Congressman Mark Walker and UAP

US Congressman Mark Walker was recently interviewed by Fox Newsman Tucker Carlson about UAP. The interview aired on Fox News Channel's "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on 26 July 2019. As there were a number of interesting exchanges during the interview, I have chosen to present my transcript of the entire interview for blog readers to digest. After the transcript, I will, as usual, have a few comments to make.

Transcript

TC - Well, after decades of denial, and secrecy, and flat out lying, America's defense establishment is finally admitting some of what it knows about UFOs. The Navy have admitted that its pilots encounter unidentified aircraft, so often, that they have had to draft new reporting guidelines to allow pilots to come forward. It is easy to find this funny, but it is also scary if you think about it.

Our vast, well funded, defense establishment is seeing things in the sky, they cannot account for; doing things they cannot understand. Should we be worried?

Congressman Mark Walker is a republican, representing the state of North Carolina, just sent a letter to the Secretary of the Navy, Richard Spencer, about the military's UFO investigations. We recently spoke to the Congressman. Here's part of what he had to say.

TC - Should we be worried?

MW - Well, we are concerned about it. As the ranking member of Terrorism and Counterintelligence, we have questions. It comes down to some of the new infrared radar systems that we are putting into some of our new jets, are detecting some things out there. We call them Unidentified Aerial Threats, something we are looking at, UAPs are what we call it. We want to know the information, and that's why it's important we take a look at this.

TC - So this has been going on an awful long time. There is a lot of data the government has stored about this this, most of this I think is still classified. There must be theories about what these objects, what these aircraft are. What's the most plausible theory do you think?

MW - Well, we don't know for sure, obviously. What we do know is; the question we are wanting to get to. Is this something that is a defense mechanism from another country? We do know that China is looking at hypersonic missiles. That's 25,000 kilometres, or to break it down into our language, getting from DC, where I'm at, to LA in about 9 minutes. We don't know if nuclear warheads can be attached to those. Is it something like that, or is it something more? We don't know. But I feel like it is something that we must take a look at and that is why we've written to Secretary Spencer of the Navy.

TC - Is there any indication that you're aware, that these sightings are foreign aircraft? Russian or Chinese aircraft?

MW - We don't know. We have no evidence to support that. We do know there's something that's travelling at that speed of what we call hypersonic now, which is mach 4 or 5, not to get too technical.

That is something that we want to know. Is this something that another defense system in another country is more advanced, or is it something else? We are not trying to spook people out, but the AATIP, which basically a program that the government monitors this, was to close down in 2017. So part of my question, Tucker, is it really closed down; are we still spending resources; or is there more documentation that this program is still being able to file somewhere? That's something we need to know. Even if its just for defense purposes alone.

TC - We spoke to a government employee who has worked on this issue, who said the US government has wreckage from one of these aircraft. Do you know anything about that?

MW - We don't know, but that's one of the four questions that we are asking. Is there evidence being held somewhere; not to get too spooky once again. But if there is evidence, I believe it is important for people, specifically in my position as the ranking member of Terrorism and Counterintelligence. We need to know about this.

TC - Of course, and these are all legitimate questions. Hopefully, you are not being bullied or mocked into not asking them. I hope you will come back and tell us what the answers are.

MW - We look forward; when we find out; to come back. Thank you Tucker.

My comments

1. Walker says that there is no evidence to support the objects as being Russian or Chinese aircraft.

2. He states that the objects are capable of hypersonic velocities.

3. In fact, he uses the words "...or something more..." and "...or is it something else?" in two places during the interview, hinting at a non Russian or Chinese origin.

4. Carlson mentions that a government employee [Elizondo -KB] said that the US government has wreckage from one of these aircraft. When Walker is asked "Do you know anything about that?" Walker doesn't answer with "yes" or "no" but with "We don't know," then goes on to say that that is a question they are asking.

5. I look forward to Walker's return to the show, when he provides the responses from the Secretary of the Navy.

Update: 5 August 2019

On 29 July 2019, Congressman Walker's official government website carried a media center article about the above. It also provided a copy of the full letter.  

Update: 8 September 2019

In a further article in Politico, Bryan Bender reported on the Navy's letter of response to Senator Warner, and Senator Warner's reaction to the Navy response.

