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Post by swamprat on Jun 5, 2023 20:15:09 GMT -6
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Post by auntym on Jun 8, 2023 13:59:19 GMT -6
www.liberationtimes.com/home/former-chief-scientist-for-air-force-space-command-vouches-for-ufo-whistleblowers-integrityLiberation Times | Reimagining Old News Former Chief Scientist for Air Force Space Command Vouches For UFO Whistleblower's IntegrityWritten by Christopher Sharp / twitter.com/ChrisUKSharp 8 June 2023 In a show of support, Jim Shell, the former Chief Scientist for Air Force Space Command (now known as the U.S. Space Force), has lent his voice to the integrity of former senior intelligence official, David Grusch, in the wake of his recent astonishing claims relating to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP). Grusch's allegations, which centre around deeply covert programs purportedly holding retrieved intact and partially intact craft of non-human origin, have found an ally in Shell, further amplifying the gravity of these extraordinary revelations. In a LinkedIn post referencing a recent bombshell article published by The Debrief, which delves into Grusch's allegations, Shell stated: ‘I will vouch for the integrity of Dave Grusch!’ Of interest, Shell did not publicly rule out claims that materials of non-human origin are held by the U.S. government, its allies, and defense contractors (made by Grusch within the article), adding: ‘Getting to the bottom of this is elusive and problematic, to say the least. ‘I will assert no matter the conclusion of extraterrestrial materials or not, the DoD and IC security apparatus is in trouble and unwitting accomplices are fostering an abusive system.’ Such comments may be in reference to claims by Grusch that information about such programs has and continues to be illegally withheld from Congress, and that he suffered illegal retaliation for his confidential disclosures to the Congress and the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community. Liberation Times has sought Shell's input, reaching out to him for comment and seeking additional elucidation on the matter. Grusch received further support on LinkedIn by Sean Allen who presently works at Space Systems Command, part of the U.S. Space Force's space development, acquisition, launch, and logistics field command. Allen shared The Debrief’s article on Grusch, commenting, ‘seems like it will be a busy week. I hope David Grusch stays safe.’ Referencing allegations of reprisals taken against Grusch (and perhaps other whistleblowers who have yet to speak out publicly), Allen added: ‘I want to see how these individuals are treated. If they're liars then no need to target them with harassment, reprisal, threats.’ Liberation Times has made contact with the Intelligence Community's Inspector General (ICIG), posing specific inquiries regarding Grusch and the allegations made by him. At present, no response has been received from the ICIG. However, U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) spokesperson Susan Gough, who claims to have ‘provided expert advice to DoD and other U.S. Government agencies on strategic communication, organizational change, psychological operations’ between 2006 and 2009, did provide Liberation Time with the following statement: ‘To date, AARO [the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office which investigates UAP] has not discovered any verifiable information to substantiate claims that any programs regarding the possession or reverse-engineering of extraterrestrial materials have existed in the past or exist currently. ‘AARO is committed to following the data and its investigation wherever it leads. AARO, working with the Office of the General Counsel and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, has established a safe and secure process for individuals to come forward with information to aid AARO in its congressionally-mandated historical review. ‘AARO’s historical review of records and testimonies is ongoing and due to Congress by June 2024. AARO welcomes the opportunity to speak with any former or current government employee or contractor who believes they have information relevant to the historical review.’ It should be noted that Liberation Times understands that the AARO is not an authorized recipient of Dave Grusch's PPD-19 complaint made through the ICIG. The only authorized recipients are the Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. The AARO would need approval by Avril Haines or the ICIG to gain access, or Grusch would need to make a separate disclosure through the AARO, which he has not done. Sources have told Liberation Times that the AARO, which has, up until now, reported to the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security (OUSDI&S), is not trusted by numerous whistleblowers. The issue may stem from AARO’s proximity with the OUSDI&S, which has previously been criticised for allegedly persecuting whistleblowers. Lue Elizondo, former AATIP Director The former director of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program and UAP whistleblower, Lue Elizondo, has previously commented: ‘The [O]USDI is the one single office that has continuously lied about this topic and persecuted whistleblowers.’ Speaking to Liberation Times, Elizondo has also vouched for Grusch, stating: "Despite what some may say, Dave is an hoannable man who served his country courageously, both during times of peace and war. He is who he says he is." With the AARO seemingly unable to effectively investigate claims such as those made by Grusch, the responsibility may ultimately fall upon Congress. The U.S. government's House Oversight Committee intends to hold a public hearing on the subject, indicating the potential for Congressional intervention. Liberation Times has gained insight into the consideration of a concept reminiscent of the Church Committee of 1975, which probed into abuses committed by U.S. intelligence agencies. This notion has been contemplated by certain members of Congress ever since the UAP whistleblower language was included in the Intelligence Authorization Act of July 2022. Given the recent disclosure by Grusch, the momentum behind such thinking may gain further traction. It is anticipated that the gravity of Grusch's allegations may intensify in the days to come. www.liberationtimes.com/home/former-chief-scientist-for-air-force-space-command-vouches-for-ufo-whistleblowers-integrity
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Post by auntym on Jun 8, 2023 14:15:44 GMT -6
www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/06/ufo-report-mediaWhy The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Politico Didn’t Publish a Seemingly Bombshell Report About UFOsThe reporters behind the eye-popping 2017 UFO Times report had a new chapter to their story. The Gray Lady turned it down, while The Washington Post was working to hammer down the facts. Then the authors took it elsewhere. BY CHARLOTTE KLEIN / www.vanityfair.com/contributor/charlotte-kleinJUNE 8, 2023 Why ‘The New York Times ‘The Washington Post and Politico Didnt Publish a Seemingly Bombshell Report About UFOs On Monday, a headline-grabbing story about UFOs began to light up certain corners of the internet. “INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS SAY U.S. HAS RETRIEVED CRAFT OF NON-HUMAN ORIGIN,” read the headline of the piece published in The Debrief, a little-known website covering the science and defense spaces. In the story, a former intelligence official turned whistleblower, David Grusch, alleges that the US government is in possession of “intact and partially intact craft of non-human origin,” information about which “has been illegally withheld from Congress.” Grusch, the piece says, provided such classified information to Congress and the Intelligence Community inspector general, and “filed a complaint alleging that he suffered illegal retaliation for his confidential disclosures, reported here for the first time.” The story was written by Ralph Blumenthal, who spent more than 45 years on staff at The New York Times, and Leslie Kean, an investigative science journalist known for her writing on UFOs. The two are best known for authoring—alongside the Times’ Pentagon correspondent Helene Cooper—the explosive 2017 UFO report, in which the journalists revealed a defunct secret Pentagon program—initially funded at the request of former Senate majority leader Harry Reid—to investigate “unidentified flying objects.” (The A1 story was accompanied with a sidebar written by the three authors and titled: “2 Navy Airmen and an Object That ‘Accelerated Like Nothing I’ve Ever Seen.’”) On Monday, Saagar Enjeti, a political pundit and cohost of the Breaking Points podcast, proclaimed that Blumenthal and Kean’s latest report was “the biggest story in the UFO world since the 2017 NYT expose.” Tucker Carlson, in the first installment of his new Twitter program on Tuesday, declared (in what was a clear exaggeration of the reporting) that “UFOs are actually real” and hit the mainstream media for not covering the story: “In a normal country, this news would qualify as a bombshell—the story of the millennium.” So why wasn’t it running in The New York Times? I’ve learned that Kean and Blumenthal did, in fact, bring the story to the Times, but the paper of record turned it down. The Times didn’t respond to a request for comment, but Blumenthal, reached by phone, confirmed the paper “passed on an early version” in April. The pair also pitched their story to Politico and The Washington Post. The Post had been trying to further report the story that the reporters had brought to the paper, but didn’t think it was ready for publication; among its reservations, according to a source familiar, was that it was unclear what members of Congress made of Grusch’s testimony. (The Post declined to comment.) Politico—which, a source familiar noted, had the story for mere days, while the Post had the story for weeks—also wasn’t able to turn around the story at the speed that Kean and Blumenthal wanted, Blumenthal said. “Every piece of journalism POLITICO publishes goes through a vigorous editing process to ensure we are providing accurate information for our readers," a Politico spokesperson said in a statement to Vanity Fair. “Though we were interested in the submission, the authors insisted on a guaranteed publication date that would