The Politics of Disclosure

The U.S. government has acknowledged the existence of UFOs, yet their origins remain a mystery. Will the upcoming DNI report shed light on their creators?

STATUS: The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has mandated an unclassified report on UAP by June 25, 2021. This will be a significant test of the Biden Administration's commitment to transparency regarding UFOs.

The Senate Intelligence Committee has urged the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and the Secretary of Defense to compile a report on UAP activity within 180 days following the Intelligence Authorization Act's enactment. Nestled within this extensive legislation was a noteworthy directive:

> “The Committee supports the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force at the Office of Naval Intelligence in standardizing the collection and reporting of unidentified aerial phenomena, including potential connections to foreign adversaries and the threats they pose to U.S. military assets and facilities.”

Day by day, the once uniform denial of the UFO/UAP phenomenon by the U.S. government and its intelligence agencies is beginning to fracture. These influential entities appear to be engaging in a cooperative relationship with mainstream media.

On March 20, John Ratcliffe, who served as DNI under Donald Trump from May 2020 to January 2021, made some striking revelations. The DNI position essentially leads the entire U.S. intelligence community.

Ratcliffe shared with Fox News that he had aimed to release a significant amount of UAP-related information to the public before the Trump Administration ended but could not organize and declassify it in time.

Despite not achieving his objectives while in office, Ratcliffe took to the airwaves, making statements that are truly startling regarding a topic that has largely been cloaked in secrecy.

> “There are far more sightings than have been disclosed. We are talking about objects that engage in actions that are hard to explain. They maneuver in ways that are difficult to replicate, and we lack the technology to do so, or they travel at speeds that surpass the sound barrier without creating a sonic boom. Sometimes, we wonder if our adversaries possess technologies that are more advanced than we realize. It’s not just a pilot or a satellite; we typically have multiple sensors detecting these phenomena.”

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) is currently led by Senator Mark Warner, who has taken over from acting chair Senator Marco Rubio.

Both have addressed inquiries regarding UAPs, expressing their belief that answers are warranted. Warner stated:

> “The military and other agencies are taking this issue seriously, which may not have been the case in earlier generations.”

This acknowledgment of “earlier generations” implies that UAPs are part of a historical continuum dating back to UFOs and even earlier flying saucers, which exhibited advanced flight characteristics and the so-called “five observables”:

• Sudden and instantaneous acceleration
• Hypersonic velocities without signatures
• Low observability
• Trans-medium travel
• Positive lift

Is it reasonable to think that Russia or China had vehicles capable of speeds of 13,000 miles per hour post-World War II or during the 1950s and 1960s? Capable of descending from 80,000 feet to 100 feet within seconds? Hovering indefinitely without visible propulsion? Transitioning from space to atmosphere to ocean?

Certainly not. The focus on Russia or China is part of a contemporary narrative aimed at making the subject more acceptable (if not believable) to the American public. The UFO/UAP phenomenon has existed for at least 75 years. It suggests advanced technology, with unusual suspects.

We need answers. Who are they? What are their intentions? Are we secure?

Consider Senator Marco Rubio, the only politician featured in the May 16, 2021, 60 Minutes segment. Rubio has been vocal on this issue since summer 2020, maintaining consistency in his statements. In his first public interview, he remarked:

> “If it’s something beyond this planet, that would actually be preferable to the possibility that we’ve witnessed technological advancements by the Russians, Chinese, or another adversary that enable them to perform such activities. If unidentified objects are flying over military installations and we don’t know what they are, and they display potential technologies we lack, that poses a national security risk that we need to investigate.”

We should also note that one of the committee members who voted in favor of demanding the UAP report was Senator (now Vice President) Kamala Harris. Unlike the committee chairs, Harris has not addressed this topic publicly and was not questioned about it during the 2020 election campaign.

However, many prominent figures have recently spoken out on this matter. Former Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid has been notably vocal, even asserting that Lockheed Martin possesses wreckage from a crash. Additionally, former President Obama’s Chief of Staff John Podesta, former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, and various government insiders associated with the To The Stars Academy, including Christopher Mellon, Luis Elizondo, and Steve Justice, have shared their thoughts. Even Barack Obama recently acknowledged that these are genuine unknowns.