Update: 28 December 2019

In a tweet dated 28 December 2019, Bryan Bender wrote:

"Rep. Mark Walker outlines oversight plan for "unidentified aerial phenomena" to Politicopro: "If it's something crazy out there, we want to find that out. Is this something or technology that we are not aware of that we need to be paying attention to."

Tweet 2

"I think the general public has a right to know unless it's something that puts our national security at risk. Is it something we are feeling concerned about? A threat? If it is we'll give [the military] some space. But what else is it? Do you have an explanation?"

Tweet 3

"Was it advanced military aircraft or systems that Russia or China or even France is looking at? Is that something they're working on? And we're just behind? ... And so part of your focus is also figuring out do we have the right capabilities to pick up these things?"

Tweet 4

"...Are we documenting evidences and are taxpayers' dollars being spent to be able to store evidence?"

Tweet 5

"And there's lots of different philosophical approaches even some that some would write off as conspiratorial! I don't know that I land on one specific one more than the other. But I do believe there are some things that maybe we can't explain all the time with science."

Unidentified Aerial Phenomena and the National Reconnaissance Office

Background

The To The Stars Academy (TTSA) recently announced that Chris Herndon was joining their Advisory Board. Herndon initially worked as a Department of Navy civilian, supporting a variety of agencies, including the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO.)

This made me ask myself, what did I know about the NRO? Like many other long-time researchers, the NRO had popped up on my radar from time to time. So I decided, that in this blog post, I would take a look at what I could find out about any relationship between the NRO and Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP.)

Introduction

Firstly though, what is the NRO's role? According to their website:

"The NRO, is the U.S. government agency in charge of designing, building, launching and maintaining America's intelligence satellites. From our inception in 1961 to our declassification to the public in 1992, we have worked tirelessly to provide the best reconnaissance support possible to the Intelligence Community (IC) and Department of Defense (DoD.)"

Its workforce consists of Dod and intelligence community staff, plus workers from private industry. It is headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, and maintains ground stations at Buckley Air Force Base in Colorado; Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and White Sands  Missile Range, New Mexico. It also has a presence at the Joint Defence Facility, Pine Gap, Australia.

I found a number of mentions of the NRO in the UAP literature, and the following provided details about my findings.

Valerie Ransone

Our first hint of the NRO and UAP, comes in the form of an individual named Valerie Jean Ransone. In 1976, Ransone, who was said to be a former CBS correspondent and a Washington power broker, established herself as President of The Information Network - an alternative radio network. In that year, Ransone also met Andrija Puharich and spent several months with him, exploring every site where research on extremely low frequency (ELF) radiation was being conducted. Because ELF waves can penetrate seawater they have been used to communicate with submarines.

By 1978, she was organising trips to go watch for UFOs. Jacques Vallee ("Forbidden Science: Volume Two'" 2009. Documatica Research LLC, San Francisco) in a diary entry dated 11 June 1978) told how she was establishing "a company to disseminate messages she believes to be of extraterrestrial origin." It was also at about that time, that Ransone became associated with astronaut Gordon Cooper. In December 1978, she warned Cooper that there was trouble associated with aspects of the Space Shuttle program; apparently advice from an extraterrestrial source.

In the late 1970's Cooper and Ransone set up a company devoted to free, worldwide energy transmissions and advanced medical devices.

A number of researchers, including Jacques Vallee, John Schuessler and Richard Niemtzow, met and interacted with Ransone, who appeared to be both a "contactee" and a very intelligent woman, interested in ELF and the work of Tesla.

What is the NRO connection? Vallee, ("Forbidden Science: Volume Three," 2012. Documatica Research LLC, San Francisco) in a diary entry dated 30 July 1989, stated:

"Schuessler tracked her down through his channels at McDonnell-Douglas. It turned out she was an agent for NRO, working with the Navy."

1984 - "Clear Intent"

In exploring which US Government agencies might hold data on UAP, two US researchers, Larry Bryant and Barry Greenwood ended up writing a book titled "Clear Intent" (1984. Fawcett, L & Greenwood, B J. Prentice-Hall, Engelwood Cliffs, NJ.) On page 219, they wrote:

"One other potential source of UFO data has not been mentioned only because it has been relatively unknown until recently by the New York Times.

The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is an intelligence agency whose very existence has been classified Top Secret...How might the NRO's operations relate to UFO research?

