Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Paranormal

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Paranormal deletion

Secret space program

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I propose merging because this article basically should be in Alternative 3, and would not add much wording to it.

It too small to be a stand alone article. Slatersteven (talk) 14:15, 11 October 2026 (UTC)

Note: this discussion has been included in the list of Paranormal-related AfD discussions. Shellwood (talk) 14:25, 11 October 2026 (UTC)
Note: this discussion has been included in the AfD sorting lists for the following topics: Fictional elements and Conspiracy theories. WCQuidditch ☎ ✎ 16:09, 11 October 2026 (UTC)
Comment: Perhaps some of the things inside this article would be better merged to Ufology? In solidarity, Gommeh ^{(talk 🎮 sign)} 16:38, 11 October 2026 (UTC)
Overall it seems just a rehash of alternative 3, but you might be right. Care to say what? Slatersteven (talk) 16:49, 11 October 2026 (UTC)
Keep/Oppose Merging to Alternative 3 would make no sense. One is a film, one is a social concept. It'd be like merging Malin 1 into Star Wars, since Malin 1 is a short article on a galaxy far, far away.Chetsford (talk) 08:44, 12 October 2026 (UTC)
No, it's not the same, as this specific article refers to Alternative 3, as an inspiration (Malin 1 does not refer to Star Wars, at all). Are you seriously comparing this to a scientific discovery? Slatersteven (talk) 08:57, 12 October 2026 (UTC)
This conspiracy theory was inspired by Alternative 3, but it is not Alternative 3. If you prefer a different analogy, I can accommodate. Merging this to Alternative 3 would be like merging Shakespeare in Love with William Shakespeare. Chetsford (talk) 20:41, 12 October 2026 (UTC)

Note this was slightly reworded after I replied to it. Slatersteven (talk) 10:30, 13 October 2026 (UTC)
Merge with List of Hoaxes as a one- or two-line entry supported by the Washington Spectator reference, which confirms it's a made-up story. A mention of "secret space program" could be added to the Alternative 3 article and the redirect would then go to the List of hoaxes article. If a Hollywood movie is made someday based on the hoax, then maybe a stand-alone article could be resurrected or selected content from the edit history merged with the new movie article. 5Q5|^✉ 12:46, 12 October 2026 (UTC)

Keep. Changed my vote because upon further research, all the sources used as references actually use the phrase "secret space program" in their texts. However, I do think the article needs more discussion and sourcing for the hoaxing aspect, either now or in the future. 5Q5|^✉ 10:46, 13 October 2026 (UTC)

The referenced article in The Daily Beast that is behind a paywall is also available in full via Yahoo here. 5Q5|^✉ 13:30, 15 October 2026 (UTC)

This LLM-generated text has been collapsed and should be excluded from assessments of consensus.

The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.

Keep – the conspiracy theory has been examined by the Daily Beast and Longreads, which is coverage of the belief itself (WP:FRINGE handled by sourcing, not deletion). Kukuryza (talk) 18:51, 12 October 2026 (UTC)

Comment I think there may be a reasonable point of confusion with respect to this article, and the article itself may benefit from a rewrite. Alternative 3 was a mockumentary in the 1970s. Some decades later, a conspiracy theory was crafted and propagated which essentially posits a loosely similar storyline as Alternative 3. The adherents of this CT do not, themselves, associate it with Alternative 3; indeed, they aver this "secret space program" is an actual secret military program. In the way the article is written, however, it may appear it is chronicling fan fiction based on Alternative 3 or something like that, as opposed to an independent and artificial delusional belief system that is loosely, but not directly, connected. To make matters more confusing still, the conspiracy theory itself is trademarked which is atypical for CTs. It might help clarify things if the word "story" were replaced by "conspiracy theory" throughout the article. As used "story" probable infers it is part of an Alternative 3 franchise for those who don't closely follow this space. Regardless of the outcome of the discussion, thanks to Slatersteven for initiating it, without which this wording presentation might have passed unnoticed. Chetsford (talk) 01:30, 14 October 2026 (UTC)

“Alternative 3” and a subsequent novelization based on the television script proved, however, to be an example of a piece of fiction having a greater impact from having been and continuing to be misunderstood, misinterpreted, and misrepresented by many within the paranormal and conspiracy cultures...Regardless of the obvious hoaxing intent of “Alternative 3,” it took on a life after broadcast and publication as a lasting staple of conspiracy theories from the late 1970s through today. This influence on both paranormal and parapolitical conspiracy theory culture has largely taken place in the United States...the ideas would be worked and reworked over the decades, becoming intertwined with any number of other conspiracy theories. Beginning in the 1990s, participants in online UFO- and conspiracy-oriented communities began to refer to “Alternative 3” not as an established hoax but rather as a strange and mysterious (but fundamentally true) source...One of the most significant aspects of “Alternative 3” is the manner in which a wide variety of theorists, writers, and commenters could co-opt various aspects of the show and bend it to their own particular theories, preconceived notions, and biases.

