Recent Canadian correspondence about UAP crash retrieval program

Introduction

Last year, I summarised then current Canadian interest in UAP. In a 22 May 2022 article titled "The Canadian Government and UAP: What do We Know?" and a 24 June 2022 post titled "Canada to Seek Information on Drones and UAP from the USA" I outlined what has come to light so far. 

On 13 May2023, a copy of a letter appeared on Twitter, on an account named "Cambria." The letter was dated 22 March 2023, and was from Canadian politician Larry Maguire, addressed to the Canadian Minister of National Defence. The appearance of the letter at this time went largely unremarked upon. The same letter then resurfaced, and was discussed in Episode #22 of the Jeremy Corbell and George Knapp podcast "Weaponized." It gained massive exposure as a result of this podcast episode.

https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/larry-maguire(7251)

Text of letter

The full text of the letter read:

"22 March 2023

RE; Defence Research and Development Canada in possession of recovered UAP material.

Dear Minister Anand,

It has come to my attention through meetings with American officials that the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and Senate Committee on Armed Services have been undertaking in-camera hearings with government and military subject matter experts on the recovery and exploitation of physical material from Unidentifed Aerial phenomena (UAP).

I am concerned that expected upcoming public announcements will be coordinated between AUKUS which could damage Canada's credibility with our allies and the Canadian public on the global stage. There is an opportunity to have a prepared communications plan in place by May 2023 to reduce this risk.

As Minister of National Defence, you may not be aware, Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) has participated in efforts to analyse UAP, which is publicly traceable to circa 1950. This recovered foreign material is studied through the Five Eyes Foreign Material Program (FMP) which, in Canada is sponsored by the Canadian Forces Intelligence Command linked with several intelligence sharing arrangements and treaties. I am writing to recommend you request a classified briefing, containing full sensitive and protected program information from  your officials on the Government of Canada's historic and ongoing efforts on analyzing recovered UAP material. 

Canada's Chief Science Advisor has also launched the Sky Canada Project, which is investigating how the government of Canada manages UAP reports. They are in the process of identifying key Canadian stakeholder institutions. It is essential the Chief Science Advisor be given full access to defence programs and be briefed on the collaborative scientific research efforts with our allies.

It is imperative the Government of Canada have a communications plan to respond to these upcoming public revelations that will stem from these American FMPs. Not only are there national security and aviation safety concerns that need to be addressed, but there will also be a larger debate about why there is a lack of transparency and accountability regarding UAP programs and policy.

I also believe there must be Parliamentary oversight of efforts by government institutions, and repsonsible ministers should be fully briefed on this program, including releasable-to-the-public content that aligns with allied public disclosure. It is incumbent your department inform you of what collaborative efforts have occurred with our allies and the details of existing Agreements and Memorandum of Understanding that govern the program and may have been conducted through Global Affairs.

Canada's credibility with our allies and the Canadian public must transcend politics and I firmly believe we can work together in a bipartisan manner regardless of the classified details of specific FMPs, the public revelation by these subject matter experts who have testified before Congress present an opportunity for the Government of Canada to take a visible leadership role in confirming the existence of recovered material and balances our national security objectives.

I look forward to your response and if you seek any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.

Sincerely,

Larry Maguire, MP

Brand-on Souris.

CC:

Hon. Melanie Joly, PC, MP.

Hon. Omar Alghabra, DC, MP.

Assistant Deputy Minister (Science & Technology.)

Dr. Mona Nemer, Chief Science Advisor.

Major General Michael Wright, Commander of Canadian Forces Intelligence Command.

Canadian Forces Intelligence Command, Ofice for Release & Disclosure."

 The Canadian Government's response

In a 25 June 2023 article CBC News wrote in part:

"A spokesperson with National Defence Minister Anand's office said she is 'kept fully appraised of relevant incidents through established reporting protocols,' She received the letter and told Maguire in response that neither Defence Research and Development Canada nor the Canadian Forces Intelligence Committee are involved in any 'formal analyis of UAP,' according to a statement sent to CBC News on Monday. All efforts studying UAP at the federal level stopped in the 1960's, the spokesperson said.'

