Another Australian Freedom of Information request re UAP: Defence 052/22/23

 FOIA requestors

A small number of Australian individuals, including Paul Dean and Grant Lavac in Melbourne, and myself in Adelaide, have been utilising the Australian Freedom of Information Act, (FOIA) to explore the extent, if any, to which Australian government departments and agencies, are engaged with the topic of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena" (UAP.) 

FOIA UAP responses from the Australian Department of Defence have been mainly negative, getting a "no responsive documents" answer. With the exception being the discovery of a Department of Defence Chief of Air briefing paper for Departmental personnel attending Senate Estimates Committee hearings, due to one of Grant's requests.

A new FOIA request

It is therefore, of interest that other Australian UAP researchers are submitting their own FOIA requests to the Australian goverment. Below, are details of one such request, and response from the Department of Defence. The individual who submitted the request wishes to remain anonymous, although I know their identity. They requested:

"...all official briefing slides, PowerPoints, images, footage, documents, reports, emails and letters from between the dates of of 1st January 2016 to 30th July 2022, that were exchanged between employees within the appropriate agency of the Australian Defence Force who is legally and/or contractually obligated to perform the function for government of undertaking:

The analysis of all or any data types derived from and associated with:

(i) the tracking of; and

(ii) the locating of; and

(iii) the coordination of the recovery of material debris associated with:

"Unidentified Aerospace-undersea Phenomena," "UAP," "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena," and/or "Unidentified Flying Objects."

AND/or

all official briefing slides, PowerPoints, images, footage, documents, reports, emails and letters that were sent to and/or received from, any employees of the Australian Defence Force in liaison with the appropriate agency within government who function as the overseeing department(s) and/or program(s) and who is legally and/or contractually obligated, including private contractors, both foreign and domestic, to perform the function of government for the undertaking of:

(i) the analysis of all or any data types derived from and associated with:

(ii) the tracking of, and

(iii) the locating of, and

(iv) the coordination of the recovery of material debris associated with "Unidentified Aerospace-undersea Phenomena," "UAP," "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena," "UFO," and/or "Unidentified Flying Objects"

in which said briefing slides, PowerPoints, images, footage, reports, emails and letters are only associated with, pertain to, and/or specifically mention

(i) DOD policy on reporting;

(ii) *significant events/discussions" and

(iii) all case studies with official DOD oversight regarding: "Unidentified Aerospace-undersea Phenomena," "UAP," "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena," and/or "Unidentified Flying Objects."

* By UAP, this request refers to nothing other than Australian Defence Force official terminology for "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena" the meaning of such term is outlined in Section 1683(1) of the US National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal year 2022 (50 USC 3373(1) and is referred to below, in two separate declarations of a cognizance of UAP by RAAF personnel:

(1) RAAF Chief of Air Marshal Mel Hupfield, with the following comment "through professional curiosity I did look at some of the videos (referring to videos of UAP filmed by US Navy pilots and released to the public via The New York Times in 2017, to Senator Peter Whish-Wilson during Senate questioning.

(2) R J Denney, Air Vice-Marshal Head of Air Force Capability, in his published comment contained within his response to Mr Grant Lavac which are here quoted "Concerning Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP); "the topic of UAP or UFO;" and "The United States Office of the Director of National Intelligence Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena."

*By "significant events/discussisons," I refer to nothing other than the "significant events/discussions" referred to by DOD in the official CAF brief content page, titled "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena" within Defence FOI 459/22/23 Item 1, document 1."

The DOD response

I extract the relevant portions of the DOD response letter.

"3. I identified no document as matching the description of the request."

"5. In making my decision, I had regard to...

d. advice received from Navy, Joint Operations Command, Australian Space Operations Centre and officers within the department."

"10. Accordingly I am satisfied that "all reasonable steps" have been taken to locate the document."

"Further information:

11. With reference to the "Unidentified Aerospace-undersea Phenomena" component of the scope, I engaged Navy who advised they do not retain any such reports.

12. Joint Operations Command advise they are unaware of the term "Unidentified Aerospace-undersea Phenomena." Further a definition was unable to be located via Google or the Australian Defence Glossary and as such Defence is unable to provide any information about the topic or locate any document in relation to it.

