Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby was asked another UAP related question

 Background

Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby holds regular press briefings. On 1 June and again on 4 June 2021, questions were asked about UAP, which Kirby responded to.

29 November 2021

During a briefing held on 29 November 2021, Kirby was asked the following questions:

"Q: Thanks John. I want to ask you about this new UAP office that was created by Deputy Secretary Hicks and announced last week. The Aerial Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group was...

Mr. Kirby: Well put.

Q: That was a mouthful. Was there any consultation with lawmakers on Capitol Hill that are proposing related legislation like Representative Gallego and Senator Gillibrand? And secondly, some former Pentagon officials who had worked on this issue, Chris Mellon and Lou Elizondo said that this is an effort for the Pentagon to be less transparent on UAPs. And I was just wondering if you had any response?

Mr. Kirby: On the first one, I can't speak to pending legislation, obviously. I'd refer to those members. But we absolutely kept members of Congress informed as we fashioned this group together and announced it. And it , it is, to your second question, it is really designed to help us better coordinate the reporting process. The actual reports themselves, and the analysis of those reports. So that rather than getting them sort of piecemeal and ad hoc, as we've been getting them from the services, this is a way to coordinate the input, so that we can - there's a common set of parameters for how to report them and analyze them. And then to assess what we've got, and not all reports are going to manifest themselves in something that we consider a national security threat. So, this is a chance for us to be much more organized in the way we process these reports.

And, as we have, we will certainly continue to be as transparent as we can about these phenomena. And the impact that they may, or may nor be having on our ability to operate.

Q: Any specific commitment to release some data or information on these to the public at some point? And then beyond the briefed to Congress closed...

Mr. Kirby: Yes, I don't have a specific report to to announce today that, you know, on any kind of a frequent basis that we will do. But I can assure you that our intention is to be as transparent about this phenomenon as we can. Again, Travis, understanding that there will be national security considerations that we have to keep in mind, but we'll be as transparent as we can. But not, I don't want you to leave you with the impression that there'll be sort of a regular drumbeat of you know, of some kind of report that gets posted on a website, you know, every couple of months."

Update: 7 December 2021

Travis Tritten, from Military.com, was the journalist who asked Kirby the questions. Tritten published an article in the dated 7 December 2021.