Toronto journalist Daniel Otis undertook his own enquries and on Twitter, published the full text of the government's reply:

"Minister Anand did receive Mr Maguire's letter and has replied to him.

In her reply Minister Anand confirmed that neither Defence Research Development Canada (DRDC) nor Canadian Forces Intelligence Command (CFINTCOM) are involved in any type of formal analysis of UAP. In fact all efforts to study UAP ceased in the 1960's.

The Department of National Defence (DND)  occasionally receives anecdotal reporting of unusual phenomenon, however, these are only investigated when cases are identified as potential threat incidents or events of distress. The Minister of National Defence is kept fully appraised of relevant incidents through established reporting protocols.

We will continue to work closely with our allies and domestic national authorities ensure the safety of Canadians. This collaboration includes providing updates requested by parliamentarians, for example, through Parliamentary committees. In addition DND and the Canadian Armed Forces maintain lines of communication with NORAD and the United States Department of Defence, and routinely exchange information on a number of subjects as part of our long-standing cooperation."

Comments by me:

1. Much was made of the existence of this letter when it finally hit the news in June 2023. Highlights brought forward in numerous outlets included:

* DRDC involved in analysis of UAP material since circa 1950; implying, but not explicitly stating, that this was on-going.

* Maguire was expecting public announcements from AUKUS.

* There is a previously unknown to us, Five Eyes Foreign Material Program.

2. The Canadian Government's response was that neither DRDC nor CFINTCOM 'are involved in any type of formal analysis of UAP.' So, a denial of the two areas which Maguire thought were working on the issue. Note that this denial did not extend to the whole of the Canadian Government. There was no "No areas of the Canadian Government are currently, with the exception of the Chief Science Advisor, working on the subject of UAP"

3. The reference to "circa 1950" in Maguire's letter is probably concerning Project Magnet, which was an official Canadian "flying saucer" study established by Wilbert Brockhouse Smith, who was a senior radio engineer in Transport Canada. The project was active until 1954 and ran informally until 1962. Project Magnet ran in cooperation with the Defence Research Board and the National Research Council.

4. What did Maguire mean when he stated: "expected upcoming public announcements will be coordinated between AUKUS..."? As at 29 June 2023 no such public announcements have been made. 

5. What are Foreign Material programs? Here's a link to an excellent article on the FMP Exploitation Squadron of the USAF's National Air and Space Intelligence Center, which explains FMPs. This article defines foreign material to be such things as weapons systems; parts of aircraft or indeed whole aircraft, drones etc. We kow for example, that NASIC was legislated to receive UAP reports, but the question really is, does the FMP include the recovery and exploitation of UAP? We just don't know. Maguire states that there is a Five Eyes FMP, however, I have so far drawn a blank in trying to find out information about it.

5. Politician Larry Maguire is to be congratulated for raising the UAP subject with the Canadian government as a whole. However, is it possible that some of the information being fed to Maguire, is incorrect? In my opinion, a reference to something going on circa 1950 does not necessarily equate to an ongoing program.

Update: 5 July 2023

Toronto journalist Daniel Otis tweeted details of the Canadian government's response to two questions he posed to them. They were:

Q. Is any other part of the DND/CAF currently involved in formal analysis of UAP?

A. No.

Q. Did any past analysis or involvement pertain to recovered materials/objects, as Maguire alleges?

A. We can confirm that the Canadian Armed Forces/ Department of National Defence (as well as previous iterations) have never had any possession of any UAP materials. 

James "Jim" T. Westwood - some information about his crash retrieval program research

 Introduction

With all the current information flow about the phenomena, Jacques Vallee's book "Forbidden Science: Volume Five," slipped by relatively unreported and unanalysed by the UAP community. The only concerted area of comment on FS5, was in relation to what Vallee had to say about the Wilson/Davis notes.

