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Post by auntym on Dec 10, 2021 15:54:40 GMT -6
www.military.com/daily-news/2021/12/07/pentagon-ufo-rapid-response-teams-ordered-congress.htmlMilitary News Pentagon UFO Rapid Response Teams Ordered Up by CongressIn an image from video provided by the Department of Defense labelled Gimbal, from 2015, an unexplained object is seen at center as it is tracked as it soars high along the clouds, traveling against the wind. (Department of Defense via AP) 7 Dec 2021 Military.com | By Travis Tritten / www.military.com/author/travis-trittenTeams of Pentagon and intelligence community experts would rapidly respond to military UFO sightings and conduct field investigations under newly unveiled defense legislation set to pass Congress. Lawmakers also want scientific and technical experts to analyze data about the objects, or what the military calls unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAP, as well as any recovered materials or medical effects, according to the text of the annual defense authorization bill released Tuesday. The bill requires all of the findings to be collected under a new joint UAP office and delivered to Congress in annual reports and biannual briefings to defense committees, marking the most significant UFO legislation ever passed in the U.S. following high-profile encounters with unknown objects reported by the Navy. "Protecting our national security interests means knowing who and what are flying in U.S. airspace," Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), a sponsor of the legislation, said in a statement to Military.com. "Right now, our system of tracking and identifying UAPs is scattered throughout the Department of Defense and other departments and agencies of the federal government." The expansive measures come just two weeks after the Pentagon announced a new group aimed at collecting and analyzing UAP incidents, sending a clear message that Congress felt the department's response was inadequate. The Navy confirmed the authenticity of three infra-red videos showing unknown objects recorded during training exercises off San Diego in 2004 and off the East Coast in 2015. Over the past four years, fighter jet pilots and crew members have publicly said they witnessed unexplainable maneuvering, including a "Tic Tac"-shaped object with no visible means of propulsion and a flying cube inside of a sphere. Theories on UAP range from drones or unmanned aircraft built by China or Russia to extraterrestrial or interdimensional visitors. The new legislation to collect and analyze data on such incidents was sponsored in separate bills by Gallego and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and was cosponsored by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). In addition to the rapid response field investigators, Congress also wants the Pentagon and intelligence community to create a science plan to understand UAP that exceed the "known state of the art in science or technology." The bill says the information could be used to justify requests for funding in the future to "replicate any such advanced characteristics and performance" -- or reverse-engineer the UAPs. Incidents around nuclear facilities are also noted for special attention. Congress has never before passed legislation on UFOs, and certainly nothing near the scope of the defense bill language, said Douglas Dean Johnson, a researcher who closely follows UAP-related developments in government, and who has reported extensively on the Gallego and Gillibrand proposals. "I have looked, and I think you will not find anything. You will find cases where Congress engaged in discourse on the issue," Johnson said. Famous UFO initiatives in the 1940s through the 1950s such as Project Blue Book, under the Air Force, and the Condon report, sparked during a congressional committee hearing, were done without any legislation. Decades later, the military is set to embark on a new study of flying objects, but the defense bill makes clear it won't be on the Pentagon's own terms -- and that much of the findings will be shared with Congress. In June, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks ordered the Pentagon to create its UAP group on the same day the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a long-awaited report about the military's encounters. That report found 80 incidents of unknown objects captured by multiple sensors and 18 sightings of objects that showed unusual flight characteristics. The ODNI report concluded that UAP could pose a national security threat. "Additional rigorous analysis [sic] are necessary by multiple teams or groups of technical experts to determine the nature and validity of these data," the report said. The Pentagon said its new monitoring and analysis group, called the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group, or AOIMSG, would be a more organized way to collect and analyze the reports. "We'll be as transparent as we can, but no, I don't want to leave you with the impression that there'll be sort of a regular drumbeat of, you know, of some kind of report that gets posted on a website, you know, every couple months," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said when asked whether any UAP findings would be publicly released. The group is run by Ronald Moultrie, the under secretary of defense for intelligence and security, and overseen by an executive council headed by Moultrie and Lt. Gen. James J. Mingus, director for operations for the Joint Staff. www.military.com/daily-news/2021/12/07/pentagon-ufo-rapid-response-teams-ordered-congress.html
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Post by auntym on Aug 31, 2022 23:29:07 GMT -6
thehill.com/opinion/national-security/3622421-the-pentagon-should-release-dozens-of-ufo-videos/The Pentagon should release dozens of UFO videosBY MARIK VON RENNENKAMPFF, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR 08/31/22 The Pentagon has at least two dozen, and likely far more, UFO videos in its possession. Despite public commitments to transparency, officials refuse to release any of the footage. But the government’s rationale – that disclosure would jeopardize sensitive “sources and methods” – likely holds no water with many of the videos. In March 2019, amid increasing military encounters with objects appearing to exhibit highly advanced flight characteristics, the Navy instituted a standardized UFO reporting mechanism. Despite heavy redactions, these reports show that fighter pilots are frequently left stunned by such incidents. Importantly, the Navy’s new reporting procedures allow aviators and intelligence officers to submit video footage and other sensor data. In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the Navy confirmed that 24 videos are associated with 19 UFO reports, spanning June through December 2019. If the Pentagon continued receiving 20 UFO videos every six months, it would have well over 100 videos in its possession by now. Of course, increased awareness of the new reporting mechanism and reduced stigma likely resulted in aviators submitting far more UFO footage. Moreover, with 24 videos accompanying 19 reports, it appears that aircrews are unlikely to submit a UFO report without including corroborating data. As noted by a former director of national intelligence, the government also possesses UFO data – such as “images and videos” – recorded by satellites. Of course, the public release of satellite data and radar displays could jeopardize sensitive platforms and capabilities. But many, if not most, of the UFO videos in the government’s possession were likely recorded by infrared targeting pods. Infrared video technology is not inherently sensitive. At the same time, footage from targeting pods is widely available. Most importantly, three famous UFO videos – all recorded with the Navy’s primary infrared targeting pod – are unclassified (and were never classified in the first place). These facts make it impossible for the government to claim that the release of UFO footage recorded by such platforms (not to mention cell phones) would compromise sensitive technology or intelligence collection capabilities. Importantly, since targeting pods are fighter pilots’ technological “eyes” in the sky, such videos likely account for a significant proportion of the UFO data held by the Pentagon. At the same time, the government has no evidence “to indicate any [UFOs] are part of a foreign collection program or indicative of a major technological advancement by a potential adversary.” Therefore, the Pentagon cannot plausibly claim that its UFO videos can be classified as sensitive “foreign government information.” For its part, Congress does not appear concerned that UFOs are part of a foreign intelligence effort. According to draft legislation approved unanimously by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, a muscular new UFO office must immediately stop investigating any object determined to be “man-made” and turn its analytic attention to another case. If lawmakers are truly concerned that some UFOs are adversarial surveillance platforms, they would not direct a powerful new office to stop investigating as soon as an object is determined to be of human origin. Of equal importance, officials are confident that none of the 143 unexplained encounters described in a landmark UFO report involve secret American technology. Therefore, the Pentagon cannot withhold UFO videos under the pretext that aviators may have inadvertently captured footage of sensitive U.S. “weapons systems.” With Congress demanding answers and government officials admitting their own impatience with the slow pace of progress, the public release of non-sensitive UFO videos could quickly resolve several cases. For instance, it took the government “several years” to determine that two UFO videos showed a common camera artifact. Mick West, a prominent UFO skeptic, identified the artifact in a matter of days. At the same time, verifiable, repeatable geometrical analyses of one of the most well-known UFO videos showed that the object’s flight path matches eyewitness descriptions. This implies that the UFO demonstrated highly anomalous flight characteristics, including controlled flight without any apparent wings, control surfaces or means of propulsion. Perhaps most intriguingly, the analyses indicate that the object thwarted a Navy fighter jet’s attempt to sneak up behind it. Ultimately, the parameters (approved by a senior intelligence official) under which the government classifies UFO data are at stark odds with that same official’s public promise to declassify information that does not reveal sensitive With infrared targeting pod footage – including three well-known, unclassified UFO videos – widely available in the public domain, the government’s “sources and methods” claim does not hold water. The Pentagon must abide by its emphatic commitments to transparency and release all such UFO footage. thehill.com/opinion/national-security/3622421-the-pentagon-should-release-dozens-of-ufo-videos/“sourcMarik von Rennenkampff served as an analyst with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, as well as an Obama administration appointee at the U.S. Department of Defense. es and methods.”
