US secret UFO documents could be declassified: What this means

US Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer introduced legislation that could possible declassify documents relating to unidentified flying objects, or UFOs as the Democrat seeks an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). As per the proposed change, a commission will be created to declassify information. Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Mike Rounds supported the move.

House Republican Tim Burchett said that the government has "been covering this [UFOs] up since the 40s. I think the American people can handle it."

What did Chuck Schumer say about the amendment?

Announcing his plan on Twitter, Chuck Schumer said, “I'm introducing new legislation to declassify government records related to unidentified anomalous phenomena and UFOs as an amendment to the NDAA, modeled after the JFK Assassination Records Collection Act", referring to the 1992 act which resulted in the publication of sealed US government records on the 1963 shooting of John F Kennedy.

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What does the proposal mean for UFOs?

If adopted, a nine-person review board will be set up with the US Senate approval to go over classified information related to UFOs. After this, the US president will have the power to delay the declassification of documents if there are national security concerns.

"You now will have a process through which we will declassify this material," Allison Biasotti, a spokeswoman for Chuck Schumer, told The New York Times.

Twitter and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk welcomed the legislation writing "Cool" on the social media platform in response to Chuck Schumer's tweet.

This comes as the House Oversight Committee is planning to hold a hearing on UFOs.