WASHINGTON -- Richard Belzer was in downtown Bethesda, Md., this weekend, promoting his newest book, Dead Wrong: Straight Facts on the Country's Most Controversial Cover-Ups, which is about government coverups and conspiracies.
The Washington Post's Reliable Source reports that while the Bethesda crowd liked Belzer -- who's written other books about conspiracy theories, as well as about UFOs and stand-up comedy -- Belzer seemed unimpressed:
The TV star climbed onto the small stage outside a shoe boutique in downtown Bethesda on Saturday to a smattering of applause from about 50 fans.
"Here we are in Bethesda, Maryland," Richard Belzer said musingly. "What is Bethesda known for, beyond the hospital? Is that it?"
As it happens, there's plenty more that should be of interest to Belzer.
Given the "Law and Order: SVU" star's interests, here are just a few other things we think Belzer should look into, next time he's in town:
The Paradigm Research Group is a Bethesda-based organization dedicated to, according to its website, "advocat[ing] in all ways possible for an end to a government imposed truth embargo of the facts surrounding an extraterrestrial presence engaging the human race."
Stephen Bassett, the group's leader, ran for Congress in 2002 on a platform of exposing, and undoing, the "the government imposed embargo" on the issue.
The National UFO Reporting Center's website lists dozens of reported UFO sightings in Maryland, from as recently as late September to as far back as 1947. A few that surely warrant Belzer's attention include a "large craft/ unidentified flying object hovering above Hagerstown" on Sept. 24, a "probable ufo abduction involving two adult females and one toddler" in Federalsburg in June, or the August 2009 event in Westminster when a "magical star looking thing at a football game, right before 2 undeafeted teams played!"
Let's not forget June when a UFO-looking drone appeared on the Capital Beltway near College Park. Aliens or simply the government flying unmanned aircraft, the self-described conspiracy theorist should take notice.
And this one might not be a conspiracy theory, necessarily. But we think that Belzer might find Montgomery County-based gun dealer Engage Armament's annual pumpkin shoot -- people shoot pumpkins, with machine guns and other firearms -- more compelling than what he saw on Bethesda's main drag.
As for the the hospital that Belzer referenced, it's the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center -- which is where John F. Kennedy's autopsy took place in November 1963. That autopsy is the subject of enough conspiracy theories to fill a five-volume work. Belzer himself has already written about it, too.
What do you think Richard Belzer should check out next time he's in Bethesda? Tell us in the comments -- then click through the slideshow to discover which famous politicians are believers and which ones used their influence to dig up space dirt.
