Police Executives UAP Reference Guide

The MCCA

 According to their website, the Major Cities Chiefs Association is:

"...a professional organization of police executives representing the largest cities in the United States and Canada. The MCCA provides a unique forum for urban chiefs, sheriffs and other law enforcement executives to share ideas, experiences and strategies.

MCCA provides a collaborative forum for the advancement of public safety through innovation, research, policy development, government engagement, community outreach and leadership development."

Initiatives

In February 2024 the MCCA released its First Futurist Initiative Resource: Volume 1 Artificial Intelligence. This was a seven-page Reference Guide to all aspects of Artificial Intelligence.

In July 2024, they released its second Futurist Initiative Resource: Volume 2 Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena. This was an eleven-page Reference Guide to UAP. The eleven pages were divided into eleven topics as follows:

MCCA-UAP_Reference-Guide-June-2024-.pdf (majorcitieschiefs.com)

* UAP in the News

* Law Enforcement Considerations

* U.S. Government UAP programs

* Whistleblowers

* UAP and Congress

* UAP and U.S. DoD

* Other U.S. gov. and intel. Reporting

* UAP and NASA

* UAP and FAA

* UAP Reporting Mechanisms

* Key Takeaways.

An excellent guide

All, in all, the Reference Guide is an excellent summary and introduction to the UAP enigma, providing accurate and unbiased information to the reader of such a guide. I reached out to MCCA, "May I ask what led the organization to produce such a fact sheet?" The response was:

"Upon recognizing member agencies are in need of, and are hungry for, quality deliverables that push the profession to look 5, 10, 15 years down the road, the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA) is decidedly leaning into the future. Futurist initiative was established in 2023 to examine various innovative concepts and to propose ideas for consideration related to technology, human behavior, national security, training, research, capabilities, and communication. The initiative first examined all things AI, most recently featured UAP, and there is much more to come."  Laura Cooper, MCCA Executive Director.

The publication by a professional law enforcement association, of such a reference guide, is yet another sign that the stigma around discussing the topic of UAP, is slowly diminishing. The MCCA is to be congratulated for its Futurist Initiative in general, and its reference guide on UAP in particular. 

UAP sessions held at the 2024 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference

Conference

The 2024 conference of the U.S. based American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)  AVIATION Forum and 2024 ASCEND was held in Las Vegas in late July/early August 2024. On Monday, 29 July three sessions were held, specifically related to UAP. 

Sessions

"Reinforcement Learning for Cognitive Detection and Characterization of Advanced Aerospace Vehicles." Rajiv Thummala and Gregory Falco. AIAA 2024-3734. Session: Advancing the Scientific Understanding of UAP to Improve Aviation Safety.

Abstract:

The detection and characterization of advanced aerospace vehicles (AAVs) that exhibit novel signatures and deviate from conventional profiles pose significant challenges for traditional air domain awareness systems, which rely on static detection and classification methods. Reinforcement learning (RL) has shown promise in developing cognitive air domain awareness systems capable of adapting to novel aircraft attempting to evade detection. By applying RL, radar systems can potentially learn optimal strategies for detecting and characterizing anomalous AAVs, continually optimizing their approach with each engagement and potentially discovering new detection and characterization methods. 

This paper examines the application of RL and generative adversarial networks (GANs) to facilitate adaptive, intelligent detection and characterization of AAVs, independent of pre-defined signatures or pre-existing trainings. We propose an RL-based framework that leverages adaptive detection and tracking, feature learning, sensor fusion, and transfer learning techniques to iteratively learn to detect and track AAVs from sensor data, even when their signatures deviate from known profiles. 

"The Reported Shape, Size, Kinematics, Electromagnetic Effects, and Presence of Sound of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Frome Select Reports, 1947-2016." Robert M. Powell, Larry Hancock, Laiba Hasan, Sarah Little, Robinson Truong and Tobi Kamoru. AIAA 2024-3735. Session: Advancing the Scientific Understanding of UAP to Improve Aviation Safety. 

Robert Powell -Team | Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies (explorescu.org)

Abstract:

Publicly available witness reports, catalogued by military and civilian agencies, of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) from 1947 to 2016 were hand-sorted for selection based on four criteria: reliability of witness testimonies, object angular size, greater than 0.15 degrees, sufficient lighting, and sufficient information detail. The resultant database comprises the subset of historical reports that were determined to likely represent unidentified aerial objects.

Out of more than 100,000 reports amassed from one military database and four civilian databases, 301 reports spanning the same years were identified as meeting these criteria. From this selected set, the characteristics of shape, size, kinematics, electromagnetic effects and sound emanation are examined. Detailed descriptions in the witness accounts allowed us to present scaled illustrations for the two most common UAP shape categories: disks (domed, elongated, shortened) and triangles (isosceles, equilateral).

