Public Affairs emails with The Debrief

In the email, Adm. Burke tells Gen. Wilson, "Recommend you take the brief I just received from our Director of Naval
Intelligence VADM Matt Kohler, on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP)." Adm. Burke concludes the email, "SECNAV
[Secretary of the Navy] will get the same brief tomorrow at 1000."
The "SECNAV" referenced in Adm. Burke's email was then-Secretary of the Navy, Richard V. Spencer. A little over a month
after this UAP briefing, Spencer was fired by then-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper over public disagreements stemming from
a series of controversies involving the court-martial of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher.
Speaking on background, one U.S. Defense official lamented that a lack of continuity with DoD leadership might have hindered
some of the UAPTF's work. Within the past 24 months, there have been four different Secretaries of the Navy and five
additional Secretaries of Defense. Vice Admiral Matt Kohler, noted for having provided the briefings, retired after 36 years with
the Navy in June of this year.
Reaching out to several active government officials and individuals who retain their government-issued security clearances, The
Debrief learned that last fall was a busy time for the UAPTF. On October 21st, 2019, a briefing on UAP was conducted at the
Pentagon for several Senate Armed Services Committee staffers.
Attendees at the meeting told The Debrief that they were provided information on two previous DoD-backed UFO programs:
The Advanced Aerial Weapons Systems Applications Program (AAWSAP) and the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification
Program (AATIP). They were also briefed on "highly sensitive categories of UFO investigations." Only two days later on
October 23rd, staffers with the Senate Select Intelligence Committee were provided the same information in a meeting on
Capitol Hill.
A former private contractor for AAWSAP and AATIP, Dr. Hal Puthoff, confirmed for The Debrief he was one of a handful of
persons who conducted the October briefings. "I have been invited to brief congressional staffers on the Senate Armed Services
Committee on UAP matters in the last couple of years," Puthoff said in an email, "and have done so on more than one
occasion." Dr. Puthoff described the staffers during these meetings as being "engaged," and provided "positive responses, [and]
more details always being requested."
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