not have allowed us to complete our process and meet our standards.” The writers’ apparent time constraints have only raised more questions. “To be clear -- the Washington Post did not pass on our story,” Kean wrote on Facebook Monday. “Ralph and I took it to the Debrief because we were under growing pressure to publish it very quickly.” Blumenthal told me that circumstances—including that Grusch’s identity as the whistleblower had leaked out on the internet—pushed them to “publish sooner than we’d hoped.” “If there had been no leaks, it might’ve been different,” Blumenthal said. But “people on the internet were spreading stories Dave was getting harassing phone calls and we felt the only way to protect him was to get the story out.” When the pair realized the Post “just needed more time and there was no clear sense of when we might finish that process,” they took the story to The Debrief, an outlet that had published the two before and was “willing and able to move quickly,” he said. Now out in the world, the reporting process is raising even more eyebrows. During interviews on NewsNation with both Grusch and Kean, it became clear that neither had seen photos of the alleged craft. NewsNation’s bob Entin asked Kean about the lack of receipts: “He has the credentials, but there’s no documents that he’s handed over, there’s no pictures, and as a journalist, you want to see documents; you want to see pictures.” But Kean said the lack of documents or photographs did not raise red flags for her because “all of that information is classified.” She believes it, she said, “because of all the sources I have who have told me the same thing… I don’t think there’s some conspiracy among all these people who don’t know each other to make something like this up.” Even as extraterrestrial life has moved to the fore of mainstream news media in recent years, the lack of first-hand accounts or available physical documentation to support such claims of such mysterious aerial phenomena has been a barrier to entry for many journalists and mainstream outlets. A number of publications have picked up the Debrief story—some noting their skepticism—since its publication, though the Times and Post have not. “What feels missing to me is there is still no one involved who says, I saw this thing. I touched this thing. Or I recovered this thing on this date. And over 75 years of this history, that’s always the level of specificity that is missing from these stories,” journalist Garrett Graff, who is currently working on a book about the US government’s decades-long quest to study UFOs, told me. “The deeper you get into covering UFOs, the more almost all of this feels like an intergalactic game of telephone.” Still, during his NewsNation interview, Grusch painted what would be a monumental escalation in what the public knows about research into extraterrestrial life on earth. “These are retrieving non-human origin technical vehicles, call it spacecraft if you will, non-human exotic origin vehicles that have either landed or crashed,” Grusch told journalist Ross Coulthart, claiming that the US has even retrieved “dead pilots” from such objects. ”I thought it was totally nuts and I thought at first I was being deceived, it was a ruse,” Grusch said. “People started to confide in me. Approach me. I have plenty of senior, former, intelligence officers that came to me, many of which I knew almost my whole career, that confided in me that they were part of a program.” In response to the report, DoD spokesperson Sue Gough told NewsNation in a statement, “To date, AARO (All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office) has not discovered any verifiable information to substantiate claims that any programs regarding the possession or reverse-engineering of any extraterrestrial materials have existed in the past or exist currently. AARO is committed to following the data and it’s investigation wherever it leads.” www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/06/ufo-report-media
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Post by auntym on Jun 8, 2023 14:48:32 GMT -6
David Grusch Former Intelligence Official Says U.S. Has Retrieved Craft of Non-Human Origin
The Debrief
Premiered Jun 6, 2023
David Charles Grusch, a whistleblower who previously served as an intelligence official and a veteran of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has provided Congress and the Intelligence Community Inspector General with highly classified information. According to Grusch, this information pertains to covert programs that have successfully obtained both fully intact and partially intact non-human aircraft.
Journalists Leslie Kean and Ralph Blumenthal explain how this breaking news story came to light.
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Post by auntym on Jun 9, 2023 17:42:54 GMT -6
Leslie Kean and Ralph Blumenthal on their Blockbuster Debrief Story
Whitley Strieber
Jun 9, 2023
Leslie and Ralph go deeper into the meaning and implications of their story in the Debrief on June 5 about whistleblower David Grush's claim that the US government has crashed UFOs and materials it has been hiding for years. Then Whitley asks "what does this mean for the abductees?"
