House Hearings on UAP’s set for July 26th. Watch Congressional News Conference

UPDATE (July 24, 2023)

Moving to a new post Wednesday

I will be closing this post to futher comments today. Again, events are moving more quickly than I can report. It seems to me that the reason UFOs/UAPs are getting so much attention from members of Congress this time is that there are different factions with different interests demanding hearings. One side, of course (the “traditionalists”), wants to know if there are extraterrestials, exotic space craft, etc. Another side consists of members of Congress who are furious that there are government employees, contractors and so on who may be hiding something from Congressional oversight and these employees and contractors are stalling, leaving members of Congress standing on a runway or sitting in an empty hangar or office on a military base waiting to talk to pilots who have been ordered not to meet with them. Perhaps a third faction of Congress would be perfectly happy to learn that these UAPs are drones that come from Russia or China, and in that case, why isn’t the Biden administration doing anything about it? So, in some sense the hearings on Wednesday promise to be a “perfect storm.”

Or, they might be another dud (zzzz.)

UPDATE (July 14, 2023)

UAP amendments added to National Defense Authorization Act

"Close observer.--The term 'close observer' means anyone who has
come into close proximity to unidentified anomalous phenomena or
non-human intelligence." Senate bill 2226 as amended (SA 797.)

“Non-human intelligence.--Any sentient intelligent non-human lifeform, regardless of nature or ultimate origin which may be presumed responsible for” UFOs. Senate bill 2226 as amended.

The news today is concerning the National Defense Authorization Act which was passed by the House of Representatives and amended by the U.S. Senate. It is probably “DOA” or Dead on Arrival when it gets to the Democrat-controlled Senate because of restrictions dealing with abortion care within the Department of Defense, LGBTQ health care and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) rollbacks. Also “stuffed” in the bill are, according to Politico, amendments dealing with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs) ahead of congressional hearings on the topic, which may actually be held this month. According to Politico, the amendment:

. . .requires Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to declassify DOD records and documents ‘relating to publicly known sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena that do not reveal sources, methods, or otherwise compromise the national security of the United States.’ DOD would have 180 days from the defense bill becoming law to declassify the reports.”

In the Senate, according to Politico,

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) have proposed an amendment to the Senate’s NDAA that would mandate the National Archives collect and store UAP records across the government. Senators are modeling their proposal for declassifying documents on UAPs after the release of records from the Kennedy assassination, which required records to be made public within 25 years after enactment of a 1992 law.”

Politico notes in the same article that one witness scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee has asked for his name to be withdrawn from the list of people scheduled to testify, citing pressure from the Pentagon.

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[The public] “has a right to learn about technologies of unknown origins, non-human intelligence and unexplainable phenomena.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D, NY) as reported by Reuters.

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After reading SA 797 in the upper house version of the bill, I’m struck at the words “non-human” in the amendment as opposed to the adjective “prosaic” (ordinary) when speaking of human technology, specifically in the context of UAPs. SA 797 also refers to “biological evidence of non-human intelligence.” What does this mean other than the obvious (i.e., biological evidence of something intelligent and non-human)? Do they mean terrestrial lifeforms such as squid? Squid (and octopuses) are intelligent and non-human. Simians? But can squid and simians manufacture machines that can out-perform our top-of-the-line naval aircraft?

Does the U.S. Senate mean the mortal remains of someone or something from another world? And to classify our most current and advanced technologies such as plasma protection shields (Boeing), loitering munitions, hypersonic missiles, robotics, stealth technology and so on as “ordinary” suggests members of Congress must be thinking of time machines or spacecraft or things like that. What else could they be referring to? Why not just say “We need to identify each and every UAP to see if our adversaries (e.g. Russia or China) are pulling ahead of the U.S. in terms of technology?” Or, is that too prosaic in and of itself?

