Lee Graham's UFO FOIA and "Fireball Data Flap"

Space.com has been following a story directly related to the USAF "neither confirm nor deny" response to Lee Graham's Freedom of Information Request.

Graham very specifically asked for DSP satellite results which would confirm or deny detection of "manufactured extraterrestrial" objects, i.e. alien spacecraft.

The USAF response was a flat "we can neither confirm nor deny the existence of the information you have requested" as "the existence or non-existence of records" would "reveal a connection or interest in the matters" which is "classified."

"By this statement, the Department of the Air Force neither confirms nor denies that such records may or may not exist."

That, my friends, is your government, forced by the FOIA to issue the ultimate cop-out response.

Now, as reported by Space.com, the lock down on information about US space satellite detection capabilities is being tightened considerably.

Leonard David writes:

Digging in on this story is not easy. Military higher-ups and the agencies involved are guarded about how potent their satellite sensors are as they stare at Earth for nuclear detonations, missile launches and the like.

In a new exclusive interview with SPACE.com, U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Robert Rego, who is in charge of the policy guidance behind the data release, said the Air Force Space Command is "circling the wagons" to close some loopholes in the dissemination of potentially sensitive information.

According to Lee Graham, some of the evidence detected by DSP satellite provides firm evidence of the entry of extraterrestiral objects under intelligent control.

Space.com explains the purpose of the DSP satellite, and why it is considered so sensitive:

The system also spots incoming fireballs, even gauging the energy released as an extraterrestrial piece of flotsam explodes in our atmosphere. That information can yield scientific insight, such as the object's mass as its brightness fades as it falls. A sensor-derived light curve can offer important information about how the object decelerated when it struck the atmosphere, and thereby yield implications about its strength too.

But it is also the sort of info that seems to be at the crux of military worries, forcing a "secret" stamp of disapproval in terms of freely posting this kind of light curve data for all to see.

I recommend reading the entire article, which is available here.