UAP Declassification Task Force

Since the last Congressional UAP hearing, there has been growing demand for a UAP select committee, and pressure on President Trump’s administration to push for UFO disclosure. This week, we learned that Rep. Luna will head the Task Force On the Declassification of Federal Secrets, which will investigate, among other topics, the JFK files and the UAP topic, resulting in at least two further UAP hearings, and could represent a growing willingness in Congress to pursue the topic more seriously.

Growing Demand for UAP Select Committee

Rep Nancy Mace, in the Nov 13 House UAP hearing: “Are you read into secret UAP crash retrieval programs?”
- Lue Elizondo: “We would have to have a conversation in a closed session, ma'am. I signed documentation three years ago that restricts my ability to discuss, specifically, crash retrievals.”
- Rep Jared Moskowitz: “You specifically said the document said you can't talk about crash retrieval. Well, you know, you can't talk about Fight Club if there's no Fight Club.”
Rep Eric Burlison, after the hearing: “I want to get a special Select Subcommittee on it… If I had any say in it, I would try to get them to hire Grusch and Elizondo.”
Rep Tim Burchett: “We really need a Select Committee so that we can go out and get this information subpoenaed, eventually. But the reality is none of that's needed if President Trump will come through with disclosure.”
Rep Jared Moskowitz: “I want the Speaker to do a Select Committee in the next Congress… Because Congress has an oversight function. We can't just give all the power to the executive. This is our function of oversight…”
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer: “[A Select Committee is] something that is being discussed.”
Rep Burlison, in mid January: “There was talk of there being a [Select] UAP committee… and, apparently, the Speaker's office turned that idea down… I've heard that they may… allow a task force, which is basically a neutered committee. Better than nothing, but [it wouldn’t have dedicated staff or subpoena power]… You've got to have… the right staff to investigate this. And then… the committee needs to have the authority so that when we subpoena somebody or we go into a SCIF (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility), we have a need to know.”

Pressure on Trump for UFO Disclosure

Sen Chuck Schumer replied to Trump’s announcement that he would declassify the JFK files: “Now do UFOs.”
- Rep Mace: “Finally something we agree on.”
- Rep Luna: “I agree.”
- Rep Burlison: “I’ve been reaching out to Trump’s campaign and to his policy team, trying to get them to consider UFO disclosure as well—do an executive order on that. I think it’s the only thing Chuck Schumer and I can agree on: that the American people—really, the world—deserves to know this.”
Lue Elizondo drafted a policy brief for the incoming administration: “Recent events like the drone incursions in New Jersey and the Chinese spy balloon incidents underscore a critical gap: The U.S. woefully lacks a whole-of-government solution to Emerging All-Domain Technologies. To solve this problem, this policy brief recommends that the President empower a White House Senior Advisor, or “Czar,” within the National Security Council to: (1) coordinate the U.S. Government’s response; (2) formulate policy; (3) and conduct domestic and international outreach… A Czar for EADT will allow the President and other key decisionmakers to get the answers they need, when they need them.”
Chris Mellon provided a list of suggestions for Congress and the new administration: “Here, I will describe the problem and provide pragmatic options for enhancing Congressional oversight, strengthening public trust, and advancing our understanding of these phenomena.”
- He shows that the Air Force refuses to provide information on attempted UAP intercepts with AARO or Congress, and recommends they “request a detailed report on attempted fighter intercepts of UAP.”
- He shows that aerospace monitoring systems are failing to report UAP incursions, and recommends that Congress request a report of surveillance systems and how many UAP reports they have submitted.
- He mentions AARO’s report showing that signals have been detected from UAPs in the 1-3 GHz and 8-12 GHz frequency ranges, and recommends that Congress should direct the NSA to investigate these signals.
- He discusses the many flaws in AARO’s historical UAP report, and recommends that Congress request a better one.
- Mellon: “It is disappointing, but not surprising, to find strong indications of noncompliance with the congressional mandate requiring all UAP information to be promptly shared with AARO… These urgent and important national security issues require Congress to remain vigilant and insist on compliance.”

Rumors of UAP Task Force

Rep Anna Paulina Luna on Feb 3: “I have an announcement next week that will impact the entire nation.”
House Oversight Committee press release on Feb 10: “Chairman Comer and Rep Luna will hold a press conference on… February 11… to announce the creation of a new Oversight Committee task force of national interest.”
Matthew Pines, Director of Intelligence at Sentinel One: “This Task Force is likely UAP related but will be an informal, ad hoc body w/ no legislative or subpoena authority unless granted by the full committee. It may conduct investigations, gather evidence, and write reports, but its influence will depend on the Chairman’s discretion.”
Christopher Sharp, Editor of Liberation Times: “From my understanding, a Congressional Task Force is something which investigates an issue, and then delivers a report with recommendations.”
Lester Nare, founder at UAP Caucus: “That’s a meaningful distinction. A task force is weaker than a subcommittee and has no formal authority under House rules. Unlike a select committee, it lacks independent subpoena power, dedicated staff, and the ability to conduct official investigations. It functions as an advisory or investigative working group but has no real enforcement mechanisms.”
Lester Nare: “The value of subpoena power isn’t just about forcing hostile witnesses to comply, it’s about giving sympathetic insiders a controlled, legal channel to provide information without fear of retaliation. It’s less about coercion per say and more about protection.”