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Post by auntym on Nov 20, 2022 18:48:39 GMT -6
lifeinjonestown.substack.com/p/nearly-three-weeks-and-counting?r=eq5if&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=emailNearly three weeks and countingIs the Pentagon concealing sources and methods -- or something worse?
by Billy Cox / lifeinjonestown.substack.com/p/nearly-three-weeks-and-counting?r=eq5if&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=emailUSAF veteran Terry Lovelace suspects a UFO photobombed this helicopter as he tried to document evidence of aerial harassment of his home in Texas. [CREDIT: Terry Lovelace] Nothing dropped at 5 p.m. Friday, so the congressional UFO report allegedly being compiled by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has blown its deadline by nearly three (3) weeks now. Nobody explains. When nobody explains, we infer a screwup, a spit up or a coverup. From the vacuum of silence roar rumors that can bend legitimate and rational explanations into endlessly morphing, addicting & potentially lucrative conspiracy dreck. And, as Americans, we could sure use some more of that *bleep* right now. Well, if this drop-watch were a spectator sport, Terry Lovelace would rate a courtside seat. Because if what he says is true, it requires you to believe the book he published four years ago was so problematic, it invited a year’s worth of broad-daylight helicopter harassment over his home outside Dallas. Immediately after the publicity splash, he says drab-olive military two-and four-seaters, plus law enforcement-grade Airbus 350s, all without aircraft registration “N” numbers, buzzed his house. He says they made no less than two flyovers a week, but “usually every single day.” He took a lot of photos, too. One even purports to show a UFO in the same picture with one of the interlopers. The extravagance of the alleged intimidation campaign defies logic. The scriptures teach us that, if you want to scare the snot out of somebody, you leave a dead fish wrapped in newspaper on your mark’s front step. Or maybe a hog’s head spiked into the lamppost, or a pit viper rattling in the mailbox. Messages like that, delivered in stealth, with zero fanfare, are targeted and bloodcurdling. Making a clatter like loud brass balls over someone’s house isn’t just a dick move on unsuspecting neighbors, it signals a misuse of funds. Isn’t it, like, way cheaper to buy dead fish than to fuel up helo? Spend it or lose it — could that racket be in play here? On the other hand, when it comes to UFOs, logic is usually junk currency. What we do know is this: If TL’s story about aerial harassment is true, taxpayers should get a refund. Lovelace, undeterred, responded by writing a followup to Incident at Devil’s Den, the book that got him so much attention in 2018. His second accounting, Devil’s Den: The Reckoning, went to press in 2019. And like so many UFO abduction stories, absurdity has a field day. At age 8, for instance, the visitors materialized in his bedroom as four “grinning monkeys”; a daylight disc directly overhead, he wrote, “was shiny and gorgeous in the way a brand-new sports car is gorgeous.” More recently, a diminutive, mind-reading suspected-hybrid telepath he dubbed “Betty Rubble” for her Flintstone-like black wig surprised him at home in the middle of the night, her sunglasses shielding large black almond-shaped eyes. She told him the UFO confessional he was thinking about writing could endanger his personal safety. And the threat wasn’t from space aliens. ‘Hi, Terry, it’s Tom DeLonge’Lovelace first spoke publicly in September 2017, three months before the NY Times’ barrier-busting expose on the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), the Pentagon’s secret UFO project. But when Devil’s Den came out the following year, a few key players reached out to him, and maybe the draw was as much about his resume as his message. Lovelace spent six years in the Air Force as a medic/EMT before earning degrees in law and psychology. In private practice, he specialized in health care risk management. He was an assistant state attorney for American Samoa before becoming a prosecutor in the same capacity in Vermont, where he retired in 2012. Fearing professional ruin, he had clammed up for 40 years about what happened to him and a buddy while stationed at a Strategic Air Command base in Missouri. But when he finally put it all out there in Devil’s Den, the phone started ringing, probably because of the X-rays. “I got a call from LA, and when I picked it up, the voice said ‘Hi, Terry, it’s Tom DeLonge.’ Well,” Lovelace recalls, “I knew of him because my daughter had organized some of his music for her wedding, so I said ‘How are ya,’ and he said ‘Fine.’ Then he said look, I’m here with General (Neil) McCasland and Lue (Elizondo), and we want to talk to you about this thing in your leg.’” DeLonge was the Blink 182 rocker whose UFO email inquiries with Washington rainmaker John Podesta got firehosed onto the Internet by WikiLeaks in 2016; in 2017, DeLonge formed To The Stars Academy (TTSA) to raise venture capital for related UFO projects. Retired in 2013, McCasland’s last post was at Wright-Patterson AFB, where he ran the USAF’s Research Laboratory. Elizondo had just resigned from the Defense Department after managing to secure the release of three now-famous Navy F-18 UFO videos for the media. And “this thing” in Lovelace’s leg they wanted to talk about? Long story. He has no idea when or how it got there. The setup goes like this: He joins the military out of high school in 1973, and winds up with the 351st Missile Wing as a young sergeant attached to Whiteman AFB east of Kansas City. Armed with an array of Minuteman II nukes, WAFB is better known as the current home of the 509th Bomb Wing, which achieved notoriety in 1947 for its location at Roswell, N.M., the cradle of the modern UFO mystery. Black diamond over Kilo-5In the winter of 1975, working the graveyard shift as an ambulance driver, he and a colleague named Toby are dispatched to retrieve a missile mechanic injured during routine maintenance at a silo code-named Kilo-5. They’re met by a roadblock and the flashing lights of a dozen other MP vehicles. The two get out and hoof it over to K-5, where he, Toby and a small crowd of military first-responders gape as a large, silent “black diamond” craft parks itself 50 feet in mid-air above the underground launch facility. They watch for 10 minutes before the thing zips off without a trace. After a debriefing, their CO informs them what they’d seen was a new experimental helicopter wink-wink. But the book draws its title from what happened in June 1977, at an Arkansas state park, Devil’s Den, just across the Missouri border. Lovelace and Toby knock off work, pile into the car, take a long hike, pitch tent in a meadow, kindle a firepit – and get subjected to an extended UFO abduction event after nightfall. Recollections include a massive triangular craft that throws blue and white light beams onto the ground, occupants bustling outside their tent getting literally beamed back up, white or stainless steel interiors inside a space so vast and surreal it includes “three parked flying saucers,” and 50 to 60 humans decked out in “tan uniforms with red or orange insignias,” operating alongside the child-sized crew. Sick, nauseous and “insanely thirsty” upon awakening in their tent, the two off-duty airmen flee in the dark “like scared little boys,” abandoning their gear for discovery by park rangers the next day. Lovelace’s “eyes stung as if I’d stared at the sun.” “Angry red sores” erupt from head to toe, and his body turns “beet red,” as if sunburned, even his armpits. Suffering from a 104-degree fever, Lovelace is hospitalized, as is Toby, whose symptoms are similar. The ordeal concludes with an exhaustive grilling by the USAF Office of Special Investigation. Its lead agent injects him with an unknown drug, leads him through hypnotic regression, and orders him to shut up about everything. Toby is promptly reassigned to another base. The two never see each other again and, according to Lovelace, Toby eventually “succumbed to alcoholism.” Residual trauma revisits Lovelace in nightmares, and even in the bedroom he shares with his wife of 46 years. Lovelace took up jogging and awoke one morning in 2012 unable to stand the pain in his right leg. X-rays appeared to show a fingernail-sized metallic square extruding two tiny wires embedded in his thigh just above the knee. But there is no trace of an entry scar. The pain was diagnosed as an unrelated and common Baker cyst, but lateral X-rays picked up yet another anomaly. A bone-dense flower-shaped mass – located in the middle of his calf muscle – bloomed onto the film as well. Located in 2012, the square object sprouting two fine vertical wires in the extreme upper right disappeared during photos taken five years later. But the wires are still in there. [CREDIT: Terry Lovelace] Lovelace wanted the object removed in accordance with chain-of-custody protocols, in order to produce a formal analysis ready for peer review. But, given his history of heart disease (bypass surgery, a pacemaker, a stint, strokes), “No surgeon I talked to in this country would remove it.” A Veterans Administration radiologist offered broader context. “I’ve got 5,000 veterans just in this Dallas area here who have pieces of metal in their bodies from Afghanistan to World War II and they want that stuff out of their bodies, too. Sometimes,” she told him, “it’s better to let it lie.” Convinced there were countless others like him who had been tagged and stigmatized by “ugly praying mantis creatures,” Lovelace went public with a lecture in Houston in 2017. Shortly thereafter, he says he was confronted late one night, inside his home, by the “Betty Rubble” character who had at least one thing in common with the Air Force OSI: She also warned him not to talk about it. She then informed him he actually had implants in both legs, and that they would all be removed as a precaution. Lovelace awoke on November 16, 2017, with pain between the crotch and knees of both legs. Circular bruises blossomed on both sides of his groin, but the right-side contusion, shaped like flower petals, had a hole in the center. Subsequent X-rays revealed the metallic object had vanished from his right thigh, but two tiny lengths of