13. The Australian Space Operations Centre advised that they rely on unclassified sources that the applicant can potentially source, namely..."

14. Furthermore, Defence does not have a stand alone protocol for reporting or recording of UAP or UFOs. The Royal Australian Air Force ceased handling reports of UAP or UFO in 1996 after determining that there was no scientific or other compelling reason to continue to devote resources to the recording and investigation of UAP or UFO. It is a function no longer exercised by Defence and therefore, no documents will exist in Defence's possession in relation to the subject matter."

Comments:

1. The DOD is clearly maintaining that they have no interest in the topic of UAP.

2. I wonder what the DOD is making of the increased rate of FOI enquries, re UAP?

3. One interesting comment, is that DOD FOI checked with Navy on the term "Unidentified Aerospace-undersea Phenomena." I take the NAVY response that "they do not retain any such reports" to mean "they do not know of any such phenomena" not that they know of such reports, but do not (retain) keep them."

4. Also, I checked the Australian Defence Glossary. It is a list of terms and definitions used by Defence; approved Defence terms for such things as "area of intelligence interest," "end state," and "master target list." There are no entries under the letter U or elsewhere, for "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena" or "Unidentified Flying Objects" or any such equivalent terms.

5. In paragraph 14 of the DOD respones is "...no documents willl exist in Defence's possession in relation to this subject matter." However, Grant Lavac's finding of the CAF DOD UAP briefing paper for personnel attending the Senate Estimates hearings in 2022, show that this statement is incorrect. 

6. Thanks must go to the anonymous FOIA requestor, who submitted this latest FOIA request and received the response.

7. I would be interested in hearing from any blog reader who has also submitted a recent FOIA UAP request to any Australian government department, agency, or Minister. My encrypted email address is 

aristotle1947@protonmail.com

Two Freedom of Information requests, and the Australian Space Agency

 Background

The French government space agency, the National Centre for Space Studies (CNES- Centre National D'Etudes Spatiales) has operated a UAP study group for many years. Groupe d'Etudes et d'Information sur les Phenomenes Aerospatiaux Non-Identifies - GEIPAN, has a brief to investigate unidentified aerospace phenomena. Its database is open to the public.

In June 2022, the U.S. space agency NASA announced the establishment of a study team to examine Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) to commence around September 2022.

Introduction

Australia established its own space agency, the Australian Space Agency (ASA) in 2018. There have been at least two Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking to determine whether or not, the ASA has any interest in UAP.

2019

An unknown individual submitted a request dated 30 April 2019. They asked for:

"Any reports, documents, guidelines and/or operational policies and procedures within the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science - The Australian Space Agency - relating to or pertaining to the terms of UFO Unidentified Flying Object, UAS Unusual Aerial Sighting, UAP Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, UAC Unusual Aerial Craft, or UAV Unusual Aerial vehicle."

The Department's response, in short, was:

"I am satisfied that reasonable searches have been conducted to locate documents - relevant to your request but they do not exist."

2021

In September 2021, the Department of Industry, Science and Resources responded to an FOIA request by an unnamed requester, and published the outcome, in their FOIA Disclosure log 21/056/69634. The request was simple "All files pertaining to UFO sightings as well as USO sightings also."

The Department responded with 86 pages of documents. I haven't presented the contents of all the resultant emails, merely the ones which I considered most relevant.

A. An email chain whose subject was "Enquiries re UFOs/UAPs."

B. An email chain titled "Media on UAP report to US Congress," or "Query re US UAP/UFO report."

C. Emails concerning a "New FOI request."

D. Publication - AIAA Daily Launch.

E. Publication - POLITICO SPACE

A. Emails "Enquiries re UFOs/UAPs."

(1) 17 June 2021. From Operations and Communications ASA To Five ASA [redacted] email addresses.

"All enquiries inbox people

Please note below. Will provide advice on how to co-ordinate responses should requests come in."

(2) 17 June 2021 From [redacted] To [ ] ASA

"CSIRO has raised with us that we're likely to get an influx of questions around UFOs next week(ish) when a report on UAPs/UFOs is released to the US Congress. We'd like to have a central point for those queries within the Australian government and [ ] suggested that Fred Watson the Astronomer-at-large could be a good central spokesman.