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Post by jcurio on Jun 10, 2023 14:58:09 GMT -6
I don’t know anything. I don’t know ANYTHING, that other people do not know.
But I have feelings (and feelings are not facts.)
——————————————————
“ What feels missing to me is there is still no one involved who says, I saw this thing. I touched this thing. Or I recovered this thing on this date. And over 75 years of this history, that’s always the level of specificity that is missing from these stories,”
(taken from article above)
_____________________________
I feel, in my gut, and from studying this elusive phenomenon, that people HAVE touched this thing. People HAVE been near it; there ARE pictures and videos.
And SOME PEOPLE, died instantly. Or people were able to withstand the effects of it for longer times. SOME People lost body functions; including their minds.
SOME PEOPLE, (not simply) disappeared.
In 2017, I believe that it was proven, publicly, why for so many years, the slang for “them” was “fast walkers”.
My goodness! That stopping and starting. That fading out or “popping” in..
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Post by swamprat on Jun 12, 2023 18:09:36 GMT -6
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Post by swamprat on Jun 13, 2023 14:53:50 GMT -6
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Post by auntym on Jun 14, 2023 12:55:41 GMT -6
www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/vatican-helped-us-retrieve-ufo-from-benito-mussolini-says-pentagon-whistleblower/ar-AA1cymTu?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=bbb5d3c2d195404999a7d581979dfa4a&ei=21Vatican Helped US Retrieve UFO From Benito Mussolini, Says Pentagon WhistleblowerStory by Douglas Charles / ufo in forest - whistleblower vatican mussolini © iStockphoto Last week, David Grusch, a veteran of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), came forward with claims that the United States has retrieved and studied UFOs of non-human origin and recovered alien bodies. Ever since then it has been one new revelation after another about secret government UFO programs and cover-ups, both from Grusch as well as other new whistleblowers. It has gotten so wild that the U.S. House of Representatives announced it is planning to hold a hearing to investigate Grusch’s claims. The latest claim to come from the Air Force veteran David Grusch is that the “Vatican was involved” in the first-ever mission of the United States’ alleged secret UFO retrieval program. “It’s long been known that the regime of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini documented numerous UAP [Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, or UFOs]. An internal memo from the Italian Secret Services includes crude drawings of the UAPs,” he told NewsNation. “1933 was the first recovery in Europe, in Magenta, Italy. They recovered a partially intact vehicle, and the Italian government moved it to a secure airbase in Italy until around 1944-1945. “The Pope back-channeled that and told the Americans what the Italians had and we ended up scooping it.” Grusch says that in his opinion, the United States government has been conducting a “sophisticated disinformation campaign” for decades regarding aliens and UFOs. Part of that campaign, according to Grusch, involves the infamous 1947 Roswell incident. “You might want to trust some of these witnesses,” he said about those who came forward back then, adding that he has read the 1994 Air Force report that supposedly debunked the Roswell incident. “That analysis they did was a total hack job,” he said. “I mean, even anybody with analytical skills … if you read it, you can deduce that they’re completing multiple situations crash test dummies and movable dunes. They (the Air Force) is just saying that the townsfolk who personally witnessed it were totally imagining things. They concocted that whole report just to disinform.” This week, multiple sources close to the situation came forward, according to author Michael Shellenberger, to say Grusch’s core claims are accurate. brobible.com/culture/article/government-military-sources-retrieved-12-alien-spacecraft/Jim Shell, a former Chief Scientist of the Space Innovation and Development Center at Air Force Space Command, and recently retired Army Colonel and former Army liaison for the United States’ UAP Task Force, Karl E. Nell, also backed up Grusch’s assertions. brobible.com/culture/article/whistleblower-claims-recovered-ufo-distorted-space-time/www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/vatican-helped-us-retrieve-ufo-from-benito-mussolini-says-pentagon-whistleblower/ar-AA1cymTu?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=bbb5d3c2d195404999a7d581979dfa4a&ei=21