wire remain in his muscle mass. No extraction incisions were evident. The puzzling bony matter in his calf is still there. (More info at his website.) Since the publication of his books, Lovelace says he’s been contacted by more than 4,000 largely empathetic people eager to share their own tales of high strangeness. During the coronavirus lockdown, he says he had a Zoom chat with a Department of Homeland Security official (unnamed) on the subject of criminal liability. “I kinda laughed at the question,” Lovelace recalls. “I said I think you’re gonna have a big problem with service of process. How do you go about that without an embassy to locate the responsible parties to hold them accountable? But in the back of my mind I thought there might be a human element involved in the scenario that could also be subject to prosecution.” Which brings us, again, to Section 1683 of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. Amid its itemized demands from the ODNI, lawmakers pointedly require a review of “adverse physiological effects.” Could stories like these from military veterans lurk at the core of the Pentagon’s obstinance? Little faith in the ODNI report“I can attest to the fact that TTSA was interested in speaking with Terry regarding possible biological effects that he may have suffered,” states former AATIP manager Elizondo. “Biological effects (are) a potential serious aspect of what we studied in AATIP and we now know that certain elements with the U.S. Government are equally concerned as we were. If Terry is suffering any medical consequences as a result of an alleged encounter with a UAP while serving in the military, then he deserves medical care. “It is my experience that helicopters of unknown utility have been reported by certain individuals. It is not yet known if this is some sort of intentional harassment or simply a matter of being near a congested flight corridor. Obviously, flying a helicopter is expensive and logistically intense if this were some sort of campaign to intimidate individuals on a regular basis. We would need to do additional research to better determine the nature of these incidents,” he added, “before making any sort of proclamation. “Terry is a good person who is also credible. I believe Terry and others are convinced their experiences are legitimate.” Lovelace has low expectations of ODNI’s ability to herd the Pentagon cats into producing anything meaningful on UFOs. How many veterans, how many people, how many Terry Lovelaces are out there? And let’s have a show of hands to see who wants the responsibility of managing that data. Short of the implausible scenario of an active-duty Pentagon insider spilling the beans with incontrovertible smoking-gun documentation, Lovelace can imagine only one possibility for inducing an authentic emetic on The Great Taboo. “A big event,” says the retired prosecutor, “like maybe a saucer crashes into a residential area.” But maybe there’s a contingency for that option, too. lifeinjonestown.substack.com/p/nearly-three-weeks-and-counting?r=eq5if&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
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Post by jcurio on Nov 22, 2022 1:56:01 GMT -6
He joins the military out of high school in 1973, and winds up with the 351st Missile Wing as a young sergeant attached to Whiteman AFB east of Kansas City. Armed with an array of Minuteman II nukes, WAFB is better known as the current home of the 509th Bomb Wing, which achieved notoriety in 1947 for its location at Roswell, N.M., the cradle of the modern UFO mystery.
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* wink wink
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Post by jcurio on Nov 22, 2022 2:01:24 GMT -6
Residual trauma revisits Lovelace in nightmares, and __________________________
Constant nightmares. Me too.
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Post by auntym on Dec 17, 2022 13:23:03 GMT -6
www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/media-roundtable-transcript-about-the-pentagons-ufo-office-aaro-december-16-2022/“Media Roundtable” Transcript about the Pentagon’s UFO Office, AARO –BY JOHN GREENEWALD / www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/DECEMBER 17, 2022 Note from The Black Vault: The below “media roundtable” took place on December 16, 2022, and was an invite-only event that was not advertised. The Black Vault was invited to attend, which I did via the telephone. Although I was in line to ask a question along with a follow up, I was not called upon. I am working with the Pentagon Office of Public Affairs to get my questions answered, and if they are, I will bring that to you. Until then, you can find the entire transcript of the nearly one hour roundtable below. USD(I&S) Ronald Moultrie and Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick Media Roundtable on the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office Ronald Moultrie, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security; Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office STAFF: Good afternoon, I’m Sue Gough. I will be — from Defense Press Operations. I will be your moderator today. We are here to talk about the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, which as most of you know, is the office that replaced the former Navy-led UAPTF. We have with us here today, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security Ronald Moultrie, and Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, the director of AARO. And with that, I will turn it over to Mr. Moultrie. CONTINUE READING: www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/media-roundtable-transcript-about-the-pentagons-ufo-office-aaro-december-16-2022/
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Post by auntym on Feb 7, 2023 11:58:03 GMT -6
www.liberationtimes.com/home/the-pentagons-highest-ranking-ufo-hunter-steps-out-of-the-shadows-to-highlight-his-work-on-the-ufo-topicThe Pentagon’s Highest Ranking UFO Hunter Steps Out Of The Shadows To Highlight His Work On The UFO TopicWritten by Christopher Sharp / twitter.com/ChrisUKSharp 7 February 2023 The creator and former Director of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF), Jay Stratton, has given his first-ever public interview with journalists George Knapp and Jeremy Corbell, featured in episode three of the WEAPONIZED podcast. Stratton is the only person from the U.S. federal government to have worked on all of the modern Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) programs and is the most senior figure directly involved to have spoken out, having held a rank comparable to a two-star Admiral. Speaking to Knapp on his approach to the UAPTF, Stratton spoke about the importance of trust: “We’re already 70 years behind the power curve for trust, right? Because everybody says the government's lying to us and that the whole Blue Book thing and the whole Roswell thing killed trust.” Regarding his investigation approach, Stratton later added: “I kept an open mind, a skeptic mind, whatever you want to call it, looking for something that can answer this in all the means that I had to chase that. “But there were definitely some times where we really couldn't close the loop. And we realized that something needed to be done about it.” Stratton’s story, which led to the eventual formation of the UAPTF, started in 2017. Following his involvement with the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) and the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), Stratton told Knapp that he had no intention of returning to the UAP topic again. That was until the New York Times broke its story about the Pentagon’s secretive UAP investigation following Lue Elizondo's resignation from the DoD. After the New York Times broke the story which included accounts from the USS Nimitz TicTac UAP incident from 2004, Congress’s interest was sparked and Stratton was asked by his boss at the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) to tackle the topic and lead engagement efforts with Congressional committees. An entity which would later become the UAPTF was subsequently formed by Stratton in 2018 - two years before the Department of Defense (DoD) formally established it in August 2020. Jay Stratton was seen as the best person to work on the topic by ONI due to his previous experiences with other UAP programs and his background in identifying the capabilities of other nations’ military systems and validating potential threats. In January 2021, when that year’s U.S. National Defense Authorization Act became law, the UAPTF was given the daunting task of creating a report for Congress in six months. With a monumental effort needed with few resources available, the Task Force became further handicapped when Stratton was reassigned to other duties. That left the job of creating the report to two other members of the UAPTF, despite them both having other full-time jobs. Some have speculated that Stratton’s reassignment was an attempt to sabotage the work and pending report. However, the two remaining members were committed to transparency with the American public on the UAP topic. They pulled together a massive briefing presentation Stratton had created and used it as the basis for the report eventually delivered to Congress. Providing some context on Stratton’s importance to the UAP topic up to this day, George Knapp told Liberation Times: "Jay Stratton was the U.S. government's top UFO hunter. “He conducted the first in-depth investigation of the Tic Tac case, and is the only person in the entire government to work on all of the major UFO probes, including the DIA's ambitious program (AAWSAP), its successor (AATIP), and then the UAP Task Force which he created, organized, and directed before it was formally authorized by Congress. “The classified briefing he wrote, narrated, and presented to key audiences is a primary reason why the newest program AARO was created. “And unlike many of his former colleagues at DoD, Stratton believes the public has a right to know what's going on rather than the obfuscation, stonewalling, misleading statements, and strategic leaks to debunkers, all of which continue to muddy the UAP waters." Journalist, George Knapp Liberation Times has confirmed with Jeremy Corbell that some of his photographic and video releases were also contained within the audio