After a false start on some kind of transparency, obfuscation, denial and   
   ridicule remain the first line of defense.   
   If you see military aircraft chasing things in the sky or   
   patrols of small aircraft flashing bright LED arrays at the night sky,   
   take a vallium and don't worry about it.   
      
      
      
   Washington's Ongoing Issues Unidentified Aerial Phenomena   
      
   Micah Hanks   
   04 May 2022 11:44am   
   The Intelligence Brief   
      
   ...   
      
   Late last year, a string of developments in Washington appeared to be   
   setting the stage for renewed engagement by the United States   
   govt involving unidentified aerial phenomena, traditionally   
   known as UFOs since the US Air Force's introduction of the term for   
   unrecognized aerial objects in the early 1950s.   
      
   A proposed amendment to the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act   
   put forward by US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York outlined   
   plans for the establishment of a new UAP investigative component in   
   the Dept of Defense, with the Anomaly Surveillance and   
   Resolution Office (ASRO) as the proposed name. Before the Senate could   
   pass its version of the NDAA however, the DOD announced the   
   establishment of a new, memorably-titled investigative entity of its   
   own: the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization   
   Group (AOIMSG). The new DOD group appeared to be in response to   
   details that appeared in a June 2021 memo authored by Deputy Secretary   
   of Defense Kathleen Hicks.   
      
   Minor controversy ensued following the DOD's announcement, including   
   pushback from some individuals in Washington-no less among these   
   Senator Gillibrand-who argued that the scope of the AOIMSG's interest   
   in relation to controlled military airspace was too limited, and would   
   not provide the comprehensive level of investigative clout that the   
   proposed ASRO would be capable of. Just a few weeks later, the   
   Senate's version of the NDAA passed, along with Gillibrand's   
   amendment, seemingly putting into motion the establishment of yet   
   another UAP investigative component in Washington.   
      
   Despite the level of attention the issue has seen from lawmakers in   
   recent days, new developments in Washington appear to convey that many   
   old attitudes toward the prospect of unrecognized objects in our   
   airspace prevail, and some elected officials appear dissatisfied with   
   the govt's slow pace in addressing concerns about UAP.   
      
   Slow Respons to Aerial Mysteries   
      
   Bryan Bender, writing for Politico on May 2, wrote that staffers with   
   several members of Congress-some of whom cosponsored or otherwise   
   supported Gillibrand's amendment-are airing their concerns about the   
   slow movement in Washington on the UAP issue.   
      
   According to Bender, "some members of Congress and their staff are   
   beginning to air their dissatisfaction with the progress in making   
   that happen", including Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who aides told   
   Politico that he is "definitely frustrated," that the Pentagon is "not   
   moving fast enough, not doing enough, not sharing enough" regarding   
   the UAP issue.   
      
   Similarly, Representative Tim Burchett of Tennessee, at times a very   
   vocal critic of what he perceives as inaction in govt regarding   
   UAP, went so far as to propose that the lack of movement regarding UAP   
   could be tantamount to a "coverup."   
      
   "I don't trust the Dept of Defense to get this right since   
   leadership there has always been part of a cover-up," Burchett said,   
   adding that evidence already available to the public indicates "that   
   we don't have full control of our airspace," calling such   
   circumstances "a national security issue and it's also unacceptable."   
      
   However, Bender also reported that several past and present military   
   and intelligence community officials Politico spoke with on background   
   nonetheless said they believe there is progress being made regarding   
   UAP, whether or not it is entirely visible to the American public, or   
   even to members of Congress. These individuals collectively say that   
   the efforts primarily involve efforts "to compel agencies to take a   
   more proactive approach" and to be "more transparent about what they   
   might know about UFO sightings and technologies."   
      
   Whether or not one wishes to go so far as to echo Representative   
   Burchett's sentiments about a "coverup", the simple fact remains that   
   the Pentagon has a less than perfect track record when it comes to   
   transparency on the UAP issue.   
      
      
   A History Unacknowledged   
      
   As recently as 2015, a FAQ page appeared at the DOD's website titled   
   "Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs)" stated unequivocally that the UAP   
   "is no longer being investigated by the Defense Dept."   
      
   The FAQ page added a few historical details that noted how "the United   
   States Air Force began investigating UFOs in 1948 under a program   
   called Project Sign. Later the program's name was changed to Project   
   Grudge, and in 1953 it was changed again to Project Blue Book. On   
   Dec 17, 1969, the Secretary of the Air Force announced the   
   termination of Project Blue Book." This, according to the DOD in 2015,   
   was supposedly where the US govt's interest in UFOs ended.   
      
   Of course, more recent events have made it clear that, while this FAQ   
   page still appeared on the DOD's website, a UAP investigative effort   
   was quietly being undertaken within one of its combat support   
   agencies: the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).   
      
   Beginning in around 2008, the Advanced Aerospace Weapons Systems   
   Application Program (AAWSAP) was run out of the DIA. According to   
   James T. Lacatski, who managed the program, AAWSAP "was conceived as a   
   program to evaluate the threat potential of UAPs," as stated in a   
   memoir on the AAWSAP program by Lacatski with co-authors Colm Kelleher   
   Ph.D. and investigative reporter George Knapp. Though it remained   
   unacknowledged at the time, news about the program slowly began to   
   leak out beginning around 2017, culminating in a New York Times   
   article that revealed the program under the name of the Advanced   
   Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP). Although AATIP had   
   been an unclassified nickname for AAWSAP, it was also later adopted as   
   the name of an informal Pentagon initiative led by Luis Elizondo; the   
   confusion over the 2 different names (and entirely separate   
   programs) "created enormous confusion" according to Lackatski and his   
   coauthors.   
      
   UAP and the Pentagon   
      
   Regardless of the initial confusion, one thing remains abundantly   
   clear about all this: the DOD certainly did have a UAP program within   
   the DIA, while its public position remained that it UFOs were "no   
   longer being investigated by the Defense Dept."   
      
   Indeed, maybe the concerns being expressed by some lawmakers on   
   Capitol Hill about the govt's slow movement on the UAP issue are   
   warranted. Slow progress, along with a lack of transparency, and even   
   a degree of official ridicule, have long prevailed in Washington when   
   it comes to unidentified aerial phenomena. Given the fact that recent   
   assessments indicate not just the reality of what, for lack of a   
   better term, have been called "objects" in our airspace, but also that   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)