Image courtesy of Amazon Books

Upon reading FS5 when it was first published, I noticed that there were entries referring to the investigation of one James T. Westwood; specifically into crash retrievals and reverse-engineering programs. In the light of recent clues by David Grusch and others, coming forward to relate their individual knowledge of such things, I thought it worthwhile to review what Vallee's diary entries, and others, had to say about the work of James T. Westwood. Below, is what I found.

1970-1988

In the timeframe 1970 to 1988, Lieutenant Commander James T. Westwood, U.S. Navy, wrote numerous articles for the U.S. "Naval War College Review," with titles such as "The Barometer" (1970); "Set & Drift: A Contemporary Political Dillema:The Impact of Intelligence Operations" (1977); "Soviet Naval Strategy: 1968-1978: A Reexamination" (1978); during which he became a specialist concerning the navy of the Soviet Union. He also authored at least one article found on the website of the NSA; titled "Electronic Warfare and Signals Intelligence at the Outset of World War 1."

1994

Westwood receives a mention in an 8 May 2020 article titled "UFO Study Programs and US Military Technology" :

"James T Westwood has an interesting background encompassing electronic warfare, unmanned aerial vehicles, cryptology and was a Sovietologist working as a military intelligence consultant. Westwood also had an interest in UFOs and wrote several articles including "Why Do The Lights Go Out?" in "UFO Magazine" May/June 1994, which examined electrical failures related to UFOs, but he also looked at microwave radiation as a weapon to produce similar effects..."

1998

Peggy O'Farrell, writing in the 27 June 1998 edition of the "Southeast Missourian," newspaper, mentions that one James Westwood of Centerville, Va was spending some time in the area, (June 23 to 28) looking at the claimed UFO crash, in 1941, at Cape Girardeau. Philip J. Klass's Winter 2001-2002 Newsletter also carried the fact that Westwood took time out to look into the claimed crash. I didn't find any material which indicated what Westwood's views were on this alleged crash.  

1999

Image courtesy of Amazon Books

Vallee's book "Forbidden Science: Volume 4" had one reference, dated 1 January 1999, to Westwood. Vallee was describing Bob Wood's analysis of the so-called MJ-12 documents:

"Actually, Hal had hired James Westwood, former CIA expert on fake soviet documents who had created similar fakes for disinformation. He paid him to bring his services to Bob Wood's project. Jim's verdict was that the 'Eisenhower briefing document," cornerstone of the UFO coverup arguments, had all the earmarks of a fake, an American disinformation document meant to fool the KGB."

Note: "Hal" is Hal Puthoff. 

2000

Vallee's FS5 in an entry dated 5 May 2000, notes:

"Counter-intelligence expert Jim Westwood has reviewed the MJ-12 documents: a sophisticated 'authentic fake,' he said, whose authors must be within the Intelligence structure. Jim also believes the Roswell crash may have been invented to flush out Soviet spies."

2001

A 10 June 2001 entry in Vallee's FS5 states:

"We flew back this afternoon and one of the first people to call me was Jim Westwood. Talking to him is to enter a universe of shadows and deception. His information on the "undercurrent" goes back to World War II, when Stalin asked the chief designer of his rockets, engineer Korolev, what flying saucers were. Korolev answered there was a real phenomenon, but it wasn't a great threat. Stalin is reported to have told him he'd received the same answer from other sources. Westwood pointed out that the Germans never built a real flying disc, but 'the Nazi did destroy a lot of stuff and machines; so we don't know everything.'

Jim assures me that in the course of his research he'd spoken to a 90-year-old gentleman who was involved in government UFO research in the fifties, when there was active classified interest. 'We never understood the phenomenon,' he told him. 'I was against using it to manipulate the silly UFO believers, but the boys on the dark side of the house went ahead anyway.'

Westwood said there was still an ongoing collection effort, a low-level project. He tracked down another man, now 84 years old, who worked on the Robertson Panel. 'Puthoff really wants to find the hardware. Well, I've been in this business for 48 years, and I know for a fact there isn't any.'

