• In 1987, a Federal Aviation Administration executive says the CIA warned him not to talk about UFOs because the public would panic.

• In 1997, former Arizona Gov. Fife Symington mocked thousands of people who said they saw mysterious lights over Phoenix, calling out a staffer dressed in a cheesy ET costume at a press conference. Ten years later, he apologized for lying to the media and the public.

What these events have in common is that they are unveiled on a new two-hour History Channel special, “Secret Access: UFOs On The Record,” that features in-depth accounts from people who have been willing to risk their jobs and reputations to speak out about their remarkable experiences with UFOs.

“The theme of the program is that UFOs exist, but there’s a small percentage of sightings that are significant and haven’t been explained,” said Leslie Kean, author of The New York Timesbestseller UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go On The Record, which forms the basis of the History Channel special.

Here’s a collection of images that Leslie Kean put together for The Huffington Post on Aug. 23, 2010, to promote the publication of her book:

The Remaining Incidents

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Of all UFO sightings reported, most can be explained as ordinary phenomena, and therefore discarded. However, there are some spectacular, well-documented UFO events have been officially investigated by government agencies, witnessed by pilots and confirmed by Air Force generals. No conventional explanations were found despite extensive efforts by experts to do so. These are the cases explored in “UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go On the Record” and in the History Channel special, “Secret Access: UFOs On The Record.”Photo: U.S. Coast Guard, Salem, MA; 1952