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Public Affairs emails with The Debrief

DoD Washington Headquarters Services · 88 pages · text from the file's own layer

This FOIA release from DoD Washington Headquarters Services collects 2020 Pentagon public affairs and Navy emails about press queries on unidentified aerial phenomena. It includes the August 14, 2020 announcement that Deputy Secretary David Norquist had approved the UAP Task Force, and follow-ups on a CBS query about a claimed F/A-18 cellphone photo of a triangular object. It also reproduces The Debrief and Vice/Motherboard articles, and internal emails on DOPSR's handling of the Navy videos and Luis Elizondo's AATIP role.

  • p. 4 …A little over a month after this UAP briefing, Spencer was fired by then-Secretary of…
  • p. 53 …A little over a month after this UAP briefing, Spencer was fired by then-Secretary of…
  • p. 69 …A little over a month after this UAP briefing, Spencer was fired by then-Secretary of…
"In decades with the [Intelligence Community] I've never seen anything like this," said one intelligence official.
One defense official described the report's distribution as having gone through "normal, non-public, information sharing channels."
Other officials who'd seen and read the report either declined to elaborate or indicated the report was distributed on various secure
systems. One defense official indicated it was distributed on the DoD's Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet). Two
other intelligence officials said they received the information via "NSANet" (the NSA's official intranet). An additional source said the
report was distributed via the CIA's Intelink system.
According to those willing to discuss the document, the report's most disconcerting aspect was one of the potential explanations for
what UAP could represent. Sources say a "list" of possible prosaic explanations for these mysterious airborne encounters was
provided. However, the report expressly stated that the potential for UAP to be "alien" or "non-human" technology was of
legitimate consideration.
All sources interviewed by The Debrief confirmed that the Task Force issued an updated second UAP position report later in the
summer of this year. Like the first, officials say this recent intelligence report was very widely distributed and shared amongst the
Intelligence Community.
"It went viral," said one intelligence official who had read the report.
Overwhelmingly, everyone The Debrief spoke with said the most striking feature of the recently released UAPTF intelligence position
report was the inclusion of new and "extremely clear" photograph of an unidentifiable triangular aircraft.
The photograph, which is said to have also been taken from inside the cockpit of a military fighter jet, depicted an apparent
aerospace vehicle described as a large equilateral triangle with rounded or "blunted" edges and large, perfectly spherical white
"lights" in each corner. Officials who had seen it said the image was captured in 2019 by an F/A-18 fighter pilot.
Two officials that received the report said the photo was taken after the triangular craft emerged from the ocean and began to
ascend straight upwards at a 90-degree angle. It was indicated that this event occurred off the eastern coast of the United States.
Several other sources confirmed the photo's existence; however, they declined to provide any further specifics of the incident.
Regarding the overall theme of the recent report, officials who read it say the report primarily focused on "Unidentified Submersible
Phenomena," or unidentified "transmedium" vehicles capable of operating both under water and in the air.
The three officials we spoke with said the report suggested the UAP Task Force appears to be concerned that the objects being
termed as UAP may be originating from within the world's oceans. Strange as this may sound, the idea of "USOs" or "unidentified
submersible objects" is not something exclusive to the current UAPTF.
In various public appearances, astronomer and chief video/image analyst for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), Marc D'Antonio,
has shared an unusual experience involving the detection of an underwater "Fast Mover," which occurred while he was sailing as a
civilian aboard one of the U.S. Navy's prized attack submarines.
Last year, defense journalist Tyler Rogoway spoke with several veteran submariners to get their take on D'Antonio's account. While
at least one person expressed skepticism about D'Antonio being granted a civilian ride-along, the Navy vets being interviewed
almost unanimously acknowledged that unexplained, very high-speed sonar targets are indeed recorded by some of the most
sophisticated listening equipment on the planet.
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