and are secretly manipulating developments and changes in human society to more efficiently control and exploit human beings. In some theories, alien infiltrators have shapeshifted into human form and move freely throughout human society, even to the point of taking control of command positions in governmental, corporate, and religious institutions, and are now in the final stages of their plan to take over the world.

Barkun cites Jim Keith and David Icke as examples of "New World Order" conspiracy theorists who were influenced by the Andrews and Cooper brand of UFO conspiracism. Barkun notes that while neither author began on the political right, both began adopting many positions from the Christian patriot movement.

In popular culture


By the mid-1990s, fringe conspiracy theories were being incorporated into popular fiction. On September 21, 1996, the fictional TV series Dark Skies premiered with a premise of a Kennedy assassination to cover-up the existence of aliens. Biographer Mark Jacobson linked Bill Cooper's theories to Dark Skies and other 90s popular culture, writing "There have been numerous Cooper sightings in The X-Files projects over the years.  In one of the program's most famous episodes,  'The Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man', the unnamed MJ-12-like operative known as the Cigarette Smoking Man assassinates President Kennedy".

In 2011, paranormal author William Lester claimed to have uncovered a memo linking Kennedy to UFO disclosure attempts; Most historians believe the memo to be fake. In 2017, TV conspiracy show NASA's Unexplained Files aired an episode titled "JFK UFO Conspiracy" discussing that memo.

Beginning in 2017, conspiracy authors like Nick Redfern and Bill Birnes claimed that Marilyn Monroe was killed to cover-up UFO secrets she learned from President Kennedy. In 2021, fictional TV series American Horror Story: Double Feature similarly included Monroe and Kennedy being killed over their UFO knowledge.