NASA Coverups? 1958 National Aeronautics and Space Act

We have all seen articles on NASA allegedly airbrushing photos to remove traces of undesireable objects, keeping information secret - photos and videos, etc. IMO We still have no concrete proof of anything yet, however, there exists the famous "1958 Space Act" (still in force) which has this clause in respect to public access to information:
"ACCESS TO INFORMATION
Sec. 303. Information obtained or developed by the Administrator in the performance of his functions under this Act shall be made available for public inspection; except (A) information authorized or required by Federal statute to be withheld, and (B) information classified to protect the national security: Provided, That nothing in this Act shall authorize the witholding of information by the Administrator from the duly authorized committees of the Congress.

SECURITY
Sec. 304. (a) The Administrator shall establish such security requirements, restrictions, and safeguards as he deems necessary in the interest of the national security. The Administrator may arrange with the Office of Personnel Management for the conduct of such security or other personnel investigations of the Administration's officers, employees, and consultants, and its contractors and subcontractors and their officers and employees, actual or prospective, as he deems appropriate; and if any such investigation develops any data reflecting that the individual who is the subject thereof is of questionable loyalty the matter shall be referred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the conduct of a full field investigation, the results of which shall be furnished to the Administrator. "



To sum it up: the public will be informed regarding results of space photos and data only if it is determined that such data are not a threat. The security clause seems to me to also mean that any associated personnel leaking information will be handled by the FBI.

So, if alien spaceships are spotted, the reaction is certainly to consider them a threat and not inform the general public.

Space Act

[edit on 6-7-2004 by gzhpcu]

You do have to take into account that this is during the cold war. Everything from the presidents shoe size to the inventory of toilet paper at the pantagon was considered a National Security matter.

While I a firm in my belief that there is life out there, I reamin skeptical about a huge government conspiracy to hide the fact. Like all conspiracies, someone somewere will eventually talk. If as some have supposed that the government has been aware and hiding aliens fornce the late 40's I just can't believe that they have been able to keep the information that tight for so long.

The space act is still valid today. The Extra-Terrestrial Exposure Law was revoked in I believe 1991, but not the space act.

If as some have supposed that the government has been aware and hiding aliens fornce the late 40's I just can't believe that they have been able to keep the information that tight for so long.

What about Area 51? There has never been a leak about what's going on inside that base...

The best place to keep a secret is right out in the open... Combine this with compartmentalization of information, and plausible deniability, and it's not too hard to see how a secret, even of this magnitude, can be kept for so long.

There HAVE been leaks, but they are so mixed up in the mess with all the wackos, that it makes them hard to discern... Disinformation is the key, as well as discrediting genuine insiders, so that the stew stays thoroughly mixed, and nobody on the outside really has a clue as to what's going on...

Standard rules of clandestine operations....

That's is all fine, but you are all going way beyond what was my original point. All I said was that the space act, which is still valid, could be an explanation why NASA officially would not make photos of ufos available.
(Not saying anything is also part of disinformation tactics) This has nothing to do with any alleged Roswell cover-up, etc.

dont you people hate it that your government is hiding stuff from you?
I thought in democracy the government should be transparent, it was after all YOU that voted these people in.
You should absolutely demand it, they should be in the service of their people not their own egoistical agendas.
As it should be with every other world government, these people should hang for doing what they do.

Why do we take it?

I'm thinking the "undesirable" objects alluded to in the Space Act are more of the military spy and defense satellites variety, than the little green men variety. I'm sure that was the original intention, but that doesn't mean of course, that it couldn't be "applied" to capturing other "undesirable" images as well...

Of course we hate it...but it isn't the elected officials that are doing the hiding... It's those who've been in place while presidents come and go...in many cases, hiding it even from the president....