Much UFO data and was put out on purpose by government agencies to obfuscate Cold War research, and combined with actual mysteries, no one could (or can) tell what's up and what's down. They still do this today. Flat earth conspiracy theories are not much different, except the purpose is to make anybody who looks into government goings on as a nutjob by a guilt by association character assassination.
Much UFO data and was put out on purpose by government agencies to obfuscate Cold War research, and combined with actual mysteries, no one could (or can) tell what's up and what's down. They still do this today. Flat earth conspiracy theories are not much different, except the purpose is to make anybody who looks into government goings on as a nutjob by a guilt by association character assassination.