How do you feel about this - or do you have any additional information  - about central media points? I realise we've had the occasional questions before about UFOs, but this one is likely to be more concentrated and not something we can really brush-off."

A/g Assistant Manager, Communications, ASA.

(3) 17 June 2021 From [ ] To media-ASA cc [ ] @csiro.au

"Hi Team,

You're probably aware that a much anticipated "UAP/UFO report" will be released to the US Congress and made public. I've heard around 25 June. We have people who work on SETI - the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence which is an established area of radio astronomy research - and we are expecting an increase in enquiries. We don't want to talk about UFOs/UAPs but depending on the outlet and their questions can talk about SETI.

I'm wondering is there an official Australian government contact on UFOs/UAPs to whom we should pass on media enquiries? I'm  thinking it would likely be defence.org We are happy to make other enquiries with Australian government departments but thought you might already have this information to hand."

Communications Manager, Space, Astronomy and Scientific Computing, Corporate Affairs, CSIRO.

(4) 17 June 2021 From [ ] To [ ]

"Thanks, [ ] we can raise this with [ ] and will let you know what he says!"

(5) 17 June 2021 From [ ] ASA To [ ]

"Thanks [ ]  this is an unusual one!

As far as we know, there is no official government media contact for UFOs, though we thought that Fred Watson, the Astronomer-at-large could be a good contact person. However, as this is being presented to Congress, we want to check that the Minister's Office wouldn't prefer for the Agency to answer questions (although it's not really our remit.) We'll follow a few leads and get back to you."

A/g Assistant Manager, Communications, ASA.

(6) 22 June 2021 From [ ] To [ ] cc MediaASA

"Hi Team,

If/when enquiries come through about UFOs/UAPs, please send them through to Fred Watson, either via telephone [ ] or email [ ]. We'll also need to keep track of them for Departmental media reporting."

A/g Assistant Manager, Communications, ASA.

(7) 22 June 2021 From [ ] To [ ]ASA

"[ ] Fred is happy to be first contact. He'd like a briefing on CSIRO involvement with SETI - should I contact [ ]"

B. Emails titled "Media on UAP report to US Congress," or "Query re US UAP/UFO report."

(1) 21 June 2021 From [ ] To media@defence

"Good afternoon, I'm seeking your help to identify a key government contact for UFO enquiries [seriously!]..."

Manager Government Relations, Corporate Affairs, CSIRO.

(2) 22 June 2021  From [ ] To [ ]

"Please be aware and don't respond to quiries unless there is a legitimate enquiry."

Operations and Communications, ASA.

(3) 22 June 2021 From [ ] To AustralianSpaceAgencyLeadershipTeam cc media-ASA

"As you're probably aware, the US Congress is likely to be presented with a report on UAPs/UFOs soon. We are expecting some level of media enquiries surrounding this. The Minister's Office has agreed that the best central point of contact for media enquiries is Professor Fred Watson, Astronomer-at-large, with SKA Astronomy.

As always, if you are approached for any media, please send the request through to media@space.gov.au and we will collate and send through to Fred."

A/g Assistant Manger, Communications, ASA.

(4) 25 June 2021 From [ ]  To [ ] [ ]@industry

"Hi both,

An update on the Defence contact for UAP/UFO enquries is below [ ]  I'll share our SETI messages shortly." [ ]

Communications Manager, Space, Astronomy and Scientific Computing, CSIRO.

(5) 25 June 2021 From [ ] To [ ] Attachment CSIRO-brief-SETI-June 2021 -v2 docx.

"Hi all, attached is our brief on the report and our SETI work [ ] you're welcome to share it with Fred - and do let me know if you'd prefer we went to Fred directly with any media enquiries, or if you're happy to be the conduit. [ ] in my team is mooo contact and will reach out to me if there's anything I need to look at urgently [ ]"

Communications Manager, Space, Astronomy and Scientific Computing, Corporate Affairs, CSIRO.

(6) 25 June 2021 From media@defence.gov.au To [ ]

"Good morning, sincere apologies for the delay in responding to your enquiry. The Defence media team is the correct email for any UAP enquiry. We have received several so far."

