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Sci-Fi Channel Looks for LGM in NASA Files

Posted by michael on from the weather-balloon dept.

SharkJumper writes "The Sci-Fi channel expects to file a lawsuit within the week against NASA. They are attempting to gain access under the Freedom of Information Act to classified documents concerning a 1965 UFO sighting in Kecksburg, Pennsylvania. The Department of Defense, Army, and Air Force are next on their list. Here's Sci-Fi's account of the story."

7 of 622 comments (clear)

  1. That's one reason for FOIA by dachshund · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I didn't realize that you could sue to get your hands on classified documents under the freedom of information act. Things are classified for a reason.

    And what is that reason, exactly? That's what the plaintiff is asking here. Can the government continue to offer a legitimate reason for keeping decades-old documents classified? If so, they'll stay classified.

    Let's face it-- even if those documents contain information about state-of-the-art (at the time) US aircraft, it's somewhat unlikely that there's still a reason to keep them under wraps. If we didn't have mechanisms like FOIA to periodically re-evaluate the need for secrecy on ancient documents, everything would stay classified out of sheer inertia, even when there was clearly no longer a reason for secrecy.

  2. Re:Do they really expect to win? by WhiteWolf666 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Um----
    If NASA wants to not spend money on a lawsuit, they can simply release the documents.

    Why do they have to file a lawsuit? Why exactly is NASA keeping in secret?

    How the hell is anything that is US/Russia aerospace research oriented still worth classifying 50 years after the fact?

    If the administrators at NASA are willing to go the the wall protecting these secrets, then they damn well are secrets that I want to know about.

    --
    WhiteWolf666 an exBush supporter. All you new-school,compassionate,save the children Republicans can rot in hell
  3. Old line about UFOs. by Murmer · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I do believe in UFOs, as in "things in the sky which haven't been identified". It's a long stretch from that to aliens, of course.

    One of my favorite lines from an old conspiracy show about aliens was a backlit, voice-modified guy saying "Look, it's not aliens; it's military research. The fastest non-rocket-powered vehicle in the air right now that the public knows about is Lockheed-Martin's Blackbird, the SR-71, and that was designed forty years ago. Forty years before that, the fastest thing in the air was a biplane, a Sopwith Camel. Forty years before that, the fastest thing in the air was a balloon."

    "That hasn't stopped happening."

    --
    Mike Hoye
  4. I like David Brin's response by StefanJ · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Why would the military cover up something that would let them double their budget if it was revealed?"

    Stefan

  5. Re:Do they really expect to win? by susano_otter · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Things become declassified some time after it no longer serves any purpose to keep those things secret. There is no magical automatic expiration date on sensitive information. 50 years is probably quite long enough for most information to become irrelevant, but it would certainly be "ridiculous" to claim that all information should be declassified after fifty years.

    So long as the government has the authority to keep some things secret, it's well within that authority to keep things secret for fifty, or a hundred, or a thousand years.

    You may believe that fifty-year-old secrets are "ridiculous", but you can't justify that belief without knowing exactly what the secret is.

    --

    Any sufficiently well-organized community is indistinguishable from Government.

  6. Re:Well, this is obvious. by letxa2000 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Can anyone say "Taxpayer-funded publicity stunt?"

    It's only taxpayer-funded if the government (NASA) refuses to cooperate. Since NASA exists on our dime to acquire knowledge for all our benefit the fact that they are not willing to voluntarily give up knowledge they acquired bothers me. Yes, it is a shame that anyone or any organization has to SUE to get information from the government. But if that's what it takes to get the government to be more open with those of us who fund it, I'm all for it.

    The government has wasted money on things much less important than freedom of information.

  7. Re:Classified Documents by Sarcasmooo! · · Score: 4, Insightful

    To be fair, Bush actually improved upon Clinton's 1995 executive order on declassification. Ashcroft has encouraged challenging all FOIA requests, and Cheney is still fighting FOIA requests concerning his energy cabinet meetings.