Clinton White House official lobbies agencies to release UFO data

Former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta is now a lobbyist who most notably has been representing opponents of the proposed nuclear-waste repository at Yucca Mountain, northwest of Las Vegas. He has said that his experience in government convinced him of the value of pruning back overly broad government-secrecy classifications.

Now he has a rather unusual partner.

On Oct. 22, Podesta appeared at a news conference with a coalition backed by cable TV's Sci-Fi Channel. The group's mission: opening secret government archives so that any evidence, pro or con, about unidentified flying objects can be aired in public.

Podesta told the Las Vegas Review-Journal he was personally skeptical about UFOs, but added, "I think it's time to open the books on questions that have remained in the dark."