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Post by auntym on Jun 21, 2023 22:44:53 GMT -6
douglasjohnson.ghost.io/senate-committees-advancing-new-language-on-possible-secret-ufo-tech-programs/Senate committees advancing new language seeking possible secret UFO-tech programsby DOUGLAS DEAN JOHNSON / douglasjohnson.ghost.io/author/douglasjohnson/Jun 21, 2023 Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) chairing a hearing on the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), before the Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, April 19, 2023. By Douglas Dean Johnson Original publication: June 21, 2023, 10 AM EDT. Substantive post-publication updates and corrections are logged at the end of the article. The Intelligence and Armed Services committees of the U.S. Senate appear to be stepping up their efforts to uncover any secret government programs that may exist to study devices or manufactured material of unearthly origin. On June 14, 2023, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) approved an Intelligence Authorization Act (IAA) for Fiscal Year 2024 that contains UAP-related language proposed by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who apparently expects to win approval of compatible language in the Senate Armed Services Committee within days. Gillibrand sits on both committees. The texts of Gillibrand's amendments have not yet been made public, but she revealed her general intent in an interview with Matt Laslo of WIRED, published on June 13, 2023. Laslo reported that the senator intended to seek approval on the FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of a "mandate that no money can be spent on SAPs [Special Access Programs] unless it's been reported to Congress." The Senate Armed Services Committee begins a series of closed-door amending sessions (called "mark ups") on the NDAA today (June 21, 2023), which are expected to conclude on June 23. In recent years the committee's leadership and membership have advanced into law several expansive UAP-related measures, with bipartisan support. Laslo's article quoted Gillibrand as saying, "So if there are SAPs out there that are somehow outside of the normal chain of command and outside the normal appropriations process, they have to divulge that to Congress." She also said, "We need to just look into whether there are rogue SAP programs that no one is providing oversight for. The goal for me will be to have a hearing on that at some point so that we can assess if these SAPs actually exist.” Gillibrand has already met with success in the SSCI, although the details are not yet public. On June 14, SSCI Chairman Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.) and ranking minority member Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fl.) issued a release announcing that the SSCI had approved the FY 2024 Intelligence Authorization Act (IAA) in a closed-door session earlier that day. A summary describing provisions of the bill included this bullet point: "Increases transparency by strengthening Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) funding and reporting requirements." This referred to UAP language offered in the committee by Gillibrand, co-sponsored by Senators Michael Rounds (R-SD), John Cornyn (R-Tx.), and Rubio. Her proposal was adopted by the 17-member committee without dissent, after which the bill was approved unanimously. The language of the amendment will not be made public until the committee-approved bill is officially filed and given a bill number. The NDAA sets policy and authorizes programs for most components of the military. The IAA sets policy for the Intelligence Community, which involves 18 agencies, both military and civilian. (Neither bill actually provides funding, which is initiated through the Defense Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee.) Congress passes an NDAA every year. In many years, the IAA is folded into the NDAA at a late stage in the legislative process, prior to final congressional approval. GRUSCH ALLEGATIONS BACKDROP FOR NEW PROPOSALS Gillibrand's new UAP initiative comes in the wake of reporting about and statements by David Grusch, a level GS-15 (colonel equivalent) intelligence officer who recently retired from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). According to a report that appeared on the website The Debrief on June 5, written by Leslie Kean and Ralph Blumenthal, Grusch, while assigned to the interagency UAP Task Force, received classified information from multiple sources affirming the existence of a longstanding, highly secret program engaged in attempted reverse-engineering of devices and