What Should We Tell The Children?

Summary

Screenwriter and UFO author Bryce Zabel talks with former federal agent and UFO investigator Ben Hansen about a question rarely raised in disclosure debates: what should parents tell their children if the government confirms non-human intelligence is real? Drawing on Hansen's Georgetown thesis on 'black swan' crises and his years investigating child abuse cases, they look at psychological resilience, cognitive dissonance, and how young minds might absorb a sudden shift in reality. Using analogies from Lou Elizondo's footprints-in-the-house scenario to the Santa Claus 'conspiracy,' they argue parents may become the main filters of disclosure for their kids.

Key takeaways

• 1Bryce Zabel and Richard Dolan co-wrote 'A.D. After Disclosure,' a speculative look at the social, economic and psychological effects of official UFO disclosure; it predicted disclosure news would come out on a Friday to avoid stock market shocks.
• 2Ben Hansen wrote a Georgetown master's thesis in emergency and disaster management that used ET contact as a 'black swan' or novel crisis case study. He says the Cantril study of the 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast panic shaped the Robertson Panel and the Brookings Institution's thinking on public reaction to disclosure.
• 3Zabel appeared on the Dr. Phil show, where Dr. Phil repeatedly said the government has lied about UFOs for 79 years. Zabel notes Dr. Phil has the ear of a president who may become the 'disclosure president.'
• 4Lou Elizondo's threat analogy: you lock your house every night, yet keep finding muddy footprints with no alarm triggered. A second Elizondo analogy compares abductions to an Uber driver taking your daughter somewhere she didn't ask to go.
• 5Hansen says there is no official disclosure preparation plan, based on talks with former FEMA administrators. He is researching psychological resilience to contact with Chapman University.
• 6Dr. Lynne Kitei, known for her Phoenix Lights work, created a children's coloring book meant to help parents talk with kids about aliens and disclosure.

Glossary terms

Source

Transcript excerpt

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Excerpt from Need to Know (Coulthart/Zabel), Sep 6, 2026. Rights remain with the original creators. Hear the full episode at the source.