Arthur Sylvester's "right to lie" remarks
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 7
| Date | 29 October 1962 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Secrecy & cover-up (topic), Congress & law (topic) |
| People | Arthur Sylvester, John F. Kennedy, Donald Keyhoe |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 65 |
| Year | 1962 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1962 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 7 |
Arthur Sylvester was the Pentagon's chief spokesman, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, under President Kennedy. During and after the Cuban missile crisis of October 1962 he defended the government's control of news, and in a speech on 6 December 1962 he said a government had an inherent right to lie to save itself when facing nuclear disaster.[1][2]
The remarks
After the missile crisis Sylvester defended the government's handling of news, saying information could be withheld when it was in the national interest. At a press meeting sponsored by the Deadline Club in New York on 6 December 1962 he went further, saying the government had an inherent right "to lie to save itself". The remarks caused uproar in Congress and the press.[1][3]
"News management"
The comments became part of a running controversy over "news management" under Kennedy, which had begun in early 1961 and included the president's April 1961 suggestion that the press censor itself on national-security matters. Journalists later recalled Sylvester making similarly dismissive comments in private about reporters who trusted official statements, including in a 1965 meeting in Saigon described by CBS correspondent Morley Safer.[1][4]
UFO writers
UFO writers, including Donald Keyhoe, seized on Sylvester's statements as proof that the government would mislead the public on sensitive subjects. Although his remarks had nothing to do with UFOs, they are often cited as background for why many people distrusted official denials during the Cold War.[5]
People and topics
- Arthur Sylvester — Pentagon spokesman who defended the government's right to withhold information in 1962.
- John F. Kennedy — 35th U.S. president, named in disputed MJ-12 memos.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
- Donald Keyhoe — Retired Marine officer, author and director of NICAP who campaigned against UFO secrecy.
On the Timeline
- Navy reserve pilot's Wright-Patterson saucer claim (1962) (1962) — A Navy reserve pilot says he saw a saucer at Wright-Patterson in 1962.
- Dan Sherman and the telepathy breeding claim (January 1963) — Air Force Sgt. Dan Sherman says he was told of a program breeding people with telepathic abilities.
See every 1962 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- "6 December 1962: Sylvester's 'right to lie' speech", Today in Civil Liberties History · todayinclh.com · archived copy
- "Government by forked tongue: lying as policy", CIA reading room · cia.gov · archived copy
- "Truth be told", Government Executive (Mar 2002) · govexec.com · archived copy
- "Pentagon official once told Morley Safer that reporters who believe the government are stupid", The Intercept (May 2016) · theintercept.com · archived copy
- Donald Keyhoe, Aliens from Space (1973), Internet Archive · archive.org · archived copy
- Time magazine on Sylvester's remarks (1962) · content.time.com · archived copy
- babel.hathitrust.org · babel.hathitrust.org · archived copy
Further reading
- U.S. congressional hearings on UFOs — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
No discussion yet.