More U.S. military and government officials with knowledge of, or experience with UFOs, are expected to come out of the shadows soon.
That’s because the annual Defense Authorization Bill will likely include language allowing current and former government employees and federal contractors to share what they know about UFOs — or what the federal government prefers to call unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs — without fear of reprisal.
The provision is included in the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act for the next fiscal year, that was approved in July. The Senate has not approved its own version.
House minority leader Kevin McCarthy — who’s vying to become the next House Speaker — said last week he’d like to delay passage of the bill until next year, when his Republican party takes control of the chamber.
UFO investigator and author Richard Lang said he’s in touch with people who have knowledge about the phenomenon that they want to share, when the time is right.
“If that language survives Congress and ends up being part of the act, then these guys are saying they’re going to start talking about stuff that’s happened,” Lang said. “A lot of them are going to start talking.”
Susan Swiatek is the state director of the Virginia chapter of the Mutual UFO Network, or MUFON, the world’s largest and oldest civilian UFO investigating organization. She said the proposed ban on reprisals is just one of several encouraging signs in recent years that the government is becoming more transparent about discussing and investigating mysterious objects seen in our skies.
“A lot of different people are coming at this from different angles in the government and in the military complex, and it’s all good,” Swiatek said.
Her hope?
“Get some fresh air on the thing and the power of the bright sanitizing light of day, and maybe get some of this stuff more out in the open,” she said.
Lang and Swiatek spoke earlier this month at the annual “Mysteries of Space & Sky” UFO conference in Gambrills, Maryland.
There have been numerous developments in the last five years indicating the subject of UFOs is being taken more seriously by the government, the media and the public.
Just this year, Congress held its first hearing about UFOs in half a century, and NASA put together an “independent study team” to figure out how best to collect and scientifically analyze data on UFOs going forward.