'When did the disinformation start' I asked "Surely in the forties and fifties it would have been hard to fly a fake flying saucer?'

I am still thinking of what I saw over Pontoise in 1955, a perfect lens with a transparent dome, hovering in the clear afternoon sky.

'Not before the early 1970's,' answered Westwood. 'Or perhaps the late 60's because I knew a pilot then who flew over Cleveland, carrying special light patterns that simulated a UFO. But the technology wasn't good enough to be effective before the 1970's.'

Westwood then went on to discuss 'the feasibility of infecting farms exploited by the Soviet Army...But we will do anything, repeat anything, not to fight a nuclear war or a bugs-and-gas war. That's what fascinated me about your book, Samizdat, when you described the sightings in Voronezh. You obviously didn't know it, but Voronezh is a major nuclear site, the most important one outside Moscow. It's like the underground command post we've got in Pennsylvania.'

'And those rumors about Roswell?' I asked.

'For over 20 years we had a thing going, it was called Operation Shocker. It was run through a double agent, an Army officer they thought they'd turned, but he worked for us, feeding them data to convince them we had capabilities we didn't have, and that the things we did have didn't work. The UFO business was woven into that.'

I decided to dig deeper: 'What about Bentwaters?' I asked.

'It may have been an American experiment, as you've argued in Revelations, but I doubt it. The timing would be right however. You have to understand my only theme is chronology. I keep this on little cardboard cards, organized by dates. When you reach a point of data density, you suspect that's more than coincidence.' "

Notes:

Westwood's 2001 statement that there isn't any hardware, is at odds with a number of other individuals who came forward around then.

His statement that around the early 1970's or perhaps the late 60's he knew a pilot who flew over Cleveland simulating a UFO, struck a cord with me; something I came across a few years ago-"Project Skylite."  The internal UFO project run at McDonnell-Douglas between 1967-1970 was contacted by one of the US intelligence agencies. This agency expressed an interest to "mimic, imitate or duplicate the observables associated with UFOs." Robert M. Wood, head of the McDonnell-Douglas project titled this mimicry as "Project Skylite." However, Wood stated that "It never materialized within McDonnell-Douglas to my knowledge," despite a lot of work going in to show what was necessary to mimic UFO sightings. Perhaps the intelligence agency concerned undertook "Project Skylite" on their own volition and that is what Westwood's pilot was doing?

"Operation Shocker" was real. It was a 23 yearlong counter-intelligence operation against the Soviet Union run by the FBI. 

2002

A short Vallee diary entry dated 1 March 2002 reads:

"Eric also told me about a recent conversation with Jim Westwood, who claimed to have located two genuine reports about UFO crashes with hardware recovery and bodies."

Note: "Eric" is Dr. Eric W. Davis.

2003

Vallee discusses the Wilson/Davis notes in an entry dated 3 October 2003, then poses the question:

"Where does all this leave Bob Lazar's story? It smells of official disinformation, my friends say, like the doctored MJ-12 documents, serving the purpose of confusing the crowd researchers and wasting their time. I think Jim Westwood is wrong with his idea of linking ufology with biological warfare; it nust be even bigger than that."

2004

(1) In a diary entry dated 6 March 2004 Vallee records:

"Westwood has covered the same investigative ground as Hal Puthoff and Eric Davis, even identifying their four secret "iron posts;" sources they believe to be unimpeachable, well connected in the Intelligence establishment. They confirm the existence of a hidden program for reverse engineering of Alien hardware."

"As Westwood writes, they are 'two senior flag officers, one defense industry/high OSD official; and one civilian high official of the Reagen and Clinton administrations, all pretty much telling the same story. Three of them helping manage the defense budget.' The two officers I already know to be Wilson and Sheehan."

Note: Elsewhere in FS5, Vallee relates that Four star General Jack Sheehan had found a $9bn discrepancy in the budget, which led him to locate and actually touch a craft. The Sheehan story emerged in the period 1996-1999. Joe Firmage, Hal Puthoff and John Petersen met Sheehan during this timeframe and heard his direct account.

