White House Drone Answer Disappoints
This week we’re bringing you updates to a bunch of long-running stories. We’ve got the latest on the Congressional UAP Task Force, as well as updates on NASA’s UAP efforts. Skywatcher is preparing their next video, Elon Musk is making some wild claims, and we’re diving into the White House’s unsatisfying official answer to the New Jersey mystery drone situation.
UAP Czar Proposal
- Chris Sharp, founder of Liberation Times: “Last year, I am told that proposals for a UAP Select Committee were sent to Congress. Earlier this year, proposals for a UAP Czar were sent to the Trump Admin. Currently we've seen no movement on any of these proposals.”
- Nick Pope, ran the British Ministry of Defense UFO project: “My assessment would be that both these proposals have been put on hold, in view of the formation of the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets. The Task Force might end its work on UAP/USOs by recommending the creation of a UAP Committee and/or a UAP Czar, but you probably wouldn't want all three operating at once.”
Federal Secrets Task Force Members
- House Oversight Committee accounted the full list of members on the Task Force:
- Chair Anna Paulina Luna joined by six fellow Republicans: Reps Nancy Mace, Tim Burchett, Lauren Boebert, Eric Burlison, Eli Crane, and Brandon Gill.
- Four Democrat members: Reps Robert Garcia, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Summer Lee, and Dave Min.
- D. Dean Johnson: “I was asked why Rep. Jared Moskowitz, active on UAP matters, wasn't appointed as a minority member of the task force. Moskowitz is not a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in the current Congress, so he is ineligible to serve as a member of the task force. However, any House member may ask permission of a chairman (in this case, Rep. Luna) to be ‘waived on’ to participate in any specific public hearing. Panel chairs usually (but not always) grant such ‘waive-on’ requests.”
FBI UAP Working Group
- Politico: “FBI agents who are part of a secretive group investigating the surge of [UAP], are worried that they could lose their jobs in a possible FBI purge targeting officials who worked on Jan. 6 cases”
- Politico: “The existence of the FBI’s informal working group on the issue has not been disclosed publicly before… People familiar with the group said it consists of a national program manager and more than a dozen employees across the country who spend much of their time tracking down UAPs.”
- FBI: “the FBI investigates Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena when there is potential for a violation of federal law — particularly unlawful acts that could adversely affect our national interests.”
- Politico: “All agents across the bureau have been ordered to fill out a questionnaire about their work on the Capitol attack. There are worries that the move could lead to a Trump-ordered purge at the agency… Some of the FBI agents who work in the [UAP] group also worked on Jan. 6 cases.”
- Ryan Graves, former Navy pilot (2014 Gimbal Roosevelt) and currently executive director of Americans for Safe Aerospace… “I have spoken to several agents from the UAP Working Group who are afraid of losing their role and the investigation getting unintentionally compromised”
- Graves: “This FBI Working Group is uniquely positioned to investigate UAP due to their joint law enforcement and intelligence authorities… Witnesses who come to ASA always decide how their case is handled, but many want their reports investigated by the FBI’s UAP Working Group.”
Elon Musk’s “All-Access Pass”
- Joe Rogan, talking to Elon Musk: “You’re the guy to ask about this. What possibility is there that there’s some sort of advanced propulsion system technology that’s being worked on in secret and that they’re trying to cover this up with talk of alien tech… Is it possible that there’s some sort of very secret program that’s going on in cahoots with some defense contractors that are developing advanced propulsion systems?”
- Elon Musk: “I have the equivalent of an all-access pass from a security clearance standpoint. I don’t think they’re hiding it from me. I don’t think they could.”
- Ryan Graves: “Security clearance alone isn’t enough—access also requires a need to know. Elon may have a high-level clearance, like many others, but that doesn’t mean he’s entitled to every U.S. secret. Without a justified need to know, he wouldn’t have the access to make such a claim.”
NASA’s Director of UAP Research
- Justin Snead, of the UFO Disclosure Yearbook newsletter: “By the end of 2023, NASA had a newly appointed Director of UAP Research and a raft of recommendations from the independent UAP Study Team it had commissioned to advise NASA on how to use its assets to study UAP.”
- Snead: “According to [UAP Study Team member] Mike Gold, the position was vacated a year later and remains vacant. After serving in the role for one year, McInerney was rotated out to other duties and no one else was rotated in. Gold told me, ‘I'm afraid my understanding is that that person has been reassigned, and now we have no one working UAP, at least explicitly at the agency.’”
- NASA: “The position is currently vacant and the agency stands ready for additional collaboration with the Department of Defense’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office for support as appropriate.”
Skywatcher Part 2
- Skywatcher Part 2: Data: “The Skywatcher team has been hard at work over the last month, and we feel very confident in our recent progress. Skywatcher Part II will focus on exactly what everyone wants: data.”
- Skywatcher: “Our release [includes] A video interview and analysis of NEW UAP data (including multiple videos) captured by the Skywatcher team, and an elaboration on our data collection and analysis strategy moving forward. No, this is not cell phone footage.”
- Skywatcher: “Our objective is to complete all three of these components in the next 4-6 weeks.”
Ongoing Mystery Drones
- White House Press Secretary, Jan 28: “After research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research, and various other reasons… This was not the enemy.”
- NJ Mayor Melham: “Drones are still flying here, so when they use the past tense, that’s alarming.”
- Drones have been spotted flying over power plants in Wyoming, in restricted airspace in Idaho, exhibiting swarming behavior in Ohio, and drones the size of hot tubs are flying over Indiana.