If there is a subtext to this bill, it may very well be the conclusion that something extraterrestrial or extradimensional already exists, at least in the minds of Senators Shumer, Rounds, Rubio, Gillibrand, et al., who, as recipients of classified information, know much more than we do and so it’s no longer an open question (as far as they are concerned) what Congress is asking for.

And there are several members of Congress who have publicly expressed concern that “if” an alien craft has wrecked or has been shot down, then whichever government has the remains of the craft might be trying to reverse engineer whatever technology has survived the crash. By the way, this scenario is the plotline of Star Trek Voyager “Future’s End,” Season 3, Episodes 8 & 9.

Personal opinion

So, what do I think these phenomena are? I’ve been involved in the distant past investigating UFO’s, I’ve known some other researchers, I’ve been to the Pentagon to visit the Project Blue Book personnel, NICAP, etc. What I mean is that I’ve followed the story more–or less-closely over the past half century.

Occam’s razor may not be relevant here, but as restated by Newton, et al., it means “when we have two competing theories that make exactly the same predictions, the simpler one is the better.” The application of this rule suggests that something more “prosaic” should be seriously considered before something more exotic. In medicine they have a saying “when you hear hoof beats, think horses and not zebras.” So every known possibly should be applied before we think about the unknown.

Secondly, James Lovelock, Enrico Fermi and his Fermi paradox, and my religious faith makes me skeptical that there are aliens flying in and about our atmosphere. They “may” be there, but that would not be my first presumption. I would think that these objects might be probes, perhaps from Earth’s future or some other dimension before some other hypothesis, but there is nothing to suggest that at the moment.

Nor do I support “broadcasting” our existence and location out into space. If there are civilizations in another system or galaxy, there’s at least as much of a chance that they could be hostile as there is that they could be friendly. Why take a chance?

These “machines” are not angels and they are not demons. There are no suggestions that angels or demons give off heat signatures, are picked up on radar, etc.

Whatever is behind this is probably not here to “save us” from self-destruction or nuclear holocaust. Nor are they likely here to punish us for our behavior.

I do believe that some small “office” or agency in the federal government may be heavily involved with these objects, perhaps even in possession of one or more of them, and guarding the secrecy of these discoveries at all costs. My graduate degree is in public administration and this scenario is certainly one possibility. But the American people have the right to know, or at least Congress has this right.

Beyond this, I am as mystified as anyone else.

Click here to see when the Committee plans to hold hearings on UAP’s.

UPDATE (July 6,2023)

Tim Burchett (R, TN) who sits on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee has added his concern that UAP’s are alien machines. In a podcast earlier this week, Congressman Burchett complained of what he sees as a government cover-up going back for well over a century. The Congressman has seen video not yet released to the public and went on to say that the UAP’s “‘can travel light years or at the speeds that we’ve seen defy physics as we know it . . .They can fly underwater and don’t show a heat trail.'”

Third Congressman supports extraterrestrial explanation of UAP’s.

UPDATE (July,1 2023)

UFO/UAP “fever” continues to linger in Capitol

Members of Congress continue to voice their interest, concerns or opinions about UAP (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena.) Most recently, it was Representative Mike Gallagher (WI, R) who during his seven year service, served as an officer in the Unived States Marine Corp’s First Intelligence Battalion. Earlier this week, Congressman Gallagher hypothesized that the objects could be from the future, or “could actually be an ancient civilization that’s just been hiding here and is suddenly showing itself.” But, during his ESPN interview, he said he was placing his money on China (“I’m probably the most interested in is whether it’s adversary technology, particularly from China,” ibid.)UPDATE (June 27, 2023)

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 “A lot of them are very fearful of their jobs … fearful of harm

coming to them.”

Senator Marco Rubio speaking of the whistleblowers who are quietly contacting members of Congress.

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The Daily Mail today released more of Senator Rubio’s comments. In his remarks The Daily Mail said:

“Rubio described the alleged UFO program as ‘in essence, some sort of an internal military complex that’s their own government and is accountable to no one.’