(2) On 24 September 2004, Vallee recorded in his diary:

Charles A. Bowsher https://www.nti.org/about/people/charles-bowsher/

"Jim Westwood, in Virginia, has come up with new data, looking up archives and inspecting government documents. He's close to Fred Durant (of the old Robertson panel) and his contemporaries. He's uncovered a third official trail into the secret UFO program through Charles Bowsher, Comptroller General of the United States under President Reagan, from 1981 to 1996. He may be one of the four "iron posts" beyond Sheehan and Wilson. Bowsher found a crashed UFO program during a massive audit of classified projects; 'Less than a handful of officials knew about it.'

In the period 1984-1985, Bowsher uncovered a bizarre special access program coverup which surely violated every classification, executive order, regulation and Congressional rule. They contemplated turning it over to Justice for prosecution, but 'a powerful person in DoD quenched it.' The program according to the reviewers, had to do with an exotic, non-Earthly vehicle."

Note: So, three leads into the secret program via Bowsher, Sheehan and Wilson.

Note: Frederick C. Durant was born on 1916 and is most likely the individual mentioned in the diary entry dated 10 June 2001, re a man aged 84.

FS5 End notes

"49. James Westwood was retired from a classified unit that designed fake documents on behalf of the US in order to disinform foreign intelligence agents. He was also an expert in the analysis of Soviet documents, obtained by US intelligence."

2005

In a Fall 2005 letter to the "Skeptic" magazine (Volume 12, issue 3); James T. Westwood, in part, wrote:

"Over 20 years ago, as senior defense analyst-cum-engineer employed by a foremost US defense electronics corporation, I was part of an early concept and design team to produce a computer based artificial intelligence flying contraption for the CIA, masquarading as a U.S. Air Force project; in other words an airborne artificial intelligence analyst to fly over denied areas and trouble spots, nominally inside a latter day U-2 known as a TR-2. As I studied the problem, it became clear to me that the artificial intelligence analyst would never fly, neither literally or figuratively. Sure enough, it did not. James T. Westwood, Unionville, Va."

2008

On the website of GlobalSecurity.org is a 2008 article where Charles P. Vick interviewed James T. Westwood, named as Senior Consultant, Military Science and Defense Analytics, Unionville, Va.

Westwood told Vick about a black prgram going back to 1949 and the 1952-53 CIA project which found 'that the flying saucer phenomenon had inherent potential for both Soviet and US psychological warfare operations...'

He related that the CIA's Desmond Fitzgerald flew flying saucers inside remote airspace of the People's Republic of China during the Kennedy administration.

In 1967 and 1975 'the black program was live-tested over some of the US Air Force's former strategic Air Command (SAC) bomber and ICBM bases in Montana, Michigan and Maine. This was a strategic C3CM application intended to shut down Soviet ICBM sites in situ.' According to Westwood, the program used the UFO phenomenon, as cover.

'The counter C3 capability, it turned out, tested so well in 1975 against "friendly" ICBMs, according to Westwood, that the ultimate effect was disasterous...Guidance and control circuits of Minuteman ICBMs were so thoroughly 'cooked' that an emergency contract had to be let to repair and replace critical components  of the ready strategic force.'

Note: Here Westwood is stating that the cause of the 1975 Northen Tier incursions, and the 1967 Malmstrom AFB events were due to a black US program. It is one explanation which has been discussed and debated in the UAP literature, but never so boldly stated as in Westwood's claims. 

End notes

1. Did Westwood's UAP interests extend beyond 2008, when he would have been aged 69?

2. Today, if still alive, Westwood would be aged 84.

3, I hope that someone, somewhere, had a chance to conduct an oral history interview with Westwood.

4. I would be interested to hear from anyone who has additional information about Westwood professional life, and specifically his interest in the UAP.

