Pentagon Group to 'Mitigate' UFO Threats

Critic argues investigative body will only 'maintain UAP/UFO secrecy'
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 25, 2021 9:50 AM CST
Pentagon Group to 'Mitigate' UFO Threats
Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks takes a question from a reporter during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, on Sept. 22, 2021.   (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

There's a new team of experts patrolling the skies for UFOs. The Pentagon on Tuesday announced the creation of a new body to investigate unidentified flying objects, now labeled "unidentified aerial phenomena," after a federal government report published in June failed to explain 143 of 144 sightings since 2004, most recorded by Navy pilots. The Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group will "synchronize" government efforts to "detect, identify, and attribute objects of interests in [special use airspace], and to assess, and as appropriate, mitigate any associated threats to safety of flight and national security," Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks wrote in a Tuesday memo.

Hicks had promised to "establish procedures to synchronize collection, reporting and analysis on the UAP problem set, and to establish recommendations for securing military test and training ranges" and other areas falling under special use airspace following the release of the government report in June, per USA Today. The document didn't rule out that aliens were behind the incidents, but also raised the possibility of advanced earthly technology, per the BBC. It noted "some UAP appeared to remain stationary in winds aloft, move against the wind, maneuver abruptly, or move at considerable speed, without discernible means of propulsion."

The new group, overseen by Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (USDI) Ronald Moultrie, will succeed the Navy's UAP Task Force created last year, per USA Today. But whether it will lead to more publicly available data on UFOs remains a matter of debate. In a series of tweets, Luis Elizondo, who previously led the Defense Department's Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, said this was a likely strategy to "maintain UAP/UFO secrecy" with no "requirement to provide unclassified findings to Congress, or work with our international partners." He also claimed the office of the USDI "has underplayed and tried to kill the UAP effort for years," while lying to the public and persecuting whistleblowers. (More UFOs stories.)

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