Photo-reconnaissance satellites have advanced to such a degree that even individuals can be specifically identified from orbit one hundred miles up. If strange aerial activity were to be detected in space as has been done in the past by NORAD, a photo-reconnaissance satellite could be expected to be pressed into duty by taking high resolution photographs of the UFOs. Significant strong evidence for UFOs may current exist on the NRO's files but accessing it would be virtually impossible under present security provisions..."

1987 - Timothy Good

A UK researcher, Timothy Good also wondered along the same lines as Fawcett and Greenwood. On page 299 of "Above Top Secret: The Worldwide UFO Cover-up" (1987, William Morrow & Co., New York) we find:

"There is another agency, hidden in Air Force Intelligence but run by the CIA whose very existence was denied by the US government until comparatively recently. I refer to the most secret intelligence agency in the United States: the National Reconnaissance Office. The NRO was established in 1961, and although its primary function is the operation of spy satellites, its estimated annual budget of $3 billion and staff of 50,000 could easily allow for secret UFO investigations. There is no evidence of this so far, however, and my Freedom of Information request for documents in 1986  not surprisingly drew a black..."

1988 - Vallee

I recalled a couple of relevant items from Jacques Vallee's dairies ("Forbidden Science: Volume Three," 2012. Documatica Research LLC, San Francisco.) In a diary entry dated 13 March 1988, Vallee, writing about how researcher Richard Haines had attended a briefing to staffers of an Amy Under-Secretary on UFOs noted:

"Dick was able to attend the presentation that followed his own briefing: An intelligence officer spoke about objects detected by certain satellites.

American satellites on low orbits, known as "slow walkers" are often catching luminous objects in groups of two or three that make right-angle turns or even reverse course. These observations according to Dick, stunned the Army folks, who had been unaware of these "fast walkers."

Australian researcher Paul Dean, in a blog post titled "NORAD And The UFO Smokescreen: Part 9" dated 10 July 2016, provided what is known of these "fast walkers."

Later, in a diary entry dated 28 June 1988 Vallee wrote:

"Hal has seen a 2-inch thick file that details UFO observations by infra-red satellites: 'The objects arrive 3,000 miles above the Earth,' he told me. 'The satellites pick them up as they come near the surface and going away the same manner as they came in. Their infra-red signature shows a level of energy 15 times that of an aircraft carrier. But the data is so tightly classified nobody wants to talk about it.' I wonder if these are really "our" UFOs, or natural phenomena of near space, still undiscovered, or even plain energy discharges."

1997 - Greer and the NRO document

Before the well known 10 April 1997 meeting between researcher Steven Greer and Rear Admiral Thomas Wilson, Greer had forwarded a purported NRO document to Wilson's team. Greer claimed that Wilson recognised one of the groups mentioned in a distribution list.

1997 - the Haines study

Gerald K Haines published a study titled "CIA's role in the study of UFOs: 1947-1990," which first appeared in the publication "Studies in Intelligence." (Volume 1, Number 1.)

The author, Haines, is there stated to be the National Reconnaissance Office historian. Why he should be writing an historical piece about the CIA has never been explained.

2000 - Daniel M Salter

Around the year 2000, US researcher Nick Redfern met an individual named Daniel M Salter, now deceased. Salter had written a book titled "Life with a Cosmos clearance" and during conversations with Redfern, informed Redfern that he, Salter, was a recently retired employee of the NRO.

In the book, Salter claims that in 1969 he was transferred to the NRO and worked in the Counterintelligence Unit of the Interplanetary Phenomenon Scientific and Technical Intelligence Unit. In addition, that the NRO had a campaign to weaponize space called the Development of Conscious Contact Citizenry Department.

However, in his obituary in the 16 October 2007 issue of the Tao News, it states that Salter worked for the USAF (1947-1968) in the field of electronics and radar. Then he went to the Mountain View College in Dallas, Texas, where he was head of Pilot Technology (1968-1990.) He then retired in 1990 and lived in Tao, New Mexico. There is no mention here of him working for the NRO. 

At the same time, Steven Greer's "Disclosure Project Briefing Document " (Greer, S M & Loder, T C, 2001, Crozet, Virginia.) has a mention of the "Testimony of Master Sergent Dan Morris, USAF (Retired)/NRO Operative - September 2000."  This document notes:

"After leaving the Air Force, he was recruited into the super-secret National Reconnaissance Organization, or NRO, during which time he worked specifically on extra-terrestrial connected operations."

