Monday, March 31, 2025

Recent Japanese government interest in UAP

Japanese government interest in UAP

In an article dated 1 June 2024, I reported on the formation of a nonpartisan group, concerning UAP, within the Japanese government. The group is formally known as "The Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Clarification League for Security-Oriented National Security." On 28 March 2025, this group held their second general meeting. Thanks to a tweet on "X" by French researcher Baptiste Friscourt, I accessed a video of the proceedings of this session. 

Presentations

Included in the session were online video presentations by Christopher Mellon, Tim Gallaudet, Peter Skafish, and Representative Burlison. Below are my notes from the video presentations.

Chris Mellon

Chris Mellon (13mins 40 secs to 27m 50 secs)

* Since last year's presentation to the group, the most notable events in the US are the presence of mysterious lights over US military bases

* Many cases were explained as drones, however the situation is more complex and concerning

* If they were drones why didn't signal jammers work? Why did none crash? Why long-range flights? 

* There were drones, and there were things that we don't understand

* Is it possible that some of these craft were NHI? Yes

* Estimates of the odds that we are alone in the universe are 1 chance in 10 billion million

* Historically there are hundreds of thousands of UFO reports including those involving multiple witnesses and radar sensors

* The current Director of AARO has said that some of the cases are unexplained

* The intelligence controlling these craft may not be biological

* Case - A nocturnal observation of unknown objects which made over 70 aggressive, high speed, non firing runs a few hundred feet from a US spy craft. Over one hour. Aircraft sensors detected moving airborne radar beams from the UFOs that were not from stationary ground radar. The event happened on 14 April 1953 in the Sea of Japan

* This activity continues in many areas of the world.

Tim Gallaudet

(29:00 to 34:35)

* NHI is real. Know this from firsthand observations of US military sensor data and speaking to defense staff, scientists and those who have access to the UAP legacy program

* I have focused my research on the maritime aspects of UAP including trans-medium objects

* UAP present national security issues, air safety issues and safe ocean passage issues

* We need greater transparency from the US government

* I have called on the US Congress to establish oversight of US government information and materials on UAP

* Also we need international collaboration. 

Peter Skafish

(35:44-37:15)

* I am an Anthropologist and co-founder of the SOL Foundation

* I approach you as an academic and nongovernment actor

* I wish to persuade you that UAP is an occasion for international cooperation in government and civil society

* Japan can make a unique and vital contribution, to humanity's response to the UAP presence.

Q and A

Then followed a question-and-answer session. Examples of the sort of questions asked were:

* What is being done in the US to study the phenomena?

Answer by Chris Mellon- AARO the official US government UAP agency is undertaking a lot of research including obtaining and analyzing FAA data on UAP; inventing and deploying sensors, and the US military recognizes the drone situation is important

* Will the AARO budget be cut given the situation with the Trump administration?

Answer by Chris Mellon - in talking to AARO I see no suggestion of a cut. The US Administration has been very supportive.

Later in the session Representative Eric Burlison joined in, saying that the UAP topic was bigger than any one country. Also, that he had invited David Grusch to join his staff to assist with a targeted investigation into UAP over the next four months.

In summary, it is great to see another country taking a keen interest in the topic of UAP at a parliamentary level.

Sunday, March 16, 2025

Who is talking about UAP these days?

Diversity

Once upon a time, the only people talking about the subject of UAP were those individuals engaged in "UFO research." In recent times this has broadened to include academics, politicians, defence personnel, members of the intelligence community, private corporations, and learned professional associations. This trend continues with two more items of interest.

National Defense Industry Association

According to their website, the U.S. National Defense Industry Association, which has 1,720 corporate and 67,000 individual members:

"...drives strategic dialogue in national security by identifying key issues and leveraging the knowledge and experience of its military, government, industry, and academic members to overmatch capabilities to threats."

 It was therefore of interest to note that one of the NDIA's Emerging Technology Institute's monthly webinar series, to be held 27 March 2025 is titled "Tech 101: Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon.

The description given for the one-hour session is:

"Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAP) research involves distinguishing between hoaxes, misidentifications, and truly anomalous sightings. While most UAP reports can be attributed to conventional explanations - such as natural atmospheric or man-made objects - some cases remain unresolved, requiring better data for a deeper investigation.

This webinar will explore the challenges of UAP identification, providing an overview of analytical methodologies used to assess sightings. The presentation will include examples of confirmed misidentifications, cases with prosaic explanations, and more complex UAP reports that defy easy resolution. 

In addition, the session will highlight emerging technologies and legislative efforts that could help the public distinguish between prosaic objects and the truly anomalous ones, enabling researchers to focus on the most compelling cases. These advancements could also play a role in addressing the increasing threat by adversarial drone, offering dual-use applications for national security and aerospace monitoring.

By examining both the scientific and technological frontiers of UAP research, this webinar will provide insight into the evolving landscape of aerial phenomenon investigations and the tools shaping its future."

Dr. Douglas Buettner

The speaker is Dr. Douglas Buettner, Deputy Chief Scientist, Acquisition Innovation Research Center, Stevens University. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in physics and a PhD in aeronautical engineering with over 30 years of industry experience.  On the UAP side, he is a member of the board of directors for the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies, and co-founder and chief technologist for SIGHTER.io, a recent iphone app for gathering data about UAP sightings. For a more detailed bio please click here. 

2025 Paris Defence and Strategy Forum

According to its website, the Paris Defence and Strategy Forum is a major international conference "...devoted to defence and security issues."

An inspection of the Forum's programme reveals that on 13 March 2025, there was a ninety-minute session titled "Unidentified Aerial Phenomena." 

In a 14 March 2025 post on "X" French researcher Baptiste Friscourt advised that:

"It was my honor to represent The Debrief and Sentinel News at the 2025 Paris Defense and Strategy Forum, in a UAP Defense issues panel organized by Francois Mattens, in the halls of the Defense Academy of the Military School, in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Apologies for those that couldn't attend, the conference room was full...Recording and article in The Debrief available soon."

Recent Japanese government interest in UAP

Japanese government interest in UAP In an article dated 1 June 2024 , I reported on the formation of a nonpartisan group, concerning UAP, wi...