Solving the UAP mystery should be hard enough, but now we’ve got political nastiness

On Tuesday, a press release from the US Department of Defense made us sit up and wonder what was going on across the pond. At first glance, it seemed like good news. But the timing seemed off to us - although we’re British, not fully familiar with the inner workings of the US government organisations.

Deputy Secretary of Defense, Kathleen Hicks

Here’s the relevant (somewhat dry) wording from the DoD press release: Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, in close collaboration with the Director of National Intelligence, directed the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security to establish - within the Office of the USD(I&S) - the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG) as the successor to the US Navy’s UAP Task Force. Deputy Secretary Hicks also directed the USD(I&S) to lead an Airborne Object Identification and Management Executive Council (AOIMEXEC) to be comprised of DoD and Intelligence Community membership - and to offer US government interagency representation.

Our suspicions were heightened further on Wednesday, when Lue Elizondo posted a series of five tweets expressing severe concern that the USD(I&S) were pushing to take over the responsibility for oversight of UAP. He bluntly stated that this has been the same body which has been underplaying the UAP issue, adding: “Given that elements still exist within the Pentagon who are actively underplaying the significance of this topic, this is akin to giving an alcoholic the key and control to the liquor cabinet.” Elizondo couldn’t have been clearer when he further stated: “If you want to maintain UAP/UFO secrecy, this is exactly how to do it. This is a direct and blatant attempt to circumvent and undermine the Senate and others.”

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand

Earlier this month, before the press release, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand proposed an excellent amendment that would enhance the US authorities’ approach to UAP. If adopted, it would expand on House-approved legislation to establish a government office tasked with analysing and evaluating UAP reporting from US military and intelligence personnel. Senator Gillibrand’s proposal has been received with bipartisan support - a rare phenomenon in today’s American politics. Christopher Mellon is also urging support for the Gillibrand amendment.

Tom Rogan - National Security Writer and Contributors Editor for the Washington Examiner - has written about these recent developments in an article explicitly stating that “the Defense Department has launched a preemptive strike on Congress” and that “Congress should pretend as if Hicks’ announcement never happened”.

To us, on the other side of the Atlantic, we agree. We want to know what’s happening. If some UAP sightings are confirmed to be of extraterrestrial origin - as is looking likely - then this is of global concern. A few US government insiders, with their own dubious agenda, shouldn’t be trusted with the task of finding out what’s what.

Written by Jessica Nelson & Callum Cushen, 26th November 2021