materials of non-human origin. According to the Debrief article and other sources, Grusch initially reported his findings to the Inspector General of the Department of Defense in July 2021, which allegedly somehow triggered various reprisals against him. The perpetrators of the alleged reprisals have not been publicly identified. In May 2022, Grusch submitted a whistleblower complaint to the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community (ICIG), containing allegations of illegality of types defined by statute as of "urgent concern," allegations which the ICIG subsequently deemed to be "credible." Under the applicable statute, such findings triggered notifications to the congressional intelligence committees, both Senate and House. Staff persons to those two committees subsequently conducted extensive interviews under oath with Grusch regarding his allegations. It appears that investigations into Grusch's disclosures by both the ICIG and the Inspector General of the Defense Department are ongoing. As part of last year's National Defense Authorization Act, enacted in December 2022, Congress mandated establishment of a "secure system" by which anyone involved in a past or current UAP or alien-tech research program may file reports with the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), the Pentagon office created by Congress to delve into UAP-related matters. Under this new law, anyone utilizing this "secure system" to disclose UAP-related information will not be violating classification laws or non-disclosure agreements, and will enjoy legal protection from any reprisals from the government or government contractors. The 2022 law also states that the Secretary of Defense must report to designated key lawmakers within 72 hours if he determines that "an authorized disclosure [under the new system] relates to" a previously unreported UAP-related special-access program. However, Grusch employed a longstanding whistleblower law, rather than the new AARO-based system, which was enacted after he initiated his actions with the inspectors general. Within hours of The Debrief's initial report on Grusch's claims on June 5, Pentagon spokesperson Sue Gough issued this statement: "To date, AARO has not discovered any verifiable information to substantiate claims that any programs regarding the possession or reverse-engineering of extraterrestrial materials have existed in the past or exist currently. AARO is committed to following the data and its investigation wherever it leads. AARO, working with the Office of the General Counsel and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, has established a safe and secure process for individuals to come forward with information to aid AARO in its congressionally-mandated historical review. AARO’s historical review of records and testimonies is ongoing and due to Congress by June 2024. AARO welcomes the opportunity to speak with any former or current government employee or contractor who believes they have information relevant to the historical review." In an interview with journalist Ross Coulthart, broadcast by News Nation on June 11, Grusch said, "Well, I know [AARO Director] Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick. I've known him about eight years. And, you know, I expressed some concerns to Dr. Kirkpatrick about a year ago, and told him what I was starting to uncover. And he didn't follow up with me. He has my phone number. He could have called me. I hope he ultimately does the right thing. He should be able to make the same investigative discoveries I did. It's totally crazy if he doesn't." "The allegations themselves are breathtaking," Senator bob Schatz (D-Hi.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, told WIRED's Laslo. "It could be a game changer, or it could be a crank." CONTINUE READING: douglasjohnson.ghost.io/senate-committees-advancing-new-language-on-possible-secret-ufo-tech-programs/
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Post by auntym on Jul 6, 2023 21:10:39 GMT -6
UAP Expert Leslie Kean BREAKS DOWN Whistleblower Grusch's Claims About US Gov't STASH Of UFOs
The Hill
Jul 4, 2023 #davidgrusch
Investigative journalist Leslie Kean weighs in on new claims surrounding UFOs and the U.S. government. #ufo #davidgrusch Originally aired June 8, 2023
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Post by auntym on Jul 14, 2023 16:49:28 GMT -6
Sen. Schumer introducing UFO records declassification bill | NewsNation Now
NewsNation
Jul 14, 2023 #USSenate #NewsNationNow
The Senate majority leader said the measure will be an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act and be modeled after the JFK Assassination Records Collection Act.