C. Emails concerning new FOIA requests

(1) 2 August 2021 From [ ] To [ ]

[ ]

Operations and Communications, ASA.

(2) 15 May 2019

[summary] In 2013 the Australian SKA held an art competition and some of the entries mentioned UFO.

(3) 14 May 2019 From [ ] To [ ]

[summary] Quick review of any documents you have.

(4) 1 May 2019 From FOI To [ ] 

[Summary] Provide any documents you have.

D. Publication- AIAA Daily Launch

Emails dated 25 June and 29 June 2021, sent from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics  to someone [ ]  in the ASA, provided that ASA individual with AIAA news including in relation to UAP, and the 25 June 2021 Office of the Director of National Intelligence's "Preliminary Assessment" report.

E.  Publication - POLITICO SPACE

Emails dated 19 July, 20 July, and 23 July 2021, brought information from POLITICO SPACE including details of UAP related news, plus a number of messages from a forum held by the 2021 AIAA Aviation four hour presentation on UAP "Advocating for Scientific Studies of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena."

The CSIRO brief

The CSIRO brief mentioned in email B(5) was included in the 86 pages released. Dated June 2021, it was titled "Response to release of US report on UAPs." While most of the document deals with the topic of SETI, I extract the relevant mention of UAP.

"Background

Media outlets (eg Scientific American) have been speculating that the US government is expected to release an unclassified report into unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs, also known as UFOs) in late June 2021. Media reporting is also expected to be heightened around 2 July, which is known by some as 'World UFO day.'

We're expecting to receive media enquiries into whether CSIRO has been researching UAPs and whether our researchers think alien life exists elsewhere in the Universe...

CSIRO doesn't investigate or research UAPs, although our Space and Astronomy team does work on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence...

CSIRO response ot the release of the report

CSIRO won't be commenting on the release of the report on UAPs, however our spokespeople can comment on the SETI research we do; they need to be prepared to deflect any questions they receive about the report, UAPs or details of the Science Program with Breakthrough Listen.

Key messages

*At CSIRO we don't investigate or research unidentified aerial phenomena but we support the search for extraterrestrial intelligence...

Othe spokespeople

* Media enquiries on the US report on UAPs can be directed to the Australian government's Department of Defence media team...

Comments

1. It was only when placing my own, August 2022, FOIA request to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, that I became aware of two earlier requests to the ASA.

2. In December 2021, I had emailed both the ASA enquiries email address, and the media ASA email address, with two questions about UAP. After mentioning that the French space agency had a UAP study group, I asked:

"If the Australian Space Agency has any current activity, or projected future plan, regarding the scientific or defence study of UAP, within the context of Australian space studies? If not, what is the agency's position regarding the possible national security implications of UAP?"

Despite twice more submitting the same email, I never did receive any response.

3. The CSIRO's brief statement, "CSIRO doesn't investigate or research UAPs" is pretty definitive. In the past though, CSIRO has maintained files on this topic.  

4. In email A(3) dated 17 June 2021, the CSIRO states "We do not want to talk about UFOs/UAPs." However, there is no context for this statement. Is it because the CSIRO doesn't consider the topic worthy of scientific exploration? Or some other reason? It would be nice to know their rationale.

5. In the ASA emails, I do not see anywhere where they state their position on UAP. Obviously, someone within the ASA was keeping up todate with UAP information through subscriptions to both AIAA and POLITICO SPACE material. By submitting my December 2021 email to the ASA, I was attempting to determine their position on UAP. However, when they just don't answer your email, you can't work out what they think about the subject. A simple response such as "We have no interest or position on the subject" would have sufficed. What we can say was, at least, they were being informed on the topic by external material.

7. I await the outcome of my own 2022 FOIA request.

Update: 15 September 2022

I received a response to my 29 July 2022 FOIA request to the Australian Space Agency.The request was for:

"Any emails, sent to or from Senior Executive Service staff of the Australian Space Agency, between 26 June 2021 and 29 July 2022, which contain the keyword "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena" or the abbreviation "UAP."

The response, dated 5 September 2022 was from Dara Williams, Deputy Head, ASA. In short, it was "no such documents exist."