and visual report generated by Stratton and UAPTF, including the ‘Mosul Orb’. However, Corbell was keen to stress that none of the materials or information ever provided to him originated from Stratton or UAPTF in any way. Jeremy Corbell, commenting to Liberation Times spoke about the significance of Stratton’s first public outing following the formation of the new UAP office, known as the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office or AARO: “The importance of somebody like Jay Stratton coming forward for the first time - in both name and face - is that it’s a key milestone for the UAP topic and our U.S. Government earning back the trust of the American people who have been lied to for generations about the nature of the UFO reality. Stratton’s decision to come forward will assuredly inspire and motivate, not only our service members but our government representatives who have been lied to and intentionally misled by factions within our own intelligence agencies and government. “Those who are currently apprehensive due to the destructive stigma surrounding the UAP reality - who hold valid fear of illegal reprisal and coercion from authority - will be emboldened to come forward with the information that they have on the UFO coverup. “Most importantly, Jay Stratton coming forward should directly inspire and motivate action by DoD’s AARO to follow in the footprints formed by the steps and in the direction created and envisioned by Jay Stratton. “Full and total transparency on the UAP topic by the United States government to the American people - who they are elected to represent. Nothing less will be accepted by the American public.” Journalist, Jeremy Corbell Later in his interview with Knapp, Stratton commented on the need to effectively and accurately communicate efforts led by the UAPTF: “[We] wanted the task force to have its own spokesperson so that we're briefing as much as we can of what we're dealing with. But you get this whole machine. “And no matter how hard you try, email is not the best communication method, right? And hardly anybody picks up the phone these days. So what would happen to me is I would see a response from the DoD spokesperson, and I would say, oh my gosh, like why did we say that, right? “And you come back and you try to clean up but there's no cleaning up at that point. So it was all that circular, and then you had agendas. Right? You still had, I think you're probably aware of Lue [Elizondo’s] previous [situation], you know, you had that happening.” Previously, the Pentagon’s public affairs office has commented that former AATIP Director Lue Elizondo had no assigned responsibilities with the program. Liberation Times has previously asked the Pentagon’s Public Affairs Office whether Lue Elizondo had any assigned or unassigned responsibilities with AATIP - a question that no spokesperson has publicly answered to date. Other revelations from Stratton included one event where an unnamed official told him not to get involved in the UAP topic due to religious concerns: “There's absolutely some concern there. And I did see it in writing one time in my career, where someone was asking me to push back because [of] their religious concerns, and ‘you should wave-off of this topic’ is literally what they're telling me. You know, [telling me] you shouldn't be involved in this.” The interview, which was presented by Corbell and Knapp throughout the show forms only one small part of a larger in-depth filmed interview that they did with Stratton, with further clips expected to be released in the coming weeks and months. Stratton currently works with Radiance Technologies, where he is leading, directing, assisting, and developing efforts in existing contracts and the creation of new areas of business related to Scientific and Technical Intelligence with a focus on reverse engineering. www.liberationtimes.com/home/the-pentagons-highest-ranking-ufo-hunter-steps-out-of-the-shadows-to-highlight-his-work-on-the-ufo-topicFormer intelligence official breaks silence on gov't UFO investigations8 News NOW Las Vegas Feb 7, 2023 Jay Stratton is one of the United States government's highest-ranking and most experienced UFO hunters. During his long career working with various intelligence agencies, Stratton might have seen more of the Pentagon's hidden UFO files than anyone. He is the only person in the federal government to have worked directly on all three of the most recent UFO programs, including one based in Las Vegas. Story: www.8newsnow.com/investigators/former-intelligence-official-breaks-silence-on-govt-ufo-investigations/
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Post by swamprat on Mar 22, 2023 18:58:38 GMT -6
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Post by auntym on Aug 30, 2023 23:29:14 GMT -6
defensescoop.com/2023/08/30/hicks-takes-direct-oversight-of-pentagons-uap-office-new-reporting-website-to-be-launched/Hicks takes direct oversight of Pentagon’s UAP office; new reporting website to be launchedIn separate discussions over the last week, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks and a Pentagon spokesperson briefed DefenseScoop on the near-term vision for the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office.BY BRANDI VINCENT / defensescoop.com/author/bvincent/AUGUST 30, 2023 Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks speaks to the National War College virtually from the Pentagon Press Briefing Room, March 19, 2021. (DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jack Sanders) Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks speaks to the National War College virtually from the Pentagon Press Briefing Room, March 19, 2021. (DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jack Sanders) Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks recently moved to personally oversee the Pentagon’s unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) investigation team formally known as the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, DefenseScoop has exclusively learned. And a new website will soon be launched where incidents can be reported. Hicks now holds regular meetings at least weekly with AARO’s inaugural director, Sean Kirkpatrick — who she’s also repositioned to report directly to her. The Pentagon’s second-in-charge took action late last month, partly to help speed up AARO’s development and launch of a congressionally mandated public website where the organization will be expected to disclose its unclassified work and findings and offer a secure mechanism via which users can submit their own reports of possible UAP observances. In separate discussions over the last week, Hicks and Pentagon spokesperson Eric Pahon briefed DefenseScoop on new details regarding the deputy secretary’s near-term vision for AARO — and the latest status of the new website and reporting mechanism ahead of an official announcement from the Defense Department expected on Thursday. “I believe that transparency is a critical component of AARO’s work, and I am committed to sharing AARO’s discoveries with Congress and the public, consistent with our responsibility to protect critical national defense and intelligence capabilities,” Hicks told DefenseScoop. Behind the scenes Mysterious, seemingly unexplainable flying objects have long perplexed humans all over the world. For decades, they have been referred to as UFOs. But recently, the U.S. government began using the “UAP” moniker to account for what appear to be craft that can travel underwater or transition between space and Earth’s atmosphere, or other domains. The latest surge of interest and pressure from the American public and Congress started really mounting in the last five or so years, in response to multiple verified videos showing U.S. military pilots’ interactions with baffling objects, often around key national security installations. Hicks formally established AARO via an official memorandum last year, after lawmakers mandated its creation in the fiscal 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. “The UAP mission is not easy, and AARO’s mission, to minimize technical and intelligence surprise by synchronizing scientific, intelligence, and operational detection identification, attribution, and mitigation of UAP objects of national security issues, is being orchestrated by a small, but growing team,” Hicks explained. “AARO is not yet at full operational capability, and I look forward to AARO achieving that in fiscal year 2024,” she also told DefenseScoop. To meet its directions from Congress — and led by it’s inaugural director Sean Kirkpatrick — AARO officials must disseminate a series of reviews about the organization’s expanding portfolio of UAP investigations and sightings that Defense Department and intelligence community personnel catalog. Kirkpatrick testified at a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing in April that, at that time, AARO was diving deep into more than 650 cases of reported incidents. Not long after that event, in July, the House Oversight Committee held a separate hearing on UAP transparency, which was notably well-attended, where three former U.S. defense officials each testified under oath that they believe UAP pose “an existential threat to national security.” During the hearing, all witnesses suggested, and one blatantly stated, that AARO has not met its responsibility to seriously engage with potential observers and that DOD needed better reporting and response mechanisms. During both Kirkpatrick’s and the whistleblowers’ hearings, a visible point of contention that came up was associated with AARO’s seemingly delayed delivery of the fiscal 2023 NDAA-mandated website and UAP reporting mechanism. The legislation set a June deadline for the online portal to be supplied by the office. Kirkpatrick told lawmakers at the review hearing in April that his team “submitted the first version of that before Christmas,” but he was still waiting on input from superiors at the time. At the transparency hearing on July 26, witnesses urged lawmakers to hold AARO accountable and ensure it was on track to implement the required reporting mechanism for UAP observers to access information and share their personal accounts to inform DOD. DefenseScoop viewed a timeline in an unofficial memo that allegedly records all the major steps AARO previously pursued aligned with the