Update 1: 30 June 2023

Thank you to "anonymous" who left a comment on the blog about this article. They pointed out something I missed in my hard copy of FS5, due to an indexing error. Here is an additional comment about Westwood by Vallee, dated 5 May 2001. Vallee was in Las Vegas attending a meeting of the NIDS Science Advisory Board.

"In the afternoon we heard from Jim Westwood, the intelligence consultant who has done extensive work for Hal. In a scholarly but cynical way, he spoke about the history of the field and the disinformation associated with it. He left this idealistic group of scientists with an impression of dread mixed with disgust.

Westwood surfaces from the Cold War like a rusty submarine emerging from past eras. He first called our attention to various links with biological warfare and again dismissed MJ-12 and Roswell as counter-intelligence exercises designed to flush out foreign spies. He'd kindly bought a copy of my Samizdat for me to sign, saying he especially liked this book 'as a sovietologist.' He'd underlined the passage where Azhazha told me that soviet experts had long considered UFO rumours as CIA tricks...and 'and they were largely right,' Westwood said, 'much of the phenomenon in Russia was phony, part of our own disinformation.' "

Update 2: 30 June 2023

Westwood spoke about US aircraft being flown which mimicked UFOs as part of a black program. I found the following extract from FS5 which adds to this.

"12 January 2001

Kit has related to Eric and Colm that on one of his missions to Asia, he had a bodyguard who was a tactical helicopter pilot. The man assured him that his unit had flown 1000 hours in machines designed to look like UFOs. He gave no details, but made clear the purpose of the flights was to make certain the guards responded appropriately. This may not explain all the cases (especially when launching sequences are tampered with) but we shall take it into account."

Was the Department of Homeland Security keen to take on the AAWSAP?

Introduction

I have written much about Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) and the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP.) Simply type these acronyms into this blog's search function to read as much as you wish.

BAASS

French researcher Marc Cecotti submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, on 8 December 2021. In it he sought:

"...a copy of all records, including but not limited to emails, reports, memorandum, presentations, mentioning : "Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program" or the acronym "AAWSAP," "Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies" or the acronym "BAASS." Date range for record search from 1/1/2008 to 12/31/2012."

The DHS response was a one page document with the following text:

"BAASS goals 2011/2012

Area 1:

1. Advanced Technology Analysis Center - analyze recovered AAV technology in collaboration with aerospace companies. Construct extremely secure underground lab facility.

2. Conscious interactions with, and control of, advanced AAV technology.

3. Extend Remote Communications Programs to communicate and retrieve data across dimensional/space-time barrier. Target multiple locations.

4. Identify anomlaous activity in select areas of the United States and establish field research laboratories and remote communication programs on site.

Retrieve and integrate all historical data on AAVs from retirees (oral history.)

Area 2:

1. Liaison with IC, FBI, State, Local and tribal Police, FAA, DoD (including AFOSI), National Laboratories and with US Aerospace companies.

2. Collect data, including classified data, from IC/DoD entities, e.g. cockpit flight recordings of AAV performance, communications, medical autopsy reports, weapons use, AAV trajectory records (from NORAD.)

3. Classified data collection from AAV interactions with Nuclear Wepons Storage Facilities - (Northern Tier and other AFB AAV incidents.)

Area 3:

Note: unclassified seperate organization.

1. Create an open organization for collection of data on AAV performance.

2. Liaise with civilian groups for AAV data collection."

Lacatski

In their 2021 book "Skinwalkers at the Pentagon" Lacatski, Kelleher and Knapp, had a section on AAWSAP and DHS. Lacatski presented to DHS' Science and Technology Directorate. The book records that Senators Harry Reid and Joe Sender and Lacatski, worked on securing a $10M AAWSAP-like program through DHS. However, leadership at DHS didn't accept this funding.