— Gulyas, Aaron John (2015). The Paranormal and the Paranoid: Conspiratorial Science Fiction Television. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 41-44.

I think it's pretty clear that Alternative 3 should have much content about the conspiracy theories spawned by the show and later book. I haven't had time to look at all the sources yet, but if it's established that a particular theory is connected to "Alternative 3" why not add the content to that article first? Then if it grows into enough for a stand-alone article split it off then? fiveby(zero) 12:48, 14 October 2026 (UTC)

So how many sources say anything about this, and are not related to Goode? Slatersteven (talk) 13:35, 15 October 2026 (UTC)

Without hard evidence to pin it down to Alternative 3 (an admission by one of the claimants), it appears to be speculation by journalists, skeptics, etc., that the show was the inspiration for these claims. There are a lot of other potential inspirations out there that could also be factors, including the general conspiratorial tone of The X-Files and real-life classified space programs. Related to this topic, I found a List of people who have participated in secret space programs on another wiki. 5Q5|^✉ 14:03, 15 October 2026 (UTC)

I was thinking Secret space program should really be a disambiguation page, listing American and Soviet classified projects such as Almaz program, Soviet crewed lunar programs#Moon landing N1/L3 program, Zvezda (moonbase), CORONA (satellite), Lunex Project etc. as more beneficial to the reader and maybe more likely to be what they are looking for. Are we limited in this discussion to just deciding on a merge? That question is hard to decide, right now i see all the current content as easily fitting in Alternative 3, but editors commenting here are kind of setting a new scope for the current article? Don't really know what's helpful to add to the discussion. fiveby(zero) 14:35, 15 October 2026 (UTC)

Making it a disabig might work, as right now the subject of the article is on one man's book. Which has been accused of ripping off Alternative 3. I will aslso say, no one is stopping anyone from proving it can be improved, by improving it, I am dubious about the idea it might be fixed at some ill defined point in the future. Slatersteven (talk) 14:39, 15 October 2026 (UTC)

That one man's book is The Secret Space Program & Deeper Disclosures right? Maybe that should be the article title and scope then. I'm finding lots of FRINGE sources with "secret space programs", Cooper's Behold a Pale Horse looks more notable right now than Goode's. Maybe this article should be Secret space program (conspiracy theory) and discuss all of them not just Goode's? I can't find a quality source yet that takes an overview look at all the different "Secret space program" theories. fiveby(zero) 16:44, 15 October 2026 (UTC)

@Fiveby Unrelated to this but Behold a Pale Horse is very notable and it has been on my to do list for many years. So uh, if you need someone to write that. PARAKANYAA (talk) 01:06, 16 October 2026 (UTC)

Gulyas i quoted above does not mention Goode, he has:
- William Cooper, UFO/conspiracy theorist and militia leader, Behold a Pale Horse (1991)
- leading longtime UFO writer, publicist, and hoaxer Gray Barker
- Mae Brussell, a prominent conspiracy theorist, newsletter publisher, and radio broadcaster of the 1970s and 1980s
- Conspiracy researcher and writer Jim Keith, Casebook on Alternative 3: UFO's, Secret Societies and World Control (1993)
Webb Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theories in American History cited in the article
- Does not mention "Alternative 3"
- Is in a section titled "Exopolitics and Missions to Mars"
- Exopolitics—short for “extraterrestrial politics”—is a term used by believers in covert government contact with aliens to describe the study of politics that takes place on an interplanetary scale.
- starts with Michael E. Salla (no WP article)
- Michael Relfe, who claimed in 2000 that he was recruited for a 20-year tour of duty
- Randy Cramer, also known as “Captain Kaye”
- three paragraphs and a sidebar about Goode

fiveby(zero) 14:05, 15 October 2026 (UTC)

There is the Category:Secret government programs, but entries appear to be real world, confirmed, factual. 5Q5|^✉ 11:07, 16 October 2026 (UTC)

I don't think merging this into Alternative 3 is a good idea but unless this article is significantly expandable, which from looking at the sources it doesn't seem to be, I don't think this is ideal. Is Goode notable? If he is, I think it would be better off merged to his article. PARAKANYAA (talk) 23:59, 16 October 2026 (UTC)
If Goode is notable, my vote is something like keep until someone writes that, then merge there. PARAKANYAA (talk) 00:00, 17 October 2026 (UTC)
Comment:: I like the proposal by Fiveby to rename the article Secret space program (conspiracy theory). There is more than one published conspiratorial work with "Secret Space Program" in its title and there is even a secretspaceprogram dot org website. But there is also nonfiction use by mainstream media: , , . 5Q5|^✉ 12:22, 18 October 2026 (UTC)

I'll try a Draft:Secret space program (disambiguation) when i get some time, might help and don't have to use it. fiveby(zero) 15:59, 19 October 2026 (UTC)

Is that topic notable, though? PARAKANYAA (talk) 20:11, 23 October 2026 (UTC)

Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.
Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Spartaz ^Humbug! 10:05, 20 October 2026 (UTC)