Congress’ beefed-up interest in UFOs, revealed in recent days, is late in coming but should be welcomed nonetheless.

Much of what the federal government has been concealing for many decades regarding sightings of unidentified flying objects can be revealed to today’s more enlightened public without causing panic or otherwise striking new fears into people otherwise concerned about humanity’s rightly or wrongly perceived instability on this planet.

UFO-related information housed in the proverbial dusty recesses of the nation’s information warehouses needs to be examined and evaluated before public release of documents and files actually occurs. More than one set of trusted eyes needs to be at the heart of making correct determinations regarding what ought to be released and that which should not be.

But a spirit of openness should dominate.

In Washington, the latest version of the Senate’s defense-policy bill has been reported as containing bipartisan provisions designed to gather and declassify documents related to unidentified flying objects, including, as the Wall Street Journal pointed out in its July 22-23 edition, “mysterious aerial phenomena of this world — and potentially others.”

“While UFOs have drawn the public’s attention for decades,” the Journal said in its July 22-23 article, “lawmakers have expressed heightened concerns after the shootdown of a Chinese spy balloon and several other objects over North America this year, as well as fresh claims about unexplained aircraft that appear to employ technology beyond known military capabilities.”

Reportedly under the Senate’s provisions, federal agencies would be given 300 days to hand over documents being sought to a newly established review board with the power to declassify them.

About the current declassification intent, senators have indicated that they hope to address concerns over aerial phenomena.

Such a commitment, if it is genuine, is, again, long overdue.