Government releases UAP report - admit UAPs pose a threat to safety of flight but doesn't know what they can do about it.

As I read the un-classified executive summary one paragraph really jumped out at me: "UAP clearly pose a safety of flight issue and may pose a challenge to U.S. National Security.

As expected I really didn't expect any earth-shaking revelations from the report, but I didn't expect the admission (by the U.S. Government) that they really aren't in control of the airspace (that is on any given day) is filled with commuters, private pilots, civil pilots, military aviators and families flying to "Cabo" on vacation.

That said, what will the FAA and NTSB do if some day a UAP causes a disaster of epic proportions, knocking a jetliner filled with humans out of the sky?

That's what's sensational about this report. As always, the first step in solving a problem is admitting the problem exists. UAP s (or UFOs as they used to be called) do share our friendly skies and now that the report is out we have to deal with them. The authors of the report offer few solutions other than continuing to document the phenomena and collating data.

If tradition serves, this collection of data will be both classified and undertaken by agencies who do not have to report their findings to the public, such as the DIA, FBI,NRO,NSA, USAF, Us Navy/ONI National Counterintelligence and Security Center and the ODNI/National Intelligence Council as stated in the report. UAPs still carry the stink of UFOs and it's doubtful that solving the mystery of what they are won't be a top priority except if certain things happen (and have) such as sightings near nuclear ICBM sites, nuclear reactor sites, Air Defense Zones, nuclear powered aircraft carriers, restricted military air space (and in the worst case scenario) and coming close and endangering or causing havoc in commercial flight and trade lanes.

Maybe we can help .. 

If we (the public) really want to figure out what's going on in our skies it's time to get serious and educate ourselves. I suggest a civilian network similar to the ambitious but now dormant SETI AT HOME project. of trained investigators who can invest and use the proper high resolution and long lensed video equipment, who are more than familiar with flight tracking apps, aviation communications monitoring, aviation flight paths, military operation areas, military flight-test air space, air refueling tracks and becoming expert in identifying all civil and military aircraft types.

Armed with that knowledge the data should be logged, publicly shared, logically investigated, inviting critique critically analyzed, and most of all looking for patterns in the sightings.

It is only when we apply the techniques used by intelligence agencies and federal agencies will we begin to start to understand what these UAPS are.

So here's the methodology I use when there is a UAP sighting or report.

1. Rule out civil and military aviation flying in the area of the sighting by going to sites like FlightRadar 24 or ADS-B Exchange.

2. Take screen shots of anything flying in the sighting area at the time.

Log the time of the sighting and then look in the LiveATC archives for any communications recorded concerning the sighting from civil or military aircraft talking to air traffic control.

Download and archive the online recordings or (with a minimum investment) buy and learn to use a scanning receiver that can receive all the aviation bands including the military UHF military bands.

Set up your own around the clock recording system using a decent scanner, a good antenna and a program like Sound Studio or Audacity. You can find the frequencies) both for civil and military aviation) listed on Live ATC.

#3.Check to see if the sighting is near any military, government or nuclear facility by looking at aviation airspace maps. Familiarize yourself with your airspace, flight patterns and scheduled balloon launches including by your local weather service.

4. Photographers - invest in a good (at least 4k quality) camera with a good long lens. It doesn't have to be mega-expensive and can be entry level. I suggest a Nikon P1000 ( that has a permanently attached amazing 24mm to 3000mm zoom lens) which can be had for under $1,000 US or a Panasonic FZ-1000 that has a 24 to 600mm lens for under $700.

Invest in a tripod or learn how to use image stabilization while hand holding the camera. Don't expect to be a video professional straight out of the gate. Practice shooting by video taping aircraft flying by. Learn to use it and your image processing software.

5. Last but not least - eliminate the obvious before you publish your reports. Credibility is key. If you know how to shoot and how to document without prejudice "It has to be aliens" you've taken the first steps into establishing yourself as a serious UAP investigator. Share your data with the government AND the media. Last thing we need is a bunch of junk data muddying the waters.

