On UFO Secrecy and your right to know

Why do you think you have the RIGHT to UFO data?

Who or what gave you this right? God? There are those who think we have God-given rights. The US Declaration of Independence says so: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.- In Congress, July 4, 1776 The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

Notice there is no mention of knowledge there. The rights given by God are ethereal like equality and liberty. The U.S. Constitution proper says nothing about rights, and the Bill of Rights itself has nothing to do with education, knowledge, or secrets. Neither does any subsequent amendment.

The Code of Federal Regulations has many provisions about classification, including Title 32 on National Defense. The Big Elephant in the Room is, of course, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) which is often cited as the basic portal through which to dislodge government secrets and has been around since 1967. As you might expect, there are numerous exceptions, the biggest one of which is national defense. If the government decides that whatever information you are asking for would compromise national defense, then it is exempt from disclosure. This even includes “sources and methods.” For example, if you are seeking a video on a UFO sighting, and giving it to you would expose a secret camera the US has developed, you won't get the video.

If we move on the the Rights of Taxpayers, which are often asserted to bolster the idea that the government owes us knowledge, all you see is taxpayer rights for appeals, resolutions, and fair treatment. Nothing about being a taxpayer, THEREFORE the government owes you.

The United States does not have a British-style Official Secrets Act. Instead, several laws protect classified information, including the Espionage Act of 1917, the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982. (Wikipedia) Reading through these acts can get pretty dense, These acts have a whole lot to do with keeping information FROM people rather than releasing information TO people. In other words, it is obvious they ensure some so-called “rights” are taken away from you, not provided to you.

The bottom line here is that you do not have the “rights” you think you have. That some program was funded by taxpayer money does not grant you access to that information. In fact, that argument is laughable. It's just silly. You can argue about this all you want, but it still won't work.

Who is arguing that we have a right to know?

ATS used to be about calling out the BS and trying to find out what the phenomenon is.

There is more than enough circumstantial evidence that our government, military, and MIC hide behind "it's Classified" and its probably to cover thier asses instead of protecting the public from harm.

What right would any government have to keep from the people of Earth the fact that we are not alone, that we are in contact with aliens? This is something which belongs to us all and not just a select greedy and corrupt few. What right do they have to control such information and withhold it from us?

originally posted by: ARM19688
What right would any government have to keep from the people of Earth the fact that we are not alone, that we are in contact with aliens? This is something which belongs to us all and not just a select greedy and corrupt few. What right do they have to control such information and withhold it from us?

What is this "right" based upon? Just your opinion. You have a "right" to an opinion, of course. It's a First Amendment issue. But your opinion doesn't give you any rights by itself. It's not codified anywhere. But classified information is. If you were to sue the government to release information, the governnment could present a copious amount of laws and regulations bolstering their case, including the big one: national security. You would have nothing at all. All you've got is that you don't like it.