What Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) documents have we seen ?

Lacatski 

In 2021, a book appeared authored by James T. Lacatski, Colm. A Kelleher, and George Knapp, titled "Skinwalkers at the Pentagon." It told the inside story of the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP.) Appendix 1 to the book provided a list of the reports which Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS), provided to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in fulfillment of the AAWSAP contract. This list, headed "AAWSAP Production," shows the name and details of each document. There are 88 separate documents listed, running to a total of around 7,000 pages. How many of these documents have we seen?

Defense Intelligence Reference Documents

The DIA Freedom of Information Act reading room has copies of all 38 Defense Intelligence Reference Documents (DIRDs) (click on the tab titled "Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program") generated by BAASS and listed in appendix 1 of "Skinwalkers at the Pentagon.')

Ten Month Report

Courtesy: Popular Mechanics

One of the appendix 1reports, shown as 530 pages in length, is titled "BAASS July 2009 Ten Month Report" and gives its contents as:

* BAASS Investigations

* Project Physics

* Project Engagement

* Project Cooperation

* Project Blue Book materials

* Project campus

* Project Oral History

* Project Database/ Analysis government files

* Project North Tier

* Project Colares/Brazil, outreach to South America.

In the February 2020 issue of the magazine "Popular Mechanics" German based U.S. investigator Tim McMillan reported that he had been shown a copy of a 494 pages BAASS document dated 30 July 2009, which appears to be a copy of the appendix 1 Ten Month report. McMillan, who only had a couple of hours to read and make notes, when an anonymous individual showed him a copy in Germany, says his document contained:

"strategic plans, project summaries, data tables, charts, descriptions of biological field effects, physical characteristics, methods of detection, theoretical capabilities, witness interviews, photographs and case synopses."

Despite the different page count, it certainly seems to be the appendix 1, Ten Month Report.

Skinwalker Ranch 2007-2012

Courtesy: phenomainon.com

Appendix 1 lists a document titled "Utah Ranch Events: 1 September 2007 - 2 April 2012" and is shown as 26 pages in length. In May 2022 a new website was launched at phenomainon.com. It consisted mainly of a number of databases, but in one section, "Incident database summaries" was a 26-page PDF document titled "Skinwalker Ranch Summaries." The actual document title is "Utah Ranch Events- September 2007 to Present." It is shown as version 6 - dated April 6, 2012. It appears to be the appendix 1 listed document.

Tic Tac report

Courtesy: anonymous

Appendix 1 also lists a 141-page document titled "Summary report on BAASS UAP Analysis Capabilities. Tic Tac and Sphere Assessments" dated 23 November 2010. This is a separate document to anything else produced on the 2004 Tic Tac incident. The book, in part, states that this 141-page report included a detailed advanced physics analysis of the Tic Tac's velocity and acceleration.

On a recent episode of the podcast WEAPONIZED titled "The UFO Hearing-What Happened" featuring George Knapp, Jeremy Corbell, Ross Coulthart and Bryce Zabel, there was mention of a 140-page report on the November 2004 Nimitz encounters. Knapp and Corbell had secured a copy from unnamed sources and had considered submitting it to the recent Congressional hearing but ultimately decided not to. Corbell said that their 140-page document was a detailed scientific analysis of the Tic Tac. These, and other details indicate that this Knapp/Corbell document is indeed a copy of the appendix 1 listed document.

In summary

We have seen:

*38 DIRDs

* The BAASS Ten Month Report

* The 26-page Utah/Skinwalker Ranch Summaries 2007-2012

* The 140/141-page Tic Tac analysis document.

It should also be noted that the BAASS generated CAPELLA data warehouse, conceived by Jacques Vallee has also recently seen the light of day and been made available by UPDB and phenomainon.

Comment

The question arises as to who has been 'leaking' these documents (apart from the 38 DIRDs which were officially released by the DIA)?

The Ten-Month report

McMillian in his 2020 article said about the individual who gave him a look at the report: "It's worth noting that this person is not a current government employee, nor were they ever involved with BAASS or the AAWSAP Contract."

The Utah Ranch Report

The phenomainon website and associated databases were established by Joe Schurman. It would appear that someone gave him a copy of the report and he published it. Although soon after it appeared on the website it disappeared; and has never appeared there since.

The Tic Tac Report

George Knapp, when advising who his copy of the report came from, implied it was from a source which needed to be protected from themselves. 

Basically though, it appears that only BAASS and the DIA ever had formal copies of the documents. Thus, the viewing of the Ten-Month Report; the release of the Utah Ranch document and the Tic Tac Report, indicates that the source of these was either a former BAASS employee or an employee of the DIA, although note McMillan's words re the individual who showed him the Ten-Month Report. 

To the best of my knowledge, Robert Bigelow as head of BAASS has never directly made available any AAWSAP documents. So, if they came from the BAASS end, it might have been a former BAASS employee's private copies of documents they kept for themselves. However, it is always possible they came from a DIA employee. Although I am aware of one UK researcher, who when seeking a copy of the 140-page Tic Tac Report, was informed by the DIA that they had released all their AAWSAP documents and that if the 140-page Tic Tac document wasn't on their FOIA website, that indicated that the 140-page document did not exist!