“It would be a huge problem,’ the Florida Republican said, ‘if it’s even partially true.’“

Earlier this month, Wired Magazine ran an article on UFOs and UAPsand included comments from various members of Congress who seems to fall into one of two categories: Concerned or amused. One Senator who declined comment was (acording to Wired) Senate Intelligence Committee chair Mark Warner. Wired contacted his office and “in less than a minute, the Virginia Democrat’s staff replied, “We’re a no comment on this—thank you!”

UPDATE (June 27, 2023)

U.S. Senator says that Grusch not alone

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R, FL) told NewsNation yesterday that other government employees or contractors who hold or “have held very high clearances and high positions within our government” have notified Congress of claims similar to what whistleblower David Charles Grusch has. According to Newsweek, Rubio notes that the stakes were high for people to come forward: “Frankly a lot of them are very fearful. Fearful of their jobs, fearful of their clearances, fearful of their career.”

Rubio continued: “What I think we owe is just a mature, you know, understanding, listening and trying to put all these pieces together and just sort of intake the information without any prejudgment or jumping to any conclusions,” according to NewsNation.

Without being specific, Senator Rubio said that the reports they have received concern “‘first-hand’ UFO-related claims ‘beyond the realm of what [the Senate Intelligence Committee] has ever dealt with.’”

The Department of Defense (and NASA) wasted no time responding to Senator Rubio according to NewsWeek.

In response to the NewsNation interview, Department of Defense spokesperson Sue Gough told the network that it had “not discovered any verifiable information to substantiate claims that any programs regarding the possession or reverse-engineering of any extraterrestrial materials have existed in the past or exist currently.”

Given the routinely emphatic denials from the Pentagon concerning UAP’s, there seems to be an attempt in the U.S. Senate’s version of the appropriations bill to “force” Department of Defense disclosure by including peculiar language in the upper chamber’s version of the bill. Marik von Rennenkampff writing for The Hill notes:

Rubio’s comments provide context for a bipartisan provision adopted unanimously by the Senate Intelligence Committee, which would immediately halt funding for any secret government or contractor efforts to retrieve and reverse-engineer craft of “non-earth” or “exotic” origin.

This extraordinary language added to the Senate version of the Intelligence authorization bill mirrors and adds significant credibility to a whistleblower’s recent, stunning allegations that a clandestine, decades-long effort to recover, analyze and exploit objects of “non-human” origin has been operating illegally without congressional oversight.

Additionally, the bill instructs individuals with knowledge of such activities to disclose all relevant information and grants legal immunity if the information is reported appropriately within a defined timeframe. Moreover, nearly 20 pages of the legislation appear to directly address recent events by enhancing a raft of legal protections for whistleblowers while also permitting such individuals to contact Congress directly.”

According to Newsweek, the committee hearings “will be led by GOP Reps. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, a committee member, and Tim Burchett of Tennessee, who is not a committee member. . .”

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UPDATE: According to Chairman James Comer (R), the U.S. House of Representative Oversight Committee will hold hearings on the complaint described below in which the military whistleblower claimed there are crash remains from extraterrestrial craft (including lifeforms) in government custody. Bookmark this page to stay current with fast moving developments on the the topic whistleblowers & alien technology.

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MAIN STORY

I already have a news blog on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), but recent events are unfolding at a pace that makes it difficult to revise my existing post and/or take it in a slightly different direction. Let me begin with today’s events, alone.

I read many different Online sources of news, whether major domestic newspapers such as the Washington Post and The NY Times as well as overseas news formats such as the Telegraph and the Guardian. I also read stories in journals such as The Atlantic, The Economist, Newsweek, and then CNN, Bloomberg, The Hill, Reuters, Politico, Axis, Insider, etc. Some of these sites are “edgy,” meaning they break stories before other media outlets, but then they sometimes jump the gun and get it wrong. An example might be the stories about Russia moving nukes on trains westward to the Ukraine border last Spring. On its face, the story seemed convincing to many (including myself), but the photos of the trains revealed patches of snow on the ground, and it was May when the story broke. In one of these sources (not listed above) I saw a story today on someone named David Charles Grusch. He was an Air Force officer assigned to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, where he served as a Senior Intelligence Capabilities Integration Office. Until two months ago on April 7, 2023, that is, when his career came to a screeching halt.