The largest shapes reported were diamond/rectangular and boomerang (median 300ft(91m)), and the smallest were spheres (median 20ft 96m)). Triangles (median 170ft (52m)) were consistently reported to hover, did not produce electromagnetic effects and were often noted to have an absence of sound. The combination of unusual kinematic range and absence of sound was found in 16 reports which specifically mentioned objects that hovered, traveled faster than Mach 1 and exhibited an absence of sound: disk (5), triangle (8), oval (1), sphere (1) and boomerang (1). The dataset of UAP characteristics presented here, based on 301 reliable witness reports, can be used to inform the design of the various UAP field instrumentation, detection algorithms, and propulsion hypotheses that are critical to the advancement of our understanding of UAP.

"Occupational Safety and Reporting Guidance: Reviewing UAP Safety Events." David Burstein, Shawn Pruchnicki and Iya Whiteley.  AIAA 2024-3736. Session: Advancing the Scientific Understanding of UAP to Improve Aviation Safety.

Abstract:

Background. With the release of the 2021 Preliminary Assessment on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), public interest in aerospace safety issues associated with UAP has increased. UAP are a potential safety of flight hazard, national security concerns, and source of public curiosity. UAP safety events are generally underreported, owing to challenges with detection and characterization, inadequate reporting mechanisms, and stigma. As a result, we have limited understanding of how UAP affect safe aerospace operations, as well as the ways in which aerospace personnel respond during and after UAP events.

As UAP reports increase, basic aviation safety principles can be used to review UAP events and make improvements for safer aerospace operations. In early 2024, the American Institute of Aeronautica and Astronautics (AIAA) UAP Integration & Outreach Committe (UAPIOC) drafted an opinion paper "Occupational Safety and reporting Guidance to Enhance Flight Safety, Reduce Stigma and Facilitate Scientific Understanding of UAP."

This guidance identified six areas worthy of unique consideration to advance knowledge of UAP: 1) Hazard Determination, 2) Aviation Team Responses to In-flight UAP reports, 3) Observation & Incident Reporting After Flight Operations, 4) Workplace Stigma and Safety Culture, 5) Crew Member Occupational Well-Being and General Health, 6) Centralizing National Scientific Date Collection.

UAP Safety Event Reviews To advance practical understanding of UAP safety risks, we will review a case example of an in-flight UAP observation and apply the above framework to identify human factors successes and opportunities related to this event. We will identify specific examples when flight safety or team-member well-being could be enhanced during and after UAP events.

Purpose: This work is intended to help facilitates the revie of human factors processes that promote effective responses and reporting by aviation personnel during UAP events. Our goal is to advance safety practices within the military and civilian aviation as it relates to UAP, and to advance the scientific study of UAP.

Methods: We analyzed one case example of a UAP event during aviation operations. We asked the individual involved with this UAP event to submit to us a written, narrative report of his experience based on: 1)UAP observations and crew member action s that took place during the event, 2) Experiences reporting the event, both in-flight and afterward; 3) Sense of safety culture and stigma during and after the event; and 4) sense of personal and occupational well-being after the event. We analyzed his narrative report with respect to the six key considerations from the AIAA UAPIOC's drafted opinion paper. Our aim was to draw specific conclusions with respect to 1) identifying areas where UAP reporting is hampered by stigma or concerns about individual consequences about reporting UAP; 2) reviewing opportunities to improve communication among team members during UAP events, and 3) identify apparent challenges among team members when responding to a UAP observation or incident, as well as challenges with respect to reporting the event for further analysis. 

Final Product. Our Final Products will be written case analysis as well as a 10–15-minute presentation that focuses aviation safety principles associated with UAP event. In each of these products we will briefly introduce the AIAA UAPIOCs framework as outlined in the drafted opinion Paper and provide an overview of how the narrative case report applies to our framework. Finally, we plan to discuss any conclusions we come to about potential success and opportunities to continue to improve aviation safety with respect to UAP. In our presentation, open discussion will be held during the session.

Panel

On 30 July, a one-hour duration panel discussion titled "Detection, Characterization and Evaluation of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP)" was held. The panel members were Ryan Graves, Robert Powell, Michael Lembeck and Lou Mack.  

Update: 4 August 2024

Patrick Donovan advises that the AIAA UAP Integration and Outreach Committee also presented to the AIAA Aerospace Traffic Management Committee, in a well-received presentation.

Investigative adventures in Brazil

Introduction

With an area of 8.52 million square kilometers, and a population of 215 million, the country of Brazil has a rich history of UAP and this is reflected in the number of both Brazilian and non-Brazilian organizations and individuals who have taken time to explore this history. There are dozens of local Brazilian UAP research groups who have contributed volumes of case studies over the years. However, in this article I wish to examine the American interest in the Brazilian phenomena, book marked by two individual Brazilian researchers. These are early investigator Dr. Fontes, and the current Rony Vernet. 

Dr. Olavo T. Fontes 

One of the earliest local Brazilian researchers was Dr. Olavo T. Fontes, who was the Brazilian representative for the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO) between 1957 and his death in 1968. According to the May-June 1968 issue of the "APRO Bulletin" Dr. Fontes was a medical doctor specializing in gastroenterology and was a Professor of Medicine at the National School. A careful investigator, who documented his UAP research in an impeccable manner. 

Notable cases which he investigated include the 16 October 1957 abduction of Antonio Vilas-Boas: the Ubatuba "UAP fragments," and the 1957 Itaipu Fort incident. 

