The pending UAP report raises vital questions about what is happening in our skies and the organization and performance of the U.S. intelligence community. Here are some questions I propose for those in Congress charged with protecting the country and overseeing the Intelligence Community:
1. Why did awareness of the UAP phenomenon have to come from private citizens outside the government devoting several years of their lives to bringing this issue to the attention of the American people and their government? What does this stunning intelligence failure tell us about the U.S. Intelligence Community? How is it possible that these intrusions could continue for years without notice by any senior government officials or even NORAD? What other strategic issues are the intelligence community failing to report due to potential controversy or stigma?
2. Reportedly, the classified report contains only about 120 incidents. How is that reconciled with the fact that NORAD alone has hundreds of flight tracks per annum it cannot identify?
3. Recently, former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe revealed they had been briefed on mysterious UAP incidents. Are these incidents accounted for in the report? What about the incident involving a UAP emerging from the ocean mentioned in public by former Navy CNO Admiral Gary Roughead?
4. We’ve already lost years we might have been using to understand the phenomenon. What are the risks and potential consequences of our continuing inability to identify the capability and intent of those operating these vehicles?
5. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) asked for a comprehensive review of all U.S. intelligence by functional categories (SIGINT, HUMINT, MASINT, etc.) Which collection disciplines provided useful data and how will the committees determine whether organizations like the CIA were truly forthcoming if they reported no pertinent HUMINT?
6. Thus far, all the leaked data has involved tactical data from ships and planes. Why should we assume that should remain our focus when we have vastly more powerful radars such as the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System that cover vast regions? Is it really plausible that planes and ships are having recurring incidents but these large systems covering vast areas have not identified anything over long periods of time?
7. We know that many radar warning systems automatically and deliberately suppress the presentation of data that does not meet known vehicle profiles (e.g. cruise missiles, bombers, ICBMs) in order to reduce screen clutter. How do we know then that systems like BMEWS do not have numerous unreported UAP collection events in their databases? How hard would it be for the contractors managing these systems to search these databases to determine whether significant events may have been collected but not displayed?
8. We know indisputably from documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act that there have been numerous UAP intrusions at U.S. ICBM and strategic bomber bases and nuclear production facilities (e.g. Hanford and Oak Ridge etc.). How many such incidents does the classified report reveal? If it doesn't reveal any, how credible is that conclusion?
9. AATIP research reportedly identified a pattern of UAP activity near nuclear weapons facilities. It would not be difficult as well to check civilian databases held by the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) and the National UFO Reporting Center to determine whether there is an unusual amount of UAP activity near major military bases. Has the task force updated AATIPs work and, if so, did they find a pattern of unusual UAP activity in near nuclear facilities as well?
10. NORAD personnel and FOIA records indicate numerous extraordinary events involving UAPs over North America. Many of these incidents led to fighters being scrambled to try to intercept these objects. How many such events were in the report? If few or none, how credible is the data supplied? My interview with Col. Jim Cobb (USAF-Ret) on the investigative TV Show “Unidentified” describes one of many such encounters
11. Have any allies been approached and asked to share or exchange data? Our best allies, countries like Britain and Canada that we already have trusted relationships and extensive intelligence sharing with (FVEY), are among those it seems we might be able to have a profitable exchange.
12. Which services and commands reported incidents? I know from numerous pilot interviews that at least some East Coast carrier groups continued to have incidents after deploying to the Middle East. Did CENTCOM or INDOPACOM contribute? What about the USAF? AWACs aircraft personnel have shared stories as have USAF fighter pilots, control tower operators, security officers, and others, including individuals like former astronaut Gordon Cooper. If the USAF had little to report is that because USAF culture deters UAP reporting? It would be interesting to poll USAF pilots and compare the results with the information supplied by the USAF.
13. How many if any incidents were there of on-orbit UAPs or UAPs rising to or descending from orbit?
14. Which sensor systems proved most useful and what does that tell us about ways we can improve UAP collection going forward?
15. At least one retired officer from the USAF Office of Special Investigations (OSI), Richard Doty, claims that the USAF is secretly investigating UAPs and indeed is working on reverse-engineering recovered vehicles. Has the UAP TF reviewed OSI’s files? Has Congress or the UAP TF talked to Mr. Doty? If not, why not?
16. A number of former USAF officers involved in UAP incidents report they were debriefed by OSI and required to sign NDAs. An example occurred near Stephensville TX in 2008. FAA radar and 30 civilian witnesses reported a huge UAP but when two USAF F-16 pilots who attempted to intercept the object were later interviewed they told cleared AATIP investigators they could not discuss the issue because they signed USAF NDAs. A thorough review of OSI’s UAP files and all USAF UAP NDA’s should be the top priority for Congress and the UAP TF.
17. Richard Doty, formerly of USAF OSI, claims OSI spied on civilian UAP researchers, even breaking and entering homes and feeding them disinformation. One of the prominent targets, Paul Bennewitz, a resident of Arizona, became unstable and eventually committed suicide. Are these activities not plainly unlawful? Why has the DoD Civilian Oversight Official or Congress not investigated?