Senate Estimates Committee hearings
At the 27 October 2021 Australian Senate Estimates Committee hearings, Tasmanian Senator Peter Whish-Wilson posed several questions concerning Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP), to Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Mel Hupfield.
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| https://www.airforce.gov.au/our-people/our-leaders/chief-air-force |
I posted a copy of the transcript of these discussions in a previous blog post. During the hearings, Senator Whish-Wilson indicated that he would pose further questions to the Australian Department of Defence (DOD) about UAP.
The next day, in a radio interview with host Brian Carlton, of Triple M Hobart, the Senator revealed that he had a friend, who, over 20 years ago was on a military exercise on a ship. The ship was followed by a metallic "tic-tac." It was a recent meerting with this friend which caused the Senator to ask questions at the Senate Estimates Committee hearings.
Department of Defence FOIA request
On 27 January 2022, I submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act to the Australian Department of Defence, as follows:
"I wish to obtain a copy of any correspondence, e.g. letters and/or emails, between Senator Whish-Wilson and the Department of Defence, including Air Marshall Hupfeld or his office, between 27 October 2021 and 27 January 2022, regarding Unidentified Aerial Phenomena."
The request was promptly acknowledged by the DOD on 28 January 2022. On 22 February 2022, I received a response to my request. This was a two page document headed "Defence Portfolio. Senate Estimates Question. (Question No. 90.)" It contained a series of questions, from the Senator, dated 5 November 2021; and responses from the Department.
As per the usual DOD FOIA process, my FOIA request and the Department's response will shortly be published on the DOD's FOIA website, thus making it available to a wider audience.
Questions and answers
Below, I extract the questions and answers, and provide relevant comment.
Q1. Has the Department of Defence had the opportunity to formally review the report completed by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence titled 'Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena' published in June 2021?
A1. The Department of Defence has not formally reviewed the report.
Comment: At the televised hearings, Senator Whish-Wilson asked Air Marshal Hupfeld if he was aware of the report. The Air Marshal replied "I'm not formally aware of the report. I think there was an article in the newspapers and commentary about that at some stage. But I'm not quite sure of the content of the report."
Q2. What guidance, if any, has the Department sought on the publication of the US report and the implications for Australian aerospace?
A2. The Department of Defence has not sought guidance on the publication.
Q3. Is the 'Unusual Aerial Sightings Policy' still in effect, and if so when was it last reviewed? If it is not in effect or has been superseded.
A3. The Unusual Aerial Sightings policy was last reviewed in November 2003 and cancelled 25 March 2013.
Comments: 1. This explains why the DOD continually states, today, that it has no protocol around UAP/UFO.
2. The RAAF, when formally charged by the Australian government to look into the subject, initially referred to the term "Flying Saucers" in their early Policy and sightings files. This was later changed to "Unusual Aerial Sightings."
Q4. In 2011, the Department of Defence reported that, in response to a FOI request from the Sydney Morning Herald it had 'discovered one file, which had not been destroyed but could not be located'. If it could not be located, how would the Department know that the file had not been destroyed? Were all the files referenced hardcopy only (i.e. not digital.)
A4. A file was confirmed in 2008 to be at the National Archives of Australia. The interest of its location was raised again in 2011, however Defence was unable to verify its location nor held record of the file being destroyed. As such and to date, the Department of Defence cannot confirm its current existence.
Comment: This appears to relate to the fact that the Sydney Morning Herald, on 7 June 2011 published a story about their own FOIA request to the DOD for UFO files. The DOD responded that they could only locate one file "Reports on Strange Occurrences and Phenomenon in Woomera'" and that other UFO files had been destroyed. In addiiton, there was one other file "which had not been destroyed but could not be located." I obtained a digital copy of the Woomera file.
Q5. A reponse from the Department dated 8 June 2011 states that members of the public making reports of 'unusual aerial sightings' are directed to their local police authority. What is the protocol for members of the defence forces when reporting such sightings during military operations and/or normal duty?
A5. The Department of Defence does not have a protocol for reporting or recording of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) or Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). The Air Force ceased handling reports of UAP or UFO in 1996 after determining that there was no scientific or other compelling reason for the Air Force to continue to devote resources to the recording and investigation of UAP or UFO.
Comment: For a detailed look at the reasons why the RAAF closed down its UFO investigations, as told to me by the RAAF officer involved, click here.
In their "Statement of Reasons" which accompanied the two page document, Group Captain Peter Davies, kindly provided publically available "further information" which provided a link to the Parliamentary televised Senate Estimates Committee session where Senator Whish-Wilson questioned Air Marshal Hupfeld.
Update: 1 April 2022
On 25 February 2022, Senator Whish-Wilson followed up his October 2021 questions.
Defence Portfolio
SENATE ESTIMATES QUESTION
(Question No. 20)
Senator Peter Whish-Wilson asked the Department of Defence the following question, upon notice, on 25 February 2022:
During the last Supplementary Budget Estimates (in response to a question on notice), the Department of Defence advised that there is no protocol for reporting or recording Unidentified Aerial Phenomena or Unidentified Flying Objects.
1. In a scenario that an airforce pilot, or airforce personnel on the ground (such as monitoring radar), detects or sights an aircraft over Australian airspace, or in their sphere of operation, but is unable to identify the nature of the craft, what is the process/protocol for pilot and/or personnel to report their observation?
2. If there is an existing protocol – how many such observations or sightings have been made in the past 10 years? If there is no protocol – by what means does the air force maintain the security of Australian Airspace in dealing with unidentified craft?
3. What encouragement is given to pilots to make reports of aircraft they cannot identify?
Senator Whish-Wilson – The Department of Defence provides the following answer to the Senator’s question:
1. Any unidentified aircraft identified by Air Force pilots or personnel entering military controlled airspace or pose a safety risk to military aircraft are subject to RAAF Aviation Safety Reporting protocols.
2. Under RAAF Aviation Reporting protocols, there has been no records of observations or sightings of unidentified aircraft over past ten years.
3. There is no specific encouragement given to pilots to report aircraft they cannot identify, rather to report unusual or unexpected events through RAAF Aviation Safety Reporting procedures.
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