Addendum

Fred Watson, Australia's Astronomer-at-large, and Andrew Dunkley, produce a podcast called "Space nuts." Episode 305, dated 19 May 2022, included a piece on "UAP Senate inquiry underway" and the 16 June 2022, episode 309, featured a piece on NASA's UAP study team. So, it seems that Fred Watson is keeping up todate on the UAP topic. 

Dr. Paul E. Tyler's interest in UAP

Introduction

I was recently re-reading Jacques Vallee's book "Forbidden Science: Volume Four." I came across the name of Dr. Paul E. Tyler, in relation to Tyler's interest in the medical effects of UAP on humans. This set me off researching more on Tyler's UAP work. The following, is what I found.

1961-1962

"When Dr. Tyler was stationed in McMurdo, a small Antarctic station, in 1961-1962, he witnessed an inpressive UFO incident which was never explained. It was a saturday night in June. Most of the staff on base were occupied watching B-grade movies, a double feature. The radar operator was watching released weather balloons to see the direction they would go in for aiming the radar when he yelled for everyone to come out. There were three little lights going across the sky below the Aurora Australis. In Antarctica at that time of the year no planes could fly there - their engines would freeze up. The lights were seen on radar and visually. The scientists ( a joint US-New Zealand team) were there studying the aurora with a camera. They took photos in which the objects appeared as streaks.

This was an excellent sighting and it was duely reported. Has anyone heard of it? Did it appear in Project Bluebook? Dr Tyler's interest in UFOs was stimulated by the incident..."

The details of this incident from 1961-1962, observed by Dr. Tyler, rang some bells. I turned to the NICAP website, and in particular, two 1962 Antarctice observations that are documented on the website. I found none from 1961.

1. Thursday 7 June 1962 Hallett Station, Antarctica

"At 0105Z, a brilliant white light, approximately 20 times brighter than first magnitude stars, was seen at 250 degrees (true) azimuth, and 30 degrees' elevation. Over 5 minutes it remained stationary and was viewed both with binoculars and the naked eye. It appeared circular. It was a dazzling gold color, and seen between two mountain peaks. The sun at the time was below the horizon. After 5 minutes it moved in a southerly direction and was lost to view behind a peak. PBB concluded it was Jupiter."

2. Saturday 7 July 1962 1115Z Hallett Station, Antarctica.

"According to a radiogram signed by Claud Taylor, base commander, an object appeared over the region, crossing in 3 to 4 minutes the horizon in a S-N direction. That object showed three different parts sharply separated, one of them more luminous than the two others. A kind of 'grey shape' could be seen around the three bright parts, which the observers interpreted a to be a 'possible condensation trail.' When the object was N of the base it emitted a sudden flash of light, without any change in orbit or shape. No sound was heard.

The report also states that the object appeared to be well inside the atmosphere and certainly below the level of the austral aurora.

The most important part of the Hallett base observation was that the object's passage was registered by a special photographic instrument called "all sky camera," used for the study of polar aurora. The instrument has a semispherical mirror which makes possible photographs of the sky at frequent intervals. According to information released by the New Zealand Scientific and Industrial Research Department, the color photos obtained confirmed the visual observations of the UAO. One of the photos of long exposure, showed a luminous trail crossing the whole sky.

According to Dr. M. Gadsen, a scientist who was at Hallett base, the nature of the object could not be established because it was not a meteor and there was no information on the fall of a satellite in that region on that occasion."

Comments

1. The account of Dr. Tyler's 1961-1962 observation at the beginning of this post, was taken from a summary of a talk which Dr. Tyler gave to the New Mexico state branch of MUFON, in October 1993.

2. Unless there was an Antarctica base sighting reported, other than the ones on 7 June 1962 and 7 July 1962, as described on the NICAP website; the 7 July 1962 NICAP described event, seems to best match the information given by Dr Tyler in his 1993 talk, some 31 years after the incident. The location would then seem to be Hallett station and not McMurdo base. 

3. Was Dr. Tyler stationed at Hallett Station in 1962? A Google search located a page which stated that the Tyler Glacier, near Hallett Station was "...named by the US ACAN for Lt. Paul E. Tyler, MC USN OIC Hallett Station, winter party 1962." Winter in the Southern Hemisphere is defined as the calendar months June, July and August.