Grusch has filed a whistleblower’s complaint. For people unfamiliar with the term, a whistleblower is someone who see a violation of the law, often involving fraud, waste or abuse, and reports it anonymously. However, if his or her identity is revealed, the person reporting the issue has protection against retaliation.

The essence of Grusch’s complaint as I understand it (the complaint has not yet been released) is the well-worn theme that the intelligence community (née “Men-in-Black”) are hiding information on UAP’s from Congress to prevent congressional oversight. But Grusch also alledges (though perhaps not in the complaint, itself) that public laws dealing with congressional appropriations and other reporting requirements are being violated. And, of course, there is the element of retaliation against him for his due diligence. Also in remarks attributed to Grusch is the statement that the U.S. and other countries have retrieved pieces of wreckage of alien craft and are attempting to reverse engineer this technology for their own purposes. Here is what I’ve found just today (June 6, 2023):

• The “fringe” newspapers and tabloids are picking up the story as you might imagine, but so are mainstream, reputable news sources such as Politico and The NY Magazine.
• Professor Avi Loeb of The Galileo Project (Harvard University) also references this story, but with caution and scientific skepticism. Wikipedia notes: “The Galileo Project is an international scientific research project to systematically search for extraterrestrial intelligence or extraterrestrial technology on and near Earth and to identify the nature of anomalous Unidentified Flying Objects/Unidentified Aerial Phenomena(UFOs/UAP). The fact that TGP mentions Grusch at all is interesting. It reminds me of what Shakespeare calls “thunderous silence.”
• I also understand that there are companies involved in the design of weapons systems, aircraft, etc. that are paying close attention to this story. Obviously, any innovation discovered with commercial application would be highly lucative. Conversely, were another country such as China enjoy the benefit of an extraterrestrial artifact many centuries ahead of where we as a planet presently are, our companies would be doomed to obsolescence overnight, because short of espionage, there is no way they could close the gap.
• The people writing this story are Leslie Kean and Ralph Blumenthal who in 2017 reported the Navy pilot contacts with the UAP (including video.) That was a major story which reported that US Navy pilots were encountering mysterious craft on a regular basis; craft that violated the laws of physics as we understand them.
• Grusch is represented by an attorney who served as the first Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG.)
• Grusch also has numerous respectable and impecable character witnesses within the intelligence community who can attest or have already attested to his credibility, access to the components of the story in his complaint, and his strong sense of right and wrong. Some of what Grusch alledges, however, is not first hand since he, himself, has never see such a craft.)

A spokeperson for the Pentagon said today in response to this story that the All Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) charged with collecting data on UAP’s has no knowledge of artifacts (including functioning or crashed craft) but that lack of information on the part of the AARO is part of this story, itself, because it is said that not every member of the intelligence community trusts AARO. Whether the AARO is just a “straw man” agency to provide deniability or whether the AARO is purposely being kept in the dark is yet to be seen.

The Guardian reported likewise reported on this story. They introduced us to Nick Pope. According to Pope who has extensive experience with UAPs while working for the British Ministry of Defense, Grusch’s account is “very significant.” Pope goes on to say:

‘It’s one thing to have stories on the conspiracy blogs, but this takes it to the next level, with genuine insiders coming forward,’ Pope said.” He continues:

“‘When these people make these formal complaints, they do so on the understanding that if they’ve knowingly made a false statement, they are liable to a fairly hefty fine, and/or prison.

‘People say: “Oh, people make up stories all the time.” But I think it’s very different to go before Congress and go to the intelligence community inspector general and do that. Because there will be consequences if it emerges that this is not true.”

