Proposed Federal Policy to Address Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP)
Unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), more commonly known to the public as unidentified flying objects (UFOs), are a category of airborne objects in the sky that observers, often trained military pilots, cannot identify. Empirical data collected by the U.S. intelligence community indicates puzzling phenomena have been tracked for decades, beginning with the 1,600-plus unknowns catalogued by the U.S. Air Force’s Project Blue Book in the 1960s, some of which had radar and satellite observations alongside witness reports. Incursions in restricted airspace continue today, during the radar-visual “USS Nimitz encounter” in 2004 and the “USS Roosevelt encounters” in 2015. In both cases, U.S. Navy pilots reported near-misses with objects that displayed behavior and surface characteristics not consistent with known aerospace technology.
UFOs are now admitted to be a real categorization of airborne objects, as stated in a press release from the U.S. Department of Defense in 2020. They present enough of a national security issue that they deserve to be thoroughly studied, a responsibility given to the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF) by the Senate Intelligence Committee last year. But this task force is only temporary — the American public deserves a long-term commitment to discover the truth behind these objects, how they operate, what they are, where they are from, and what their intent is. These are justifiable questions that will likely lead to advancements in various scientific disciplines.
Therefore, UFOPAC will advocate for four main policy objectives to achieve a goal of transparency for the American people: One, call on specific congressional committees to take testimony during public hearings with relevant whistleblowers, military witnesses, key scientists, defense officials and military contractors. Two, create a national laboratory where federal resources are pooled to study the phenomena, analyze existing data and gather new observations, and collaborate across multiple disciplines in academia, including quantum physics, photonics, astrophysics, and biology. Three, utilize the information learned and create a national repository where the American public is regularly informed and educated about advancements in the understanding of this issue. And four, call for international cooperation to work with nations around the world to study UAP in a peaceful, diplomatic manner. By doing this, we can move closer to our overall goal of understanding what UAP are, and if there are societal benefits to be gleaned from the study of them.
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I. Call Upon Congress to Hold Open Congressional Hearings With UAP-Expert Testimony
Congressional committee hearings are time devoted to obtaining information and opinions from experts in a given field to understand an issue and create appropriate legislation for said issue. These hearings, as they pertain to the study of UAP,1 would be useful in two ways: One, since we are advocating for open hearings, they will be broadcast live to the American people. Two, information obtained by members of Congress in these hearings2 would be vital in supporting the next two phases of our policy goals—creating a national laboratory and repository—as it would give Congress the tools necessary to build a lasting foundation for these new organizations.
To most efficiently obtain what information on the UAP issue is in possession by the U.S. government and its contractors, congressional hearings should be broken up by specialized congressional committees, with congresspersons who focus on certain fields of interest. In the House of Representatives, the Armed Services Committee; the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology should have priority in executing these hearings. In the Senate, the Committee on Armed Services and the Select Committee on Intelligence should do the same. UFOPAC chose these committees because of their relevance and the precedent that the federal government set when assigning these committees (excluding the SS&T committee) to receive the June 25 UAP report.3
While who exactly should be sworn in for testimony at these hearings will be determined by the committees themselves, UFOPAC believes that individuals from the following four categories would be most ideal: 1. Military / Pentagon Officials who have witnessed UAP; 2. Heads of Departments / Task Forces; 3. Journalists / Investigators; 4. Other alleged eyewitnesses.
The list below indicates just some of the many individuals who should testify in front of Congress:
1. Military / Pentagon Officials
David Fravor, Jim Slaight, Alex Dietrich, Ryan Graves
2. Heads of Departments / Task Forces
Christopher Mellon, John Ratcliffe, Luis Elizondo, John Brennan, James Clapper, R. James Woolsey
3. Journalists / Investigators
Leslie Kean, George Knapp
4. Other eyewitnesses
II. The Creation of a New National Laboratory to Study UAP
National laboratories are established to solve some of the world’s “greatest scientific challenges,'' using technology to protect national security, incubate new industries, and strengthen U.S. leadership in science and innovation.4 UAP are one of the world’s greatest scientific mysteries, and understanding how these objects operate and where they come from not only satisfies overwhelming curiosity but may also lead to monumental innovation that could change the world. Approximately $12 billion is devoted to National Laboratory funding per year ($5.4 billion for non-weapon funding), which yields around 1,500 inventions and 700 patents per year.5 The rate of return of innovation would surely see a massive increase with the study of UAP if the country’s brightest minds can harness their technology. Top military experts cannot explain how these objects accelerate, change direction, and seemingly appear and disappear, all without any apparent means of propulsion. Answering these questions is certainly not an easy task, but it holds substantial promise if successfully undertaken. It is therefore of the utmost importance that financial and technological resources are devoted to this mission, just as it would be for any other scientific endeavor.