His work is recorded in numerous articles in the "APRO Bulletin" and in a number of Jim and Coral Lorenzen's UAP books including "Flying Saucer Hoax." (Lorenzen, C.E. William Frederick Press. New York. 1962;) "Flying Saucers: The Startling Evidence of the Invasion from Outer Space." (Lorenzen, C.E. Signet. New York. 1966;) and "UFOs Over the Americas." (Lorenzen, J. and C. Signet. New York. 1968.) There is also rare 1966 archival recording on YouTube of Fontes discussing the Vilas-Boas case. 

J. Allen Hynek

Professor J. Allen Hynek was one of the earliest academics who took an interest in UAP. Hynek was an astronomer at North Western University in Chicago, in the U.S.A. He was also a consultant to the United States Air Force's Project Blue Book. In that role he investigated a lot of cases occurring in the U.S. 

Hynek authored two classic books on UAP. The first was "The UFO Experience." (Regney. New York. 1972.) The second was "The Hynek UFO Report." (Dell. New York. 1977.) He also co-authored "The Edge of Reality." (CreatSpace. 1973.) with Jacques Vallee.

In August 1975, according to Vallee's "Forbidden Science Volume 2" in a diary entry dated 19 July 1975.

"Allen is elated because he'd received an invitation to Brazil that includes an opportunity to address the Brazilian Congress next month."

However, this visit did not go well. Vallee reports, in a diary entry dated 27 September 1975:

"The next day over a private breakfast Allen confessed his trip to Brazil was a fiasco. General Uchoa, who invited him, had no clout. The man who managed the much-advertised congress was a French journalist trying to make a quick buck. He must have lost a ton of cruzeiros, because in the end he begged Allen to give more lectures to balance his finances. As for his talk before the Brazilian Congress, that went flat: his interpreter was an enthusiastic lady who was big on ufology but short on linguistics. As for the official files, the military is keeping them under lock and key."

Bob Pratt

Image courtesy of Amazon Books

Robert Vance Pratt (1926-2005) was an American journalist who made ten visits to Brazil between May 1978 and July 1993. His detailed reporting on what he found in Brazil is in his 1996 book titled "UFO Danger Zone: Terror and Death in Brazil. Where Next?" (Horus House Press, Madison WI.) His first four trips between 1978 and 1980 were paid for by one of the U.S. publications in which he published his work. The other trips were funded by him as he was so interested in what he had found on these earlier visits.

In chapter after chapter Pratt describes his firsthand interviews with individuals who were chased by lights or distinct objects; hit by beams of light; suffered medical issues as a result of their encounters; were lifted off the ground; or were paralyzed. He even came across cases where individuals were said to have died as a result of their encounters. Pratt also interviewed medical staff who had seen for themselves the results of some of the medical aftereffects of the UAP incidents.

Although a number of the accounts had occurred years before Pratt's visits, some of them had reportedly occurred only days or weeks before Pratt conducted his interviews. Despite his lengthy stays in Brazil Pratt himself never reported having personally encountered any UAP. 

Chapter twenty of the book records events in Colares, at the mouth of the Amazon River. Pratt writes 

"UFOs have been deadlier in Colares than perhaps any other place in the world...in Colares alone approximately forty were burned and two of them died." 

The year was 1977. Pratt reports that the Brazilian military conducted a several months long investigation and interviewed hundreds of people. The Brazilian Air Force conducted Operation Prato in the area. Pratt relates that the data gathered was sent to the Air Force Headquarters. 

Pratt visited Colares for the first time in February 1979, then twice after that. He interviewed Captain Uyrange Hollanda, who had led the official investigation in the Colares region. Pratt was later able to secure brief summaries of 281 incidents in Colares and surrounding areas, plus maps, and twenty photographs. Hollanda told him his team "...took about three hundred photos and we photographed eight different types of UFOs."

Pratt's "Epilogue" chapter describes the then (1996) known facts about the Varginha live captured aliens who were reportedly sent to the U.S.A.

Here is a link to several hundred pages of Bob Pratt's own material, including many on Brazil. 

Jacques Vallee

Well known researcher Jacques Vallee made two trips to Brazil. The first in 1980 and the second in 1988. On the first trip in April 1980, Vallee and his wife Janine went to Argentina with a stopover in Brazil. In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, they met researcher and writer Irene Granchi. According to a diary entry dated 29 April 1980 in Valle's book "Forbidden Science Volume three" "...we spent most of the time talking about the 1966 Lead Mask mystery..." and met the pathologist who conducted the autopsies on the two dead men. Later that day they visited the site of the incident. 

The second visit in July 1988 had a much longer stay in Brazil. In "Forbidden Science Volume three" Vallee describes in some detail his research there with his wife Janine. They visited Fortaleza, together with an American friend Bill Calvert who had lived in Brazil, and a Professor, Agobar Oliveira, a local UAP investigator. Travelling on to Parnarama they interviewed firsthand witnesses to incidents. One such account which they attempted to verify was that of a man called "Ramon" who was reportedly killed by his encounter with UAP. Vallee wrote that there was no object in the sky at the time, no beam, and that the man had died of symptoms which fitted a heart attack. 