From what I have read, it appears to me that Daniel M Salter and Dan Morris are the same individual.

2009 - Richard Dolan

On page 390 of Dolans' book "UFOs and the National Security State: Volume 2 - 1973-1991" (2009.  Keyhole Publishing. Rochester, New York,) I found:

"However, considering its extreme secrecy even among America's officially acknowledged intelligence agencies, the NRO could well have taken on other missions, such as those related to UFOs. Indeed, its capabilities, make it ideally suited for this."

2011 - Anthony Bragalia

In an article titled "Secret U.S. Intelligence agency holds UFO answers" Bragalia explores the role of the NRO. Braglia found that although not exempt from the FOIA, that a search of the Black Vault website failed to locate any FOIA requests to the NRO, and that the relevant FOIA request log showed only two requests re the subjects of UFOs, namely one dated 7 May 1998 and 27 April 2001.

Bragalia also wrote:

"...this author had made the recent acquaintance of a former agency employee now retired and  living nearby in Florida in ill health. This intelligence officer has tacitly indicated that clear, detailed and revealing images of UFOs have indeed been obtained by the super satellites of the NRO - and that many of them are not made by man."

I have heard nothing further about this potentially interesting source.

2015 - the Black Vault

US Researcher John Greenewald submitted an FOIA request to the NRO. In a response letter dated 5 November 2015, the NRO responded, in part:

"Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, you are requesting "records, electronic or otherwise pertaining to the Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) phenomenon..."

The topic of your request is outside the scope of NRO responsibilities, furthermore, the NRO has conducted numerous searches relating to UFOs in the past, and has located no records."

Update: 3 August 2019

A correspondent from the US who wishes to remain anonymous writes:

"Gerald Haines was in the CIA from 1989 becoming Deputy Chief of CIA History Staff in 1995, left briefly to set up the NRO History Office in 1996-1997, returned to become CIA Chief Historian. It is relevant because it makes sense that Haines would write a CIA history (in this case on UFOs) when he was still a CIA historian in 1994-95 and only briefly went to the NRO in 1996-1997 when the CIA history just happened to be published."

TTSA - a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Offering circular

On 12 July 2019, the To The Stars Academy of Arts and Sciences (TTSA for short) undertook a further filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. As with all these filings, there are always a few new pieces of information.

In this filing, which is an offering circular dated 12 July 2019, we learn:

"We currently work with and intend to employ additional lead engineers from major Department of Defense and aerospace companies with the capability to pursue an advanced engineering approach to fundamental aerospace topics like Beamed -Energy Propulsion, Space-Time Metrics Engineering and warp drive metrics."

My comment: This is the first time I can recall, that TTSA have mentioned their intention to employ additional engineering staff.

"On September 27, 2017, the company announced an offering pursuant to...raising $1,370,230 before closing on September 28, 2018..."

My comment: This is the first time I can recall, that a figure has been shown, for how much was raised by the first stock offering.

Number of shares on offer

The latest offering is "a maximum of 6,000,000 shares of Class A common stock...The cost price per share...is set at $5.00. The minimum investment is 70 shares or $350."

My comment: If all shares are subscribed to, the result would be an investment of $30,000,000.

Risk Factors

1. "Our Aerospace and Science Divisions have no current customers and no revenues."

2. "Aerospace and scientific research and development can be risky, and there are no guarantees that any of the projects we undertake will lead to a commercially viable product."

My comment: These statements are telling ones.

What is the M$30 to be used for?

If TTSA raises M$30 what is it planning to do with it? The offering circular states:

M$2.7 for offering expenses; M$14.2 for project initiatives, acquisition or strategic partnerships in the Entertainment, Science and Aerospace Divisions; M$6.4 on sales and marketing; M$5.7 on operating expenses; M$0.5 initiatives relating to the company's public benefit purpose; M$0.5 to repay a line of credit.

2019 products include

Sekret Machines' Non-Fiction series Book 2: Man. "This book is the stunning continuation of an intensive study of UFO phenomena in which hard science, technology and the human mind are explored as they relate to our world."

New Director

"In May 2019 the company appointed J Christopher Mizer to serve on the company's Board of Directors...Mr Mizer will be considered an independent contractor and will receive a monthly fee of $5,000 as well as 300,000 shares of the company's class A common stock..."