The federal government already has resources in its inventory that could aid in the advancement of our understanding of UAP. The list below identifies six collection systems and three databases that were identified by Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Christopher Mellon and demonstrates how they can be used to aid in study of the phenomena:
Collection Systems
1. The Global Infrasound Acoustic Monitoring Network
-60 stations in 35 countries that have the ability to detect and track objects passing through the atmosphere. Reportedly has unintentionally tracked UAP while conducting unrelated experiments.
2. The U.S. Space Surveillance Network
-29 worldwide surveillance systems that can detect a “basketball-sized object 22,000 miles away.”
-Can rapidly scan large regions of space and monitor fast-moving objects.
3. The Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS)
-Network of satellites that provide continuous coverage of infrared sources.
-Has already detected objects that have entered earth’s atmosphere but move in peculiar manners.
4. Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA radars)
-Ability to track low-radar, cross-section UAP over large areas, equipped in aircrafts.
5. Aegis
-Ability to track low-radar, cross-section UAP over large areas, equipped in ships.
-Collected UAP data in 2004, deploying to east-coast UAP “hot-spots” may be valuable.
6. Joint Surveillance System
-Long-range radar system tied to NORAD database.
Databases
1. NORAD
-Contains a database “Unknown Track Reporting System,” which could be important in assessing UAP: dates, sites, and aircrafts that observed “unknown tracks.”
2. Air Traffic Controllers
-Airspace management (airports, alert centers, etc.)
-Alerts NORAD of unknown tracks.
3. OPREP-3 Reports
-Aerospace defense reporting used by all branches of the military.
-Records of UAP over nuclear sites.
By utilizing these existing federal resources to examine UAP a scientific baseline can be established in a cost-effective manner that supports further study, and participation from various academic disciplines. It is possible that study of UAP may answer more than UAP-specific questions as well — discoveries in the realms of quantum physics, aeronautics and electronics may await if more serious public resources are devoted to the issue.
III. The Creation of a National, Unclassified Repository of UAP Data
Once a means of obtaining information (as outlined in sections II and III) is present, it is necessary to store this information on a platform that is not only unclassified but also easily accessible to the American public. Government repositories serve as a centralized place to store data and information, comprising a network of databases, and are overseen by personnel to ensure the longevity of the data being stored. Once a vast amount of UAP information is7 collected, government officials, the academic community, and the American public will be able to go through it and draw their own conclusions, ideally accessing patterns and findings that would otherwise have taken much longer to reach. Additionally, having a government owned-and-operated repository would ensure that UFO-related conspiracies and misinformation do not pollute academic study and mainstream knowledge of the subject. A lack of centralized, verified repository in the past has led to a vacuum of reliable data, disincentivizing serious study and empowering conspiracy theorists. A repository would ensure that information is verified and factual for further study.
Those interested can already read UFO-related information on government websites such as CIA.gov and NSA.gov, but the data is sparse, unorganized and devoid of key data points that accompany some events, like radar, sonar and satellite observations. The type of repository for which UFOPAC is advocating would contain first-hand records of military sightings, verified footage and radar from those sightings, witness testimony, biological effects and other government findings. Public opinion is crucial in the advocacy of UAP transparency, as it drives and puts pressure on government action. Additionally, public salience is crucial in this battle as well; the American public must want answers to these unexplained phenomena, and the best way to increase this push is by showing them directly what is out there in the most easy-to-read way possible. Since the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Department of Defense have delivered a UAP Task Force report to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, those8 departments would most likely take the lead in publishing their findings in the repository. However, once more information develops through congressional hearings and the called-upon national laboratory, more information would be uploaded to the database. Having this information—especially the parts that would otherwise be classified—shifts public salience, causes a cycle of more and more information to be developed, and leads to higher overall government transparency in the discussion of unidentified aerial phenomena.