4. Thanks to Melbourne researcher Paul Dean, who supplied a PDF copy of the relevant project Blue Book file on the 7 July 1962 event, I confirmed the details in the NICAP summary. There was also a statement that one of the indivduals who observed the phenomenon was "OINC" which I interpret as Office In Naval Charge" i.e. Tyler.

5.  If the Saturday 7 July 1962 NICAP listed event, was observed by Dr. Tyler, and started off his UFO interest, was the sighting in fact a UFO or something else? Researcher Brad Sparks on the NICAP website suggested that it may have been an observation of the re-entery of CIA-NRO spy satellite KH-45 Corona-M, launch M-6 designated 1962 Alpha Beta or 1962-026A.

In addition, Ted Molczan, a Canadian amateur satellite observer, has compiled a list titled "Visually Observed Natural Re-entry of Earth Satellites." This list details a 7 July 1962, 1115Z time, re-entry for 1962-026A Corona 9037, sighted from Antarctica Hallett Station located at 72 degrees 19 minutes 07 seconds South latitude and longitude 170 degrees 12 minutes 38 seconds East. He provides extensive references to the sighting.

It would certainly seem, that based on re-entry data about a spy satellite which wasn't known at the time, that the sighting was of a satellite re-entry. Ironic that an IFO started off "Dr Tyler's interest in UFOs was understandably stimulated by this incident."

Professional career - 1973 - 1979

As far back as 1973, Tyler was publishing work on biological effects. That year his "Overview of the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Radiation" appeared in the March issue of IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems. In 1975,  Tyler was publishing work in the field of nonionizing radiation. In that year, he was editor of the book "Biological Effects of Nonionizing Radiation" a collection of papers presented at a conference held 12-15 February 1974 by the New York Academy of Sciences." He wrote reviews of books on this topic; e.g. in 1978.  I also located a July 1979 letter Tyler wrote to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, at which point Tyler was at the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute. 

1980 - the Cash/Landrum case

In his 2011 book "UFOs: Myths, Conspiracies and Realities" John B. Alexander wrote about the investigations conducted by Lt. Col. George Sarran into the Cash/Landrum incident. 

"George carried the investigation a step further asking for consultation from me, and two military medical doctors, U.S. Navy Captain Paul Tyler and Air Force Major Richard Niemtzow, both of whom specialized in radiation. Paul and I had worked together for several years in my interagency projects at INSCOM..."

In a 1994 publication of the New Mexico branch of MUFON, a summary appeared of a 1993 talk by Tyler. Included in the summary was:

"He personally investigated the Cash Landrum in which UFO witnesses were burned by some kind of radiation. He studied the hospital records and concluded that it wasn't microwaves but had to be some sort of ionising radiation. What was it? Nothing that we have or had at the time." 

1985 - The Advanced Theoretical Physics group

In footnotes to "Forbidden Science:Volume Four" Vallee, in writing about the alleged participants in John B. Alexander's ATP group, wrote, "Radiologist Paul Tyler."

In a March 2019 article on the Blue Blurry Lines blog, Curt Collins, in writing about John B. Alexander stated:

"One of these friends was Dr. Paul E. Tyler (1930-2013), a captain in the US Navy, and medical consultant on the government's remote viewing program. This circle of associates was valuable when Alexander put together the Advanced Theoretical Physics Working Group. The primary purpose of this group was to determine if there was a hidden UFO government agency, but their findings were negative. The team also studied a few UFO cases, and the Cash Landrum incident was one of particular interest."

6 December 1987 - Vallee

Talking about Richard Niemtzov and French Doctor Canonne who was interested in the physical effects of microwaves on human tissues. "Paul Tyler, a retired Navy medical expert, was mentioned."

[Vallee: Forbidden Science V4. p.306]

7 January 1990 - Vallee

Richard Niemtzow, speaking of Rima Laibow's TREAT conference, and the participants who attended. "...physicians like Paul Tyler, but no expert in treating the medical effects of UFOs..."

