By Nicholas McLaughlin, Epoch Times Staff

ET/UFO Disclosure/Secret UFO files released 2010

The release of secret UFO files remains a hot topic around the world, with New Zealand among the many countries continuing to unveil previously classified records.

Yesterday a group of former military officials gave a joint statement on their UFO experiences at a press conference in Washington, D.C.

In June, European Union MP Lario Borghezio called on European governments to disclose their UFO files, mentioning the possibility of scientific and technological breakthroughs.

"I think that, under the principle of transparency, the EU member states have a duty to make public and available to all scientific data on UFOs which today are partially or wholly withheld," the Italian lawmaker said, according to news.com.au.

The Brazilian government announced in August that UFO sightings must be documented, with the data accessible to researchers and the public.

Also that month, Britain's Ministry of Defence released a number of UFO files, now publicly available in the UK National Archives. One contains a letter saying Winston Churchill ordered a 50-year cover-up of a military pilot's encounter with a UFO, purportedly to prevent mass panic.

In New Zealand, UFO research network UFOCUSNZ communicated with Lt. Gen. Jerry Mataparae, Chief of Defence Force NZ, for over a year on the release of UFO sightings and reports, the organisation states on its website.

The New Zealand Defence Force is releasing hundreds of pages of secret files this year, including the famous 'Kaikoura lights' sightings of 1978, according to TVNZ.