The current staffing is:

Thomas Delonge - President, Interim CEO.
James Semivan - Vice President, Operations.
Harold Puthoff - Vice President, Science and Technology.
Louis Tommasino - Treasurer, CFO.
Stephen Justice - Director of Advanced Programs and Technology. COO.
Kari Delonge - Chief Communications Officer.
Lisa Clifford - Secretary.
Luis Elizondo - Chief of Security and Special programs.

The Board of Directors is:

Thomas Delonge; James Semivan; Harold Puthoff; J Christopher Mizer. ("There is one additional director to be appointed."  "We are looking for a CEO...to take over from T Delonge.")

Who is J Christopher Mizer?

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/in/j-christopher-mizer-b12228/

The offering advises that :

"J Christopher Mizer currently serves on our Board of Directors. He has held that position since May 7, 2019. He is the current co-founder of Vivaris Capital and has held such position since Vivaris Capital was established in June of 1998. Vivaris Capital invests in and acquires middle-market businesses in a broad range of industries that are leaders in their market niches."

My comment: It would appear that Mr Mizer's role would be to assist the TTSA to acquire additional capital, though it says above that Vivaris Capital "invests in and acquires middle-market businesses." I would not have thought that TTSA could be described as a middle-market business.

New member of the Advisory Board

There is one member of the TTSA Advisory Board, listed in the offering circular, who does not appear on the TTSA's website list of their team. This is one, Chris Herndon. The offering circular provides the following information on Herndon:

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-herndon-5688856/

"Chris Herndon is a C-level Executive and Entrepreneur and currently serves as Chief Operating Officer of TechCentrics Inc. Previously he served for more than twenty years in the federal government, most recently as Deputy Assistant to the President and the Director of White House Information Technology...He began his career in telecommunications as a Department of the Navy civilian, where he supported organizations such as the National Reconnaissance Office, Office of Naval Research, Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the White House Communications Agency..."

My comment: Note that Herndon's background was with the US Navy. This is interesting to me in that TTSA has been claiming success with influencing the US Navy to update its guidelines on reporting unidentified aircraft; and in briefing members/staffers in Congress. Note also, the reference to supporting agencies such as the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)

The role of the NRO, according to their website is "the U.S. government agency in charge of designing, building, launching and maintaining America's intelligence satellites."

Given this role, the question of whether or not its sophisticated sensor network picks up UAP has been debated from time to time in the UFO literature.

Is the US Office of Naval Intelligence now part of the AATIP effort?

Danny Silva

In a blog post dated 6 July 2019, US researcher Danny Silva noted, that in episode 6 of the "Unidentified" TV series, former Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) manager, Luis Elizondo stated:

"AATIP is no longer run by a single office. There's now several offices that are engaged in this effort...and it is being run with official blessing."

When Elizondo resigned from  the Department of Defense, in October 2017 he signed his resignation letter "Luis D Elizondo, Director, National Program Special Management Staff, OUSD(I)." So, we know that AATIP then lay within the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. What other offices might now be involved in the AATIP? Do we have any clues? I think we do.

POLITICO article

Back on the 23 April 2019, journalist Bryan bender wrote a POLITICO article titled "US Navy drafts new guidelines for reporting UFOs." The US Navy, stated to POLITICO:

"In response to requests for information from Congressional members and staff, Navy officials have provided a series of briefings by senior Naval Intelligence officials..."

So, in my opinion, one of the offices, other than OUSDI, could well lie within the US Navy. After all, it has been naval aviators who have been reporting incidents since 2004, and more recently in 2014/2015. Elizondo himself, has said that after AATIP was officially defunded in 2012, that the effort carried on with the assistance of other agencies. One which, he specifically mentioned, was the US Navy.

John Greenewald

Could the "guidelines" mentioned above, provide us with a lead? US researcher John Greenewald sought copies of both the 2015 "guidelines" and the re-issued (not new) 2019 "guidelines;" issued by the US Navy, to its fleet.

Initially, Greenewald tried the US Navy's public affairs office. Their response on the 26 April 2019 was:

"We are unable to share the message with you. Due to the operational and aircraft specific nature of these guidelines, security considerations preclude their disclosure."

Greenewald then used the FOIA. A letter, dated 28 June 2019, from the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Washington, set out the Navy's response:

https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/2019-007448.pdf&hl=en

"OPNAV N2/N6 has identified 1 classified record that is responsive to your request...all portions are exempt from release under the FOIA..."