[Vallee: Forbidden Science V4. p.20]

5 May 1990 - Vallee

Vallee was attending a meeting of John B. Alexander's Advance Theoretical Physics Working Group. Ron Blackburn of Lockheed's Skunkworks spoke. "...he worked with a scientist named Paul Tyler who encouraged him to investigate UFOs from the point of view of 'energy, consciousness, and form - where form is negotiable...'"

[Vallee: Forbidden Science V4. p 35.]

1992 - MUFON Conference

The summary of Tyler's talk at the 20 October 1993 meeting of MUFON New Mexico noted that Tyler was the Master of Ceremonies at the 1992 International MUFON Conference. However, a check of my digital copy of the MUFON Journal for August 1992, which contained an extensive report on that conference, contained no mention of who was MC, and no reference to Tyler's name. 

1993 - a MUFON talk

Tyler gave a talk to the New Mexico branch of MUFON, a summary of which talk is to be found in a publication of the branch. I have already extracted details of part of the talk in sections above, and here will document some dot points arising from the speech's summary:

* Tyler spent 39 years in the U.S. military - Army and navy

* Tyler was a consultant for the CIA and other U.S. agencies

* "There were always people who were unofficially interested in UFOs...Was someone really looking at this? No one knew."

* At one stage Tyler was Head of Medicine for the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. He ran the program on EM radiation

http://files.afu.se/Downloads/Magazines/United%20States/MUFON%20New%20Mexico%20(NM%20MUFON%20News)/NM%20MUFON%20News%20-%20no%2012%20-%201994%2001.pdf

* Does the U.S. government keep secrets? Yes, but not very well

* Studied alternative medicine

* Dr. Tyler's group looked at Project Blue Book cases

* "In every agency," said Dr. Tyler "I ran into people interested in UFOs. But it wasn't their job and there was no money to look into it, so tidbits got filed into personal file cabinets."

* Dr. Tyler feels [UFOs] are "...probably [guided by] intelligent beings capable of doing things that we can't."

* Will we ever know about UFOs? Dr. Tyler advises "Let's keep looking."

1993 -TREAT talk

According to the NM MUFON summary of his 20 October 1993 speech, Tyler was a speaker at the 1993 TREAT conference. In an earlier blog post, I had noted that the TREAT VI conference, "Treatment and Research of Experienced Anomalous Trauma" was held in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

8 January 1995 - Vallee

"And Paul Tyler, director of the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, wrote in 1986 of a technique 'to disrupt the electrical signal in cardiac muscle,' producing 'complete asystole with a resultant fatal outcome.'"

[Vallee: Forbidden Science V4. p 220.]

Comment: 

In a June 1986 book titled "Low-Intensity Conflict and Modern Technology" edited by Lt. Col. David J. Dean (USAF), Tyler wrote a chapter entitled "The Electromagnetic Spectrum in Low-Intensity Conflict." In that chapter appeared "The results of many studies that have been published in the last few years indicate that specific biological effects can be achieved by controlling the various parameters of the electromagnetic (EM) field."

Post 1995

I was unable to locate any references in the UAP literature, to the UAP interest of Tyler, post 1995. He would have been 65 years of age at that point. I would welcome hearing from blog readers who may be able to supply information on Tyler's interests post 1995. 

Tyler's passing

According to an obituary notice for Wynell June Baxter Tyler, age 86, Wynell married Dr. Paul E. Tyler MD USN on March 17, 1957. She passed away on 20 October 2021. Proceeding her in death, was her husband. A Blue Blurry Lines blog article cited the year of Tyler's birth as 1930 and the year of his passing as 2013. 

Acknowledgments:

1. Thanks to Curt Collins for his work on the Cash/Landrum case. His work on this, may be found at his Blue Blurry Lines blog. 

2. Thanks to Melbourne researcher Paul Dean, for a PDF copy of the relevant Blue Book file on the 7 July 1962 Hallett Station sighting. 

What we know about the Australian Department of Defence's (lack of) interest in UAP

Freedom of Information Act requests 

From Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests by Melbourne researcher Grant Lavac, and myself; correspondence between Grant Lavac and the Office of the Australian Minister for Defence; and other reporting, it can be stated that:

1. "Defence does not have a protocol that covers recording or reporting of UFO sightings." [June 2019.]

