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For many decades, scientists and regular people have wondered if humans are the only living things in the vast universe. This deep question has recently become very important again. There are loud political debates about the topic, and a new major movie is coming out soon. Discussions have focused on strange objects seen in the sky. People often call them UFOs, or Unidentified Flying Objects. A newer term is UAP, which stands for Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena. These strange events have made experts have a serious conversation about a big problem. They are asking: What would happen to the whole world if governments finally decided to share all the information they have about life from other planets?
The official name for sharing hidden government information is "disclosure." Former U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a complete review of government files about these subjects. The specific goal was to find and release information about alien life, UAPs, and UFOs. The possible release of these secret papers could change society in many deep ways. This topic is very important right now because Steven Spielberg's new movie, called "Disclosure Day," is scheduled to come out in June. The website Space.com talked to many leading experts to help explain this complex and multi-part issue.
Greg Eghigian is a professor at Penn State University. He also wrote a book about the history of UFO sightings. He explains that, based on how things have happened in the past, government efforts to make secret information public usually create two opposite reactions among people. "There have been those who insist that the materials published definitively show there to be nothing out of the ordinary in sightings and reports," he said. These people believe the documents prove everything is normal. However, these people are always balanced by others who remain deeply skeptical. Those skeptical people point to what is left out of the documents. They insist that the government is still keeping vital secrets hidden from the public.
"The existence of secrecy means even apparent openness can be suspected of disguising more secrecy," Eghigian noted. He believes that the public's desire for full and complete disclosure may never be fully satisfied. This is true no matter how much information is released.
Steven Dick is an author who has written extensively about what might happen if we discovered life beyond Earth. He focuses his research on the scenario of direct contact, rather than on sensational UFO stories. Dick argues that UAPs should be part of a serious, formal research program conducted by scientists. This research may or may not eventually find a connection to life from other planets. When it comes to government disclosure of old UFO information, Dick said he is trying to keep an open mind.
As a member of the Galileo Project at Harvard University, Dick favors a rigorous scientific method. "I prefer building equipment to acquire new data rather than going over old blurry images," he said. "I doubt much will be revealed in any 'disclosure.'" The primary goal of the Galileo Project is to move the search for alien technology away from rumors and chance sightings and into mainstream, transparent science.
Dick pointed out that recent hearings in Congress have included some extraordinary claims. These claims involve alien technology and even alleged alien bodies. "But in the end, when it comes to revealing where these technologies and bodies are located, the answer is always 'classified,'" he said. He supports disclosure in general and knows there are many government records available. However, he would be very surprised if anything truly sensational is revealed to the public.
Having worked for the government for 30 years, including six years at NASA, Dick finds it hard to believe such a huge secret could have been kept for so long. He explained that the impact of discovering alien intelligence would depend heavily on distance. A close encounter with a UAP would have the most immediate and intense effect. "Even if the alien bodies or technologies are discovered from past visits, it would change our scientific, theological, philosophical and cultural worldviews," Dick stated. He noted that just thinking about the possible existence of distant life has already helped create a new field called "astrotheology."
Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb has been closely following the discussion about disclosure. He sees a bureaucratic side to the President's recent comments on UAPs. "Administrators in intelligence agencies may not want to publicly acknowledge that there are objects they cannot identify," Loeb suggested. This reluctance is especially true given the large budgets spent on national security and the potential embarrassment of admitting a lack of understanding.
He explained that classification rules limit who can review data, including members of Congress. Therefore, it makes sense for some information to remain secret for safety reasons. However, Loeb proposes one immediate step that could help advance the conversation. "One step that can be taken immediately is to declassify events from 50 years ago. Technologies used half a century ago are no longer strategically sensitive. Releasing older data could significantly advance scientific research," he said. Loeb added that he would be happy to help the government analyze any declassified incidents to ensure they are properly understood by the scientific community.
Carol Cleland is a professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado Boulder. She is also affiliated with the SETI Institute, which actively searches for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence. She does not expect a major disclosure to actually happen in the near future. However, if one did occur, Cleland believes the public reaction would be deeply split along cultural and ideological lines. She told Space.com it "would be rejected by some people as bogus and welcomed with religious fervor by others." She thinks many people would simply shrug off the news and continue with their daily lives as if nothing had changed.
"A few people, including myself, would react with a mixture of concern about the intentions of the intelligences that have been hiding their presence and spying on us... and excitement over the discovery that there are other intelligences in the universe," Cleland said. For scholars and scientists, she noted, such news would be revolutionary and would fundamentally alter our understanding of our place in the cosmos.
George Knapp is a veteran journalist and longtime UFO investigator based in Las Vegas. He questions whether the public is truly ready for a full disclosure of everything the government might know. "I know that the public says we can handle the truth. I'm not entirely sure that's true, because we don't really know what the truth is," Knapp said. He shared his thoughts earlier this year regarding the complexity of the situation. Knapp noted that many people assume disclosure would be about aliens from other planets. "We can probably handle that. We've seen enough movies and TV shows over the years," he said. Yet, he can imagine other possibilities that could be far more disturbing to people.
"I can foresee some strange possibilities that might be truly upsetting to people's religious beliefs and their fundamental beliefs about how humans evolved," Knapp explained. He warned that the truth might challenge core human beliefs in ways that science fiction cannot prepare us for. He ended with doubt about two common ideas people hold. "We think we can handle the truth. Yeah, we think that our government knows the truth. I'm not sure either of those are true."
The path to full disclosure remains uncertain, yet the conversation continues to evolve as more experts weigh in. The eventual reaction will likely depend on what is actually revealed, how it is presented, and the ability of humanity to process a reality that challenges everything we thought we knew.