CAPELLA data warehouse

As to the question of who provided Joe Schurman with a copy of the CAPELLA AAWSAP data warehouse, we are none the wiser. Lacatski stated in his book:

"The authors are aware that the AAWSAP BAASS Data Warehouse, rather than lying fallow in a dusty warehouse or on a discarded hard drive, has been recently reactivated and is currently in use in various locations related to the government study of UAPs."

One interpretation of these words could be that it was an agency of the U.S. government itself, which had reactivated the data warehouse. 

What do we know about the early 2023 Gulf Of Mexico UAP encounter?

Incident

Information concerning an early 2023 UAP incident, involving an aircraft from Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, USA, has been limited. While there has been much talk from a number of U.S. Congressional figures, about their interaction with US military personnel, on the incident; there have been few data points of actual information about the incident itself. I found three sources, which gave some information.

The Mid Bay News 

Dated 21 July 2023, Christopher Saul wrote an article titled "Members of Congress lambast Eglin general over UFO information." The article mentioned that at a press conference on 20 July 2023, members of Congress Anna Paulina Luna; and Tim Burchett described their encounter with Eglin Air Force Base Commander Brigadier General Jeffrey Geraghty.

JEFFREY T. GERAGHTY > Air Force > Biography Display (af.mil)

Burchett reportedly stated they visited Eglin Air Force Base for a briefing on the UAP incident but were actually briefed on another subject. A discussion ensued, following which only Representative Matt Gaetz was briefed. The article revealed that this visit to the base had occurred on 21 February 2023 and the Luna said it was pilots who had originally contacted Representative Gaetz.

Twitter/X

On 27 July 2023 a tweet appeared on the official account of US Congressman House of Representatives member for Florida, Matt Gaetz. It read:

"Several months ago, my office received a protected disclosure from Eglin Air force Base indicating there was a UAP incident that required my attention. I sought a briefing regarding that episode and brought @RepTimBurchett and @RepLuna with me. We were initially denied access to images, radar and conversation with all members of the flight. After demanding access, the information was exclusively shown to me, and I was able to speak with one member of the flight crew who took the photo. The image was of a UAP that I am not able to attach to any human capability, either from the United States or from any of our adversaries. The pilot said he encountered a fleet of UAPs in diamond formation over the Gulf of Mexico, which was confirmed on radar that I reviewed. He said approaching the UAPs caused video and other aircraft security features to malfunction. He saw what I can only describe as an orb - not of any human capability that I'm aware of."

Embedded in the tweet was a video extract from the 26 July 2023 Oversight and Accountability Committee's sub-committee: National Security, the Border and Foreign Affairs' public hearing on UAP.

The following additional information was gleaned from this video recording:

* The incident involved at least one United States Air Force aircraft

* The aircraft was on a test mission

* The airspace was supposed to be clear

* There were four "craft" in a clear diamond formation

* One pilot checked out the formation and saw an orb

* His radar went down, and the Forward Looking Infra-Red equipment malfunctioned

* He manually took the image which Rep. Gaetz viewed

* The pilot told Gaetz explicitly that reporting UAP was being discouraged.

Liberation Times

In an issue dated 20 September 2023, journalist Christopher Sharp, advised that he had received a statement from Pentagon spokesperson Susan Gough. Gough confirmed that Gaetz had been briefed on the incident and that All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) had received a report on the incident and would look to post a public report when it was cleared. 

Comments:

1. Note that it was the USAF whose aircraft was/were involved in this incident, not the US Navy or US Marines. The USAF has been almost invisible in the recent debates about UAP.

2. The Mid Bay News item cited above, reports that representative Luna said it was pilots who had contacted Gaetz. If this is correct, then a question arises in my mind as to why USAF pilots contacted Graetz? Why not report up the line within the Air Force? Could it be because the USAF, unlike the US Navy, only trialed a UAP reporting system for six months?

Other questions which occur to me include:

* If there were four objects in a diamond formation and one was observed to be an orb, what shape were the other three?

* Can we assume that because one of the objects was described as an orb; that the photographic image obtained was of an orb?

* Was the radar observation mentioned; ground radar or aircraft radar, or both?

* If the aircraft radar went down and the FLIR malfunctioned due to the nearness of UAP, at what point did the radar and FLIR come back into operation, if indeed they did?

3. The major units at Eglin Air Force Base includes the 96th Test Wing; 33rd Fighter Wing and the 919th Special Operations Wing.

Note that Gaetz on 26 July 2023 stated that the aircraft concerned were on a test mission; which might suggest they belonged to the 96th Test Wing. This Wing is Commanded by Brigadier General Jeffrey Geraghty. 

4. The incident must have taken place sometime between 1 January 2023 and no later than 21 February 2023. 

5. If the claims of interference with radar and FLIR are substantiated, and that also radar tracked the formation of UAP, then this incident is important.

6. AARO now needs time to analyse the radar and other data, such as the captured photographic image, to determine if it can assign a cause to the incident.

