Having worked in Central and South America I can say I've had locals tell me some crazy stories. I personally was just focused on the job,but sometime I questioned why we were certain places with no real objective. The 1 thing I did notice is some stories were almost identical to stories I'd hear in Africa.
I think the truth is getting too hard to hide for governments. They feel they need to break the news gently or people will panic. We can't get along with each other so throw aliens in the mix and watch out!