6: Don't believe your own eyes or ears (until you've done a thorough investigation on your own) and have had other more critical and educated eyes look at the data.

7: Foremost - don't post anonymously. Video that is anonymous is usually fake video. If you shot it, researched it, vetted it then stand behind it and take credit for it.

In conclusion if there is a concerted effort, a shareable public (and vetted) public database that can be sifted through and mined to help define what UAPS are (and what they are doing up there) it will have to come from those of us who are really motivated to keep watching the skies.

- Steve Douglass

webbfeat@gmail.com

Government UAP un-classifed report is lacking ..

 

USA TODAY

A highly anticipated government report on unidentified aerial phenomena in American airspace was released Friday afternoon – and it's not as illuminating as some may have hoped. 

The report failed to offer firm explanations for many of the questions that raised the report's profile in the first place, such as whether unidentified flying objects, or UFOs, pose a national security threat or whether they offer evidence of extraterrestrial life. 

"Today’s rather inconclusive report only marks the beginning of efforts to understand and illuminate what is causing these risks to aviation in many areas around the country and the world,” said Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

The report, compiled by top intelligence and military officials, was commissioned by Congress after the Pentagon released three short videos in April 2020 depicting unidentified aerial phenomena. It was released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Congress has increasingly begun taking these sightings more seriously.

“For years, the men and women we trust to defend our country reported encounters with unidentified aircraft that had superior capabilities, and for years their concerns were often ignored and ridiculed,” said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., vice chairman of the Senate committee. “This report is an important first step in cataloging these incidents, but it is just a first step.”

There have been 143 unexplainable reports of UFOs by U.S. government sources since 2004, and of those, 18 incidents – outlined in 21 reports – described unusual movement patterns or flight characteristics. 

"Some UAP appeared to remain stationary in winds aloft, move against the wind, maneuver abruptly, or move at considerable speed, without discernable means of propulsion," the report reads. "In a small number of cases, military aircraft systems processed radio frequency (RF) energy associated with UAP sightings."

The report also says that the sightings "tended to cluster" around U.S. training and testing sites, but they determined this is likely due to greater focus in those areas. 

2. Is national security threatened by their presence?

The report determined that the UFOs are a threat to flight safety, but their threat to national security is unknown. 

The task force has documentation of 11 instances in which pilots reported "near misses" with unidentified aerial phenomena, according to the report. Regarding national security, data is too sparse to indicate whether the UAPs belong to foreign adversaries. 

3. How many reports of UFO sightings didn't make the cut?

There was no standardized way to report the sighting of a UFO until March 2019, when the Navy established one, and the Air Force only adopted it in November 2020, according to the report. 

"The UAPTF (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force) regularly heard anecdotally during its research about other observations that occurred but which were never captured in formal or informal reporting by those observers," the report reads.

4. How have we studied these phenomena in the past?

According to the report, there are a number of obstacles that stand in the way of collecting information on UAPs, like social and cultural stigmas and sensor limitations. 

"Narratives from aviators in the operational community and analysts from the military and IC (Intelligence Community) describe disparagement associated with observing UAP, reporting it, or attempting to discuss it with colleagues," the report reads.

Some of the sensor limitations include the fact that they're designed to fulfill specific duties and may not be positioned well enough to distinguish the unknown objects from the known ones. 

Because of the lack of cohesive data, it's unclear how the UFOs were studied in the past. 

5. What are the next steps to fill in these gaps?

The report goes into some detail regarding the type of changes that will need to take place to effectively explain the unexplained objects, but the specifics of what will change are still fuzzy. 

Three key buckets of change needed to better study UFOs are listed in the report: standardizing reporting, consolidating data and deepening analysis; expanding the collection of data; and increasing investment in research and development. 

The UAP Task Force is already developing interagency "analytical and processing workflows" to ensure informed, coordinated collection and analysis of the data, according to the report. 