The book also provides details of BAASS's original proposal for funding from the Defense Intelligence Agency.There were nine areas of work proposed:

1. Global data collection.

2. Contact people with knowledge of novel technologies.

3. Lab program - Skinwalker Ranch as a "living lab."

4. Collect oral history.

5. Potential use of Bigelow space platforms.

6. Existing data that the DIA had.

7. Biological effects of advanced technolgy.

8. Remote sensing.

9. Expert analysis and synthesis.

The DIA for the first year of AAWSAP approved areas 1-4, 6 and 9.

Comments

1. You can see from the two nine point plans, that they are somewhat similar.

2. Area 1:1. Analyze recovered AAV technolgy - to my knowledge, no such recovered material ever found its way to AAWSAP, and therefore none was ever analyzed.

3. Area 1:2. Conscious interactions. Robert Bigelow, the creator of BAASS, during the era of the National Institute of Discovery Science (NIDS), was keen to pursue the study of consciousness and the phenomena. So, it is perhaps not surprising to see consciousness mentioned here.

4. Area 1:3. Remote communications programs. We know from individuals who worked as security guards at Skinwalker Ranch between 2010 and 2016, that there were a number of attempts at communication with non-human intelligence.

5. Areas 2:1 and 2:2. These read very much like the current goals of the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO.)

6. An interesting find by Marc Cecotti. A little bit more information on AAWSAP and BAASS to add to the puzzle.

The "Five Eyes" and UAP

The "Five Eyes" is the name given to an intelligence sharing alliance, consisting of five countries; namely Australia; Canada; New Zealand; the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

https://science.nasa.gov/uap

During his presentation to the NASA public meeting on 31 May 2023, Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, the Director of the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) stated that he had recently held a forum on UAP, for the Five Eyes partners. Specifically, he said:

"I have just held our first Five Eyes forum on this subject, last week I think it was, or earlier this week. Dan was there. And, we have, we've entered into discussions with our partners on data sharing; how they do reporting; what kind of analysis can they help us with; what kind of calibration can they help us with; what can we help them with? We are establishing all of that right now and they're going to end up sending their information and data to us to feed into the process that we've laid out for how we are going to do all this."

Asked what the "Five Eyes" was, Kirkpatrick responded that it was the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the United States. 

Who attended?

A number of individuals set out to seek comment from these five countries concerning Kirkpatrick's  statement about the holding of a Five Eyes forum on UAP. Here's what we know so far.

New Zealand

(a) In a tweet dated 16 June 2023, the UK's Christopher Sharp, senior contributing journalist for the Daily Mail newspaper reported that a spokesperson advised:

"An NZDF representative based in Washington DC attended the meeting. For more information you will need to contact US authorities."

(b) In a 15 June 2023 article, Defense Scoop writer Brandi Vincent wrote  that a spokesperson advised:

"A NZDF representative based in Washington DC attended the briefing. For more information you will need to contact US authorities."

Canada

(a) In the same 15 June 2023 article, Vincent noted that a Canadian spokesperson said:

"Our nations' militaries routinely exchange information on a number of subjects as part of our long-standing cooperation as partners in defence. While the details of the meeting remain classified it can be characterized as the sharing of information on the subject of UAP and no further details can be shared at this time. This sharing of information is an example of the ongoing important relationship between our militaries."

(b) Alexander Panetta in a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation news item dated 7 June 2023 reported that:

"The Canadian Department of National Defence told CBC News in an email that Canada had attended the meeting, led by a Royal Canadian Air Force representative. 'The details of the meeting remain classified' DND said in an email. 'It can be charactized as the sharing of information on the subject of UAP and no further details can be shared at this time.'"

For a previous post on Canada and UAP, click here.

In a recent development a letter from Canadian politician Larry Maguire, dated 22 March 2023, to the Canadian Minister of National Defence has been posted on the internet, which specifically mentioned the Five Eyes. The letter was titled Re: Defence Research and Development Canada in possession of recovered UAP material, Maguire points out that DRDC "...has participated in efforts to analyse UAP, which is publicly traceable to circa 1950. This recovered foreign material is studied through the Five Eyes Foreign Material Program (FMP) which, in Canada, is sponsored by the Canadian Forces Intelligence Command..."