7. Hopefully, the reporting of this incident will lead to other military aviators coming forward with other accounts.

Update: 8 March 2024

Following FOIA requests by researcher Abbas Dharamsey, dated 22 and 23 August 2023, the Headquarters Office of Special Investigations, Department of the Air Force, released a number of pages of relevant documents, including a one-page sketch of one UAP, and a declassified summary of the event.   Most of the pages were heavily redacted. The summary read:

"DECLASSIFIED SUMMARY: On 26 Jan 23, an USAF pilot gained radar lock on four separate UAP. Upon approach, the pilot was able to make visual contact and employ sensors to obtain a screen capture of the first of these objects. The remaining three were only detected by radar. UAP-1 likened to an "Apollo spacecraft" in size and shape, with an "orange-reddish" illuminated rounded bottom and the top section "a three-dimensional cone shape" comprising "gunmetal gray segmented panels." UAP-1 operated at an altitude of about 16,000 above ground level (AGL). The second and third UAPs were noted at altitudes of 17,000 and 18,000. The fourth was lost from radar and no altitude was noted. Moreover, no airspeeds were noted for any of the UAP in this report. Of note, upon closing to within 4,000 feet of UAP-1, the radar malfunctioned and remained disabled for the remainder of the event. Post-mission investigation revealed that a circuit breaker had triggered, but that maintenance technicians were unable to conclusively diagnose the fault."

Update: 1 May 2024.

AARO published its case resolution document about the Eglin case. 

Update: 12 May 2024

On episode 52 of the Need To Know podcast, aired 10 May 2024, Ross Coulthart reported some new information. Ross stated that he had spoken to a pilot who was amongst a group of pilots going out into the same training range, subsequent to the 26th January incident. This pilot said they were informed that there had been two USAF aircraft involved in the incident, not one. Both aircraft pilots had seen four objects on their radar, and both independently saw the same single object. Both pilots thought the object was anomalous. 

NASA's UAP Independent Study Team produces its report

Establishment

UAP | Science Mission Directorate (nasa.gov)

On 9 June 2022, a NASA media release announced that an independent study team, was to be set up to examine UAP. Since then, the study team led by astrophysicist David Spergel has been looking at the broad question of:

 "...identifying available data, how to best collect future data and how NASA can use this data to move the scientific understanding of UAP's forward."

It was made clear, right from the start, that this study was not going to be examining current or past individual sightings.

NASA Media Advisory

NASA Media Advisory M23-115, dated 12 September 2023, was titled "NASA to release, discuss Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena report."

It advised that there would be a media briefing at 10 am EDT on Thursday 14th September 2023 to discuss the findings of the study team's report. An online copy of the report would be made available about a half hour prior to the briefing.

Briefing participants

* NASA Administrator Bill Nelson

* Nicola Fox, associate administrator Science Mission Directorate

* Dan Evans, assistant deputy associate administrator for research, Science Mission Directorate

* David Spergel, President Simons Foundation and Chair of the study team.

A video of the full briefing may be viewed here. 

What is in the report?

The report is 34 pages in length and is divided into the following seven sections:

1. Executive summary.

2. Foreword.

3. Introduction.

4. Response to statement of task.

5. Overall conclusions and recommendations.

6. Acknowledgements.

7. Work products: discussion.

Response to statement of task

The core of the report is the section "Response to statement of task." Here we find the eight questions posed to the Independent Study Team: their "Findings" and a rationale for those findings. 

Q1. What types of scientific data currently collected and archived by NASA or other civilian government entities should be synthesized and analyzed to potentially shed light on the nature and origins of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP)?

FINDING:  NASA'S fleet of earth-observing satellites should play a powerful supporting role to determine the environmental conditions that coincide with UAP

FINDING:  It is essential to note the pivotal role that structured data curation plays in a rigorous and evidence-based framework to better understand UAP

Q2. What types of scientific data currently collected and held by non-profits and companies should be synthesized and analyzed to potentially shed light on the nature and origins of UAP?

FINDING:  The U.S. commercial remote-sensing industry offers a potent mix of Earth observing sensors that have the collective potential to directly resolve UAP events

FINDING:  The standardization of collected information via well-crafted calibration will make it possible to carry out a rigorous scientific investigation into UAP. NASA's experience in this area will be vital.

Q3. What other types of scientific data should be collected by NASA to enhance the potential for developing an understanding of the nature and origins of UAP?

FINDING:  NASA should leverage its considerable expertise in this domain to potentially utilize multispectral or hyperspectral data as part of a rigorous campaign

FINDING:  NASA’s expertise should be comprehensively leveraged as part of a robust and systematic data strategy within the whole-of-government framework

Q4. Which scientific analysis techniques currently in production could be employed to assess the nature and origins of UAP? Which types of analysis techniques should be developed?

FINDING:  AI and ML, combined with NASA's extensive expertise, should be utilized to investigate the nature and origins of UAP

FINDING:  NASA, with its expertise in data calibration, management, and advanced analysis is well-positioned to take a central role in these efforts.

Q5. In considering the factors above, what basic physical constraints can be placed on the nature and origins of UAP?

FINDING:  The panel regards placing physical constraints on UAP, together with the suite of plausible natures and origins, as being within reach

Q6. What civilian airspace data related to UAPs have been collected by government agencies and are available for analysis to a) inform efforts to better understand the nature and origins of UAPs, and b) determine the risk of UAPs to the National Air Space (NAS)?

FINDING:  With its world-leading expertise in data curation and organization, NASA is well-positioned to advise on the best methodologies for establishing repositories of civilian airspace data

Q7. What current reporting protocols and air traffic management (ATM) data acquisition systems can be modified to acquire additional data on past and future UAPs?

