US Senate Select Committee report refers to Unidentified Aerial Phenomena

Introduction

Thanks to a lead provided to US researcher Danny Silva (original source Steve McDaniel) we have been made aware, of a Report 116-233, from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, dated 17 June 2020, that refers to Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.

Details

Senator Marco Rubio. Source:https://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/ 

The introduction to the Committee's report on a Bill, S3905, "Intelligence Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021" sponsored by Senator Marco Rubio, (Senator for the state of Florida) states:

"The Select Committee on Intelligence, having considered an original bill (S.3905) to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2021 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States Government, the Intelligence Community Management Account, and the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, and for other purposes, reports favourably thereon and recommends that the bill do pass." So, they recommend the bill be turned into an Act, thereby authorizing the details contained in the bill (after debate) to be then law, and actionable.

UAP reference

Why are we interested in this bill? Well, under "Committee comments," in the Committee's report, we find the following:

"Advanced Aerial Threats

The Committee supports the efforts of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force at the Office of Naval Intelligence to standardize collection and reporting on unidentified aerial phenomenon, any links they have to adversarial foreign governments, and the threat they pose to U.S. military assets and installations.

However, the Committee remains concerned that there is no unified, comprehensive process within the Federal Government for collecting and analyzing intelligence on unidentified aerial phenomena, despite the potential threat. The Committee understands that the relevant intelligence may be sensitive; nevertheless, the Committee finds that the information sharing and coordination across the Intelligence Community has been inconsistent, and this issue has lacked attention from senior leaders.

Therefore, the Committee directs the DNI, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the heads of such other agencies as the Director and Secretary jointly consider relevant, to submit a report within 180 days of the date of enactment of the Act, to the congressional intelligence and armed services committees on unidentified aerial phenomena (also known as "anomalous aerial vehicles"), including observed airborne objects that have not been identified.

The Committee further directs the report to include:

1. A detailed analysis of unidentified aerial phenomena data and intelligence reporting collected or held by the Office of Naval Intelligence, including data and intelligence reporting held by the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force.

2. A detailed analysis of unidentified phenomena data collected by:
a. geospatial intelligence;
b. signals intelligence;
c. human intelligence, and
d. measurement and signals intelligence.

3. A detailed analysis of data of the FBI, which was derived from investigations of intrusions of unidentified aerial phenomena data over restricted United States airspace.

4. A detailed description of an interagency process for ensuring timely data collection and centralized analysis of all unidentified aerial phenomena reporting for the Federal Government, regardless of which service or agency acquired the information.

5. Identification of an official accountable for the process described in paragraph 4.

6. Identification of potential aerospace or other threats posed by the unidentified aerial phenomena to national security, and an assessment of whether this unidentified aerial phenomena activity may be attributed to one or more foreign adversaries.

7. Identification of any incidents or patterns that indicate a potential adversary may have achieved breakthrough aerospace capabilities that could put United States strategic or conventional forces at risk; and

8. Recommendations regarding increased collection of data, enhanced research and development, and additional funding and other resources.

The report shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified anex."

Analysis and comments

1. In a blog post dated 9 July 2019, I posed the question" Is the US Office of Naval Intelligence now part of the AATIP effort" and concluded that it was. 

2. On 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 that:

"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."

The Committee report provides the name " Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force" and places it at the Office of Naval Intelligence. The language the report uses, supports the notion that this Task Force is currently in existence, and appears to suggest that this may well be the new AATIP. The Committee comments include the words "and the threat they pose to U.S. military assets and installations" not just Naval assets. This is what you would expect from a Task Force which draws its members from various agencies. 

3. The main thrust of the Committee's comments, is a call for a detailed report within 180 days of the date of the enactment of the bill, and provides some fairly detailed things which are to be reported upon. Specifically, that it must include data held by the Task Force, which should therefore include data obtained by AATIP. Note that the report is to be unclassified. 

4. Interestingly, there is mention of the FBI - presumably the Federal Bureau of Investigation "A detailed analysis of data of the FBI, which was derived from investigations of intrusions of unidentified aerial phenomena data over restricted United States airspace." While I waa aware that the United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations did look into the release of the US Navy videos, I do not recall hearing of any FBI investigation. I'd appreciate hearing from any blog reader who knows more about this aspect.

5. The Committee also wishes to be provided with "A detailed description of an interagency process for timely data collection and centralized analysis of all unidentified aerial phenomena reporting for the Federal Government, regardless of which service or agency acquired the information." This requirement looks to provide a central point of contact for data, which can only be a good thing. 

6. Note, that there remains a perspective expressed that the phenomena may be due to foreign adversaries, although there have been strong indications that this is not the case, from a number of sources. 

7. Finally, the report must include recommendations for future action; such as collection, research, funding and resources. Note that there is no mention of fiscal year 2021 funding for any of this, in the bill, as funding for intelligence programs comes from separate Appropriations legislation. 

8. Of course, any of the above depends on the passage of the bill into law and an Act.

Nevertheless, a very interesting development, which to a large degree has been one of the main actions which To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science (TTSA) have been working on in the background. Kudos to them.

Update 23 June 2020

I have corrected parts of this blog following a comment in the blog's comment section. 

Update 25 March 2021

Las Vegas investigative journalist George Knapp, provided a link to a piece by Politico reporter Bryan Bender, who on 24 March 2021 wrote a piece titled "Outer limits." It read:

"ALIEN NATION: The public interest in a forthcoming public report to Congress on sightings of "unidentified aerial phenomenon: is exceptionally high. As for expectations on what the government's accounting of UFOs will reveal? Not as much.

Morning D is hearing rumblings that scant resources have been dedicated to the effort, which calls for the director of national intelligence to collect data from the Pentagon and other agencies about what they've been tracking and how. The report is due in June, but we hear it has a good chance of being delayed.

A spokesperson for DNI Avril Haines on Tuesday would only say that "we are aware of the requirement and will respond accordingly." "