Key Takeaways
Over the decades , the U.S. government has engender almost unimaginably vast quantities of documents — perhaps in the 100 of one thousand thousand — containing information that functionary deemed too raw to be made public . It ’s a trove of data that contains , in bits and piece , a out of sight history of war and delicacy , of undercover agent and undercover weapons and presidents ' most fatal decisions .
" Declassified government documents are perfectly vital to our savvy of the chronicle of U.S. national surety policy,“Jon DiCicco , prof of political science and international relations , Middle Tennessee State University , explains via email . " Such documents are window into the inside workings of the U.S. government and national security measures establishment . "
Sometimes , they can take many years to surface . Back in 2011 , for example , the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA)finally declassifiedwhat it said were the U.S. authorities ’s one-time classified document , one of which had been secretsince 1917 . The paper , which described methods for creating invisible ink and opening seal letters , were deemed releasable because " recent advancements in engineering science " made the information no longer sensitive , then - CIA music director Leon Panettaexplainedat the clock time .
Most classified documents are n’t suppose to stay out of sight perpetually . A2009 executive orderissued by then - President Barack Obama broadly speaking compels classified documents to be marked for automatic declassification 10 to 25 long time after release — though a few exception , such as information that describe a confidential human intelligence activity source or figure details for weapon system of mass destruction , can be stay fresh from public view indefinitely .
" The burden is on the intelligence authority that produced the intelligence operation , " saysLarry Pfeiffer . He ’s a 32 - twelvemonth veteran of the U.S. intelligence residential area who now is director of the Michael V. Hayden Center for Intelligence , Policy and International Security at George Mason University’sSchar School of Policy and Government . " If they want to keep it classified , they have to have some very compelling rationality to do it . "
The government has so many secrets that sift through them and figuring out what is eligible for vent is a intimidating undertaking . In 2017 , the most recent year for which statistics are available , federal agencies reviewed83.8 million documents , of which 46 million — slenderly more than half — were declassified .
Pfeiffer says that declassification actually do good U.S. word agencies , because it helps the American populace to understand what U.S. intelligence information agencies do , and why their mission is important .
" The [ public ] margin for the privacy of these organizations has become smaller , " Pfeiffer says . " There ’s a demand by people to have a greater understanding of what their news means actually are up to … And the intelligence delegacy are improbably potent and outrageously secret . So over time , for the intelligence community to continue to be able to do the great employment it does to protect America , it ask to have the confidence of the American people . And , to obtain that trust , we need to be uncoerced to kind of lift the skirt a picayune chip and show people what we ’re really up to . "
Here are six surprising revelations that have emerged in recent geezerhood from declassified document . Many are available from the site of George Washington University’sNational Security Archive , an organisation of journalists and scholars that has amassed what may be the big compendium of formerly mysterious government information .
1. The U.S. Army Drew Up Plans for a Base on the Moon
In 1959 , Lt . Gen. Arthur G. Trudeau , the Army ’s chief of enquiry and development , commission thisproposalfor building a future lunar base , which he believed would be need to " acquire proficiency in Sun Myung Moon - base surveillance of the Earth and blank space , " and to forestall the Soviets ' expect territorial claims on the moon . The programme envisioned setting up an outpost in late 1965 . almost 150 Saturn I and II launch would be needed to embark nearly 500,000 dog pound ( 226,796 kilo ) of cargo involve to construct an underground root for 12 serviceman .
2. The Kennedy Administration Considered Invading Cuba in 1962, Expecting Heavy Casualties
In the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis , Joint Chiefs of Staff president Maxwell Taylor compose aNov . 2 , 1962 , memoat the postulation of President John F. Kennedy , who want to roll in the hay what human toll would be find byinvading Cuba . Provided that the Cuban forces used conventional weapons but not tactical nukes , Taylor wrote , " our medical plan are drawn up to accommodate up to 18,500 fatal accident in the first 10 daytime of surgery . " However , if tactical nuclear weapons were used , " there is no experience factor upon which to base an estimation of casualties . "
3. Gulf of Tonkin: A Fake Attack Escalated the Vietnam War
Adeclassified National Security Agency historical analysisconfirmed what many had long surmise : One of the two presuppose North Vietnamese fire on U.S. ship in the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964 — which President Lyndon Johnson ’s administration had used as justification for a massive escalation of the Vietnam War — had never actually happened . As the article mention , word and defense officials who doubt the administration ’s evidence had kept quiet , due to " an awareness that President Johnson would tolerate no uncertainty that could undermine his side . "
4. The U.S. Government Practices Surveillance of High-profile Americans
As the event of the National Security Archive ’s feat , the National Security Agency in 2013 declassified anhistorical documentdescribing a " sentry list " of prominent Americans critical of the Vietnam War , whose abroad communication were tapped by the government from 1967 to 1973 . " President Johnson wanted to know if the domesticated anti - war movement was receiving helper from afield , " one written document explain . Project Minaret , as the effort became known , expanded to include surveillance of more than 1,600 mass , including civic rights leadersMartin Luther King Jr.andWhitney Young , Muhammad Ali , Democratic U.S. Senator Frank Church of Idaho , Republican Senator Howard Baker of Tennessee , New York Times columnist Tom Wicker and Washington Post humor columnist Art Buchwald . The surveillance operation continued under the Nixon governance until Attorney General Elliot Richardson , who was concerned about its doubtful legality , determine to keep out it down during the Watergate scandal in September 1973 .
5. The CIA Used ‘Enhanced Interrogation Techniques’ on al-Qaida Detainees
This2004 reportby the CIA ’s inspector superior general , initially released in heavily redacted strain by the George W. Bush administration and then again with fewer deletions by the Obama establishment , describes " Enhanced Interrogation Techniques " used on al - Qaida detainees . The proficiency detail in the document include " walling , " in which captive were pull out forth and then crusade into a wall , slap to the face , stress position , quietus privation and waterboarding , in which " the detainee ’s head is immobilized and an interrogator put a cloth over the detainee ’s mouth and nozzle while pouring water onto the cloth in a controlled mode , " with the issue of curtail flow of air for 20 to 40 seconds and create " the sensation of drowning and suffocation . " Another technique involved confine a detainee in a corner for up to 18 time of day , sometimes with a " harmless louse " localize inside as well to increase the discomfort .
6. ‘Unidentified Aerial Phenomena’ Has Been Tracked by DOD
This one involves some selective information that was n’t in reality classify , but which had n’t been made available in public . In 2020 , the U.S. Department of Defense ( DOD)authorizedthe U.S. Navy to releasevideoof three incidents , one in 2004 and the others in 2015 , in which Navy hero pilots had run across " unnamed aeriform phenomena , " — which is another way of saying UFOs .
" After a thoroughgoing review , the section has limit that the authorise waiver of these unclassified videos does not unveil any sensitive potentiality or system , and does not impinge on any subsequent investigations of military air space incursion by unidentified aerial phenomena , " DOD noted in apress release .
The COVID-19 Relief Bill passed by Congress in 2020 also let in a planning requiring various government agencies to turn their files on UFOs . Here is anassortment of document , including the mysterious report of a sighting ofmultiple " fast - move flying objects " over Stalingrad in 1954 , posted on the CIA ’s web site .
DiCicco admonish that declassify documents do n’t always allow the full story . Other relevant documents may remain classified , and the single that are eject often contain redacted information , " which means that the document is not decipherable in its integrality . " to boot , he mention , a special document may only contain one functionary ’s or authority ’s perspective on a complex situation . " For this rationality , it is necessary to examine declassified documents from as many relevant post and section as potential , " says DiCicco .