Vallee writes:

"We have brought back details of about twenty cases, two of them involving characteristic chupa injuries. So far there is no proven instance of any death related to the objects."

Continuing their investigations they travelled on to Balem, Brazil, gathering firsthand accounts. They met with Colonel Hollanda Lima, in the headquarters of the First Air Force region. He led the team sent to the Colares region during Operation Prato. Vallee was shown a military file which: "...held the military photographs, detailed aerial maps, trajectory analyses by the staff of Project Prato." The Vallees and party went on to interview the medical doctor from the island of Mosqueiro during the Colares wave, before returning to the U.S.A. 

Vallee published more details of his on-site investigations in Brazil, in both 1980 and 1988, in his book titled "Confrontations: A Scientist's Search for Alien Contact." (Anomalistic Books. Charlottesville, Virginia. 2008.)

BAASS

As part of the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Systems (BAASS) sent a group of team members to Brazil in May 2009, with a second visit in October 2009.

In a 7 April 2020 blog article, French researcher Marc Cecotti and I told the story of the May 2009 Brazilian visit by BAASS. We communicated with a number of former BAASS employees and UAP researchers in South America. One such researcher Ademar Gevaerd, met BAASS members in Curitiba, Brazil. In part Gevaerd said: "They wanted artifacts from UFOs, such as metamaterials."

In a second blog article dated 17 April 2020 we reported that the BAASS team visited Fortaleza. Here, they photographed and filmed files and case notes of the local UAP organization, over several hours. Fortaleza based researcher Helio Loyola told us:

"Here in Brazil they didn't do any research. They took and photographed what the ufologists saw and documented."

BAASS members also visited other locations in Brazil. 

Image courtesy Amazon Books

One of the projects undertaken by BAASS was the creation of the CAPELLA data warehouse, conceived by Jacques Vallee. In the book "Skinwalkers at the Pentagon" (RTMA LLC, Henderson, Nevada 2021.) by Lacatski et al there is a list of products of AAWSAP. These include:

* BAASS March 2009 Monthly report - "The UFO Assault on Brazil with its Epicenter at Colares (1977-2003) by John Schuessler."

* BAASS August 2009 Monthly report - "Relations with South American organizations."

* BAASS July 2009 Ten monthly report - "Project Colares/Brazil, Outreach to South America."

The CAPELLA data warehouse was a collection of eleven individual data sets of which one was titled "Brazil."

Image courtesy Amazon Books

Chapter fifteen of the Lacatski et al book "Inside the U.S. governments covert UFO Program: Initial Revelations" (RTMA LLC, Henderson, Nevada. 2023.) says the following about the Project Colares database:

"Data base containing all UAP sighting events related to the 1977-1978, Colares, Brazil, UAP flap. Total records 346. Event timeline 1977-1978."

Rony Vernet

Rony Vernet is a Brazilian electronics and computer engineer, who has spent several years researching UAP. One of his areas of specialization has been that of documenting the UAP accounts of indigenous communities in Brazil. Recently, with the part sponsorship of the Australian Non Human Intelligence Research Institute, he travelled to a remote part of Brazil to document onsite accounts by people in an isolated village. While there, he encountered the phenomena for himself. 

Vernet reports:

"During my mission in Amazon, I witnessed 4 types of phenomena:

Type 1 - Poltergeist activity (sounds of heavy furniture against ground, sounds of people walking on forest, lamps blinking, battery drainage, radio communications, smartphone freezing, camera shut down.)

Type 2 - Blinking orange spheres. A two-part object that blinks a huge orange light and flew low until enters the forest. 2 meters in diameter.

Type 3 - Steady orange sphere. A continuous orange to red light like a ball of fire that flew low until enters the forest. Around 1 meter in diameter.

Type 4 - luminous fog. Like a white aurora that becomes dense and forms a huge 3D shaped image. Paralyzed a boy and entered inside the forest at the same point of other lights.

A 5th type was not witnessed in person but recorded in multiple equipment. Types 2,3, and 4 also recorded.

Type 5 - A luminous entity with humming sound that illuminates the area and projects another oval shaped UAP near the ground. Silenced nature sounds before disappearing."

Rony was interviewed by Australian investigative journalist Ross Coulthart for Ross' show "Reality Check" where Rony provided further details on his own observations. He stated that he was intending to return to the remote locality later this year, but that in the meantime date was being remotely collected.

In conclusion

The work of all the above individuals and organizations details the ongoing nature of the Brazilian UAP phenomena. 

There is a growing awareness in the UAP community, that the next breakthrough in our understanding of UAP will come, not from governments, but from individual or collectives of civilian researchers such as Rony Vernet. 

Update: 16 February 2025

In January 2025 Anomalist Books published the sixth volume of Vallee's diaries. This book covers the years 2010-2019 and includes a third visit to Brazil by Vallee and his longtime friend Bill Calvert, who at one stage lived in Brazil. The trip took place in July/August 2015.

In Fortaleza, Brazil, they renewed their acquaintance with local researcher Agobar Peixoto. One item discussed was that back in 1988:

"At that time, we did an analysis of the massive UFO wave that had arisen from the south, moved up to the coast, and west to Colares. Operacion Prato was only a point of culmination."