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Post by auntym on Jul 14, 2023 19:57:22 GMT -6
SEN CHUCK SCHUMER Intros NEW BILL To Declassify UFO-Related Gov't Records
The Hill WASHINGTON
7-14-2023
Contributor for The Hill Marik von Rennenkampf dives into push from lawmakers in Congress to push the Pentagon to declassify UFO-related documents
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Post by auntym on Jul 14, 2023 20:22:20 GMT -6
www.nytimes.com/2023/07/13/us/politics/ufo-records-schumer.htmSenator Chuck Schumer @senschumer Jul 13, 2023
BREAKING: I’m introducing new legislation to declassify government records related to unidentified anomalous phenomena and UFOs as an amendment to the NDAA, modeled after the JFK Assassination Records Collection Act.Bipartisan Measure Aims to Force Release of U.F.O. RecordsLegislation backed by Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, would create a review board to declassify documents related to unidentified aerial phenomena across the government.Various Pentagon task forces have done extensive studies on videos taken by naval aviators and other military personnel that have remained secret. Credit...Haiyun Jiang/The New York TimesBy Julian E. Barnes / www.nytimes.com/by/julian-e-barnesJulian Barnes has been covering intelligence agencies’ examination of unidentified phenomena since 2020. July 13, 2023 Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, is pushing legislation to create a commission with broad authority to declassify government documents about U.F.O.s and extraterrestrial matters, in an attempt to force the government to share all that it knows about unidentified phenomena. The measure offers the possibility of pushing back against the conspiracy theories that surround discussions of U.F.O.s and fears that the government is hiding critical information from the public. The legislation, which Mr. Schumer will introduce as an amendment to the annual defense policy bill, has bipartisan support, including that of Senator Mike Rounds, Republican of South Dakota, and Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, who has championed legislation that has forced the government to release a series of reports on unidentified phenomena. Support in the House is also likely. On Wednesday, the chamber included a narrower measure in its version of the annual defense bill that would push the Pentagon to release documents about unidentified aerial phenomena. (While the government has agreed not to call mysterious sightings U.F.O.s, various branches and agencies disagree on whether to refer to aerial phenomena or anomalous phenomena.) President Biden would appoint the nine-person review board, subject to Senate approval. Senate staff members say the intent is to select a group of people who would push for disclosure while protecting sensitive intelligence collection methods. Interest in U.F.O.s has always been high, but it has grown even more since a collection of videos showing unidentified phenomena recorded by military sensors was made public and naval aviators described hard-to-explain events while on training missions. Some of the videos released by the Pentagon have been explained as optical illusions or drones, but others remain unexplained and the object of much speculation. Under pressure from Congress, the Pentagon and intelligence agencies have gathered hundreds of reports of unexplained phenomena. Officials have said most of the unexplained incidents are airborne trash, Chinese spying efforts or errant weather balloons. American officials have repeatedly said that none of the videos or other material they have collected appears to be evidence of alien visitation. It is hard to know how many unreleased documents exist in government archives. Intelligence agencies have said repeatedly that they have released the material they have. Their freedom of information offices are constantly deluged with requests for material on U.F.Os., only to be met with responses that the archives have been released. Still, more recent work, particularly by the Pentagon, has not been made public, and the reticence of some government agencies to produce records has frustrated both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, Mr. Schumer’s staff members said. For example, various Pentagon task forces have conducted extensive studies on videos taken by naval aviators and other military personnel that have remained secret. Some work on the videos has been released, including at a recent NASA meeting. In some cases, officials believe disclosures could reveal the capability of classified optics and sensors. But in cases in which no formal conclusion has been reached, officials have been reluctant to share information on their deliberations or theories. It is the reluctance to share all that is known about the incidents that are not completely understood that has fueled endless speculation on social media, in television specials and public debates. The new legislation is modeled on the commission that oversaw the release of information about John F. Kennedy’s assassination. That legislation, passed in 1992, has been imperfect, and both the release and withholding of documents have continued through the Biden administration. Still, the Kennedy assassination review board has forced the release of thousands of pages of documents, and lawmakers believe the approach could work here. Under Mr. Schumer’s legislation, the president could decide to delay material the commission has chosen to release based on national security concerns. But the measure would establish a timetable to release documents and codify the presumption that the material should be public. “You now will have a process through which we will declassify this material,” said Allison Biasotti, a spokeswoman for Mr. Schumer. Government officials have repeatedly said they do not have the remains of a crashed alien spacecraft or any manufactured material of extraterrestrial origins. Those assertions have been challenged by some former officials who believe the government is not divulging all that it knows. The legislation would likely force more details of the government’s study of unknown materials to be released, but it also gives the federal government the power to claim any crashed spaceships in private or corporate hands, however unlikely that such things exist. Mr. Biden, unlike former President Barack Obama, has not directly addressed the issue of unidentified phenomena. But Mr. Biden did order two unknown objects and a Chinese spy balloon to be shot from the sky. Afterward, the president said that he would not apologize for shooting down the spy balloon and that the United States would continue to adapt its approach to dealing with unknown objects. www.nytimes.com/2023/07/13/us/politics/ufo-records-schumer.html
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