FINDING:  Leveraging the Aviation Safety Reporting System for commercial pilot UAP reporting would provide a critical database.

Q8. What potential enhancements to future ATM development efforts can be recommended to acquire data concerning future reported UAPs to assist in the effort to better understand the nature and origin of the UAPs

FINDING:  NASA’s strong partnership with the FAA will be pivotal to designing future air traffic management systems to acquire UAP data.

Director of UAP Research

So, what next? NASA now has to digest the findings, and recommendations of the Independent Study Team. One immediate action stated in the report advised that NASA "is appointing a Director of UAP Research." An updated NASA media release dated 14 September 2023, named the Director as Mark McInerney. The media release advised that:

"McInerney previously served as NASA’s liaison to the Department of Defense covering limited UAP activities for the agency. In the director role, he will centralize communications, resources, and data analytical capabilities to establish a robust database for the evaluation of future UAP. He also will leverage NASA’s expertise in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and space-based observation tools to support and enhance the broader government initiative on UAP. Since 1996, he has served various positions at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and the National Hurricane Center."

Comments:

1. NASA's Independent Study Team on UAP was a big step forward for the scientific study of UAP; while the report acknowledged that NASA's civilian efforts fall under the broader whole of government UAP role performed by AARO. 

2. Historically, NASA has been loath to touch the topic of UAP, despite the fact that several NASA employees have been active in UAP research over the years. Therefore, the immediate action of appointing a NASA Director of UAP Research is also recognition of the seriousness with which the agency is now taking UAP study.

3. For some, these steps of the Study Team; a production of their report; and the naming of a NASA Director of UAP Research, will not be sufficient. There is an element of the UAP community which has always felt that NASA has failed to disclose what it truly knows about UAP; namely that UAP are extraterrestrial spacecraft and have been observed in space and on the moon. 

4. In answering question 5 of the statement of task, there is a paragraph in the report which reads:

"If the whole-of-government framework to understanding UAP – with NASA playing a crucial role – were to implement the preponderance of steps prescribed above, then the panel regards placing physical constraints on UAP, together with the suite of plausible natures and origins, as being within reach." 

A very interesting statement. Give us the resources we ask for and we will give you the natures and origins of UAP. Does that include the possibility of an extraterrestrial origin? On page 25 we find:

"To date, in the peer-reviewed scientific literature, there is no conclusive evidence suggesting an extraterrestrial origin for UAP."

Again, on page 25 there is:

"That includes the question of whether UAP have an extraterrestrial origin. There is an intellectual continuum between hypothesizing that faraway extraterrestrial civilizations might produce detectable technologies, and looking for those technologies closer to home. But in the search for life beyond Earth, extraterrestrial life itself must be the hypothesis of last resort—the answer we turn to only after ruling out all other possibilities. As Sherlock Holmes said, “Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”

 5. I look forward to seeing what the new NASA Director of UAP Research produces.

An Australian academic with an interest in UAP from the perspective of Religious studies

"American Cosmic"

In a recent article I lamented the fact that few Australian academics had written about, or spoken out about, UAP. As chance would have it, shortly after writing this article, I happened to be re-reading Diana Pasulka's book "American Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, Technology" 2019. Oxford University Press. New York. On page 4 of her book, I noticed a list of academics who had written on the topic of UAP. One of the names listed was Carole Cusack.

Professor Carole Cusack (sydney.edu.au)

Professor Carole M. Cusack is a Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia. According to the University website: 

"Carole M. Cusack received her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Religious Studies and English Literature from the University of Sydney in 1986. She later graduated PhD in Studies in Religion in 1996 and Master of Education (Educational Psychology) in 2001. She has taught in Studies in Religions since 1989, first as a casual tutor and lecturer, and from 1996 as a full-time staff member."

"Her research interests include medieval European religion, religious conversion, medieval and modern Paganism, contemporary religious trends, alternative spiritualities and new religious movements."

Here is a link to her CV.  

Carole Cusack

Using Google Scholar, I reviewed the extensive number of articles which Carole Cusack has published, and selected a few which mentioned the keyword "UFO." I thought that this would provide a representative sampling of her UFO related works.

2014

"Individual Suicide and the End of the World: Destruction and Transformation in UFO and Alien-Based Religions." In James R. Lewis and Carole M. Cusack (Eds.) Sacred Suicide (pp91-108). Farnham, United Kingdom, Ashgate Publications appeared in 2014. In the introduction, Cusack stated:

"UFO and alien-based religions emerged in the wake of World War II, drawing upon both the ‘materialist’ sightings of flying saucers by Kenneth Arnold and the Roswell Incident, both in 1947 (Partridge 2005, 170-171), and the ‘spiritual’ concept of the Ascended Masters from the Theosophical Society (founded 1875) tradition, which was extended to include extra-terrestrials, in addition to the dead, Tibetan lamas, and other posited sources of wisdom that transcended the knowledge base of living humans (Chryssides 2011, 7-8). This syncretistic blend of conspiracist, political, and religious beliefs permeated mainstream society via the popular cultural narratives of science fiction, both in novel and filmic forms."