Valle asked Agobar:

"Do you know that a research institute from Las Vegas has sent a sizeable team from the United States to obtain the data from Colares?" I asked: "Did they ever speak to you?"

"Sure, I met three Americans at a conference in Sobral," Agobr replied. "They were taking lots of notes trying to make contact with the group from Rio but looking in all the wrong places."

Vallee, Calvert and Agobar discussed new cases, and personally interviewed a lot of new witnesses during their time in Brazil. 

Digitized Australian UAP related material held in the Archives for the Unexplained (AFU)

The AFU 

The AFU website advises that:

"Archives for the Unexplained (AFU) was founded in 1973 and now has more than 2 kilometers of shelves...currently house collections and archives from a large number of internationally well-known researchers and authors like Hilary Evans, Luis Schonherr, Bob Rickard, W. Raymond Drake, Perry Petrakis, Cynthia Hind, Peter Rogerson and Willy Wegner...." 

The AFU also houses correspondence, and reports files from a number of organizations. They are physically located in Norrkoping, Sweden.

Downloads

The download section of the site holds 12 directories, and a search through these, reveals that there is much digitized Australian UAP related content. My perusal of the directories revealed the following:

(1) Audio - Wendy Connor's Faded Discs collection - disc 3.

* Track 03 - "Medical files: UFO. A rare Australian radio show dramatizing an actual event. This is the earliest known recoding using the acronym UFO, coined by Capt. Edward Ruppelt. 1952."

* Track 13 - "William Gill lectures in the United Kingdom regarding his UFO encounter in Papua, New Guinea. Ends abruptly. June 26, 1959."

* Track 17 - P.F. Norris, Australian researcher, audio letter of January 14, 1965, to Maj. Donald E. Keyhoe, Director of NICAP."

* Track 23 - "Colin McCarthy lectures on the UFO in Australia from the early 1950s to the early 1960s. January 7, 1967.

* Track 24 - "Andrew Tobias gives a short talk on Ufology in Australia. January 7, 1967.

* Track 25 - "James E. McDonald comments regarding his tour of Australia radio. July 1967."

* Track 42 - "Maureen Puddy of Frankston, Australia regarding her abduction. July 27, 1972."

* Track 50 - "Paul Norman of the Victorian UFO Research Society (VUFORS) is interviewed on radio. October 20 and 24, 1968."

(2) Books - no Australian authors are listed.

(3) Clippings - See (9) Topics, countries, Australia.

(4) Databases - Wendy Connors' Faded Disc archives. See (1) Audio above.

(5) Discussion lists.

There are three relevant discussion lists shown:

a. UFO Research List.

b. UFO UpDates.

c. Usernet.

Various Australian researchers, like me, contributed to material on these discussion lists.

(6) PhD Dissertations - No Australian dissertations listed. However, here is a link to my own listing. 

(7) Documents - Australia.

Between 2003-2008 the Disclosure Australia Project mined the National Archives of Australia for Australian government UAP related files. As a result of this effort plus others during the period 2009-2024, over 100 relevant files were located and digitized at cost.

Here on the AFU website, you will find digitized copies of these files, which tell the story of the Australian government's interest in the topic of UAP from 1951 to 1996. For a comprehensive study of what was found on these files there is a document available, plus a listing of the files found. 

(8) Magazines - Australia.

Australia has a rich history of civilian UAP research groups, Since, around 1954 there have been dozens of publications produced by these organizations. The AFU collection draws upon 18 Australian UAP related Newsletters, Digests, Journals etc.

(9) Topics- Countries - Australia - clippings

Isaac Koi from the United Kingdon collected 3500 newspaper clippings from the TROVE digitized Australian newspaper collection which can be found here in the AFU archive.

(10) Transcripts - of podcasts etc.

(11) UFO reports - nil from Australia.

(12) Websites - nil from Australia.

Note:

Congratulations to both Isaac Koi and AFU for preserving the above Australian material. 

A National Science Foundation initiative - a UAP workshop

 Introduction

Details have emerged of a workshop titled "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP): A Dialogue on Science, Public Engagement and Communication" organized by a National Science Foundation initiative, and held at a location in Virginia, USA between 15 and 17th May 2024. So far, only one of the participants, has spoken out about the workshop. The Kainaat Astronomy in English YouTube channel carried a 26-minute-long interview with self-identified participant Dr. Salman Hameed.

Salman Hameed | Hampshire College

Details of the workshop

Here are some dot points of information which Dr. Hameed mentioned during that interview:

* It was held at an undisclosed venue in Virginia, USA

* It attracted about 25 participants

* It was part of a National Science Foundation initiative

* Individuals who participated held a range of views as to the nature of UAP

* There were a range of views as to how best to communication the subject to the general public

* The organizers did a good job of cultivating a space where participants' views were treated with respect

* It was well run, and well organized

* There was an application process - potential attendees were asked what they could contribute to the process

* Individuals held a wide spectrum of beliefs

* The purpose of the workshop was not to provide and discuss the existence or origin of UAP but to examine ways to destigmatize discussions on the topic of UAP. How do you talk about the topic in a way that would lead to investigating UAP? How do we talk to the public? What are our responsibilities?