IV. Call Upon International Cooperation to Assess the UAP Phenomena
The emergence of technological capabilities more advanced than modern human society could understand is not just an issue for the United States but for the entire world as well. The U.S. has two options for dealing with this on the international stage—promoting cooperation or participating in competition. UFOPAC will advocate for international cooperation through the use of diplomacy to work with our allies and adversaries to come to an international understanding of how the UAP phenomena can further benefit and unite mankind instead of being yet another issue that divides the world.
There are several reasons that it is in the best interest of the United States to work with international partners to better understand UAP. One reason is to use international intelligence institutions to ensure that the U.S. and its allies have the same information on the subject and can coordinate their responses. By working with other countries, ideally, information can be obtained not only to get a better picture of what these objects are but also to better understand what these objects are not. One means of intelligence sharing could be through the Five Eyes Intelligence Oversight and Review Council (FIORC), which is an intelligence alliance between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.K., and the U.S., where the five nations exchange views on subjects of “mutual interest and concern,” compare practices in oversight and review, encourage transparency to promote public trust, and maintain contact with political offices and non-Five Eyes countries. An institution such as the FIORC provides the perfect9 infrastructure for the study of UAP internationally. Additionally, by communicating with not just our allies but also with adversaries such as Russia or China, the end goal is to determine whether they built and operated these crafts, as some theories suggest. Although this theory does seem unlikely when looking at how these crafts defy our understanding of physics and how long the government has been studying them (for more than 70 years), ruling this theory out would lead to even further discussion of how to proceed.
In addition to sharing intelligence, international cooperation can be useful for using diplomatic means to coordinate plans and responses to UAP and ensuring that nations are united on this subject and that any potential benefits gained through the study of UAP are equitable. For example, subcommittees of the United Nations such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the Subcommittee on Oceans and Coastal Areas (SOCA) can coordinate multilateral international responses to UAP. In addition, the United States10 Department of State should conduct bilateral diplomatic engagements with other nations to further promote goals related to UAP. This can be done within several existing offices, such as the Office of Science and Technology Cooperation (STC) and the Office of Space Affairs (SA). These institutions specialize in executing public diplomacy programs that11 promote the value of science to the public and strengthen innovation through scientific enterprises with the goal of fostering economic growth and advancing U.S. foreign policy priorities. By utilizing both multilateral and bilateral approaches to foreign diplomacy, the12 United States can ensure that other foreign states are on the same page in regards to addressing and studying UAP and that the U.S. can serve as a leader in the unified efforts of understanding this phenomenon.
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The conversation around and any attempt to formally study unidentified flying objects has been subject to ridicule for decades, partially because of a lack of transparency from the U.S. government, intelligence community and its contractors. What scattered information is declassified suggests repeated incursions into restricted military airspace have occurred near nuclear silos, in the upper atmosphere, near-Earth orbit and under the ocean and around the world. It is because of just a few government whistleblowers and journalists that the American public now understands these objects are real, and they are more advanced than known aerospace technology. Now, we must continue this push for transparency by enacting bold policies: calling on Congress to have open hearings, creating a national laboratory, developing a national repository, and calling for international cooperation. These ideas are just the starting point and the most basic policy platforms of UFOPAC, and as this issue progresses and more questions are answered, more comprehensive policies will become necessary. It is only with the continuous and consistent pushing of the U.S. government that potentially life-altering questions will be answered and the truth may finally be made public for the safety of the United States and the betterment of all mankind.
1 https://www.govinfo.gov/help/chrg
2ibid
3https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/05/17/ufo-report-include-unexplainable-sightings-former-official-says/5127064001/
4https://nationallabs.org/our-labs/where-we-are/
5https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/publicly-funded-national-labs-still-important-u-s-innovation/
6https://www.christophermellon.net/post/potential-sources-of-information-regarding-unidentified-aerial-phenomenon
7 https://www.usgs.gov/products/data-and-tools/data-management/repositories
8 https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/ufos-are-make-way-us-senate-know-rcna973 9https://www.dni.gov/index.php/ncsc-how-we-work/217-about/organization/icig-pages/2660-icig-fiorc
10https://www.un.org/Depts/los/Links/UN-links.htm
11 https://www.state.gov/policy-issues/science-technology-and-innovation/
12 ibid