In short, there is no lead here at the moment. 

The Office of Naval Intelligence

According to Jeffrey T Richelson's definitive work "The US Intelligence Community" (2016, 7th edition, Westview press):

"In February 2013 joint testimony before  the House Committee on Armed Services, the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (USD[I],) and Director of the DIA identified naval intelligence as consisting of three organizations; ONI, the Fleet Intelligence Office, and the Naval Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS.)" (Page 134.)

Richelson went on to say (page 135):

"ONI's two main intelligence analysis units are the Nimitz Operational Intelligence Center (NOIC) and the Farragut Technical Analysis Center (FTAC.)"

FTAC

I went through Richelson's book, looking for the most likely locations within the ONI which might have an interest in emerging technologies; future capabilities, and unmanned aerial vehicles. I found that:

"The technical analysis center is responsible for providing analyses of foreign navies, platforms and weapons, strategic assessment of foreign future capabilities..." (page 137) and:

"The Office of Strategic Assessments is responsible for "projecting the future environment...and characterize foreign efforts that could put U.S. Naval forces at risk..." (pp137-138) and:

"The Naval Platforms Department is responsible for the study of all surface ships...unmanned aerial vehicles..." (p139.)

Earlier editions of "The US Intelligence Community" contained similar statements.

Conclusion

Without additional information, it is not possible to take this line of inquiry any further. Are any blog readers able to add to this?

Acknowledgement:

Thank you to Australian researcher Paul Dean, for his assistance with sourcing material relating to the US Office of Naval Intelligence.

Update 1: 10 July 2019

I had a recollection that I had seen a reference where Elizondo mentions two other agencies he worked with while with AATIP. I finally found one such reference:

"...Elizondo disputed the official story that the program ended when the funding ceased in 2012. He told the New York Times that only the funding ended, but he continued to work with Navy and CIA officials out of his Pentagon office until he resigned on October 4..."

Update 2: 10 July 2019

In response to the above post, @red_pill_junkie on Twitter wrote:

"In the final episode of Unidentified they show 3 men (from afar) who were said to be Elizondo's successors. I don't know if it means anything but one was wearing green military fatigues."

I had, in fact noted the same thing, that one of the three men wore military camouflage clothing, while the other two seemed to be in suits.

Below are screen shots from Episode 6 of "Unidentified."

Can any blog readers identify which branch of the US military wears such a uniform?

Update: 16 June 2021

It was announced that the House  Permanent select committee on Intelligence's sub-committee titled Counterterrorism, counterintelligence and counter proliferation would  hold a classified briefing today chaired by Congressman Andre Carson.

After U.S. Congressional UAP briefings - What comes next?

In a blog post dated 28 August 2018, I pondered which US Congressional Committees, might have an interest in receiving briefings/holding hearings, on the subject of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena? My best estimate, at that time, was the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC.)  This Committee currently has 28 members on it. One of that Committee's sub-committees is the Emerging Threats and Capabilities (ETC) sub-committee. Luis Elizondo, former Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) manager,  constantly mentions the word "threat" in his talks. There are seven Senators who sit on both the SASC and the ETC sub-committee.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen

One Senator who stood out, to me, on this list of seven, was Senator Jeanne Shaheen. While researching my August 2018 blog post, I came across a newspaper article of relevance. It appeared in The Conway Daily Sun, dated 4 April 2018.  On 28 March 2018 during an interview with that newspaper, Shaheen was asked a question about recent media reports re UFOs. In response, Shaheen stated:

"You know, we have not heard anything around UFOs, that I have seen in either the Armed Services Committee or any other committee that I'm on."

Senator Shaheen - Source: The Conway Daily Sun

A little aside

In an 18 January 2009 article, Dr Ted Loder, University of New Hampshire, stated that he had been sent, at his own request, to a UFO briefing, by then Governor Jeanne Shaheen.  This was the 9 April 1997 briefing, organised by Dr Stephen Greer, CSETI, at which a number of congressional officers attended.

Moving forward to 2019

On 2 July 2019, another relevant article appeared in The Conway Daily Sun In a piece written by Daymond Steer, Shaheen confirmed that she had now been briefed on Unidentified Flying Objects.

"We have been briefed," said Shaheen. "It was a classified briefing so I am not allowed to talk about it. But if you were to ask me personally, do I believe there are UFOs, I think that there are events that have happened that have not been explained adequately."

