When I saw 'UWP' I was immediately suspicious.

Though I doubt you've fooled anyone here, it was entertaining as hell. For me, at least. Good job!
:-)

Your point is essentially backed up by the Rand study, from what I understand. Also, Dr. Hynek started out as the Air Force's science consultant for Blue Book and other UFO investigations and a skeptic on the subject. But after the Condon Report I understand he and others - Sagan being the most prominent - expressed disgust with the effort by the Air Force to discredit witnesses rather than investigating the actual evidence, such as it was. I've gotten my share of this information from people such as Splinx from the other board.

Where do you draw the line? I do accept, unlike many people, that our military and intelligence agencies can keep secrets. Not to get too conspiratorial and 'out there' on the subject, but let's look at the Warren Commission report for a moment. Most people realize it wasn't a 'lone gunman.' I mean even ABC has reported to that effect.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1244000/1244907.stm

Yet will we ever know the whole story about who took out JFK and RFK, not to mention MLK? Doubtful. Not everything gets uncovered to find its way into the history books. Some secrets do stay secret. Or at least stay secret for a very, very long time. Look at how long it took to learn the truth about the death of the Czar's young daughter? And I think the more crucial the secret to those who hold power, the longer it can be kept. Perhaps indefinitely.

Leaving us where?

If the Air Force is hiding something in Wright-Patterson's so-called Blue Room, how will anyone ever find out what it is? Senator Goldwater, when he was chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, asked and was told in no uncertain terms that it was none of his business. And that may have been correct. Still, it means no one is going to learn the answer to the question.

So if the Air Force does have knowledge of extraterrestrial visits by roboprobes or something more advanced, how will we ever learn of it?

We won't.

But if the Air Force is hiding very little on this subject, other than it still conducts tests of supersecret aircraft that can easily be mistaken at night for alien spacecraft, what then?

We still learn nothing.

Lack of knowledge remains lack of knowledge. Much like the ET question in general. Without any actual data, it's impossible to make a convincing case either way.

If the Air Force is holding out on the rest of the world, then there's not much any of us can do. If it isn't, then there's even less we can do.

Except use interferometers and telescopes and space-based observatories to probe the worlds about other stars. Perhaps we will one day detect life in their atmospheres, as NASA proposes. It might even happen that we will detect some sign which looks suspiciously like the product of technological beings.

Even if we do, it will still take centuries for humans to get to where they can send probes to investigate such systems.

As with Mars, so also with extrasolar worlds. The evidence will come very slowly, in fits and starts. It will be mostly ambiguous and hard to confirm. It wouldn't surprise me if it takes a thousand years or more for humans to learn the answer to the question of ET life to their own satisfaction.