Hi all — Some of you may recall that I used to cover the Pentagon as a defense and national security reporter, first for the Boston Globe and more recently for Politico. I’m now an Advisor to Americans for Safe Aerospace because I believe this kind of organization is key to getting more answers and more transparency surrounding UAP.

Along with Ryan and many of you, I tuned into this morning’s U.S. Senate Armed Services’ Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee hearing featuring the testimony from Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, Director of the Pentagon’s All Domain Anomaly Resolution Office.

Here are a few of my thoughts and reactions -

To start, I want to applaud Senators Gillibrand and Ernst for convening today’s session and for pledging to keep up the pressure, including raising the possibility of additional legislation this year, to ensure UAP are being given the attention they deserve.

1. Advanced UAP are a global phenomenon that present significant safety and national security challenges

: The data shared by AARO reveals that UAP events are occurring in all US operational zones and hundreds of these events cannot be explained. If UAP are foreign in origin, then we need continued pressure and action from Congress to prioritize UAP response as an urgent matter of national security. In cases of advanced UAP demonstrating behavioral characteristics we cannot explain, we need to invest in scientific research to understand the phenomena.

2. Pilot accounts are being taken seriously:

 Senators on the Armed Services Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee demonstrated that they believe the firsthand accounts of military pilots who have witnessed UAP and are taking this qualitative data seriously. The fact that the military is now requiring mandatory reporting of UAP underlines the safety risk posed by UAP and is a positive step to collect the data we need and destigmatize the issue.

3. Progress despite inadequate resourcing & authority:

 It is clear from Dr. Kirkpatrick’s testimony that AARO is making steady progress in collecting and analyzing data on UAP, and that it is adhering to the scientific method to determine their capabilities and origins, whatever they might be. But it is also clear it still does not have the authorities or resources it needs and that the level of information-sharing by military and intelligence agencies remains woefully inadequate. As Dr. Kirkpatrick acknowledged, “it has been happenstance that data has been collected.”

 Civilian and military leaders must mandate that all relevant national security components share with AARO reports, sensor data and other evidence on all UAP activity on a regular basis – and that the office has sufficient personnel and budgets to properly analyze it.

: Airlines and other commercial aviation safety authorities are relatively silent compared to their military counterparts. While the military is now requiring mandatory force wide reporting, commercial authorities have yet to acknowledge the problem of UAP to their pilots and the potential risk to commercial air safety.

 The Biden administration must follow the Fiscal 2022 National Defense Authorization Act and approve AARO’s plans to establish a formal mechanism for current and former personnel to come forward with information about any previous UAP-related activities without fear of reprisal. The fact that AARO is almost exclusively relying on Congress for referrals, as Dr. Kirkpatrick testified, is unacceptable.

: Americans deserve broader transparency into UAP data, especially since taxpayers are footing the bill for the government’s response. The Biden Administration owes the public an explanation into the unprecedented UAP shoot-downs that took place in February and continued dialogue about risks and mitigation efforts.

Overall, the public demands that our government know what’s in our skies and have the procedures in place to protect our airspace when necessary. For too long, UAP have either been ridiculed or ignored. The effort to change that is still in its early stages and many obstacles stand in the way of addressing this glaring national security blindspot.

Key Takeaways from April 19, 2023's U.S. Senate UAP Hearing