(Arjun Walia) When a number of UFOs violated Washington airspace in 1952, the entire country went on alert and the news spread nationwide. Shortly after the incident, President Harry Truman was forced to hold a press conference to address the event. After that conference, as well as the big UFO wave proceeding the atomic bomb, the subject was engulfed in secrecy.
Similar to the recent leaks revealing the extent of the NSA surveillance programs, the UFO subject went into the category of unacknowledged and waived Special Access Programs. According to a 1997 U.S. Senate report, these programs are “so sensitive that they are exempt from standard reporting requirements to the Congress.”

Former head of the CIA Roscoe Hilenkoetter put it best in 1960 when he told the nation that “behind the scenes, high ranking air force officers are soberly concerned about UFOs. But through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are…