The disclosure movement is a social phenomenon advocating various conspiracy theories. These theories claim that governments, particularly the United States Government, possess secret information about UFOs and "non-human intelligence." This intelligence is described as space aliens, "interdimensional" beings, novel life forms, demons, or even time travelers.
The movement champions the declassification of this alleged information for the betterment of human society and scientific progress. Adherents believe governments control secret information regarding UFOs and space aliens and advocate for its public release for commercial, spiritual, humanitarian, or scientific reasons.
Newspaper headline about the Roswell UFO incident
"Disclosure" is the pivotal event the movement anticipates. According to journalist Anna Merlan, it is believed to be "the time when the world’s governments will finally reveal everything they know about UFOs, extraterrestrials, and alien technology".
According to journalist Alex Seitz-Wald, "the movement has long believed the government is covering up the greatest secret in history". Some adherents believe that films such as Independence Day are indicative of "a false narrative created by covert groups striving to generate fear of ETs".
Read also: Details on the UFO crash retrieval whistleblower's claims.
On the internet forum AboveTopSecret, described as "a hub of ufology and conspiracy theories", adherents have debated whether government efforts to make files of UFO reports more accessible represent "the beginning of the end of the alleged cover-up or its revival". UFO lobbyist Stephen Bassett lauded the new efforts as part of a strategy by former insiders "to finally force the government to reveal that it has had contact with aliens for decades".
Historical Roots and Evolution
While the roots of the disclosure movement can be traced to the 1940s and the work of Raymond A. Palmer and Richard Shaver, disclosure is distinct from earlier conspiracy theories that posit government secrecy about UFOs in that it simultaneously advocates for the end of such secrecy as a means for human civilization to capitalize on purported valuable alien technology.
As early as 1952, the US Air Force had acknowledged reports from "credible observers of relatively incredible things", but cautioned that "there has been no pattern that reveals anything remotely like purpose or remotely like consistency that we can in any way associate with any menace to the United States". In 1955, The Flying Saucer Conspiracy by Donald Keyhoe argued for an end to a supposed cover-up.
Diagram of a UFO sighting
Key Figures and Events
Enthusiasm for disclosure accelerated on December 16, 2017, when the New York Times published a story with the sensational headline "Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon’s Mysterious U.F.O. Program" that reported on the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program and popularized speculations that the government might soon reveal "what it knows about UFOs". The same Times story included the first of a series of videos of UFOs filmed by US Navy pilots and claimed by advocates to depict vehicles representing "extraordinary technology".
Read also: Extraterrestrial Life Theories
The videos further spurred interest in claims of secret government UFO files and extraterrestrial encounters. During 2021, personalities ranging from Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe to former president Barack Obama shared their thoughts about UFOs, with Obama saying that footage and records of unidentified objects exist, but dismissing claims of extraterrestrial encounters. In covering Obama's comments, CNN noted "Believing UFOs are real does not require believing in aliens; UFOs are simply unidentified flying objects.
In 2025, the Wall Street Journal revealed that hundreds of Air Force personnel had been told, falsely, that there was "a secret program to harvest alien technology".
US Congress subcommittees have held hearings advocating for government transparency since 2022, led by "a small group of policymakers who have been steadily prioritizing whistleblower hearings, public engagement sessions and other legislative efforts to promote more accountability and disclosure" regarding UFOs.
Predictions and Expectations
Those associated with the disclosure movement have variously predicted Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump would initiate disclosure during their presidencies.
Following the enthronement of Pope Leo XIV, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga professor Kody W. Cooper questioned if the Pope would reveal the Vatican's secret UFO files. Responding to Grusch's testimony, Stephen Bassett said "this thing is getting ready to blow sky high" and that President of the United States Joe Biden would confirm the existence of extraterrestrials within "two weeks" of the congressional hearing.
Read also: The Unknown Phenomena Article
David Grusch testifying before Congress
Recent Developments
Congress held a public hearing on UFOs, and in 2023, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer proposed legislation to expedite the disclosure of UFO-related information. Also in 2023, retired Air Force intelligence officer David Grusch testified before Congress, claiming the existence of a secret crash-retrieval and reverse-engineering program involving extraterrestrials, but did not provide any evidence beyond what he said he had read or was told by others. Grusch expressed his hope that disclosure would provide an "ontological (earth-shattering) shock" that would unite mankind and usher in an era of global cooperation.
Also that year, Garrett Graff cited a December 2020 interview with CIA director John Brennan as the primary inspiration for his latest book. According to Graff, Brennan "admitted, somewhat tortuously, that he was flummoxed by the wave of recent reporting about UFOs: 'Some of the phenomena we’re going to be seeing continues to be unexplained and might, in fact, be some type of phenomenon that is the result of something that we don’t yet understand and that could involve some type of activity that some might say constitutes a different form of life.'"