2. "Defence does not have a protocol that covers recording or reporting of unidentified aerial phenomena..." [June 2019.]

3. DOD has no internal emails, generated between 1 January 2021 and 16 June 2021, which refer to keywords "Unidentified drone;" "Unidentified aircraft;" "Unidentified object;" or "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena." [July 2021.]

4. The former Chief of Air Force Air Marshall Mel Hupfield said "...he had not seen any reports of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena or UAPs - in Australian airspace." [October 2021.]

Former Chief Of Air Force - Mel Hupfield

5. In early 2022, the DOD prepared an internal briefing paper on UAP, for possible use in responding to UAP related questions in Senate Estimates Committee Hearings. Included in this briefing paper were the following:

a. The RAAF ceased handling UFO reports in 1996.

b. "Defence Safety flight incidents, including those posed by UAP are handled by the Defence Aviation Safety Authority." [Note: Grant Lavac was advised by the DOD in an FOIA response, that no DASA reports between 2017 and 31 March 2022 referred to UAP.]

c. "...the United States nor any other nation or ally has requested or offered to collaborate on any UAP reporting or investigation."

d. "Defence has no desire to seek collaboration on this issue."

6. a. "Defence does not have a protocol for the reporting and researching of UAP and UFO sightings. At this point of time Defence will not be pursuing research into this matter."

b. "...that Defence has not briefed the Deputy Prime Minister with regard to the topic of UAP or UFO..."

c. "Whilst the Deputy Prime Minister has been engaging with his international counterparts on a range of topics in his capacity as both Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence this has not included the topics of UFO or UAP."

d. "The Deputy Prime Minister has not been provided the United States Office of the Director of National Intelligence Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial phenomena for review."

[July 2022.]

Comments

The DOD, as above, says it has no (overt) interest in the topic of UAP. Are there any other areas of the Australian government, today, taking an overt interest in the subject?

In previous times, 1951 to around the mid 1990's, the following government departments and agencies held files on UAP (which they called "Flying saucers;" "Unusual aerial sightings;" and "UFOs.")

The former Department of Supply. The former Department of Civil Aviation. The former Department of Territories. ASIO. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. The Army, Navy, RAAF and the Joint Intelligence Bureau/Joint Intelligence Organisation, within the Department of Defence.

Today, if they followed the lead set by the United States, the following Australian government departments and agencies, should have an interest, due either to air safety issues or national security.

Air Services Australia. 

Aviation Transport Safety Bureau. 

Civil Aviation Safety Authority. 

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. 

The Australian Space Agency. 

Within the Department of Defence, the Defence Aviation Safety Authority, Defence Science and Technology Group; Defence Intelligence Organisation, the Navy. and Defence Space Command. 

Defence Space Command - Air Vice-Marshal Roberts

However, I have seen no evidence that any of the above, have in fact, a current interest in UAP, despite what they may have undertaken in the past.

Catch 22

A catch 22 situation exists. Are Australian military personnel not reporting UAP encounters because there is no formal DOD protcol/system, for reporting such things; or do Australian military personnel not encounter UAP at all?

When there was a formal reporting system in place by the RAAF; according to the RAAF's own UAP files, Australian military personnel did report such encounters. Anecdotal accounts being provided to individuals such as Australian investigative reporter Ross Coulthart, as reported by Ross on a variety of podcasts and in his book "In Plain Sight," suggests that Australian military personnel continue to encounter UAP.

Australian Department of Defence UAP guidelines

What harm would it do, if the Australian Department of Defence instituted guidelines for its own personnel, encouraging the reporting of any UAP incidents? We would then soon see if such incidents are in fact occurring in Australian airspace/waters.  I am not advocating that the Department, once again, invites reports from civilians; merely from its own personnel. 

Update: 31 May 2023

As part of his presentation to today's NASA's public meeting concerning its UAP Study Team, Dr Sean Kirkpatrick of AARO mentioned that he had recently presented on UAP at a forum of the FIVE EYES intelligence sharing group. This includes Australia. It will be interesting to see if we can confirm this from Australian DOD sources, and then what Australia's response will be.