coverups, conspiracies, hoaxes, and the evidence that sorts them out.
active course file the desk / 26—27
Some of the wildest government stories are true. Plenty aren't. We open the files, check where every claim came from, and learn when the honest answer is 'we don't know.' Watergate, MKUltra, COINTELPRO, UFOs, hoaxes—the fun is figuring out which box each one belongs in.
make the first call. then test it.
A secret file contradicts the official story. What earns your belief first?
current case
unit 01 / 06
01
now investigating
The Official Story vs. The Rumor
Roswell, Area 51, and the foundations of evidence. Habit of mind: QUESTION.
a claim, a file, and one way your brain may be messing with you.
verdict of the day
Claim: the CIA secretly dosed unwitting Americans with LSD. Confirmed — Project MKUltra, exposed by the Church Committee in 1975. The CIA director had most of the files destroyed in 1973, which is why we know less than we should.
verdict: confirmed
declassified file of the day
The Ghost Army: a WWII unit of artists and engineers who impersonated entire divisions with inflatable tanks, sound trucks, and fake radio traffic. Classified for fifty years; Congressional Gold Medal in 2022.
declassified 1996
trick of the week
Cherry-picking: building a case from the three facts that fit while ignoring the thirty that don’t. The tell: real evidence survives you looking at the rest of the pile.
watch for it
argue this
Should everything the government classifies eventually be declassified? Pick your number of years and defend it.
what do you think?
course map
units.
Open a unit for its topics, learning hub, and student-ready materials.
01
The Official Story vs. The Rumor
current
Roswell, Area 51, and the foundations of evidence. Habit of mind: QUESTION.
the roswell signal investigation now live
what's inside +what's inside −
·The 1947 Roswell headline — what the paper said, what the military said, and what changed
·Area 51: what’s actually documented vs. what’s inferred from a fence and a rumor
·What counts as evidence: documents, testimony, physical proof, and the gaps between them
·The Four Verdicts — confirmed, debunked, misleading, unproven — and how to earn one
·Your first fact-check: run a claim to ground before the internet does it for you (badly)