Cusack mentions that the most relevant group was Heaven's Gate:

"From the vantage point of the twenty-first century, the most notorious movement is Heaven’s Gate (formerly Human Individual Metamorphosis), a religious group led by Marshall Herff Applewhite (1931-1997) and Bonnie Lu Nettles (nee Trusdale, 1927- 1985) from the mid-1970s. It attracted media attention when thirty-nine members committed suicide in March 1997 in Rancho Santa Fe, an affluent neighbourhood in San Diego County."

She describes in some detail, the backgrounds of the Church Universal and Triumphant; Heaven's gate and the Aetherius Society, and their belief systems, which make riveting reading.

2015

In 2015 Cusack wrote a chapter titled "Apocalypse in Early UFO and Alien-Based Religions: Christian and Theosophical Themes." In Erik Tonning, Matthew Feldman, David Addyman (Eds.) "Modernism, Christianity and Apocalypse." pp339-353. Leiden. Brill. As to what it was about, Cusack wrote:

"This chapter examined the apocalyptic expectations of several UFO and alien-based religions and identifies both their sources and the religious currents of the early twentieth century, and their imbrication with post-war political discourses."

In this work, Cusack states that:

"UFO and alien-based religions crystallised as contemporary Western spiritual phenomena in the post-World-War-II era, and reflected both historico-political and moral anxieties about the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, and the atmosphere of paranoia and expectation of the “end of the world” that emerged as a result of the arms race between the United States of America and the Soviet Union."

The groups she refers to include the Church Universal and Triumphant; the Aetherius Society; the Raelians; and Heaven's gate.

As to her thoughts on the subject of UAP Cusack notes:

There is as yet no scientifically valid evidence for the existence of alien life, and speculation about UFO visits to Earth is dependent on unscholarly interpretations of archaeological sites, esoteric phenomena, religious texts, and a range of other “evidence.” It is thus necessary to analyse the appeal of UFOlogical narratives in the modern West."

2017

"Virtual Religions and Real Lives." In Michael Bess and Diana Walsh Pasulka (Eds.) Posthumanism: The Future of Homo Sapiens. pp167-177. Farmington Hills, MI. Mcmillan Reference USA.

What are virtual religions? Cusack writes:

"There is a palpable tension evident in the juxtaposition of “virtual religions” with “real lives.” What might a virtual religion look like? In the twenty-first century the phrase “virtual reality” is understood to refer to simulated environments created by software in which people using special equipment interact with other people and computer-generated entities, both in game situations and in more open-ended “virtual worlds.” It is undeniable that there are religions operating in cyberspace, examples of which are the Amaterasu Omikami Grand Shinto Shrine and the Mormon Meeting Hall found in the online virtual world Second Life (Stagg and Farley 2011)." 

Virtual religions are contrasted to "real lives" and in this chapter we find there are references to the Raelians; Heaven's Gate, and other groups. Here is noted that the Raelians:

"...founded in France by Claude Vorilhon (1946–) in 1973, posit aliens who visit Earth regularly and assert that great religious leaders such as Moses, Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad, Confucius, and Rael (as Vorilhon is known) are alien-human hybrids, born of human mothers and extraterrestrial fathers. Rael interprets the Bible as chronicling the visits of the aliens to Earth; ignorant humans thought these were divine interventions (Cusack 2015a). In these new religions the preeminent value accorded to the human in Enlightenment thought is rejected; Heaven’s Gate and the Raelians view humanity as limited and inferior to the aliens, as humanity is inferior to God in Christianity."

 2018

"Celebrating with the Church of the Sub Genius: X-Day rituals of Bad Taste, Burning 'Bob', and the End of the World (Not.)" In Frans Jespers. Karin Van Nieuwkerk and Paul van der Velde (Eds.) Enjoying Religion: Pleasure and Fun in Established and New Religious Movements. pp147-164. Rowman and Littlefield, is summed up by Cusack:

"The festival of X-Day was first celebrated on 5 July 1998, when members of the Church of the SubGenius (COSG) gathered to witness the appearance of the aliens from Planet X, as predicted by Reverend Ivan Stang, one of the founders of the COSG. This event, the “Rupture” (a pun on the Christian Rapture), was supposed to be the rescue of the part-Yeti SubGenii by the Xists, before the destruction of Earth and the “Pinks” or “Normals” (ordinary human beings). No aliens arrived,..." 

2019

In her complete list of her publications, it is noted that Cusack often wrote book reviews. One of these in 2019 was about Pasulka's "American Cosmic." This review appeared in Alternative Spirituality and Religion Review, 10(2):258-259.  In his review was:

"This book comes highly recommended and delivers an unconventional 'take' on the relationship between religious studies, religion, UFOs and UFOlogy."

2021

"Norman Paulsen and the Brotherhood of the Sun/Sunburst." In Benjamin E. Zeller. (Ed.) Handbook of UFO Religions." pp 354-368. Leiden. Brill.  

Norman Paulsen in 1969 founded the Brotherhood of the Sun in California, and "...taught a melange of alternative spiritual beliefs drawing upon ufology."

