economics Paradigm Challenge

UFO disclosure isn't just blocked by government secrets—it’s stuck behind the legal rules of international territory.

March 24, 2026

Original Paper

Local Evidence, Global Claim: Sovereignty, National Security and the UAP Disclosure Puzzle

Maryam Dilmaghani

SSRN · 6396278

The Takeaway

Most people assume a UFO cover-up is a purely political choice or conspiracy, but the paper argues that because no nation can legally verify data from a rival’s territory, a 'global truth' is impossible to establish. This creates a structural trap where governments investigate sightings but are legally incentivized to remain silent to avoid geopolitical friction.

From the abstract

Reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) appear across multiple jurisdictions and have increasingly entered formal military and intelligence reporting systems. Yet no government has issued a decisive global disclosure regarding their significance. This paper asks why and proposes one potential explanation. I argue that the obstacle is structural rather than merely political. Evidence of anomalous phenomena is generated locally-within the sensing systems and territorial domains of sovere