--- title: "New Campaign Urges Presidential Debate Moderators to Ask Candidates About UFOs" description: "In the age of UFO disclosure, one group is urging presidents to declassify it all — and wants debate moderators to get in on the action, too." date: "2024-06-19" modified: "2024-06-19" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/presidential-debate-ufo-disclosure" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "aaro" - "politics" - "uaps" - "ufos" --- # New Campaign Urges Presidential Debate Moderators to Ask Candidates About UFOs ![In the age of UFO disclosure, one group is urging presidents to declassify it all — and wants debate moderators to get in on the action, too.]() *\Image: Antonio Masiello / Brandon Bell via Getty / Futurism\* In the age of fever pitch UFO discourse, one group is urging the US president to declassify it all — and wants debate moderators to grill candidates on the topic. The group, called the New Paradigm Institute, [announced last week]() the launch of a social media campaign insisting moderators of the upcoming June 27 presidential debate hold both candidates' feet to the fire when asking UFO questions. The NPI is encouraging like-minded seekers to lobby *CNN*, which is hosting the debate between President Joe Biden, presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, and independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to ask tough questions about whether or not they would release unredacted files about what the US government refers to as "unidentified anomalous phenomena" or UAPs for short. "The next president of the United States will make critical decisions about UAP disclosure and government transparency," NPI chief counsel Daniel Sheehan said in the group's statement. "It’s time for all presidential candidates...to commit to UFOs/UAP disclosure and transparency." "Regardless of political affiliation," the attorney added, "the time has come to inject UAP into the political discourse of our elections." Operating under the Santa Cruz, California-based [Romero Institute legal nonprofit](), the NPI lobbies Congress and the public to urge the disclosure of any documentation of UFOs or extraterrestrial life the government might have. By its own recounting, the organization says that the military, intelligence, and aerospace industrial complex has "information about UFO technology and nonhuman intelligent visitors held in secret from the Congress for 80 years." "This initiative... is motivated by a desire to unite the human family and deconstruct the unjust social and economic structures on our planet, eliminate nuclear weapons, and restore our living biosystem as we take our place in a galactic civilization," the nonprofit's "About Me" page reads. While it's certainly lofty — or, for nonbelievers, downright preposterous — the NPI's stated mission dovetails with [disclosure trends]() that began early in Trump's presidency, when the [*New York Times* published leaked Naval video]() of the so-called "Tic Tac" UFO. In that video, which has been the basis of multiple UAP transparency [reports and laws]() since its quiet publication in December 2017, a Tic Tac-shaped craft seems to be seen flying implausibly fast and erratically for any known aircraft. With it, a [new age of UFO disclosure]() was launched — but per the NPI folks, the government hasn't told us nearly enough of the truth. Aside from the #DisclosureDebate campaign, the NPI's more recent hits include its [launch of an extraterrestrial studies program]() at the for-profit and definitively woo-woo [Ubiquity University](), as well as a [statement trashing the recent report]() from the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), which the org slams as "misinformation." Whether those news items help or hinder the group's credibility remains, like what's actually being shown on those [grainy military UFO videos](), in the eye of the beholder. All the same, it probably *is* a good idea to ask this election's presidential hopefuls if they'd declassify information about UFOs — especially given the kind of [buck-wild answer RFK Jr.]() is likely to come up with. **More on UFO law:** [*New Law Would Force Government to Declassify Every UFO Document*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()