Noting that there is limited academic work on Paulsen, Cusack writes:

As has been noted, there is limited academic work on Paulsen and the Brotherhood of the Sun. The limited academic publications on the Brotherhood of the Sun can be supplemented by various media articles, websites, and some anti-cult literature. None of this material is well-researched or particularly accurate. For example, Steve Omar and Cecelia Frances Page’s The Future Age Beyond the New Age Movement is a gazetteer of communities and groups, and the listing for the Brotherhood of the Sun, though it contains several inaccuracies, such as claiming that Paulsen first organised communal living in Lompoc (where he grew up), is broadly positive (Omar and Page 2009: n.p.). This favourable popular account is counter-balanced by Geoffrey D. Falk’s Stripping the Gurus: Sex, Violence, Abuse and Enlightenment, in which Norman Paulsen is situated in the lineage of Yogananda and ridiculed for his claim “to have been abducted by a UFO piloted by Builders from Jupiter” (Falk 2009: 262). Interestingly Falk claims that UFOs were a preoccupation of Yogananda’s and quotes an alleged saying of the yogi reported to him by a “respected and loyal” disciple: “if America were ever at war and losing, space aliens from UFOs would intervene” (Falk 2009: 263).

End notes

As can be seen from the sample above, there are areas of the UAP topic which are little explored by UAP researchers. Here lies the value of academics such as Cusack, Pasulka and others. 

Where can I find a database of Australian UAP sightings?

An Australian database? 

Recently I was asked if there was a database of Australian UAP sightings, a sort of one-stop shop for these? I had to admit that there wasn't such a thing. Then I began to wonder where I would go to look for a comprehensive listing of sightings from my country? The answer became quite complex. Here are my thoughts.

National Archives

1. The National Archives of Australia's website has a search engine named RecordSearch. If you type in keywords such as "flying saucer," "UFO," "UFOs," and " Unusual aerial sightings," up pops a list of dozens of UAP related files, generated by a range of Australian government Departments and Agencies. Each file contains details of a variety of Australian sighting reports from 1951 to 1996 when the RAAF ceased its interest in the subject. In total there are many hundreds, if not thousands of reported sightings.

My catalogues

2. Over the years this author has compiled a number of UAP related catalogues which summarize Australian observations. Many of these catalogues are available on the website for Project 1947. These include:

* "Unusual aerial sightings: a search through the Australian government's records systems."

* "A catalogue of pre-24 June 1947 Australian Unidentified Aerial Phenomena."

* "Balwyn stage one report."

* "Balwyn stage two report."

* "A catalogue of Australian trace cases."

* Text source material for Westall High School UFO April 6, 1966."

* "A reference catalogue of UAP reported from the Nullarbor Plain region of southern Australia."

* "A catalogue of UAP reports from Victoria, Bass Strait, and Tasmania around the time of the Frederick Valentich disappearance on 21st October 1978."

* "A catalogue of the more interesting Australian UFO reports."

* "A re-examination of the Zanthus, Western Australia aircraft encounter of 22 August 1968."

* " Listing of reports from Woomera, South Australia."

* "A catalogue of Australian abduction cases."

* "A catalogue of South Australian UFO reports."

Blogs

3. Three Australian blogs have carried reports, and often personal investigations. These are written by:

Bill Chalker; Paul Dean, and Keith Basterfield.

Books

4. Over the years, there have been a number of books written about UAP, by Australian authors. Many of these give details of Australian sightings. One of the more recent ones is "Australasian Encounter: UFOs Down Under-The files revisited," by Barry Watts, published by Pegasus Education Group, PO Box 223, McCrae, Victoria, 3938, 241pp. Another prolific Australian author is Moira McGhee of the Independent Network of UFO Researchers. Her books are listed on their website. 

Civilian UAP organisations

5. Since the mid 1950's a number of Australian civilian UAP organisations have come and gone, in Australia. In the age of the internet, and with the ageing of their leadership, most have closed down. Two largish organizations continue, namely UFO Research (Queensland) and UFO Research (New South Wales,) UFO Research (NSW) maintains a website, which has a sub-section labelled "sightings" with details from 1958-2017.  

Facebook

6. There are several dozen UAP related Australian Facebook pages, with membership from single digits to many thousands, which daily report upon local sightings, including photographs and videos. In 2018, a survey was conducted to determine how many FB groups there were at that stage.  

International databases

7. There are at least five international databases which input cases from Australia. These are:

* Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) - if you are a MUFON member then you can access the organization's Case Management System and read details of cases from Australia. 

* National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) - in the USA. Go to the NUFORC database where there are thousands of global cases including ones from Australia. 

* National Investigations Commitee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) - Check out the chronology tab for thousands of global cases which have been reported, including local cases from here. 

* The PhenomAInon website also provides access to Australian MUFON and NUFORC cases; as does the UPDB database. 

Periodicals

8. Quite importantly, the various civil UAP organizations published a range of periodical Newsletters, Journals and other publications. Thanks to the efforts of such individuals as Isaac Koi in the UK; Barry Greenwood in the USA, and a number of individuals here in Australia, including myself, digital copies of many Australian UAP periodicals have been preserved in the Archives for the Unexplained (AFU). Copies may be downloaded. 

YouTube

9. A range of Australian events are included in videos on Youtube. Try keywords such as "Knowles family" for the 1988 Mundrabille car encounter; "Kelly Cahill" for her 1990's abduction events; or "Amy and Keith Rylance" for details on the 2001 hoaxed Queensland "abduction."

In summary

Due to the large number of places to which anyone can report a sighting from Australia; you can start to see why no one has the ability to compile a master listing of UAP sightings from anyone country, including Australia. Even if one did there would remain the fact that many of the sources cited above do not carry out any form of investigation as to the nature of what was seen, i.e. was it an identified object or an unidentified one? Thus, a database would be an unknown mix of IFOs and unknowns.

