The View | UFOs are out there, and so is the booming conspiracy industry

Karl Marx famously said that money alienates man from himself. Less well known is the role money plays in connecting man with … the aliens.

I have just finished a book on UFOs which a friend asked me to read after I scoffed at the idea that unidentified flying objects are extra-terrestrial in nature, and these ETs have mastered the technology to zip about at supersonic speeds and disable nuclear warheads and fighter jets.

The book is surprising. A New York Times best-seller by journalist Leslie Kean, “UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record” is witty, interesting and well-executed.

The first surprise comes from the foreword, written by a prominent Washington lawyer and former lobbyist, John Podesta, who was President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff, worked in the Obama administration and is now on Hillary Clinton’s election campaign.

Another big-name contributor to Kean’s book is Nick Pope, whose career at the British Ministry of Defence included four years in the 1990s running the office that investigates UFOs. Today, Pope makes a living off speaking, consulting and promoting the subject of aliens and conspiracy theories. His résumé includes plot development on the “X-Files” film and little nuggets like this: “Located a photogenic and articulate alien abductee for a feature pegged on the DVD release of the cult sci-fi series ‘V.’ ”

Is there a similar money trail with Podesta? Well, he and his brother Tony founded the powerful Podesta Group lobbying firm, whose clients include aerospace and defence firms, which sell equipment used in space. Has humanity sunk so low that Washington power brokers might scaremonger about UFOs to increase aerospace military budgets?