They definitely gaslit the dude, for the greater good of America, I suppose; I’m sure one could make the case that the success and therefore the secrecy of America’s stealth and space programs were essential to bringing about the present world order, in which America is the lone superpower, for better or worse.
I think there are real cases in which various visual, optical, radio, or computer phenomena, have been misinterpreted by observers in good faith, who have reconciled what they could not explain with fantasies.
Or do you mean that, despite official statements to the contrary and lack of available evidence, in fact actual extraterrestrials have traveled to the earth and their presence verified and knowledge held in secret from the general public?