website development up until July 31 — the same date that Hicks convened stakeholders to discuss AARO’s website and formally directed DOD to provide that office with any administrative and technical support needed to build and launch the online portal successfully. Hicks was not provided with the website materials until late-July, which is when she got involved and took personal oversight over the project, DefenseScoop confirmed. According to the timeline, last fall AARO began planning to generate and launch a public-facing website and reporting mechanism at the recommendation of its Senior Technical Advisory Group — and in anticipation of the fiscal 2023 NDAA requirement. That November, the office submitted a package to Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security Ronald Moultrie and requested formal approval to begin developing a website and the “Phase Two” secure reporting mechanism. The timeline notes that the “Phase One” reporting mechanism is the email address that individuals who have spoken to members of Congress currently use to report information to AARO. Phase Three, which has not yet been approved, is the NDAA-mandated mechanism for AARO to receive reports from the public. Between November 2022 and April 2023, that submitted package moved back and forth between the I&S front office and AARO at least every other week. At Moultrie’s request, AARO regularly responded to questions, made edits and re-coordinated the memo. And Kirkpatrick also had several in-person meetings with the undersecretary. In May — not long after Kirkpatrick testified about the product being under review — Moultrie approved AARO’s staff package, authorizing the office to provide members of Congress with an email address that individuals can use to contact AARO and to coordinate a package authorizing launch of the website and the Phase Two reporting mechanism. A decision on the Phase Three mechanism was deferred until a later date. Following Moultrie’s approval, AARO worked with its IT contractor to refine a prototype website, according to timeline. That month, the Joint Staff also separately published a “GENADMIN” message on “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Reporting and Material Disposition” that offers guidance to the military services and commands about reporting UAP worldwide, using a standard reporting template. The template is a result of work AARO has pursued with military leaders to improve and standardize reporting procedures across the force, since its inception. Two months ago, on June 27, Kirkpatrick’s team delivered an overview of the prototype website to the DOD’s deputy general counsel for intelligence, and others. During that briefing, the intel lawyers identified several privacy and records management requirements that AARO needed to address before releasing the secure reporting mechanism portion. AARO then reached out to department stakeholders to address those issues raised — but the timeline suggests staff faced challenges receiving definitive guidance on what privacy and records management actions were required to launch the website. So, on July 31, Hicks convened them all to discuss AARO’s website, and ultimately accelerate its creation. “She has the ability — and used it — to bring together all the top actors in the department. I think what she found was that this was being worked at a working level, but it didn’t have the right level of senior leader attention until she really kind of drove it home to say, ‘Hey, you people around the table are going to make this thing happen,’” Pahon, the Pentagon spokesperson, told DefenseScoop. When asked why she went all-in on prioritizing AARO as an element under her purview, particularly now, Hicks told DefenseScoop: “The department takes UAP seriously because UAP are a potential national security threat. They also pose safety risks, and potentially endanger our personnel, our equipment and bases, and the security of our operations. DOD is focusing through AARO to better understand UAP, and improve our capabilities to detect, collect, analyze and eventually resolve UAP to prevent strategic surprise and protect our forces, our operations, and our nation.” The new UAP website On Thursday, the Pentagon is expected to announce that AARO is set to launch its informational website that compiles details around its ongoing operations and efforts to make sense of UAP reports. This site will host readily accessible, regularly updated information for the public about AARO’s activities. And Kirkpatrick’s growing team will post information, photos, videos and other media of UAP cases as they are declassified and approved for public release. Other content will include reporting trends and a “frequently asked questions” section, as well as links to official reports, transcripts, press releases and other resources that AARO thinks the public may find useful. “In the near future, the authorized reporting mechanism consistent with section 1673 of the fiscal 2023 NDAA will reside on the website, as well. AARO’s intent is for this website to be a one-stop shop on AARO and UAP, and we look forward to continuing to refine the website to provide the most transparency possible regarding AARO’s work and findings,” Pahon told DefenseScoop. He confirmed that AARO has established a multi-phased approach to developing the authorized secure reporting mechanism. That secure resource is projected to be launched in late October of this year. AARO will initially only be accepting reports from current or former U.S. government employees, service members, or contractors with direct knowledge of federal programs or activities dating back to 1945. “The process for submitting these reports, via the AARO website, is going through a significant security review to ensure that we protect both the privacy of the participants and the security of the site. AARO and the Department recognize that members of the general public also desire to make UAP reports, and this capability will be established in the next phase of the website development in the coming months,” Pahon noted. The office will engage closely with and through the department’s Chief Information Office and the Defense Media Activity to ensure the upkeep of this portal. “While no one can guarantee that a website cannot be hacked, AARO has been working with experts across DOD to ensure that this website meets the highest government security standards. For example, AARO rigorously tested the site for vulnerabilities, and will be hosting it on the .mil domain,” Pahon also said. Broadly, department officials “acknowledge that there have been some delays to launch the website” and reporting hub, he added. But he emphasized that the holdups “resulted from our work to ensure that [they comply with DOD] standards for security and the public release of information, and to verify that the website meets the statutory, regulatory, and technical standards for official government websites.” Despite the challenges and bureaucratic hurdles so far, Hicks told DefenseScoop that she and other DOD leaders are “confident in the process that AARO is putting into place to receive reports and protect the information it is provided, as well as the DOD CIO’s efforts to ensure the integrity of the website.” fedtalks.upgather.com/#home“Key to these efforts is AARO’s work with the military services and organizations across DOD, including the DOD CIO, to ensure that our most sensitive work is secure and continues to provide the department with the technological edge we require to deter conflict and ensure success,” the deputy secretary said. In her view, AARO has taken “significant steps” this year to build a pathway towards establishing transparency and trust “with the American public, members of Congress, and our own DOD and Intelligence Community employees” on UAP — and the website’s unveiling is the latest demonstration of that. “AARO is also working to standardize and destigmatize reporting on UAP and to thoroughly analyze reports of both current and historical events. We still have a long way to go, but I have charged AARO to aggressively pursue efforts to make its findings as widely available as possible to the Congress and, whenever possible, the public,” Hicks added. In response to questions regarding how concerned she is that some of these reported UAP encounters could be advanced platforms owned by a U.S. adversary like China or Russia, Hicks said that DOD “is always concerned about the potential threats of new advanced technology being used by our adversaries.” “That’s why the Department takes UAP seriously. We need to understand these UAP that exhibit behaviors not readily understood by our sensors or observers to ensure they are not a threat to our homeland,” Hicks told DefenseScoop. defensescoop.com/2023/08/30/hicks-takes-direct-oversight-of-pentagons-uap-office-new-reporting-website-to-be-launched/
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Post by swamprat on Aug 31, 2023 19:08:14 GMT -6
Pentagon to release declassified UFO photos, videos and reports on new website
Pentagon spokesman calls new site a 'one-stop shop' for publicly available information on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs)
By Greg Wehner Fox News Published August 31, 2023 6:22pm EDT
The Pentagon on Thursday announced the launch of a new website with the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), which will provide the public with declassified information about UFOs, or what the government calls unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs).
Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said at a press briefing that the new website will provide the public with information including videos and photos associated with resolved UAP cases as they are declassified and approved for public release.
Other information the general said would be available includes reports, trends and a frequently asked questions section, as well as links to official reports, transcripts, press releases and other resources the public may find useful.
"The department is committed to transparency with the American people on AARO’s work on UAPs," Ryder said.
He added that the site will serve as a "one-stop" shop for information that is publicly available, and AARO will regularly update the website with its most recent findings when new information is cleared for the public to view.