My own methodology has been to look at the original source of the details of the sighting; and conduct wherever possible, a virtual forensic investigation to determine IFO or UFO; or sometimes an in the field investigation. My various catalogues are the result of such diligent research, and I would recommend that blog readers who are interested in Australian material perhaps look at these catalogues as a first port of call. Then perhaps look for original material at AFU; or visit the NICAP website to see if PDFs of original documentation exist there. 

What has the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office been doing since it was established?

 Establishment

In a blog article dated 27 July 2022, I reported on the establishment of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO.) Its director was named as Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick. The current article aims to provide an update on the work of AARO since its establishment, drawn from open sources.

12 January 2023

The Department of Defense announced that AARO Director Sean Kirkpatrick was to speak at the Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board , in Washington DC, on 12 January 2023. The title of his talk was "The Defense Department's UAP Mission & Civil Aviation." In the talk, Kirkpatrick spoke about "What is AARO?" and how the AARO Mission was applicable to the Transportation Research Board. To see his full presentation click here. 

19 January 2023

In a Tweet dated 19 January 2023, reporter Bryan Bender stated that:

"AARO is partnering with Enigma Labs to evaluate their application, data stream and filtering capabilities to determine the utility of its open source data to augment its collection efforts focused on national security areas only. Pentagon spokesperson Susan Gough tells me."

19 February 2023

Part of AARO's remit was to hear out the narrative and sighting experiences of individuals who wanted to convey UAP related information to AARO. In a 19 February 2023 article, U.S. researcher Robert Hastings advised that AARO had been in touch with him, regarding his collection of nuclear installation UAP events, and witnesses. As a result, a number of U.S. veterans, with accounts of incidents with UAP near military nuclear weapons facilities, had spoken to AARO.

Also, in February 2023, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Senator Marco Rubio led a group of 16  Senators who signed a letter to Kathleen H. Hicks, Deputy Secretary of Defense, and Stacey Dixon, Principle Deputy Director of National Intelligence.

Kathleen H. Hicks > U.S. Department of Defense > Biography

This letter included:

"...we respectfully request your assistance in securing the necessary funding and organizational support for AARO's success and longevity."

 The letter went on to speak of a "...serious funding gap.." It went on to remind the two addressees, that:

 "The FY23 Intelligence Authorization Act (IAA) requires that the Director of AARO report directly to the Deputy Secretary of Defense and the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence.."

which had not occurred as at the date of this letter. 

7 March 2023

Avi Loeb | Department of Astronomy (harvard.edu)

A draft, six page paper, coauthored by Dr. Kirkpatrick and the Galileo Project's Avi Loeb, titled "Physical Constraints on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena" was made available. Its abstract read:

"We derive physical constraints on interpretations of "highly maneuverable" Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) based on standard physics and known forms of matter and radiation. In particular, we show that the friction of UAP with the surrounding air or water is expected to generate a bright optical fireball, ionization shell and tail - implying radio signatures. The fireball luminosity scales with inferred distance to the 5th power. Radar cross-section scales similarly to meteor head echoes as the square of the effective radius of the sphere surrounding the object, while the radar cross-section of the resulting ionization tail scales linearly with the radius of the ionization cylinder. The lack of all these signatures could imply inaccurate distance measurements (and hence derived velocity) for single site sensors."

19 April 2023

Dr. Kirkpatrick was the sole presenter to the Senate Armed Services sub-committee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities. During this presentation his statement included:

"I want to underscore today that only a very small percentage of UAP reports display signatures that could reasonably be described as 'anomalous.' "

On the question of an extraterrestrial origin for some UAP, Kirkpatrick said:

"I should also state clearly for the record that in our research AARO has found no credible evidence thus far or extraterrestrial activity, off-world technology, or objects that defy the known laws of physics. In the event sufficient scientific data were ever obtained that a UAP encountered can only be explained by extraterrestrial origin, we are committed to working with our interagency partners at NASA to appropriately inform the US Government's leadership of its findings."

A video of the entire hearing is available click here.

May 2023

A vacancy notice for a Deputy Director of AARO recently appeared on an agency website. The direct link to this advert no longer works.

On 31 May 2023, NASA held a public meeting of its Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Independent Study Team. Dr. Kirkpatrick also made a presentation. In it he gave details of "UAP reporting trends" and provided examples of both identified and unknown UAP cases including some with video evidence. In closing he made several recommendations to NASA which included:

- Taking the lead on the evaluation of crowd sourced metadata from mobile phones

- Use of large-scale scientific instruments

- Use of Earth science satellites

- Reviewing archived data.

Five Eyes

During the course of that public meeting Kirkpatrick stated that he had recently held a meeting with the "Five Eyes" partners (the USA, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand) re UAP. The discussions included:

- What kind of analyses can they help us with?

- What kind of calibration can they help us with?

- Data sharing.

- What can we help them with?

- Kirkpatrick stated that those other countries would send their information and data to AARO to be integrated into the AARO processes. 

23 June 2023

A press release on the website of Senator Gillibrand advised that she had secured full funding for AARO in the Senate Armed Services Committee markup of the FY24 National Defense Authorization Act.