Task Force On the Declassification of Federal Secrets

Rep Luna: “The federal government has been hiding information from Americans for decades. We have spent years seeking information on the assassinations of President Kennedy, Senator Kennedy, Reverend King, and other government secrets without success. It is time to give Americans the answers they deserve, which is why I am honored to lead this bipartisan task force that seeks truth and transparency. We will also investigate UAPs/USOs, the Epstein client list, COVID-19 origins, and the 9/11 files. We will work alongside President Trump and his cabinet members to deliver truth to the American people. From this moment forward, we will restore trust through transparency.”
House Oversight Committee press release: “The task force is authorized for six months pursuant to Committee Rules. Members of the task force will be announced at a later date.”
- Andy Mcgrillen, That UAP Podcast: “Six months doesn’t seem like a lot of time to blow the lid off some of the biggest… secrets of our last century.”
- Rep Luna: “A task force is typically set for six months.”
House Oversight Committee press release: “Today Chairman Comer and Rep. Luna sent 11 letters to initiate the Task Force’s efforts to declassify information of national interest.”
- Dept of Energy, State Dept, and CIA for origins of COVID-19 documents.
- CIA and NSA for JFK, RFK, MLK assassination documents.
- DoD, State Dept, and CIA for UAP documents.
- DoD and CIA for 9/11 documents.
- Justice Dept for Epstein investigation docs.
- Letters were identical: “We request a briefing… regarding what documents… are in your possession regarding [topic]… After the briefing, the Committee and Task Force shall seek to review these documents and make recommendations on declassification.”
Rep Luna: “All agencies we have contacted have until the 18th to respond. If we are blocked from documents and see that they are stonewalling the President’s executive order, I am going to start sharing names with you all. We have not seen a plan for release yet.”
Rep Luna: “If we find the President’s Executive Order is stonewalled, I don’t put it past Chairman Comer or Speaker Johnson to hold those people in inherent contempt.”
Chairman Comer: “The Task Force does not have Subpoena power, (but) I do. The Task Force is going to be a subsidiary of the full Oversight Committee. So if we have to issue one, Congresswoman Luna and I will discuss it, and take appropriate action.”
Rep Luna: “We have a staff. We have multiple attorneys working. Actually, the entire Oversight staff is at our disposal to work with us.”
Rep Luna: “We're hoping to present [UAP] information and at least acknowledge, from a government perspective, that we are not alone.”
Rep Luna: “I'm hoping to set up a congressional delegation to a friendly country that… has a program for disclosure that's already been set up, which, to my knowledge, does exist.”
Rep Luna: “[The next UAP hearing is] going to be probably after JFK… but we're definitely having two. We’re gonna have one specifically on UAPs and USOs… I'm not just trying to have another hearing and bring in people, I want evidence, and so that's what we're pushing for and that's why we have the letters that have gone out.”
Rep Luna: “The last administration denied [Grusch’s] security clearance which is why we couldn't get back into the SCIF… but now that we have an actual task force, we can actually do something.”
Rep Luna: “All members of Congress have a TS-SCI [clearance]. The question is: Do we get SAP-access, of which Chairman Comer's been very supportive and we'll be getting SAP-access as well.”
- POGO: “While members of Congress are entitled to access classified information by virtue of the constitutional offices they hold and do not need security clearances, they must rely on their staff to sift through reams of information and brief them on issues… A majority of members of Congress do not have a single staff member with a TS/SCI clearance… undermining the support they can provide to their superiors and weakening Congress’s ability to legislate or conduct effective oversight.”
- POGO: “A TS/SCI clearance does not give an individual access to all SCI information—that individual still must demonstrate a need to know a particular item or category of information. There is a tension between Congress and the executive branch on the question of who determines need-to-know. Congressional rules say that the relevant congressional office makes this determination, but according to the executive branch, the determination of need-to-know is made by the agency where the information originated.”

Reactions

Lester Nare: “Strategically, the framing of the UAP issue alongside JFK and MLK assassinations, 9/11, and COVID is a phase change. For all of these, the baseline assumption isn’t whether they happened, but how. The debate is about details, not existence. This mirrors how Sen. Rounds & Schumer framed the UAP Disclosure Act, explicitly comparing it to the need for transparency around the JFK assassination files.”
Christopher Sharp, Editor of Liberation Times: “This looks like a declassification review board, like what was proposed within the UAP Disclosure Act.”
Lester Nare: “Importantly, this task force does not create new powers for subpoenas or SCIF access, members could always request those from Comer. What it does provide is a formalized structure and bureaucratic justification that makes those requests harder to ignore or dismiss.”

References

Episode 66, posted on February 16, 2025