* There is a need to better define the term UAP

* U.S. government officials were there from the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office. Their business cards did not have their names on them

* A follow up process is being organized.

Comments

1. Discussions at a workshop organized by an initiative of the National Science Foundation is another big step indicating that the academic community are getting involved in UAP studies.

2. Perhaps other participants will now come forward and discuss their own input at the event and provide a deeper understanding of the work that is still to come. 

3. A fuller description of Dr. Hameed's comments about the workshop, and additional information concerning the NSF initiative, may be found in a 24 May 2024 article by Baptiste Friscourt. 

Update: 9 June 2024

Florida State University's School of Information Assistant Professor Gretchen Stahlman is revealed as one of the co-leads of the NSF workshop.

Update: 12 July 2024

Astro Accel itself published an Executive summary of the event. 

The latest academic UAP workshop - held in Germany

 Introduction

In recent times I have been drawing attention to non-United States research into UAP, given that the issue is one of a global nature. In this post, I will provide some details of yet another academic level workshop, this one held in Germany between 6 and 7 June 2024. This latest workshop was organised by the Interdisciplinary Research Center for Extraterrestrial Studies; part of the Julius-Maximilian-University of Wurzburg, in Germany.

Topics discussed

The following is a list of the speakers, and the topics they gave presentations on:

Dr.-Ing, Hakan Kayal - "Anomaly Detection & Observations System (ADEOS): A reliability rating for UAP observations " together with D. Schulze-Makuch).

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hakan Kayal - (uni-wuerzburg.de)

Andre Kramer - "50 years of civilian date collection on UAP."

Andreas Muller - "A Review of German files within 'Project Blue Book.'"

Michael Landwehr - "Introducing the Electromagnetic and Gravitational Effects Database."

Dr. Dirk Schulze-Makuch - "A reliability rating for UAP observations."

Philippe Alleris - "Under the UFO Radar: Exploring Ufology's Impact on European Society."

Dr. Greg Eghigian - "Alien Traumas: A History of Debate Over the Alien Abduction Experience."

Dr. Beatriz Villarroel - "ExoProbe: a system of wide-field telescopes to search for ET probes."

Dr. Massimo Teodorani - "Investigating UAP Events Using Astronomical Techniques."

Dr. Christian Peters - " The Social Epistemology of Alien Minds."

Dr. Andreas Anton - " Thinking the Unthinkable. Is there still a UFO Taboo?"

Klaus Stahle - " UFOs/UAP's in German federal politics and authorities."

Dr. Moritz Wullen - "A Cube in a Sphere: Prefigurations of Common USAP-shapes in Early Modern Images."

Dr. Matthew Szydagis - " The Latest Scientific News From UAlbany& UAPx."

Dr. Kevin Knuth - Who is Hanging Out in Our Oceans?"

Larry Hancock - "UAP Intentions Studies."

Dr. Joshua Pierson - "Building a UAP Profile."

As can be seen from the titles above, there was a diverse range of topics covered by the presentations. Hopefully, at some stage it will be possible to view videos of the presentations. 

The Japanese government and UAP

In recent times, members of various Countries' parliaments have shown interest in the topic of UAP. These include the U.S.A., Canada, the European Parliament, with the latest being Japan.

Japan Times article

An article dated 28 May 2024 on the Japan Times website was titled "Japan lawmakers to create group for government probes into UFOs." Here is the text of that article:

"Japanese lawmakers met on Tuesday to create a nonpartisan group that will ask the government to establish an organization for investigating unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAP, also known as UFOs.

Yasukazu Hamada

The lawmaker group will be chaired by Yasukazu Hamada, parliamentary affairs leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Former Environmental Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, also from the LDP, will serve as Secretary-General. The group will hold its founding general meeting on June 6 after Tuesday's preparatory meeting, which was held in parliament. The U.S. government has created a specialized organization in the Defense Department to probe UAP.

The lawmaker group will urge the government to gather and analyze information on UAP and pursue cooperation with Washington by forming a counterpart organization. In its founding statement, the group said that if UAP, which have been witnessed many times over Japanese territory, are cutting-edge secret weapons or unmanned spy drones from other countries they would present a major security threat to Japan. The group is asking members of parliament from all parties to join."

South China Morning Post article

Another article, this time on the South China Morning Post website, dated 30 May 2024 by reporter Julian Ryall, also reported the story and added a few further details, as follows:

"The Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Clarification League for Security-Oriented National Security will be officially formed at a meeting in the Diet on June 5."

"Former defense minister Shigeru Ishiba will be an advisor to the panel, which will also include Kei Endo, Chair of the Japan Restoration Party, in the House of Representatives and Diet member Yoshiharu Asakawa."

"At a press conference to announce the creation of the group, both Endo and Asakawa claimed to have seen UFOs...themselves."

"Questions about UFOs over Japan emerged in April 2020 when the defense minister Taro Kono denied that Japanese military pilots had reported encountering alien spacecraft. '...I don't believe in UFOs,' Kono said at a press conference in Toyko, but added 'We would like to establish procedures in the event an encounter takes place with a UFO.' "

Minister Taro Kono

A follow up to the April 2020 statement by defense minister Kono was reported in a The Japan Times website article, dated 14 September 2020. In part it read:

"Protocol for UFOs? That's exactly what Defense Minister Taro Kono ordered the Self-Defense Forces to follow Monday as he issued standing orders for dealing with unidentified aerial objects that could pose a threat to Japan's security. In a statement, Kono asked SDF members to record and photograph any such objects that they encounter or enter Japanese airspace and take steps for the 'necessary analysis' of the sightings, including information provided separately by the public."

"In February 2018, the Japanese government made public its official position on UFOs, saying that 'no confirmation has been made of their existence.' "

A 2007 statement

The above reported Japanese government in 2018, follows a much earlier official comment in 2007. An 18 December 2007 article by Reuters, was titled "Japan government spokesman says UFOs do exist." The story read:

"Yes, UFOs do exist, Japan's top government spokesman said on Tuesday. The comment by Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutako Machimura drew laughter from reporters at his regular briefing on general policy.  Earlier the Cabinet, responding to an opposition lawmaker's question, issued a statement saying it could not confirm any case of unidentified flying objects. 

'This is an issue that the nation is interested in - it is a defense issue and a confirmation operation needs to take place,' Rynji Yamane, a lawmaker from the main opposition Democratic Party who submitted the question to the Cabinet, told Reuters. 'But the government does not even try to collect information necessary for the confirmation.' 

Machimura, asked about the government's view on UFOs at a regular press conference, told reporters that the government can only offer a stereotyped response. 'Personally, I definitely believe they exist,' he said apparently tongue in cheek. 

But the Prime Minister stuck to the official view - 'I have yet to confirm (that UFOs exist)' Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told reporters later in the day."

Update from Christopher Mellon 5 June 2024

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Inaugural Address to the Japanese UAP Caucus June 5th, 2024 CHRISTOPHER MELLON JUN 6   READ IN APP   Esteemed Members of the Japanese Parliament, I want to first of all express my profound respect and admiration for the remarkable step you have taken by establishing a caucus dedicated to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, commonly known as ‘UAP.’ This initiative marks an important and admirable commitment to transparency, national security, and scientific inquiry.  For decades, the phenomena we now refer to as UAP has captured the imagination and sparked the curiosity of individuals around the globe, notwithstanding efforts by many to belittle the issue. These UAP occurrences have been the subject of countless discussions, investigations, and speculations. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration quite rightly referred to UAP as “One of the great mysteries of all time.”   As elected officials, I know it takes political courage to confront the stigma that has for far too long surrounded this UAP issue. Thankfully, the Japanese and American people are both fortunate to have legislators willing to put national security and science ahead of narrow political considerations.  If there was ever any doubt, we now know UAP is a global issue, one that transcends national borders and demands international cooperation. As we seek to understand UAP it is best to work together, pooling our resources and expertise for the sake of both national security and scientific progress, as we have done in so many other areas. Collaborative efforts will enable us to address potential threats more effectively and perhaps uncover truths that lie beyond our current understanding. We also know that from a national security standpoint the importance of identifying and monitoring unmanned aerial systems cannot be overstated. The immense impact of unmanned vehicles in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine is on display daily in Ukraine. By staying vigilant and informed, we can enhance national security and leverage these technologies for positive outcomes. As you launch this new caucus, I would like to share some observations from my own experiences that I hope will underscore the importance of the work you are undertaking.  Observations and Lessons Learned  Notwithstanding the sophistication and advancement of human science and technology, the survival of modern nation states is still a fundamentally Darwinian process. The key to survival remains successfully adapting to changes in the world around us. This is more challenging than ever because the world around us is changing at an unprecedented and accelerating rate.  It is therefore both ironic and unfortunate that one of the notable attributes of modern bureaucracies, especially government bureaucracies, is their lack of transparency and instinctive resistance to change – unless of course that change involves an expansion of their authority or resources. This is why it is more important than ever for legislators in modern democracies to vigorously monitor and challenge the policies, priorities, and budgets of government agencies, especially those entrusted with national security responsibilities. This is not micromanagement; it is akin to an effective Board of Directors focusing on strategy and requirements.  I learned this important lesson early in my career while working for Senator William S. Cohen on the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees. I was stunned to repeatedly see desperately needed reforms fiercely opposed by the Department of Defense, the military services, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), and often even the White House. I’ll provide some examples to help illustrate this point. A major problem facing the US Department of Defense after WWII was the excessive independence of the military services. This produced wasteful inter-service rivalries and a dangerous inability to properly equip and train forces for joint operations. President Eisenhower proposed changes in 1957 to fix this by enhancing the authorities of the combatant commanders and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. However, these proposals were defeated in Congress after military leaders leaked false claims that the proposed changes would undermine civilian control of the military. America continued to struggle with integrating its military forces effectively, evident in failed operations like the Iranian hostage rescue mission and the Beirut Marine barracks bombing. Then in the Grenada operation we learned Army and Navy radios were not interoperable and that Special Operations Forces (SOF) were not properly integrated into the operation and suffered excessive casualties as a result. These systemic problems stemmed from an inability to properly train and equip forces for effective joint operations.   While staffing Senator William S. Cohen, I was astounded by the fierce resistance of DoD and the Joint Chiefs to the eminently sensible and important reforms proposed by Senators Nunn and Goldwater. Thankfully, a veto-proof majority in Congress passed this critical legislation in 1986. The benefits can be seen by the stark contrast between the mix-ups and disasters of the operations in Iran, Beirut, and Grenada versus the stunning display of synchronized joint force displayed by the US and its allies during Desert Storm. This was the only first instance of resistance to badly needed reforms that I saw during my stint working for Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees.  I also saw the Air Force strongly resist investment in drones and unmanned aircraft, which as we can plainly see today in Ukraine are absolutely fundamental to modern combat operations. We are fortunate Congress directed the establishment of a new organization, the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office to ensure proper leadership and funding for the development of drones and large unmanned vehicles. I staffed a bill of Senator Cohen’s to establish the US Special Operations Command, and of course that was also implacably opposed by the Pentagon despite the merits. Once again, Congress took action and US Special Operations Capabilities are far better as a result. As the budget monitor for the National Security Agency (NSA) at the Senate Intelligence Committee in the 1990s, I found the senior managers unwilling to redeploy resources from existing programs to begin adapting to the explosive growth of the internet.  Again, it was Congress that initially took action to rectify this shortcoming.   I saw the Air Force repeatedly reprogram funds earmarked by Congress to purchase desperately needed airlift for Special Operations Forces (SOF), because the Air Force preferred to use those funds to add to their existing inventory of 550 F-16s rather than support the mission of another service.  Sometimes, as was the case with the Special Operations Command, there was even resistance after Congress had passed legislation requiring change. In the case of the Special Operations Command, resistance to implementation was so fierce Congress had to pass supplemental legislation the following year. None of these critical problems would have been addressed had it not been for vigorous oversight by members of Congress. Today there is widespread acknowledgment at the Pentagon that these changes were for the better. I could provide many more examples, but hopefully these are sufficient to underscore why it is so important today for members of the legislatures in democratic nations to be assertive in their role as the nation’s Board of Directors. Too often, left to their own devices, these bureaucracies will fail to adapt to changing threats and requirements. In that regard, I am pleased to report that earlier today the Senate Intelligence introduced new language to strengthen UAP oversight in its annual authorization bill. That seems an auspicious development for the inaugural meeting of this new caucus.  The UAP issue in the US followed this familiar pattern. I spent months working with Pentagon official Lue Elizondo trying to get senior DoD officials to engage on the USP issue, but it soon became clear nothing would change without Congressional interest and direction. Thankfully, after we arranged for Navy aviators to share their first-hand UAP experiences with Congress, the issue gained traction on Capitol Hill. One of the Senators briefed by Navy aviators was Bill Nelson, who afterwards became Director of NASA. I’m confident these briefings are the reason he became the first NASA Director to recognize the legitimacy of UAP. Following these briefings, I recommended Congress seek a report on UAP incidents from DoD and the Intelligence Community. Although the Air Force claimed it didn’t have any pertinent reports prior to 2020, the report still identified 144 military UAP encounters since 2004. In doing so, the report validated the reality of UAP and stimulated further congressional inquiry, eventually leading to the establishment of a new organization, the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office  (AARO) dedicated to compiling, analyzing and investigating UAP reports. Now that members of Congress are actively engaged, and UAP reporting guidance implemented, we are seeing an explosion of UAP reports. From 2004-2021 less than 10 UAP reports per year were being received. Now, hundreds of military UAP reports are being received each year. It will be fascinating to watch this process in the years ahead to see what lessons are learned and discoveries made. Conclusion What I have tried to illustrate today is the vital role of elected officials in advancing national security. Due to the unprecedented rate at which the security environment is changing, it has never been more important for national legislators to vigorously examine, and when appropriate, challenge the status quo. As these examples demonstrate, left to their own devices, our vital but massive security organizations will often fail to reveal important information or implement critical reforms. Were it not for action by Congress, the public would still have no idea how many near mid-air collisions with UAP have occurred, how often UAP are being reported, or the frequency and extent of UAP reports. UAP today would still be violating military airspace with impunity; pilots and radar operators would still fear reporting these events; and there would be no office to receive and analyze UAP data or develop new collection strategies. This is why I feel so strongly about the importance of what you are doing and why I welcomed this opportunity to applaud and encourage your efforts.  The establishment of the UAP Caucus exemplifies Japan's commitment to progress, innovation, and the advancement of human understanding. It confronts the unknown with an open mind and a critical eye. The potential national security and scientific ramifications are profound and of inestimable importance.  In conclusion, I applaud the intellectual integrity you are demonstrating by placing science and national security above outdated stigmas. Congratulations to all the members of this distinguished caucus for your visionary leadership. May your efforts yield fruitful discoveries and pave the way for a future where knowledge and curiosity, rather than fear, guide our progress. Arigatou gozaimasu