I dislike conspiracy theories.

It’s not because I don’t believe any of them. Some may be true. I’m open to the idea of bigfoot being out there or aliens being up there or anything that might be down there. As a journalist, though, I’m a professional skeptic. I require proof and I’ve seen no compelling proof to any of the prevailing conspiracy theories.

What I dislike most about conspiracy theories is how intellectually dishonest they are.

A good conspiracy theory is impossible to debunk. We’ve seen a great example of that very recently.

After the Department of Defense released photos, videos and other files of unidentified anomalous phenomena earlier this month, the Colorado state director for a large UFO research group was disappointed.

“I don’t think we got a lot of real stuff,” he said in a story in The Gazette.

So the government released a bunch of UFO files. But they didn’t release the REAL files. The conspiracy deepens.

“I don’t think that it was a forthright release,” he said. “I am very disappointed.”

While the first release of files was disappointing, the man said he is encouraged the Department of Defense is responding to the calls to publish material related to UAPs.

“The world, in general, is mostly open to discovering the truth,” he said.

The problem is that, in the world of conspiracy theories, the truth is truly in the eye of the beholder.

Don’t get me wrong. This UFO/UAP group is highly respected. They do extensive research. They have very smart people and very strong evidence. They may be right about UFOs/UAPs.

But any release that doesn’t confirm what they or other conspiracy theorists believe will always be lacking “the real stuff.” That’s the problem. You can’t disprove any theory if any evidence that doesn’t confirm it is regarded as false, misleading or incomplete.

The conspiracy will live on.

You may not be aware, but some readers have informed me that this newspaper part of a global media conspiracy. This claim has been made by those on the right, the left, and many placed in between, so apparently our grand conspiracy lacks focus. I wish those atop the conspiracy would figure that out before they tie me into it.

So, since they can’t be disproven, the following will remain factual within portions of our population:

Adolph Hitler survived WWII and lived out his life in South America.

The John F. Kennedy assassination was a CIA inside job. Or a mob hit. Or done by the Cubans. Or the Republicans. Or the Democrats. Or by the military industrial complex. Really, anybody but what the Warren Commission said.

The royal family and many other powerful people eat babies.

Aliens are living among us disguised as human beings and are roaming the halls of power as we speak.

And bigfoot? He doesn’t believe in you, either.