"Reading Keyhoe’s 1950 book in 2021 can create a kind of vertiginous feeling, simply because it makes clear that we’ve been here before, and honestly, very little has changed about the narrative."

This is true. This is problematic, at least for the US Government. There is a paper trail that shows the US Government obfuscated or flat out lied. That's what leads to conspiracy.

But if people can see it, if it can be tracked on radar, and infrared, and any other scientific measuring device someone can create, it won't remain unexplainable indefinitely. Unless, people simply continue to ignore it because the potential explanation is scarier than knowing the truth.