- Germany has been seeing so many drones over military bases that they authorized their military to shoot down unauthorized drones.
- Chris Sharp, Liberation Times: “I have since received comment from FAA. A spokesperson told me: ‘Please contact the White House for their official statement.' This response from FAA tells us that (at this point) they will not or are unable to confirm what the White House just stated.”
- USA Today: “There has been no official explanation as to why the FAA failed to tell New Jersey law enforcement, elected officials, as well as the public, that they had authorized all the mysterious drone flights… There was also no explanation why, if the FAA had authorized the flights, the agency then placed temporary flight restrictions over parts of New Jersey for ‘special security reasons.’”
- Jake Barber, Skywatcher: “The activity there was not FAA approved. I know firsthand. I was assigned there specifically to look at the debacle from a FAA violation standpoint in order to give a basis to the FBI. Someone is not presenting the whole story to our new president.”
- Chris Sharp: “I think many of us can smell BS. Why did FAA set up flight restrictions to stop its own approved drones? Why did the drones fly over sensitive military airspace? Why was there no communication of these incidents to FBI, DHS, DoD and local law enforcement, who were responding to the situation? Why couldn't FBI, DoD and law enforcement take drones down, despite best efforts? Also, you decide: was it really a coincidence that the drone activity coincided with other incursions over sensitive military assets in the UK and Germany?”
- Jeff Nuccetelli, AF veteran: “So, the FAA authorized drones to fly at low altitude over homes, airports, military installations, and nuke facilities? Why? This is totally incoherent. Why the drone ban? Why did they keep it secret? What were the drones doing? These ‘drones’ were 100 feet over my house. Over my children. Over my neighbors. Over our school. What research are they conducting on us? Who is conducting the research? Who ordered the research? Who gave consent to participate? Answers are needed now.”
- NJ Sheriff Shaun Golden: “Had they just put a simple statement out, we wouldn’t have wasted so much time and so many resources. It’s disappointing that we had to have the DHS from DC in here with special equipment. It’s disappointing that the FBI had to waste all their man hours on a tip line for hundreds and hundreds of phone calls… Lets bring the FAA in and say why didn’t they notify local and state officials so we didn’t waste all these resources?”
- Sen Tim Kaine: “I don’t know about Jersey, that’s definitely not the case with respect to the Virginia situation at Langley… Neither the FAA nor the military has given us a sufficient answer. And I don't think they have an answer that they're not giving us, I just don't think they have one.”
- Sen Andy Kim: “I’ve been meaning to reach out to FAA [to ask] what ‘research’ are they talking about? I have no idea what that means. It made it sound like there was some research project… as far as I know, none of that exists. I just didn't find it to be a satisfactory answer. In fact, it just raised more questions.”
- Sen Cory Booker: “The fact is clear that there were drones being flown in ways that were not FAA approved. So I'm not sure exactly what they're talking about… I was told directly by officials that that is not the case.”
References
- Sharp: “No movement on UAP Select Committee or UAP Czar proposals.”
- Pope: “Proposals put on hold in view of Federal Secrets Task Force, which may recommend both.”
- Johnson: Updated member list for Federal Secrets Task Force
- Politico: FBI agents who investigate UFOs worried they could be pushed out in possible purge
- Debrief: The FBI Confirms It Has a Secretive “UAP Working Group,” but Agents Now Worry Their Jobs Could Be in Jeopardy
- Musk: “I have an all-access pass from a security clearance standpoint.”
- Graves: “Security clearance alone isn’t enough, access also requires a need to know.”
- UFO Disclosure Yearbook: NASA’s UAP Efforts: the hope of 2023 vs. the reality of 2024
- Skywatcher: “Part II will focus on exactly what everyone wants: data.”
- Debrief: White House Issues New Statement on ‘Mystery Drones’ That Leaves More Questions Than Answers
- Sharp: “FAA unable or unwilling to confirm White House statement.”
- USA Today: Drones over NJ: Why didn’t the FAA admit they authorized the flights?
- Barber: “The activity there was not FAA approved.”
- Sharp: “I think many of us can smell BS.”
- Nuccetelli: “Who ordered the research? Who gave consent to participate?”
- NewsNation: NJ Sherrif ‘Disappointed’ in Drone Investigation
- Cowboy State Daily: Eight Wyoming Sheriffs Seeing Mystery Drones Still Have No Answers
- KLIX: Wave of Large Drones Reported in Restricted Idaho Airspace
- Fischer: “Drones followed deputies dispatched to record them.”
- Melham: “Drones are still over New Jersey.”
- WHIO: Sudden Rush of Drone Sightings Causing Concerns in Communities
- WANE: ‘The size of hot tubs’: Northeast Indiana & northwest Ohio counties report hundreds of drone sightings
- Liberation Times: Newly Obtained USAF Reports Expose Drone Breaches at Plant 42, Home to B-21 Raider and Other Top Secret Programs, Sparking Espionage Concerns
- Debrief: Germany Moves to Shoot Down ‘Mystery Drones’
- AskAPol: “I have no idea what that means,” NJ Sen. Andy Kim on Trump White House drone statement
- AskAPol: Sen. Kaine: Trump’s answer on NJ UAPs "definitely not the case" for Langley incursions
- AskAPol: FAA didn’t approve NJ UAPs, Sen. Booker says: “I was told directly by officials that that is not the case”
Episode 67, posted on
- Previous: UAP Declassification Task Force