These are all familiar, almost worn out themes: Government conspiracies, alien autopsies, cover-ups, Hanger 18, Area 51, etc. But as someone who has been following UFO’s for sixty years, I can see a growing salience that has never occured before.

There are strong, bi-partisan advocates in the U.S. Senate interested in knowing what is “out there.” Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand are pushing ahead in this area. Senator Mark Warner would be another. The number of UAP sightings reported by members of the U.S. armed services is positively surging in recent years.

Since Kenneth Arnold first saw unusual objects on June 24, 1947 while flying near Mount Rainier, the subject of UFO’s or UAP’s as they are now called has been quietly simmering in a pot. The U.S. Air Force investigated these objects to the best of their abilities for the better part of a century, and I’ve personally been to the Pentagon in 1966 and have met with the program director informally. Most of these cases were easily explained: Hoaxsters throwing hubcaps in the air, weather balloons such as what the Chinese sent over the U.S. earlier this year and maybe even party balloons. Planets, stars, conventional aircraft, unconventional weather conditions all account for most of the reports over the years. Most of the observers were ordinary people, drunk or sober, children or adults, educated or not. President Eisenhower was quoted though as saying these people were by and large “credible witnesses of relatively incredible things.” Now we have highly trained, college graduates flying high performance aircraft in restricted areas reporting that they are encountering objects that they cannot keep up with. So the kettle is no longer simmering, but starting to boil.

I sense both resignation and anticipation among individuals involved in collecting data and I never sensed this before. I’m not saying there are “little green men” running amuck (expect for Russian soldiers in Ukraine, perhaps.) Nor do I expect Michael Rennie to land in Lafayette Park next Sunday. Maybe these are just surveillance machines like our Predators and Reapers. But our “Top Guns” in the Navy readily admit that they can’t match what they are seeing, and that should be a concern to us all.

Vetting David Charles Grusch et al. (added June 13, 2023)

Here is some in depth information about the complainant David Grusch and the major players that may appear before Congress when the House begins UAP hearings (Date TBA in the next few weeks.) However, news continues to perculate. According to Austin Hacker, a spokesperson for the House Oversight Committeeas reported by The Guardian:

“In addition to recent claims by a whistleblower, reports continue to surface regarding unidentified aerial phenomena. The House oversight committee is following these UAP reports and is in the early stages of planning a hearing.”

Continuing, the committe spokesman remarked:

“Congressman Burchett’s office is working through logistics, including a witness list of the most credible witnesses and sources who would be able to speak openly at an unclassified hearing . . .”

According to The Guardian: “Tim Burchett and Anna Paulina Luna, Republican members of Congress from Florida and Tennessee, respectively, will lead the oversight committee investigation.

Previous post continued (June 13, 2023)

I’m becoming a bit uncomfortable here with additional revelations from David Charles Grusch. I could accept the hypothesis of some sort of surveillance drones from elsewhere in the galaxy or from another dimension or time period, possibly even a “manned” craft discovered. But Grusch is now speaking out about different alien races that humans have met, both benign and hostile races, a space craft that crashed over Italy before World War II and in Benito Mussolini’s possession until his death. We’re being told the Vatican has known about this for the better part of a century. So, the plot is definitely thickening, but I’m getting the feeling that absent any actual proof, we’re all on thin ice at the moment and the ice is beginning to crack. Professor Avi Loeb agrees:

“Therefore, as much as Grusch’s report is intriguing, it does not carry credible scientific evidence irrespective of the comments about Grusch’s reliability. What we wish to see as scientists is the actual materials or data collected by the government. Without access to the evidence, we cannot distinguish Grusch’s report from a hypothetical story which was fabricated by a secret branch of government that is developing unusual technological capabilities while assigning them to an extraterrestrial origin.”

I’m trying to reconcile in my mind the description of Grusch as a true American hero and a pillar of honesty and integrity with a tale that reads like a plot out of a Heinlein novel. Help me, Mulder!