On Dec. 1 Congressman Tim Burchette (R-TN) addressed the House demanding transparency concerning what the government knows about unidentified flying objects (UFO).
“Last summer’s UFO report, Mr. Speaker, from the Director of National Intelligence, was bogus. The report raised more questions than answers about unidentified objects in the skies,” Burchett said, referring to a highly anticipated report that was released last summer, with the Congressman adding that the report “stunk of a government cover-up.”
The report was a requirement of an obscure addendum accompanying the Intelligence Authorization Act (IAA) for Fiscal Year 2021, that former President Donald Trump signed into law in 2020.
The report was intended to provide “an overview for policymakers of the challenges associated with characterizing the potential threat posed by UAP while also providing a means to develop relevant processes, policies, technologies, and training for the U.S. military and other U.S. Government (USG) personnel if and when they encounter UAP…”
Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group
Recently, the Pentagon announced the establishment of a new office to study the phenomena named the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG).
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The establishment of this group has been met with considerable criticism with many claiming the office will do more to cover up the phenomena than provide transparency. On Nov. 26, Burchette tweeted, “I don’t trust the Pentagon ” following the announcement of the Pentagon’s new office.
“Now, the Pentagon is starting a new office to collect information on these unidentified objects…I do not trust this new office, Mr. Speaker. I don’t think it’ll be transparent,” Burchett said on the House floor, adding that “This is a national security issue. Congress needs to know what is going on so we can respond accordingly.”
In a letter dated Dec. 1, to the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security, Ronald S. Moultrie, Burchett asserts that the “American people deserve to know whether we are alone in our galaxy,” adding that, “It is incredibly problematic that we still do not know if these UAPs are simply airborne clutter, advanced adversarial systems, or even advanced technologies not of this world,” the Congressman said using the official government term for UFOs, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP).
Burchett ended his letter by requesting that Members of Congress be briefed “on their [AOIMSG] findings in a classified setting followed by a public hearing before the relevant committees.”
The Gillibrand Amendment
Burchett’s demands follows Senator Kristen Gillibrand’s (D-NY) proposed amendment to the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA, H.R. 4350) which she submitted on Nov. 4 requiring “the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community to create new institutional arrangements and dedicate substantial resources to investigating and analyzing UAP, and draw on UAP-related expertise from outside the government.”
The Gillibrand Amendment also seeks to establish an “Aerial and Transmedium Phenomena Advisory Committee.” The committee would have no policy-making power however would submit an annual report to the Department of National Intelligence (DNI), Secretary of Defense and the Director of the ASRO among other things.
The use of the term “transmedium” has the UFO community buzzing. Video footage, of an unidentified object, splashing down into the ocean, was declassified and released earlier this year demonstrating that some UAP appear to be able to traverse earth’s atmosphere, including it’s oceans, with ease.
The video, released by filmmaker Jermey Corbell on May 14, was recorded by the U.S. military in July 2019 near San Diego. The thermal footage appears to show a spherical object hovering above the water before suddenly disappearing into the ocean. Armed forces searched for wreckage however none were recovered.
Gillibrand’s amendment may be the catalyst for a bipartisan set of lawmakers to take action to foster a unified environment where a well-resourced government entity can address the perplexing problem of unidentified aerial phenomena.
