Some things I learnt, by reading the 30 April 2021 article in the "New Yorker."

The article

A lengthy piece by journalist Gideon Lewis-Kraus appeared in the 30 April 2021 digital version, and then on 10 May 2021, in the print version; of the "New Yorker"  which is a weekly magazine. As there has been a large volume of UAP related material generated of late, at the time the article appeared I quickly read it, and then filed it for later examination. The time has come for that review, in which I will draw out information that was new to me.

The article provides both a general overview of  a selected history of the phenomenon; and biographical pieces about a number of the key players in this topic. Featured in more detail, are the biographies, and views, of journalist Leslie Kean; 'debunker' Mike West; and Las Vegas businessman Robert Bigelow. 

Information new to me

So, what new information did the article provide to me?

1. I was not aware of many of the details about Leslie Kean's background, and the origin of her interest in the phenomenon. I was unaware, for example, that in June 2011 John Podesta, President Clinton's former Chief of Staff:

"...invited Kean to make a confidential presentation at a think tank founded by Podesta, namely the Center for American Progress." The audience is said to have included"...officials from NASA, the Pentagon, and the Department of Transportation, along with congressional staff and retired intelligence officials..."

Leslie Kean

 2. I had not heard of many biographical details of 'debunker' Mike West, which led him to examine UAP. I was particularly struck by the line, according to Lewis-Kraus' opinion of course, that:

"He seemed unable to envisage that someone might find solace in the decentering prospect that we are not alone in the universe, we ultimately know little about."

3. Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS), as part of the Defense Intelligence Agency's Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications program (AAWSAP) contract, produced a 494 page "Ten month report." I hadn't heard before, that:

"As one former government official told me, "The report arrived here and I read the whole thing and immediately considered that releasing it would be a disaster." 

Readers will note that German based, U.S. citizen, researcher Tim McMillan reported being shown a copy of the whole document, and being given a limited time to make notes on its contents. A few other people have come forward claiming, that they too have seen this document. It has puzzled researchers that this document has not yet been publicly released. I note that several Freedom of Information Act requests to the Defense Intelligence Agency asking for a copy of this document, have not yet been responded to, even though they were submitted in 2018.

4. I was aware of the 4 October 2017 meeting between Leslie Kean and Luis Elizondo, to discuss the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP.) However, I do not recall hearing that other attendees at this meeting included Hal Puthoff and Jim Semivan, who later were involved with the To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science (TTSA.)

5. On the 2017 revelation as to the existence of the AATIP, by Kean et al.  The "New Yorker" article included the lines:

"...but a former Pentagon official recently suggested that the story was more complicated: the program she disclosed was of little consequence compared with the one she set in motion. Widespread fascination with the idea that the government cared about U.F.Os had inspired the government at last to care about U.F.Os."

6. We were aware that by late 2017 the AATIP portfolio had been reassigned to a "...civilian intelligence official with a rank equivalent to that of a two star general.'" However, the article reveals that:

"He channeled the cascade of media interest to argue that, without a process to handle uncategorizable observations, rigid bureaucracies would overlook anything that didn't follow a standard pattern."

"What we needed" the former Pentagon official said, "Was something like the post 9-11 fusion centers, where a D.O.D. guy can talk to an F.B.I guy, and an N.R.O guy."

7. On the 2004 Nimitz observations: 

"The Nimitz encounter didn't become subject to official investigation until years after the incident, when an errant file landed on the desk of someone who decided that it merited pursuit." 

This supports previous information that, although data was removed at the time of the event by someone, that there was no high-up investigation at the time. 

8. Discussing Mick West's views on the objects noted by the USS Princeton and by USN pilots in November 2004:

"The former Pentagon official assured me that West "Doesn't have the whole story. There's data he will never see - there's much more that I could include in a classified environment."

9. Continuing on about Elizondo's AATIP successor: 

"Elizondo never got to Mattis, but his successor managed to get briefings in front of Mark Esper, the Secretary of Defense, as well as the director of National intelligence, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence; the Senate Armed Forces Committee and several members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff." 

On 8 September 2020, at a Japanese Defense press conference, there was mention that the topic of UAP had been talked about between Japan and the United States, when Secretary Esper was in Guam. Thus the briefing alluded to above, must have occurred before 8 September 2020.

Former Director National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe, served in that position between May 2020 and 20 January 2021. In an interview between himself and Maria Bartiromo of FOX TV, on 19 March 2021 he stated in part:

"I actually wanted to get this information out and declassified before I left office."

John Ratcliffe

 10. On the July 2020 article by Blumenthal and Kean, which mentioned a "a series of unclassified slides" re "off-world" and "vehicle crash retrievals."

"The former Pentagon official told me that he found Kean's evidence wanting. "There are terms in Leslie's slides that we don't use - stuff we would never say," he said. "It doesn't pass the smell test."