Australia

(a) Australian researcher Grant Lavac submitted a request to the Australian Department of Defence media section and the media section of the Department of the Prime Minister, on 2 June 2023 seeking comment about Kirkpatrick's Five Eyes statement. Plus also, he has submitted an FOIA request on the same topic to the DOD. As at the date of this article, Lavac has not received any response.

Lavac reminded us, that in a letter to him, dated 26 July 2022, R. J. Denney, Air Vice-Marshal, Head of Air Force Capability had stated in part:

"The Five Eyes is an intelligence alliance comprising of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Air Force does not lead on these forums. Air Force does not consider this the appropriate platform to discuss the topic of UAP or UFOs."

(b) On 19 June 2023 MUFON's Australian Director, Roger Stankovic also advised me that he had submitted a similar request to the Australian Minister of Defence. As at the date of this article no response had been received.

(c) The 15 June 2023 Defense Scoop article contained the following regarding their inquiry to the Australian Department of Defence:

"Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Australia did not confirm whether a representative from their nation attended the UAP meeting - and their response took a different direction  entirely.

'The [Australian] Department of Defence does not have a protocol for reporting or recording of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) or Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs.)'

 As far back as June 2019, I asked the media section of the Australian DOD if it had any current guidelines on the reporting of UAP? It responded:

"Defence does not have a protocol that covers recording or reporting of UFO sightings."

Defence has used the same statement multiple times between 2019 and 2023 in responding to questions about UAP. 

United Kingdom

In a tweet dated 2 June 2023 Christopher Sharp wrote:

"NEW: UK MOD is not prepared to comment on the Five Eyes UAP meeting mentioned by AARO's Sean Kirkpatrick at yesterday's NASA event. This isn't even a 'no comment' - I am told that the UK simply doesn't comment on intelligence topics such as this, which is a matter of policy."

Comments: 

1. The lack of a definitive response by the Australian Department of Defence to the simple question of whether or not a DOD representative attended Kirkpatrick's Five Eyes UAP forum, is notable. It confirms a clear trend by them to seek no involvement in the topic of UAP. It remains to be seen whether or not the Department will see a need to decide to have some future involvement. Political pressure might be applied from above, if the Australian government is sufficiently lobbyied by the US government. Political pressure might also be generated by Australian citizens demanding from their elected representatives that they take a serious interest in the subject. So far, we have seen only Senator Whish-Wilson  taking a serious interest. 

2. On the Maguire letter. On the recent episode (#22) of the "Weaponized" podcast, when discussing the contents of the Maguire letter, hosts Jeremy Corbell and George Knapp both said that they hadn't previously heard of a Five Eyes Foreign Material Program. An Internet search, by me, failed to find anything on such a program. Naturally, at this point, caution should be exercised as a "Foreign Material Program" might simple refer to the recovery and analysis of mundane objects such as satellites, aircraft, drones etc. and not UAP. 

3. No doubt we will hear more in the near future about all of the above.

Update: 4 August 2024

In a letter dated 2 August 2024 to a [redacted] individual, the U.K. Ministry of Defence replied to a request "...I kindly request the following information - Confirmation of UK participation ..." The Ministry stated, "We can confirm that the UK were represented at the meeting on 24 March 2023, along with representatives from the member states." The Ministry declined to provide copies of any documentation, which was also parr of the request. 

Back in the "write" direction

Last December, I closed this blog to new posts. Since then I have spent my available UAP study time, on several projects as I described in that final December blog post. I cleaned up my digital files; so that I could actually find things; re-studied classic Australian cases; and re-read my files on some of the classic global cases. Not having the pressure of writing up the details of a time sensitive UAP revelation, in blog articles has been wonderful. As some of you will no doubt have seen, I did make time to update some of the blog articles of the past, namely the ones on NASA's UAP study efforts; and AARO. 

Now, it is time to go from "A change of direction" to return to writing and publishing articles on this blog; which I have titled "Back in the 'write' direction."

Keith.