US Government on UAPs: They aren't U.S. black projects but can't rule out E.T. or China?

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — 

by: NOMAAN MERCHANT and ROBERT BURNS, Associated Press

Posted: Jun 4, 2021 / 09:45 AM CDT / Updated: Jun 4, 2021 / 04:08 PM CDT

Whatever or whoever they are, they’re still out there. U.S. intelligence is after them, but its upcoming report won’t deliver any full or final truth about UFOs.

The tantalizing prospect of top government intel finally weighing in — after decades of conspiracy theories, TV shows, movies and winking jokes by presidents — will instead yield a more mundane reality that’s not likely to change many minds on any side of the issue.

Investigators have found no evidence the sightings are linked to aliens — but can’t deny a link either. Two officials briefed on the report due to Congress later this month say the U.S. government cannot give a definitive explanation of aerial phenomena spotted by military pilots.

The report also doesn’t rule out that what pilots have seen may be new technologies developed by other countries. One of the officials said there is no indication the unexplained phenomena are from secret U.S. programs.

The officials were not authorized to discuss the information publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Findings of the report were first published by The New York Times.

The report examines multiple unexplained sightings from recent years that in some cases have been captured on video of pilots exclaiming about objects flying in front of them.

Congress in December required the Director of National Intelligence to summarize and report on the U.S. government’s knowledge of unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs — better known to the public as unidentified flying objects or UFOs. The effort has included a Defense Department UAP task force established last year. The expected public release of an unclassified version of the report this month will amount to a status report, not the final word, according to one official.

A Pentagon spokeswoman, Sue Gough, declined Friday to comment on news stories about the intelligence report. She said the Pentagon’s UAP task force is “actively working with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on the report, and DNI will provide the findings to Congress.” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, when asked about the report, said of the question at first, “It’s always a little wacky on Fridays.” But she added, “I will say that we take reports of incursions into our airspace by any aircraft — identified or unidentified — very seriously and investigate each one.”

The Pentagon and Central Intelligence Agency have for decades looked into reports of aircraft or other objects in the sky flying at inexplicable speeds or trajectories.

The U.S. government takes unidentified aerial phenomena seriously given the potential national security risk of an adversary flying novel technology over a military base or another sensitive site, or the prospect of a Russian or Chinese development exceeding current U.S. capabilities. This also is seen by the U.S. military as a security and safety issue, given that in many cases the pilots who reported seeing unexplained aerial phenomena were conducting combat training flights.

The report’s lack of firm conclusions will likely disappoint people anticipating the report, given many Americans’ long-standing fascination with UFOs and the prospect of aliens having reached humankind. A recent story on CBS’ “60 Minutes” further bolstered interest in the government report.

Luis Elizondo, former head of the Pentagon’s Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, said the one official’s claim that there was no indicated link to secret U.S. programs would be significant. But he called on the government to be fully transparent.

“I think that our tax dollars paid for information and data involving UFOs,” Elizondo said. “And I think it is the U.S. government’s obligation to provide those results to the American people.”

But skeptics caution that the videos and reported sightings have plausible Earth-bound explanations. Mick West, an author, investigator, and longtime skeptic of UFO sightings, said he supported the military looking into any possible incursion of U.S. airspace, especially by an adversary.

“People are conflating this issue with the idea that these UFOs demonstrate amazing physics and possibly even aliens,” West said. “The idea that this is some kind of secret warp drive or it’s defying physics as we know it, there really isn’t any good evidence for that.”

The Pentagon last year announced a task force to investigate the issue, and the Navy in recent years created a protocol for its pilots to report any possible sightings. And lawmakers in recent years have pushed for more public disclosure.

“There’s a stigma on Capitol Hill,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told “60 Minutes” in May. “I mean, some of my colleagues are very interested in this topic and some kind of, you know, giggle when you bring it up. But I don’t think we can allow the stigma to keep us from having an answer to a very fundamental question.”