June 4, 2021 — Officials have no idea what UAPs are, according to an early preview of the upcoming Department of Defense report. “…senior officials briefed on the intelligence conceded that the very ambiguity of the findings meant the government could not definitively rule out theories that the phenomena observed by military pilots might be alien spacecraft.”
Restatements of the New York Times article: Washington Post report on NY Times report, June 4 · The Guardian report on NY Times report, June 4 · CNN report on NY Times report, June 4 · NBC News report on NY Times report, June 4
Related: Vladimir Duthiers and the rest of the CBS This Morning hosts are not impressed by the evasiveness (June 4, 2021):
CBS has retired this video from YouTube
Vladimir Duthiers: This all reminds me of what happened in a galaxy far, far away, when Obi Wan Kenobi said, “These are not the droids you’re looking for“.
Gayle King: I believe.
Vladimir Duthiers: I do too!
More June news coverage of the upcoming Department of Defense report on UAPs:
“Experts Weigh In on Pentagon UFO Report“, Scientific American (June 8, 2021)
There is not going to be any “big reveal,” says Robert Sheaffer… “There are no aliens here on Earth, and so the government cannot ‘disclose’ what it does not have.”
(Sheaffer is a former columnist for Skeptical Inquirer, and fellow of the skeptics’ society CSICOP)
NBC News: “‘Truth embargo’: UFOs are suddenly all the talk in Washington” After 75 years of taboo and ridicule, serious people can finally discuss the mysterious flying objects, and even skeptics say that’s a good thing. (June 13, 2021)
June 15, 2021 update: The House Intelligence Committee received a classified briefing on UAPs with U.S. Navy and FBI officials. This is the second briefing to have occurred in June and the first to include the FBI; it is unclear why the FBI was present. New York Post (June 16, 2021)
NBC News Digital: The Overview: “We Might Not Be Alone In The Universe” (June 19, 2021):
Gadi Schwartz on one of the biggest existential questions of the time: other intelligent life. 18 min long video podcast.
BBC News made their own overview piece, featuring new interviews with Dietrich, Kean, and Mellon: BBC Breakfast via Reddit (June 20, 2021)
Luis Elizondo, former Director of AATIP (Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program), speaking on a live June 22, 2021 podcast, “Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal“, said that if the public knew information that he is aware of (but cannot speak of), the public’s first reaction will be “somber”, followed by “turning inward and trying to reflect on what this means to us and our species and ourselves.”
Christopher Mellon, a former Deputy Asst Sec of Defense for Intelligence under Clinton and Bush, in a self-published essay, “Don’t Dismiss the Alien Hypothesis” (June 24, 2021), says if Russia and China are ruled out as the source of the Nimitz “Tic Tac” (which seems to be the conclusion that the DoD report will draw), then “non-human origin is presently the theory that best fits all the facts.”
Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files tv series, has an editorial in The New York Times: “I Created ‘The X-Files.’ Here’s Why I’m Skeptical of the New UFO Report” (June 25, 2021). When we were dressing the original set for Agent Mulder’s office on “The X-Files,” I came up with the poster with a UFO on it that reads “I Want To Believe.” And I think that’s where most people come down on the whole extraterrestrial business. Not quite there yet, but waiting for a sign…
Earlier: Comments by President Barack Obama, June 1, 2021:
Ezra Klein of the New York Times asks President Obama how he would be affected if the UAPs turn out to be alien-made but are only drones, with no evident way to contact their makers: Click to read and listen to the audio interview at NYTimes or download the podcast from Apple
