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Defense Department: Our Actions Toward UFOs Could Be a National Security Threat

DoD IG releases UAP report (Picture from Canva)

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The Department of Defense has just released an unclassified report detailing the government’s approach to UAP sightings, and concluding the disorganized, uncomprehensive tactics could end up being a threat to the United States’ national security. The report comes shortly after the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community briefed select House members about UFO whistleblower David Grusch, noting that some of his claims were credible. 

Learn more about the report and read a full copy for yourself in this story below. 


DOD’s Actions ‘May Pose a Threat to Military Forces and National Security’

A press release about the unclassified report noted that Inspector General Robert P. Storch of the Department of Defense found “the DoD’s lack of a comprehensive, coordinated approach to address UAP may pose a threat to military forces and national security.” 

You can read the DoD’s press release from January 25, 2024, below. 

DoD IG press release
DoD IG press release

The inspector general released an unclassified version of the report after the classified version was released on August 15, 2023. The press release noted: “The DoD OIG found that the DoD does not have a comprehensive, coordinated approach to address UAP. For example, the DoD OIG determined that DoD Components developed varying processes to collect, analyze, and identify UAP incidents.”

The press release continues, noting: “the DoD OIG determined that the DoD has no overarching UAP policy and, as a result, it lacks assurance that national security and flight safety threats to the United States from UAP have been identified and mitigated.”

This seems particularly damning to AARO, which was set up to provide a place for UAP sightings to be reported and studied. And the timing is interesting, coming out shortly after former director Sean Kirkpatrick’s scathing op/ed in Scientific American where he basically said that “UFO conspiracy theorists” were driving unneeded congressional spending. 

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The report goes on to note that the DoD IG has made 11 recommendations to the director of AARO, Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. (Only 5 of these 11 were released in the unclassified report.) 

It’s interesting to note that the DoD’s findings seem to mirror what Lue Elizondo had said after resigning from AATIP. 


Read the Full Report

The unclassified version of the report can be read in full below. 

UAP IG Report Try 2 by Stephanie Dube Dwilson on Scribd

There are quite a few highlights in this 16-page report that are worth pointing out. First, the document gives the history of military-run studies of UAPs:

  • Dec. 1947-1949: Project Sign — Air Force run investigation of 243 UAP sightings
  • 1952 – 1969: Project Blue Book — Air Force run investigation of over 12,000 UAP sightings
  • 1969 – mid-2000: No “official” DoD investigation into UAPs
  • Mid-2000: AAWSAP (Advanced Aerospace Weapon Systems Applications) — Defense Intelligence Agency run program to study UAPs
  • No programs from AAWSAP until July 2022 to study UAPs “were ever fully implemented”
  • August 2020: UAPTF established by DoD to “develop standardized reporting requirements for UAP encounters” 
  • November 2021: Deputy Secretary of Defense directed OUSD(I&S) to establish AOIMSG (Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group) “as the successor to the UAPTF” to “synchronize efforts across the DoD and other Federal departments and agencies to detect, identify, and characterize objects of interest in special use airspace.” 
  • July 15, 2022: AOIMSG disestablished after not reaching “operational capacity” 
  • July 2022: DoD established AARO to implement duties previously assigned to AOIMSG. 

On page 5 of the PDF, the DoD IG notes that the DoD doesn’t have a “comprehensive, coordinated approach to address UAP” (despite the creation of AARO.) It goes on to note that the DoD never established a comprehensive response plan, and UAP responses are still limited to “each Military Department” which is “waiting for the DoD to issue comprehensive UAP guidance before developing their own…” 

The current UAP reporting systems also exclude “geographic combatant commands,” they note. 


The Report Issued 11 Recommendations, But Only 5 Were in the Unclassified Report

The report goes on to issue 11 recommendations, but only five were included in the unclassified report, which you can read in the PDF embedded earlier in this story. 

In summary, they are: 

  1.  Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security, in coordination with AARO director, issue a DoD policy to integrate UAP roles and coordinate procedures into existing policies and procedures. This should include “methods to address” UAP incidents and “align with policies…for the protection of United States persons’ civil liberties.”
    • Of note is the admittance that AARO won’t be fully operational until FY2024, and the admittance that AARO hasnt’ yet developed policy guidance on UAP roles and procedures. (It feels like this should have been done already, but here we are.)
  2. Secretary of the Army should issue “interim guidance” for UAPs while awaiting DoD policy. 
  3. Secretary of the Navy should issue “interim guidance” for UAPs while awaiting DoD policy. 
  4. Secretary of the Air Force should issue “interim guidance” for UAPs while awaiting DoD policy. 
  5. Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff issue guidance to geographic combatant commanders on UAP detection, reporting and analysis. 

(If you read the section on the recommendation to the Air Force, they appear to be the “cagiest” in their responses as compared to the other branches of the military.) 

One can only guess what was in the six other recommendations that were not made public. 

    Stephanie Dwilson started Post Apocalyptic Media with her husband Derek. She's a licensed attorney and has a master's in science and technology journalism. You can reach her at [email protected].

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