The new website can be accessed at aaro.mil
Pentagon to release declassified UFO photos, videos and reports on new website | Fox News
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Post by swamprat on Sept 2, 2023 17:17:04 GMT -6
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Post by jcurio on Sept 5, 2023 15:05:34 GMT -6
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Post by auntym on Nov 6, 2023 12:06:51 GMT -6
Inside USG Covert UFO Investigation AAWSAP - Initial Revelations w/ Colm Kelleher & George Knapp
11-6-2023
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Post by auntym on Nov 10, 2023 12:35:50 GMT -6
thehill.com/opinion/national-security/4301944-aliens-or-a-foreign-power-pentagon-ufo-chief-says-someone-is-in-our-backyard/‘Aliens,’ or a foreign power? Pentagon UFO chief says someone is in our backyardBY MARIK VON RENNENKAMPFF / OPINION CONTRIBUTOR 11/10/23 This week, the director of the U.S. government’s UFO analysis office stated that there is “evidence” of concerning unidentified flying object activity “in our backyard.” According to physicist Seán Kirkpatrick, who heads the congressionally-mandated All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, this alarming UFO activity can be attributed to one of two extraordinary sources: either a foreign power or “aliens.” To be sure, the ramifications of either would be significant. But Kirkpatrick’s comments, which come as he is about to retire after a 27-year defense and intelligence-focused career, are more intriguing because he also says that “none” of the hundreds of military UFO reports analyzed by his office recently “have been positively attributed to foreign activities.” At the same time, Kirkpatrick and senior defense officials have ruled out the possibility that secret U.S. programs or experimental aircraft explain the phenomena. While suspicious UFO cases will “continue to be investigated” for foreign links, the facts at hand appear to support Kirkpatrick’s more startling explanation for the UFO activity in America’s backyard: “aliens.” Aside from this remarkable development, the mere suggestion by a top government official that “aliens” could explain some UFO activity is the latest example of a striking shift in tone regarding the UFO phenomenon. For well over half a century, obfuscation, deflection and ridicule defined the government’s approach to what it officially refers to as “unidentified anomalous phenomena” or UAP. But in recent years, former presidents, senior defense and intelligence officials and members of Congress have speculated openly about extraordinary explanations for the most perplexing UFO incidents. Kirkpatrick’s “aliens” comment fits a broader pattern. Earlier this year, Kirkpatrick raised eyebrows when he co-authored a draft scientific paper with Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb hypothesizing that extraterrestrial “parent craft” could release “many small probes” to explore Earth-like planets. With the best-known contemporary UFO encounters occurring over the ocean, Kirkpatrick and Loeb’s suggestion that such “extraterrestrial technological probes” “would necessarily be looking for water” to refuel is noteworthy. More importantly, Kirkpatrick stated in a recent presentation that U.S. government sensors and servicemembers are observing “metallic orbs” that are “making very interesting apparent maneuvers” “all over the world.” Speaking to the Daily Mail, an intelligence source stated that there are “dozens” of unreleased videos recorded by surveillance drones, some of which show “orbs” conducting “remarkable [maneuvers], like suddenly bolt[ing] off the screen.” Moreover, multiple sensors have apparently observed “metallic orbs” and “translucent” spherical objects traveling at speeds ranging from “stationary to Mach 2,” or twice the speed of sound, with “no [detectable] thermal exhaust.” According to Kirkpatrick, the objects’ enigmatic flight characteristics amount to a unique UFO profile that his panel is “out hunting for.” CONTINUE READING: thehill.com/opinion/national-security/4301944-aliens-or-a-foreign-power-pentagon-ufo-chief-says-someone-is-in-our-backyard/Marik von Rennenkampff served as an analyst with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, as well as an Obama administration appointee at the U.S. Department of Defense.
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Post by jcurio on Nov 14, 2023 17:01:32 GMT -6
Moreover, it would require private contractors currently in possession of recovered UFOs or “biological evidence of non-human intelligence” to turn over all such items to the U.S. government “in the interests of the public good.”
(From the above article)
Yep. Admitting to any type of unknown materials; either privately or governmental possession.
Sigh. It’s about time.
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Post by jcurio on Nov 17, 2023 21:45:21 GMT -6
August 2023 article
The UAP mission is not easy, and AARO’s mission, to minimize technical and intelligence surprise by synchronizing scientific, intelligence, and operational detection identification, attribution, and mitigation of UAP objects of national security issues,
November 2023 article
More importantly, Kirkpatrick stated in a recent presentation that U.S. government sensors and servicemembers are observing “metallic orbs” that are “making very interesting apparent maneuvers” “all over the world.”
Speaking to the Daily Mail, an intelligence source stated that there are “dozens” of unreleased videos recorded by surveillance drones, some of which show “orbs” conducting “remarkable [maneuvers], like suddenly bolt[ing] off the screen.” ——————————————————————
IMHO: Intelligent objects trying to avoid detection
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Post by auntym on Mar 7, 2024 4:02:15 GMT -6
www.scientificamerican.com/article/heres-what-i-learned-as-the-u-s-governments-ufo-hunter/JANUARY 19, 2024 Here’s What I Learned as the U.S. Government’s UFO HunterA forthcoming investigational report from an office of the Pentagon has found no evidence of aliens, only allegations circulated repeatedly by UFO claim advocatesBY SEAN KIRKPATRICK / www.scientificamerican.com/author/sean-kirkpatrick/Illustration of a detective and people screaming at an alien. Credit: Scott Brundage Carl Sagan popularized the maxim that “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” This advice should not be optional for policy makers. In today’s world of misinformation, conspiracy driven decision-making and sensationalist-dominated governance, our capacity for rational, evidence-based critical thinking is eroding, with deleterious consequences for our ability to effectively deal with multiplying challenges of ever increasing complexity. As director of the Department of Defense’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), charged by Congress in 2022 to help bring science-based clarity and resolution to the long-standing mystery surrounding credible observations of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), also known as UFOs, I experienced this erosion up close and personal. And it was one factor in my decision to step down from my position last December. After painstakingly assembling a team of highly talented and motivated personnel and working with them to develop a rational, systematic and science-based strategy to investigate these phenomena, our efforts were ultimately overwhelmed by sensational but unsupported claims that ignored contradictory evidence yet captured the attention of policy makers and the public, driving legislative battles and dominating the public narrative. The result of this whirlwind of tall tales, fabrication and secondhand or thirdhand retellings of the same, was a social media frenzy and a significant amount of congressional and executive time and energy spent on investigating these so-called claims—as if we didn’t have anything better to do. The conspiracists’ story goes something like this: The U.S. has been hiding and attempting to reverse engineer as many as 12 UAP/UFOs from as early as the 1960s and perhaps earlier. This great cover-up and conspiracy failed to produce any salient results, and consequently the effort was abandoned to some private sector defense contractors to continue the work. Sometime later, the story continues, those private sector contractors wanted to bring the whole program back under U.S. government (USG) auspices. Apparently, the CIA stopped this supposed transfer back to the USG. All of this is without substantiating evidence, but, alas, belief in a statement is directly proportional to the volume in which it is transmitted and the number of times it is repeated, not the actual facts. During a full-scale, year-long investigation of this story (which has been told and retold by a small group of interconnected believers and others with possibly less than honest intentions—none of whom have firsthand accounts of any of this), AARO discovered a few things, and none were about aliens. First, no record exists of any president or living DOD or intelligence community leader knowing about this alleged program, nor any congressional committee having such knowledge. This