A Newly Declassified CIA File Loosely Links JFK’s Assassination to UFOs
President Joe Biden has announced that he has completed his “final certification” of files to be released regarding John F. Kennedy’s assassination, even though 4,684 documents are still kept secret in whole or in part.
The National Archives has already released thousands of confidential documents related to the November 1963 assassination of then-president Kennedy. The documents include information from the CIA, FBI, State Department, and other agencies on topics such as assassin Lee Harvey Oswald’s contacts with Soviet and Cuban officials, anonymous tips and threats, and investigations into the shooting itself.
One of the newly released documents revealed the name of the CIA official who intercepted Oswald’s mail in the months before JFK’s killing: Reuben Efron. It turns out Efron had a UFO encounter in 1955 when he was on a train journey through the Soviet Union with Senator Richard Russell, Democrat of Georgia, and an Army colonel. They all saw what a CIA report called two “flying saucers,” though skeptics later argued that they were Soviet aircraft. Russell was among the Warren Commission members who interviewed Marina Oswald, Lee Harvey Oswald’s wife, in 1964.
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Some conspiracy theorists see a connection between Efron and the Kennedy assassination and wonder if he knew more than he let on. They also hope that a bipartisan bill to declassify UFO records will reveal more about the government’s knowledge and involvement in unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs).
“People say there’s nothing significant in these files?” Jefferson Morley, the editor of the blog JFK Facts, told The New York Times. “Bingo! Here’s the guy who was reading Oswald’s mail, a detail they failed to share until now. You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to think it’s suspicious.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is backing a bipartisan bill that would unveil government records on so-called UFOs and unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs). The bill would amend the National Defense Authorization Act and require the federal government to compile all records on UAPs and share them with the public, unless a review board justifies keeping them secret.
The process mirrors the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, which ordered all files on Kennedy’s murder to be released by the National Archives by 2017. But some of the files remain hidden, sparking ongoing public curiosity and a lawsuit by JFK scholars.
Schumer is teaming up with Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)—the top Republican on the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity for the Armed Services Committee—to support the amendment. It also has the backing of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), and Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.).
“Our goal is to ensure credibility with regard to any investigation or record keeping of materials related to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs),” Sen. Rounds said in a news release. “Relevant documents related to this issue should be preserved. Having a central collection location and a reputable review board to maintain the records boosts the credibility of any future investigations.”
Science and Technology Journalist
Sascha Brodsky, a freelance journalist based in New York City and a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, writes about many aspects of technology including personal technology, AI, and virtual reality. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, and many other publications. In his spare time, he enjoys cycling and hiking.
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