Other senators briefed - 2019

In a CNN politics article by Veronica Stracqualursi and Zachary Cohen, dated 20 June 2019, it was reported that a group of US Senators had received a classified briefing on 19 June 2019. Included in that group was the Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Mark Warner.

A spokeswoman for Senator Warner, Rachel Cohen, told CNN:

"If pilots at Oceana or elsewhere are reporting flight hazards that interfere with training or put them at risk, then Senator Warner wants answers. It doesn't matter if it's weather balloons, little green men or something else entirely - we can't ask our pilots to put their lives at risk unnecessarily." 

The article then quoted Joseph Gradisher, spokesman for the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare, as saying:

"Navy officials did indeed meet with interested congressional members and staffers on Wednesday to provide a classified brief on efforts to understand and identify these threats to the safety and security of our aviators."

"Follow up discussions with other interested staffers are scheduled for later today (Thursday 20 June). Navy officials will continue to keep interested congressional members and their staff informed. Given the classified nature of these discussions, we will not comment on the specific information provided in these Hill briefings."

How many Senators were briefed?

An article, dated 19 June 2019, by Politico  written by Bryan Bender, says the number was three, including Senator Mark Warner.

Senator Warner -Source: Politico 19 June 2019

Politico quoted spokesman Lt Cmdr. Daniel Day, as saying:

"Navy officials did indeed meet with interested congressional members and staffers on Wednesday to provide a classified brief on efforts to understand and identify these threats to the safety and security of our aviators...Navy officials will continue to keep interested congressional members and staff informed. Given the classified nature of these discussions, we will not comment on the specific information provided in these Hill briefings."

Bender went on to note that:

"But several current and former officials with direct knowledge describe the Capitol Hill briefing as the latest for members of Congress and their staff representing the Intelligence, Armed Services and Defense Appropriations panels."

Outcomes

Almost every commentator in the UFO community has focused solely on the current briefings to Senators and their staff. However, as well as doing this, I'd like to pose the question, what comes after these Senate briefings?

Firstly, though, it should be acknowledged that already there is one outcome, in that the US Navy has issued guidelines to the Fleet, requiring the reporting of intrusions into operational spaces, by unidentified aircraft.

What's next ? For some time now, people like former Senator Harry Reid have been calling for Congressional hearings, as opposed to briefings, on this topics. There haven't been Congressional hearings on the subject since 1966 and 1968.

One of the areas of Congress mentioned by Bryan Bender was the Defense Appropriations. The US Senate Appropriations sub-committee is one of 12 sub-committees of the Senate committee on Appropriations. So, if one is seeking money for a US government UAP program, it makes sense to brief the Defense Appropriations area.

The next fiscal year runs from 1 October 2019 to 30 September 2020. So June 2019 was the latest time to add something to next year's DoD budget.

Does this mean that we might see a re-funding of the AATIP (or whatever name AATIP has been changed to)? Or, perhaps a US Navy led study? One dormant player in all this, has been the United States Air Force. Navy spokespersons, have in recent times been mentioning that the topic is relevant to both the Navy and the USAF, but we have yet to hear from the USAF on this matter.

Update: 6 July 2019

Researcher Paul Scott Anderson pointed out to me, that an article dated 9 June 2019, written by Jeff Schogol, appeared on the task and purpose website.  In this article there were two quotes of interest:

1. Air Force spokesman Maj. Bryan Lewis:

"While there is a proliferation of UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) technology across the world, we are not concerned that China or Russia have developed a long-range capability about which we are not aware."

I checked to see if Maj. Bryan Lewis is, in fact, a recognised spokesman for the USAF. I found his name mentioned as such, in numerous Air Force Times website articles, such as this one.

2. Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. James Poss:

"I'd be very surprised if these were Russian or Chinese aircraft operating from Russia or China."

I found a USAF official biography for Poss, here. The facts about Poss mentioned in the taskandpurpose article agree with what is in the biography.

Update 22 July 2019

A US correspondent drew my attention to a video interview with Senator Warner, where he states:

"I think people are taking this much more seriously...One of the key takeaways I have is the military and others are taking this issue seriously, which I think in previous generations may not have been the case."

Update: 16 June 2021

It was announced today that the House Select Intelligence Committee's sub-committee titled Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence and Counter proliferation would hold a classified briefing on UAP chaired by Congressman Andre Carson.