should speak volumes if this case were following typical procedure because it is inconceivable that a program of such import would not ever have been briefed to the 50 to 100 people at the top of the USG over the decades of its existence. Second, this narrative has been simmering for years and is largely an outgrowth of a former program at the DOD’s Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) called the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), which was heavily influenced by a group of individuals associated with businessman and longtime ufologist Robert Bigelow, founder of Bigelow Aerospace. In 2009 then senator Harry Reid asked the secretary of defense (SECDEF) to set up a SAP (special access program) to protect the alleged UAP/UFO material that AATIP proponents believed the USG was hiding. The SECDEF declined to do so after a review by the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence (OUSDI), and DIA concluded that not only did no such material exist, but taxpayer money was being inappropriately spent on paranormal research at Skinwalker Ranch in Utah. This is well documented in open sources, particularly in records available on DIA’s electronic FOIA Reading Room. After the negative response by SECDEF, Senator Reid then enlisted the help of then senator Joseph Lieberman to request that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) set up an SAP for the same purpose. The administrative SAP proposal package was informed by the same individuals who had been associated with AATIP. AARO’s archival research has located the administrative proposal for the DHS SAP, complete with the participants, which has been declassified and is being reviewed for public release. CONTINUE READING: www.scientificamerican.com/article/heres-what-i-learned-as-the-u-s-governments-ufo-hunter/
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Post by auntym on Mar 12, 2024 16:37:58 GMT -6
www.inc.com/kit-eaton/what-we-can-learn-from-a-pentagon-plan-to-reverse-engineer-ufo-tech.htmlTECHNOLOGY What We Can Learn From a Pentagon Plan to Reverse-Engineer UFO TechThere are some good entrepreneurial lessons in a newly unclassified UFO report--if you want to believe.BY KIT EATON @kiteaton / www.inc.com/author/kit-eatonMAR 11, 2024 Illustration: Inc. In a bizarre story that could literally have been teleported from an "X Files" script, the Defense Department just released a document detailing a review of nearly 80 years of secretive government programs concerning UFOs (that's "unidentified anomalous phenomenon", or UAPs in government-speak) and aliens. Among the trove of weird and wonderful information, something that would've delighted Agent Mulder really stands out. At one point the government seriously considered how it would break down and then re-engineer any crashed UFO technology. That's if one actually did crash, ever. Even though this project, codename Kona Blue, never actually became a reality, it's a stunning example of some very left-field business planning, and a great example of how entrepreneurs could consider even the unlikely or improbable when looking for inspiration. The newly available Defense Department report disclosed that Kona Blue was a proposal made to the Department of Homeland Security to restart investigations into UAPs. These earlier investigations centered around a supposed UAP "hotspot" in Utah, and were actually part of a bigger aerospace weapons research program that spent years examining and innovating real science and engineering problems to advance the state of the art of aerospace design. When that program was shut down, its political supporters proposed that the Department of Homeland Security should actually continue its UAP investigations. The proposal for this new program, Kona Blue, included among its objectives a plan for how researchers could reverse-engineer alien UFO technology. Politico reports that the congressionally ordered review of years of government documents and programs turned up no evidence of alien activity or proof that information was withheld from Congress. But the report dose explain two important facts about Kona Blue. First, its supporters were apparently convinced that the government really was hiding alien tech, despite a lack of evidence of any gizmos. Tim Philips, acting director of the Defense Department All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office--the office that compiled the new report--told Politico he thinks most UAP rumors, including ones that drove supporters to suggest Kona Blue to the Pentagon, were caused by "circular reporting," where "a small group of individuals have repeated inaccurate claims they have heard from others." Secondly, Kona Blue was never approved to become a real program. Sad as this is for UFO believers, there are a couple of excellent leadership lessons here. The first lesson comes from the actual secret research program predating Kona Blue. The Defense Department was looking into both real aerospace science, and also the admittedly weird and wacky notions that people were seeing UFOs in Utah. The purpose of long-term research is to advance the cutting edge of a project, be it scientific or a simple consumer product with the goal of discovering something new. With such a wide remit, if researchers didn't sometimes consider outlandish ideas--like UFO reports--then they might miss out on potential innovations. The real-life F117 stealth fighter serves as a great example. This weird, alien-looking aircraft was unbelievably cutting edge when it was developed in the 1970s under the codename Have Blue, and it wouldn't have been possible if some engineers hadn't considered throwing out the aerodynamics rulebook and turning normal aircraft design rules on their head. While it's now standard issue for millions of customers worldwide, the iPhone presents another great example: a design totally unlike any other smartphone at the time, and without physical keys--a choice many critics then considered laughable. The second lesson from the DoD report is that while following outlandish ideas is sometimes a good thing, persistent rumors are a terrible thing. Whether they circulate about UFOs in the corridors of power, or among your company's staff around the water-cooler, they can end up leading teams down the wrong path and even sabotage your business. The supporters of Kona Blue convinced each other of the truthfulness of each other's beliefs about UFO technology despite the obvious fact that there was zero real evidence supporting their beliefs. Keeping truthfulness at the core of your company's day-to-day operations and decision-making is a good idea, perhaps especially so in an era when we're all using more AI tech, and its outputs are known to be unreliable and sometimes downright false. In conclusion: Keep rumors at bay, but if your company is researching a new next-generation product, it might be an idea to allow some weird and wacky research ideas into the mix. You never know where an innovative idea will spring from--the truth really may be out there. www.inc.com/kit-eaton/what-we-can-learn-from-a-pentagon-plan-to-reverse-engineer-ufo-tech.html
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Post by auntym on Apr 12, 2024 17:10:58 GMT -6
lifeinjonestown.substack.com/p/oh-for-gods-sakeOh for god's sake!Pentagon rolls media on UFOs (again)
BILLY COX / lifeinjonestown.substack.com/p/oh-for-gods-sakeMAR 16, 2024 I was deep into my weekend torpor, one of more than 5 million Americans turning into the top-rated “CBS Sunday Morning,” when I started looking around for my baseball bat. Then I remembered it was in the bedroom by the nightstand, and getting up to fetch it would’ve required effort. And I would’ve had to clean up all that plastic, glass and metal. Plus I would’ve been out $500 or whatever for a new TV set. Plus, well . . . bashing the flatscreen to smithereens is childish. Still, I’m not used to being insulted by “Sunday Morning.” The show has been a weekend staple since forever because it offers a respite from the tiresome dross of most network fare by making room for surprises. In 2021 (seems so long ago now) an episode of CBS/“60 Minutes” blazed a trail in big media’s erratic coverage of the UAP/UFO issue. That’s when veteran correspondent Bill Whitaker scored an on-camera exclusive with Alex Dietrich, the first female Navy pilot to go on record with her pursuit of a UFO – in this case, the so-called Tic Tac – in 2004. The story was too hot for a one-off; surely, CBS had the resources and material for plenty of followups. Back in 2021, David Pogue filed a perfectly insipid UFO piece on “Sunday Morning.” The man deserved a chance to redeem himself someday. Instead . . .During a transitional segment between a story and a commercial break, producers dropped a mention of the Pentagon’s “Historical Record of the Government’s Involvement With Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Vol. I,” released last week. Uncritically regurgitating the Defense Department’s rote 63-page conclusion that “there is no evidence that extraterrestrial intelligence has visited Earth,” the “Sunday Milepost” added: Et tu, Brute? Hey CBS — you suck!
So. CBS bought it, too. Not merely the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office’s distortions of America’s history with the phenomena, but also the flawed logic of its zero-sum language about “extraterrestrial intelligence.” Jesus Christ – they all bought it. After six-plus years (actually, decades) of mounting evidence that America is in fact not in control of its own airspace, restricted or otherwise, and has no idea what to do about it, the DoD analysis got the treatment it wanted from the majors: “Pentagon finds ‘no evidence’ of UFO technology in new UFO report” – NPR; “Pentagon study finds no evidence of alien life in reported UFO sightings going back decades” – Associated Press; “Pentagon report says most UFO sightings ‘ordinary objects’ and phenomena” – Reuters; “Pentagon says no evidence of UFO cover-up by U.S.” – NBC; “Alien, UFO mothership is not being hidden from you: Pentagon report” – USA Today; “Pentagon finds no evidence of alien visits, hidden spacecraft” – Washington Post; “Pentagon review finds no evidence of alien coverup” – New York Times. Banging out history-related stories on deadline isn’t always easy, especially if they’re outside your beat. But if, say, the National Archives unveils documents suggesting that someone else, not John Wilkes Booth, shot President Lincoln, it’s a no-brainer – you contact Lincoln scholars. It’s called balance. That’s what reporters Leslie Kean, Ralph Blumenthal and Helene Cooper were up against in 2017 while working their groundbreaking UFO investigation into the NY Times. Editors demanded dissenting opinions. Therefore, skeptical M.I.T. astrophysicist Sara Seager and ex-NASA engineer/debunker extraordinaire Jim Oberg were included in the article, even though neither one knew anything about the topic, i.e., the Pentagon’s secret Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. But that standard collapsed altogether last week, not only at the Times, but at the Washington Post, the twin pillars of American legacy journalism. Neither NYT’s Julian Barnes nor Shane Harris at The Post even tried to fake a familiarity with the long view. In fact, they were among the half-dozen scribes hand-picked by the Pentagon to get a sneak preview from acting AARO boss Tim Phillips. In January, Phillips succeeded the agency’s contentious inaugural director Sean Kirkpatrick, widely believed to have written this “Historical Record” . . . thing. Conspicuously uninvited to that powwow were troublemakers Kean and Blumenthal, as well as investigative reporter Ross Coulthart. Sorry — club members onlyWriting for The Debrief last June, Kean and Blumenthal broke the news about Pentagon whistleblower David Grusch. The just-retired intelligence officer had quietly informed the Intelligence Community Inspector General, as well as Congress, about classified and possibly illegal government research involving the recovery of nonhuman craft, technology and “biologics.” Days later, Coulthart followed up with an hour-long on-camera interview with Grusch. That one-two punch triggered, one month later, televised hearings by the House Subcommittee on National Security, the Border and Foreign Affairs. Grusch joined two Navy pilots with sworn testimony. And that, coupled with closed-door meetings involving key lawmakers, led Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a bipartisan push to craft a bill that – had it not been scotched by a couple of powerful GOP House committee chairs in December – stood to blow the lid off America’s deepest Cold War secret. A lot of other little jewels emerged from that Capitol Hill hearing last summer, too, things the NYT, WaPo, CBS or any other half-assed media outlet might’ve followed up on. Here’s one: In opening remarks to the witnesses, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz volunteered that he, and fellow GOP lawmakers Tim Burchett and Anna Paulina Luna, had traveled to Eglin AFB to investigate an incident sparked over the Gulf of Mexico “several months ago” during military exercises. The encounter involved a diamond shaped formation of objects, including some sort of orb, that temporarily fritzed the plane’s radar and infrared camera as it approached the perplexity. After initially being stonewalled at the front gate, Gaetz said he and his colleagues were allowed to interview a crew member who photographed the UFO. “The image,” Gaetz stated, “was of something that I am not able to attach to any human capability, either from the United States, or any of our adversaries.” That incident might’ve remained stuck in the hearsay drawer were it not for a software engineer named Abbas Michael Dharamsey. As Black Vault researcher John Greenewald announced last week, Dharamsey managed to nail down not only the basic facts but the exact date of the encounter, 1/26/23. Although Dharamsey’s FOIA for video and stills was rebuffed and the case documents were thoroughly redacted, the USAF Office of Special Investigations confirmed the essence of Gaetz’s recollection in a brief declassified summary: Just don’t expect AARO to commentOn that date, the plane’s radar tracked four formation-flying UFO/UAP, but only one showed itself to the pilot, who was able to get a “screen capture.” The visible object was operating at 16,000 feet, and the rest were generating radar pingbacks some two to three thousand feet higher. The visible object resembled “an ‘Apollo spacecraft’ in size and shape, with an ‘orange-reddish’ illuminated rounded bottom and the top section ‘a three-dimensional cone shape’ comprising ‘gunmetal gray segmented panels.’” The summary included an eyewitness sketch of the target. Time out. What the hell, man? Are these things actually mocking our Apollo program? Making fun of what the early astronauts used to call “spam in a can”? Well, at least we know it was real, thanks to one (1) curious mind making info requests and performing citizen journalism. Since this event occurred in the first quarter of 2023, one assumes the report made it into the AARO database. But we don’t know for sure, because AARO doesn’t discuss details of individual cases involving unknowns. In fact, as longtime FOIA sleuth Robert Powell just discovered, the only way you’re going to pry those records from AARO’s clutches is to make an end run through the Federal Aviation Administration. Noting AARO’s contention last October that it had received more than a hundred reports from the FAA, Powell asked the FAA to produce them. After initially balking, the FAA released 69 cases; fortunately, the summaries were uncensored, and at least four were especially noteworthy because they involved America’s frontline warplanes. In February 2023, with all eyes fixed on the shootdowns of balloons and/or unknowns over the northern frontier with Canada, at least four Lockheed Martin F-35s were gathering data elsewhere during a three-week span. There were encounters over El Paso and Vermont. Taking off from Luke AFB a week or so apart, two of the fighter pilots logged separate UFO incidents over Arizona. Better yet, the $82 million stealth interceptors are all theoretically tricked out with state-of-the-art sensor technology. ‘It was so . . . stupid’Powell is one of those guys the press might’ve contacted for comment on the Pentagon’s “Historical Record” scam. A founding member of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies and co-author of the comprehensive, 580-page UFOs and Government: A Historical Inquiry in 2010, Powell would’ve given the media an earful. Within 48 hours of posting a blistering critique on X, his analysis had drawn 275,000 views, more than 200 comments and more than 1,200 likes. But even today, a week later, the magnitude of “Vol. 1’s” errors, omissions and fabrications still leaves him aghast. “My first thought was, this is the most stupid report I can imagine – I mean, it was so . . . stupid,” Powell says. “I guess they were just going for headlines, but I think in the long run it’s going to bite them in the *bleep*.” In fact, “Vol. 1” – yes, there’s a “Vol. II” still to come – was so decisive in its trivialization of unknowns, one could argue the unnamed author(s) intentionally sabotaged AARO’s credibility as a template for future generations to contemplate about the price of absolute secrecy. But not now. The current big-media environment, Powell says, appears to reward only those who swallow the blue pill. “They totally failed to verify what was in there,” he says. “I mean, all they had to do was click on some of the references. I stopped at the 10th reference because I’d already found something like six broken links. They had more than a hundred footnotes referenced, and I don’t have time to waste going through them all.” Never mind the sloppy little things, like getting late Sen. Harry Reid’s home state wrong, or attributing the wrong first name to former Blue Book director Robert Friend, or screwing up a few dates. In ignoring entirely the voluminous history of nuclear incidents, and going blind to data-rich cases like Stephenville 2008, Aguadilla 2013, and even the massively popularized 2004 Tic Tac incident, then fixating instead on debunking allegations of top-secret “reverse engineering” programs, “Vol. I” signaled that Grusch’s testimony – without mentioning Grusch by name – had indeed struck a nerve. Without revealing which companies or agencies they contacted, without naming interviewees, the time or the place of these contacts, the author(s) concluded the allegations “most likely are the result of a range of cultural, political and technological factors.” Yes, size does matterBut even the most basic questions went unanswered, says Mark Rodeghier, heir to J. Allen Hynek’s massive Center for UFO Studies archives. “In their briefing to the press, there was a question about how many people AARO employed. They refused to answer that. I mean, how can that be classified? That’s insane,” says Rodeghier. “The Russians and the Chinese, they don’t care how many people are employed by AARO, in a security framework. I think they’re worried because we’ll think their staff is too small. They talk about transparency, but if we find out they have four employees, that’s a big difference from 40.” The real value of “Vol. I,” he says, is its stamp of official evasiveness which, if ignored by Congress now, would be beyond negligent —it’d be complicity. “When the government puts out a report, that’s a big deal. They’re saying, this is what we believe to be true about these matters of national security. So why can’t they tell us more?” Rodeghier wonders. “At least (USAF Project) Blue Book (1952-69) published their cases – but AARO can’t? Why can’t they redact the technical information they need to protect and give us more than two sentences? What’s going on?” Last fall, a small band of lawmakers formed the House UAP Caucus; on Tuesday, Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) sent a letter to House leadership requesting the convening of a select committee to impose transparency on the Pentagon. But researcher skepticism cuts both ways, and Jan Aldrich, co-founder of the online Project 1947, harbors serious doubts about the recovered-tech coverup claims of Grusch and former AATIP director Luis Elizondo. Eight months and counting since the House hearing, and corroborative evidence from hands-on insiders has yet to materialize. Will it ever? “I’m not saying it’s not possible that they have bodies or samples of UFO material, but I have yet to see anything that indicates that,” says the 78-year-old Army veteran who’s been chasing government paper since he was a teenager. “They’ve been saying that forever. But when you get right down to it, there’s nothing tangible to follow up on.” AARO might’ve ameliorated even more critics by providing just one detailed analysis of what it considers a true unknown. But with a supplicant press, it didn’t really need to. AARO gave ‘em “Weekend at Bernie’s” and the media lapped it up like it was Ken Burns. So here’s money in the bank: AARO has an opening for a Science and Technology Officer that pays anywhere from 163,964 to $191,900 a year. Abbas Michael Dharamsey will not be getting that job. lifeinjonestown.substack.com/p/oh-for-gods-sake
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