What many of these individuals share is that they did not discuss UAP while in office but appear eager to express their views once out of power. This includes former CIA Director John Brennan, who served under Obama for four years.

Brennan was in office when the Pentagon UFO videos were publicly released in a New York Times investigation back in 2017. He recently shared his thoughts in an interview for a podcast produced by George Mason University’s Mercatus Center in 2021.

> “I’ve reviewed some of those Navy pilot videos, and I must say they are quite astonishing. Life can be defined in many different forms. I believe it’s a bit presumptuous and arrogant for us to think that there’s no other form of life anywhere in the universe. Some phenomena we will encounter may be the result of activities that could be interpreted as a different form of life.”

So where do we stand now? Retired insiders have voiced their opinions before. One prominent figure is Admiral Roscoe Hillenkoetter, the first CIA Director from 1947 to 1950. After a decade out of service, he penned a letter to Congress that was quite striking:

> “It is time for the truth to be revealed. High-ranking Air Force officers are seriously concerned about UFOs. However, due to official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe that these unidentified flying objects are mere nonsense.”

To summarize, both the inaugural CIA director and Obama’s CIA director have asserted that UFOs are not nonsense. If the head of the CIA lacks insight on this matter, then who does?

Who’s Responsible for the Report?

The individual tasked with finalizing the report is Avril Haines, the first woman to serve as DNI. Haines previously held roles as national security legal counsel and deputy adviser during the Obama administration. She has collaborated with Biden since her time as deputy chief counsel to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2007 to 2008 while he was chairman.

She began her tenure at the White House in 2010 as a legal adviser to the national security adviser. By 2013, she was appointed deputy director for the CIA and two years later returned to the White House as principal deputy national security adviser—marking the first time a woman held either position.

Haines has likely reached out to Biden’s Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to discuss the approach to this sensitive issue and what he may already be aware of. There will be (or has already been) a discussion among at least four individuals: Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Lloyd Austin, and Avril Haines. Two of these participants are strong, capable, intelligent women. This is a significant first.

What Can We Anticipate from the Report?

It’s reasonable to assume that recently retired officials like Ratcliffe, Brennan, and others are doing their utmost to encourage those currently in power to be as transparent as possible.

While some expectations are justified, there have been indications that insufficient resources were allocated to this effort and that the report might be delayed. Such a setback would be regrettable, and the DNI should strive to prevent that.

What will Biden, Harris, Austin, and Haines decide regarding the Senate's request for information, which was issued unanimously in a time of extreme partisanship?

• A Limited, Modified Hangout. Will they attempt to sidestep the issue, obscure the facts, bury crucial information in classified addendums, and generally slow down the disclosure of UAP reality?
• An Unambiguous Confirmation of UAP. Alternatively, will it be a milestone that could genuinely initiate a historical change, beginning with the admission that UAPs exist?

Given the numerous high-level sources in the Senate and the intelligence community who have confirmed the reality of UAPs, it will be challenging to produce a report that claims, “nothing to see here.” Such a report would directly contradict what is already publicly known. That approach is unlikely to succeed.

The report is more likely to affirm the existence of unidentified objects in our skies that defy our understanding of physics, that we do not create, that we do not believe Russia or China create, and whose origins are unknown. It is improbable that it will delve into the extensive history of the phenomenon, avoiding classic cases from the end of World War II, Roswell, or alien abductions, focusing solely on current events.

Many readers are likely already aware that there is a profound reality to the UFO/UAP issue. This topic has drawn their attention for many years. They may not be surprised.

However, their friends and family have often chosen to ignore this issue throughout their lives. When they encounter an unclassified government report confirming the reality of UFOs/UAPs, it will undoubtedly challenge their long-held beliefs, particularly when the message is disseminated across all major media platforms.

This represents the turning point, the government acknowledgment. It will arrive soon.

People get ready.

> Trail of the Saucers is edited by Bryce Zabel, the co-host of Need to Know with Coulthart and Zabel. For more information on issues raised in this article, see below: