Disclosure Diaries Update #11

Sen. Rubio spoke with Matt Laslo from Askapol, and stated:

Askapol: Whats the status of the David Grusch investigation?

Sen. Rubio: That's an Inspector General process, so we wouldn't [...] know anything internally until the decision has been made.

Askapol: Do you want to hear from him here in the Senate?

Sen. Rubio: I know our staff interviewed him, and we have those transcripts, but we usually let the Inspector General process play out first.

Askapol: Any timeline for IG investigation?

Sen. Rubio: “We don't control that, they’re independent.”

On May 31 2023, AARO's Dr. Kirkpatrick described the footage of a metallic sphere as "a typical example of the thing we see most of". He also mentioned “We see these all over the world, making very interesting apparent manoeuvres.”

The video he used to illustrate the point was taken on July 12, 2022 by a military drone over the Middle East. Notably, the object in the video does not display any "interesting apparent manoeuvres".

Bellingcat, an independent investigative collective of researchers, investigators and citizen journalists, published a series of analyses to better understand the nature of this particular object. In essence – they conclude the object in the video is likely on the order of 30cm wide, and does not appear to be traveling at considerable speed.

This raises the question as to why Dr. Kirkpatrick provided this video as an example, given that AARO's own description of typical UAP morphologies states these spherical objects are 1-4m wide and have been tracked at speeds of up to Mach 2.

Members of the House Oversight Committee held a private briefing (in a SCIF) with the DoD Inspector General to discuss UAP-related matters. For reference – whistleblower David Grusch provided UAP-related testimony to the office of the DoD IG back in July 2021.

Following the session, various Representatives were outspoken in their view that the session was "pointless" (Rep. Luna), even going so far as "One of the most worthless classified briefings I’ve ever attended." (Rep. Mace).

Notably – Rep. Eric Burlison made the following statement: "What it appears to be is somebody has discovered something—some advanced form of propulsion or technology—that may actually change all of our lives". It seems likely that he was freely speculating here, rather than openly discussing the contents of a classified briefing.

Ultimately, it seems many of the Congresspeople in attendance lacked the requisite clearances to be fully read into the DoD IG's information on the topic. Rep. Mace indicated the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) or the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) may be better suited to pursue this type of information.

Following the lacklustre DoD IG briefing, several Members of Congress mentioned an independent Select Committee may be required to more actively investigate the UAP-related claims.

“If we can get a Select Committee and we can rewrite law that will give us the same authorities that, I think, the IG has for all-access across the federal government to look into these claims, I think that’s a start.” – Rep. Anna Paulina Luna stated.

Rep. Burchett had the following to say on the topic – "[Speaker Johnson] affirmed that we're gonna try and get something going. Whether that be a select committee or a full committee. I prefer a select committee because it would allow us more abilities to go after people."

For more information on the potential scope/objectives of a UAP Select Committee, refer to this whitepaper from UAPCaucus.

Christopher K. Mellon took to Twitter/X to relay – "I’m informed by AARO that they are making headway on a new, more transparent and appropriate UAP classification guide. Hopefully in the future DoD and the IC will be able to release more data and videos as Customs and Border Patrol recently did."

• According to Senator Gillibrand – a public hearing in line with AARO's latest report can be expected soon, saying –"I'll probably have another hearing aligned with that public report.”
• On November 15th, the Hayden Center is hosting an event – UAP: The Search For Clarity – with AARO's lead Dr. Kirkpatrick as the main guest. The hosts have confirmed they will also be taking questions from the in-person/virtual audience. You can register for the event here.
• Members of Congress will be discussing UAP-related matters in a SCIF with the Intelligence Community Inspector General on the 16th of November
• The SOL Foundation is holding its first annual conference at Stanford University on November 17-19, 2023. Covering everything from the scientific study of UAP data to philosophical questions raised by it to related global security issues, the meeting brings together Avi Loeb, Charles McCullough, Cristopher Mellon, Garry Nolan, Jacques Vallée, and other leading academic and government voices on UAP.

• While the US Senate passed the NDAA for FY24 – which included the UAP Disclosure Act of 2023 as an amendment – the coming months will still require Senators and Members of Congress to reconcile the two chambers’ versions of the NDAA and produce a final compromise bill. Most commentators don't expect this to happen before December 2023.
• Following the UAP hearing on the 26th of July, Members of Congress have called for a select committee with subpoena authority, to “go about the task of collecting information from the Pentagon and elsewhere” on unidentified flying objects. There have been conflicting messages from various Members of Congress on whether this is likely to happen anytime soon.
• Reps. Moskowitz, Luna, and Burchett have repeatedly stated their intent to hold field hearings to overcome stonewalling from the Pentagon and military establishment
  
  "I think we [Congress] should try to get into one of these places [housing UAP evidence]...and if they won't let us in I think we should have a field hearing right outside the building...and the military will have to explain why that is." – Rep. Moskowitz (D)
  
  It is currently unknown when we might expect that to occur.
• Several journalists have indicated that first-hand witnesses of the alleged UAP legacy programs are in the process of providing testimony/evidence to the relevant authorities (e.g. the IC IG) and/or are on the verge of making public statements in the near future (Example 1, example 2, example 3, example 4)