6 July 2023

The US Aerospace Corporation advised vacant positions in support of AARO. (Link not active.)

20 July 2023

In an article about a face-to-face interview with the U.S. ABC Network's, Devin Dwyer; Kirkpatrick is reported to have said that being caught off guard by intelligent or extraterrestrial technical surprise remained a top concern. Other points he made included:

- AARO had now received around 800 reports

- "We will follow the data"

- The vast majority of cases are readily explainable

- A small number of reports involved anomalies.

30 August 2023

The Defencescoop's Brandi Vincent reported , in an article dated 30 August 2023 that:

"Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks recently moved to personally oversee the Pentagon's UAP investigation formerly known as the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office....Hicks now holds regular meetings with AARO's inaugural director Sean Kirkpatrick who she has also repositioned to report directly to her...AARO is not yet at full operational capability and I look forward to AARO achieving that in fiscal year 2024."

31 August 2023

Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder at a press briefing on 31 August 2023 announced the launch of the AARO website which had been long promised.  The website sets out details of the AARO Mission and Vision; defines UAP as they see it; and has sections which include UAP reporting trends:

- Reported UAP altitudes

- Typically reported UAP characteristics

- Reported UAP morphology

- Reported UAP hotspots.

Under a heading of "Coming soon" is that:

"AARO will be accepting reports from current or former US government employees, service members, or contractors with direct knowledge of US government programs or activities related to UAP dating back to 1945."

Also "coming soon" will be "Current operational UAP reporting":

- For military personnel with the recent GENADMIN process titled "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Reporting and Material Disposition"

- For pilots, please report via the FAA.

Several UAP videos both identified, and unknown are available on the website. Following this, there is an "About us" section and "Additional information about AARO." As for reporting sightings from the general public the site states that "...we will advise when a reporting mechanism is available for others to use."

Interestingly, under "AARO Mission Overview" is a 12-slide presentation by AARO. Slide six includes a section headed "UAP object recovery" which states:

"Leads UAP recovery planning and execution, in close collaboration with AARO S & T Group.

Advises commands on the search and safe handling, storage, transport, and transfer of UAP objects and material, for AARO S&T exploitation."

 Slide eight includes "UAP Exploitation":

"Directs exploitation of recovered enigmatic technologies, leveraging cross-sector partnerships and the latest developments in theoretical and applied physics, engineering

Leads structured recording, synthesis and storage of signatures and material analyses for data consistency, across operational, analytic, and research partnerships."

Update: 2 November 2023

1. AARO published its consolidated annual report. 

2. The US DOD issued a news release on 31 October 2023, announcing AARO's secure mechanism for authorized reporting of information about UAP programs, via the aaro.mil website. 

3. On 31 October 2023 AARO director Sean Kirkpatrick held a press briefing about UAP. Here is a transcript of that session.

Update: 13 November 2023

1. On 31 October, the current Director of AARO, Sean Kirkpatrick held an off-camera media roundtable. Here is a link to the transcript of that session. The session described the new AARO reporting system which allows USG employees to confidentially report their knowledge of USG UAP related activities. 

2. On 8 November 2023, the US Department of Defense announced the appointment of a Deputy Director, AARO. The appointee was Timothy A. Phillips. 

3. Also on 8 November 2023, The US Department of Defense announced the upcoming departure of the current AARO Director, Sean Kirkpatrick. 

Update: 2 December 2023

Three Case Resolution Reports were uploaded:

Middle East and Mediterranean Sea 2022 and 2023. 

South East Asia 2017.

Western United States. 2021.

Update: 8 March 2024

AARO advertised two positions titled Chief Science and Technology Officer. Duties:

Incumbents typical work assignments may include the following:

• AARO's Chief of Science & Technology (S&T) will provide oversight and direction to the S&T function of AARO. The Chief of S&T serves as the principal subject matter expert for the Director and Deputy Director of AARO.
• Fosters and cultivates strategic alliances and professional networks with interagency partners, government agencies, national laboratories, and universities/academia, to align and integrate the enterprise's array of S&T capabilities against Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) requirements.
• Provide direction and guidance to mission managers with regards to UAP efforts and liaises within AARO as well as external partners.
• Serve as the senior member of the S&T Team and demonstrate a level of managerial experience, including the ability to develop near and long-term strategies, set goals, establish metrics, and oversee projects and initiatives. Serve as a liaison to academia, and private industry to accomplish AARO's mission.

Update: 21 March 2024

On 8 March 2024, Defense Scoop reporter Brandi Vincent reported on her attendance at an off-camera invite only media engagement with Tim Phillips, acting Director of AARO. It was revealed that AARO was developing and deploying a new surveillance system-called Gremlin. The media engagement was basically about the release of AARO's volume 1 of their report on US government engagement with UAP. The unclassified version of the AARO historical report may be read here. 

Update: 12 April 2024

It is being reported that AARO will be giving a briefing to some members of the US Congress between 1-3pm EST on 17 April 2024, in a SCIF. 

Update: 22 April 2024

The AARO website recently published information related to "Kona Blue" a program proposed for the Department of Homeland Security in 2011, which would have continued and extended the work of AAWSAP. It was never formally established and work on it wound up in December 2011. AARO itself provided details of how it had come to learn about Kona Blue.