Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is endorsing bipartisan legislation that would declassify government records related to U.F.O.s and unidentified anomalous phenomena, he announced this week.
The legislation would amend the National Defense Authorization Act and require the federal government to collect all records related to unidentified phenomena and make them immediately available to the public unless a review board offers legitimate reasons to keep them classified.
The process is based on the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, which ordered all files related to Kennedy’s killing to be released by the National Archives by 2017. Most, but not all, of the files have been released, resulting in ongoing public scrutiny and a lawsuit by JFK scholars.
“For decades, many Americans have been fascinated by objects mysterious and unexplained and it’s long past time they get some answers,” Sen. Schumer said in a statement Friday. “The American public has a right to learn about technologies of unknown origins, non-human intelligence, and unexplainable phenomena. We are not only working to declassify what the government has previously learned about these phenomena but to create a pipeline for future research to be made public.”
Schumer is joined by Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity for the Armed Services Committee, in supporting the amendment, which Schumer’s office said will be on the Senate floor next week. The amendment also has support from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), and Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.).
“Our goal is to assure credibility with regard to any investigation or record keeping of materials associated with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs),” said Sen. Rounds. “Relevant documents related to this issue should be preserved. Providing a central collection location and reputable review board to maintain the records adds to the credibility of any future investigations.”
The amendment would establish an independent UAP Records Review Board that would assess whether the records should be fully disclosed to the public or delayed. After 25 years, all records must be made public unless the U.S. president at that time certifies that continued delay is necessary for national security reasons.
In 2017, former President Donald Trump postponed the full release of the JFK assassination files due to alleged security concerns, and this was followed by President Joe Biden when he took office. Biden eventually ordered the release of 13,173 documents late last year, and a few thousand more were released in full or with fewer redactions earlier this year.
“Let’s get to the bottom of it. I just want transparency. I just want the truth.”
– Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.)
Reports of the proposed amendment came amid reports that Republicans with the House Oversight Committee expect to hold a hearing on unidentified aerial phenomena potentially later this month.
“Let’s get to the bottom of it. I just want transparency. I just want the truth,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) told reporters Friday regarding the proposed hearing.
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