180-Day Countdown to Declassification of UFO Information Concealed Inside New Spending Bill

180-Day Countdown to Declassification of UFO Information Concealed Inside New Spending Bill
A UFO captured in declassified military footage. Department of Defense/Screenshot via The Epoch Times
Updated:

The passing of a $2.3 trillion CCP virus relief and government spending bill on Dec. 28 triggered a 180 day countdown for the Pentagon’s UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) Task Force to release declassified information to the Senate Intelligence Committee about their current intelligence on advanced aerial threats from UFOs or “anomalous aerial vehicles.”

“The newly enacted Intelligence Authorization Act incorporates the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report language calling for an unclassified, all-source report on the UAP phenomenon," Christopher Mellon, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence during both the Clinton and Bush administrations, said on Twitter. “This was accomplished in the Joint Explanatory Statement accompanying the bill.”

The Act does not provide a guarantee that the federal government will release a comprehensive UAP report of declassified material. But Mellon, who contributed to drafting the new legislation, believes that oversight of the issue is long overdue.

“Consequently, it’s now fair to say that the request for an unclassified report on the UAP phenomenon enjoys the support of both parties in both Houses of Congress,” Mellon said. “Assuming the Executive Branch honors this important request, the nation will at long last have an objective basis for assessing the validity of the issue and its national security implications. This is an extraordinary and long overdue opportunity.”

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) questions Kelly Craft, President Trump's nominee to be Representative to the United Nations, during her nomination hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington, on June 19, 2019. (Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images)
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) questions Kelly Craft, President Trump's nominee to be Representative to the United Nations, during her nomination hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington, on June 19, 2019. Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images
The Intelligence Authorization Act for FY 2021 was submitted by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee. According to the Act, the committee is directing the report to include a “detailed analysis” of UAP data and intelligence reporting collected or held by the Office of Naval Intelligence, data collected by geospatial and signals intelligence and the like, and a “detailed description” of interagency processes for ensuring timely data collection and centralized analysis of all UAP reporting for the federal government.

The committee said it was in full support of the efforts of the UAP Task Force at the Office of Naval Intelligence to report on “any links” UAPs are found to have to adversarial foreign governments.

The Department of Defense (DOD) stated in a press release in August that the UAP Task Force will be led by the Department of the Navy.

“The Department of Defense established the UAPTF to improve its understanding of, and gain insight into, the nature and origins of UAPs,” the statement said. “The mission of the task force is to detect, analyze and catalog UAPs that could potentially pose a threat to U.S. national security,” it continued, adding that personnel safety in their operations is of prime importance.

The task force was approved by Deputy Secretary of Defense David L. Norquist on Aug. 4.

The Pentagon building in Washington, DC. (STAFF/AFP/Getty Images)
The Pentagon building in Washington, DC. STAFF/AFP/Getty Images
In April, a Pentagon spokesperson told ABC News that three UFO videos officially released by the department were “to clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the footage that has been circulating was real or whether or not there is more to the videos.”

“After a thorough review, the department has determined that the authorized release of these unclassified videos does not reveal any sensitive capabilities or systems, and does not impinge on any subsequent investigations of military air space incursions by unidentified aerial phenomena,” the DOD stated.