The US government should tell the public what it knows about UFOs | Trevor Timm

The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, introduced a UFO transparency bill, which some Republicans want to kill. Even sceptics should oppose their efforts

It doesn't matter the topic, there always seems to be a group of lawmakers who will stop at nothing to thwart government transparency - even when it's a subject that could not be more bipartisan or in an obvious need for sunlight.

This time, a small cadre of powerful Republicans have reportedly killed a provision in this year's defense authorization that would finally bring some transparency to the US government's knowledge around UFOs (now also known by the updated parlance of unidentified aerial phenomena", or UAPs).

Trevor Timm is executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation