The Pentagon’s public relations officers have a horrible observe file in terms of current UFO/UAP data.
There was plenty of confusion generated by the responses the Division of Protection (DoD) has offered journalists and researchers relating to the secretive Superior Aerospace Menace Identification Program (AATIP) that investigated Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAP – aka UFOs). They’ve flip-flopped on a number of points and offered data that conflicts with statements from people who labored with this system. In some instances, the DoD has given solutions counter to what former Senator Harry Reid, who based this system, has claimed.
“What has transpired, or extra precisely what hasn’t transpired, during the last six months leaves me with no confidence or belief on this official representing the DoD on the problem [UAPs],” writes protection journalist Tyler Rogoway. “My expertise is just not distinctive in any method. Others who’re working this story have had comparable experiences nearly to a laughable diploma.”
Rogoway writes for The Warzone, a piece of the web car journal The Drive overlaying protection expertise. He works with army public data officers repeatedly on a wide range of matters. For the previous few years, he has additionally taken an curiosity in current UAP information and the potential that the unidentified objects noticed by jet fighter pilots could possibly be extraordinarily superior expertise developed in secret.
As Rogoway talked about, different journalists have additionally discovered the DoD’s responses irregular. In a current interview, I requested senior nationwide correspondent for Politico Bryan Bender his ideas on the DoD public responses and backpedaling. He says, “It’s unusual, among the issues that the Pentagon put out publicly that simply didn’t ring proper and, as you mentioned, they’ve backtracked.”
To set the stage, we should always notice that earlier than media protection on AATIP in December 2017, the U.S. authorities denied taking UFO encounters significantly. As I reviewed in a earlier article in regards to the many years of U.S. authorities gaslighting on the subject, when inquiries had been made, the US Air Power (USAF) reality sheet on UFOs was typically referenced.
“For the reason that termination of Undertaking Blue Guide, nothing has occurred that may help a resumption of UFO investigations by the Air Power,” based on the fact sheet. “Given the present atmosphere of steadily lowering protection budgets, it’s unlikely the Air Power would develop into concerned in such a pricey mission within the foreseeable future.”
Now let’s check out how the DoD has responded to among the vital points.
Was AATIP UFO associated?
A December 16, 2017 story from The New York Occasions titled Glowing Auras and ‘Black Cash’: The Pentagon’s Mysterious U.F.O. Program and a subsequent article written by Bender for Politico titled The Pentagon’s Secret Seek for UFOs first revealed particulars in regards to the AATIP program. They each additionally referenced intelligence officer Luis Elizondo as the one that ran this system.
“[AATIP] was largely funded on the request of Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat who was the Senate majority chief on the time and who has lengthy had an curiosity in house phenomena,” The New York Occasions article reads.
The article explains how Reid had consulted an astronaut who advocated a authorities UFO program, and the way he shared an curiosity in UFOs along with his pal Robert Bigelow, who finally received the contract to conduct UFO analysis with AATIP.
In accordance with The New York Occasions, “In response to questions from The Occasions, Pentagon officers this month acknowledged the existence of this system, which started as a part of the Protection Intelligence Company. Officers insisted that the hassle had ended after 5 years, in 2012.”
The Pentagon additionally confirmed the existence of AATIP with Bender for Politico.
“Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White confirmed to POLITICO that this system existed and was run by Elizondo,” based on the article.
Politico added that White had mentioned, “The DoD takes significantly all threats and potential threats to our individuals, our belongings, and our mission and takes motion every time credible data is developed.”
For 2 years, the information that the Pentagon had a secret UFO program that ran from 2007 to at the very least 2012 made headlines. Reid and Elizondo appeared in media interviews and commented on AATIP and its curiosity in UFOs. After the entire consideration and evaluation, the DoD referred to as AATIP’s goal into query.
In accordance with John Greenewald of The Black Vault, in December of 2019, he acquired an email from Pentagon spokesperson Susan Gough “claiming they wish to appropriate the file and clear up some inaccuracies, the Pentagon now says AATIP was not a UFO or UAP program.”
“Neither AATIP nor AAWSAP [an acronym for a project that had included AATIP] had been UAP associated,” the e-mail learn. “The aim of AATIP was to research international superior aerospace weapons system functions with future expertise projections over the following 40 years, and to create a middle of experience on superior aerospace applied sciences.”
This assertion confused lots of people. As lately as Could 2019, the Pentagon had confirmed AATIP did examine UAP.
The New York Publish reported on Could 22, 2019: “In a press release offered solely to The Publish, a Division of Protection spokesman mentioned a secret authorities initiative referred to as the Superior Aerospace Menace Identification Program ‘did pursue analysis and investigation into unidentified aerial phenomena.’”
In April of 2020, an article posted by Vice revealed that the USAF had investigated the discharge of UFO movies associated to AATIP. Within the report, the USAF said, “[Elizondo] disclosed his involvement (to a number of information retailers) with the Superior Aerospace Menace Identification Program, which targeted analysis points on Unidentified Flying Objects.”
The following month, in response to Swedish researcher Roger Glassel on the definition of the acronym AAV, Gough appeared to alter her story.
“Neither the Navy nor the Division of Protection (DOD) use the time period ‘anomalous aerial automobiles,’” wrote Gough. “In DOD, the acronym AAV stands for amphibious assault automobiles. The contractors who ready the 38 technical stories underneath AATIP sometimes used the time period ‘anomalous aerial automobiles,’ however it isn’t a DOD time period.”
AAV is one other time period used to characterize UFOs. Though at this level it appeared obvious that AATIP investigated UFOs, Gough seemed to be revealing that regardless of her electronic mail to Greenewald, AATIP did certainly embody analysis into UFOs.
Did Elizondo work on AATIP?
Elizondo’s work with AATIP was the first focus of The New York Occasions article in December 2017. As talked about above, the Politico article launched the identical day had additionally confirmed Elizondo ran AATIP.
Nonetheless, in an article vital of Elizondo’s claims printed in The Intercept on June 6, 2019, Pentagon spokesperson Christopher Sherwood referred to as this into query.
He advised The Intercept, AATIP “did pursue analysis and investigation into unidentified aerial phenomena.” Nonetheless, he added, “Mr. Elizondo had no tasks with regard to the AATIP program whereas he labored in OUSDI [the Office of Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence], up till the time he resigned efficient 10/4/2017.”
This assertion came to visit a 12 months and a half after the articles that uncovered the existence of AATIP, and after dozens of interviews with Elizondo in mainstream media. Not one particular person concerned in AATIP questioned Elizondo’s involvement, together with Reid.
Sherwood advised The Intercept he couldn’t verify White’s earlier assertion to Politico. He claims to have established Elizondo didn’t work with AATIP with personnel who had been “nonetheless there.”
The latter is an fascinating assertion on condition that the DoD claimed AATIP closed in 2012. However we are going to tackle that later.
Sherwood’s assertion, like Gough’s, confused lots of people following information on AATIP.
There was already an abundance of data confirming Elizondo labored on AATIP, and it stored coming. A authorities doc leaked by KLAS 8 Information Now in Las Vegas relating to AATIP listed Elizondo in a bigoted checklist. The DoD confirmed the doc’s veracity.
Amongst a bunch of questions despatched to the Navy by Glassel relating to Navy UAP investigations, Glassel requested, “Within the Navy’s effort to review stories of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, was former DOD/OUSDI worker Luis Elizondo concerned in such effort?”
“Whereas he was a U.S. authorities worker, Mr. Elizondo sometimes offered coordination {and professional} connections/liaison inside DoD and the Workplace of the Below Secretary of Protection for Intelligence,” the official spokesperson for the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Info Warfare, Joseph Gradisher, responded.
The USAF response to Vice in April of 2020 talked about earlier additionally appeared to substantiate Elizondo’s involvement with AATIP.
The DoD by no means checked with AATIP contractors. Dr. Eric Davis, and Dr. Hal Puthoff, each of whom labored very intently with Bigelow and AATIP confirmed to me straight Elizondo’s involvement with AATIP.
Puthoff responded to my inquiry by way of electronic mail: “Documentation [of Elizondo’s involvement with AATIP] is dense. I reported to him typically within the Pentagon as an AATIP contractor.”
Did AATIP proceed previous 2012?
Within the preliminary New York Occasions and Politico articles, the Pentagon maintained AATIP was closed in 2012.
In accordance with The New York Occasions, Pentagon spokesman Thomas Crosson wrote the by way of electronic mail that the DoD “decided that there have been different, greater precedence points that merited funding, and it was in the perfect curiosity of the DoD to make a change.”
White used the identical verbiage when she advised Politico, “it was decided that there have been different, greater precedence points that merited funding, and it was in the perfect curiosity of the DoD to make a change.”
“However Mr. Elizondo mentioned the one factor that had ended was the hassle’s authorities funding, which dried up in 2012,” based on The New York Occasions. “From then on, Mr. Elizondo mentioned in an interview, he labored with officers from the Navy and the C.I.A. He continued to work out of his Pentagon workplace till this previous October, when he resigned to protest what he characterised as extreme secrecy and inner opposition.”
Elizondo has maintained through the years that after he left, this system continued underneath a special identify.
In Could of 2019, Sherwood confirmed the DoD nonetheless investigates UFOs.
“The Division of Protection is all the time involved about sustaining constructive identification of all plane in our working atmosphere, in addition to figuring out any international functionality that could be a menace to the homeland,” Sherwood told the New York Publish. “The division will proceed to research, by means of regular procedures, stories of unidentified plane encountered by US army aviators with a view to guarantee protection of the homeland and safety towards strategic shock by our nation’s adversaries.”
The next day, Bender broke the news on Politico that the Navy said, “there have been quite a lot of stories of unauthorized and/or unidentified plane coming into numerous military-controlled ranges and designated air house in recent times.”
They went on to say they had been “updating and formalizing the method by which stories of any such suspected incursions will be made to the cognizant authorities.”
Additional, they revealed, “in response to requests for data from Congressional members and employees, Navy officers have offered a collection of briefings by senior Naval Intelligence officers in addition to aviators who reported hazards to aviation security.”
In Glassel’s checklist of inquiries to the DoD in Could of 2020, he acquired a shocking response that an AATIP kind “activity power” did exist.
Glassel requested, “Within the Navy’s effort to research sightings of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) is there a centralized workplace, program or council, that analyse such sightings?”
Gough responded, “Below the cognizance of the Undersecretary of Protection for Intelligence (USD(I)), there’s an interagency workforce charged with gathering information and conducting investigations into vary incursions. Because the preponderance of current/reported sightings are from naval aviators, the Navy is main a lot of the hassle. All stories of vary incursions are despatched to this workforce for inclusion within the total effort, thus maximizing the information out there for evaluation.”
The Undersecretary of Protection for Intelligence is the workplace the place Elizondo labored earlier than resigning.
Glassel additionally requested, “Are the Navy proactively investigating UAP, or are investigations solely being completed after a reported statement?”
Gough responded, “The U.S. Navy and the Division of Protection take these stories very significantly and examine each report. Documented stories of sightings by army personnel type the idea for the investigation course of. The investigation of UAP sightings by the multi-agency activity power is ongoing.”
The true shocker got here on June 23, 2020. UFO tweeter and founding father of Sky Hub – an effort to trace UFOs utilizing cameras and AI software program – Steve McDaniel, found some sudden data. The Senate Intelligence Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) had voted to request that the Director of Nationwide Intelligence “in conjunction” with the Secretary of Protection put collectively a report on “unidentified aerial phenomenon [UAP].” The SSCI says the report is to incorporate data from the “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Job Power.”
Did anybody catch this gem from the Choose Committee on Intelligence? https://t.co/hdRDNJ9G0o Lot’s of references to Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon and a brand new UAP Job Power? Seems like coverage makers are getting concerned @marcorubio @Spacecowboy781 @ChristopherKMe4
— Steve McDaniel (@nibbleshift) June 23, 2020
Elizondo claims this activity power is the one he was speaking about when he mentioned AATIP continued underneath a special identify.
Why the video games?
There was plenty of hypothesis about why the Pentagon has denied what seems to be self-evident info, similar to AATIP’s deal with UFO analysis and Elizondo’s involvement in this system. Some attempt to give the DoD the advantage of the doubt and ascribe the issue to a scarcity of inner communication. Others consider the DoD is retaliating towards a rogue agent who usurped regular processes to spill the beans on data the DoD didn’t need out.
There isn’t any definitive proof as to why the DoD has been such a poor supply of data on this matter. However the issue doesn’t appear to be going away anytime quickly.
In his article outlining the issue he has had working with DoD Public data Officers on this situation, Rogoway writes, “Merely put, my expertise with Susan Gough has been the worst I’ve had with any of the Protection Division’s public affairs personnel, ever.”
“The explanation why so many journalists are interacting along with her in any respect on this situation is that she now holds the whole media/public affairs portfolio on UFOs throughout the DoD,” Rogoway continued. “Someday shortly earlier than I submitted my questions, the choice was made to funnel each request relating to this situation to her and her alone. The companies now not had management of their very own messaging on the matter. Why this determination was made has not been made clear.”
Article up to date 8/12/2020