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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…
The Pentagon Press Briefing Room seal (Credit: DoD/photo by Lisa Ferdinando)
The Debrief reached out to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Office and DoD Executive Services Office and
formally requested an interview with someone authorized to speak on the UAP briefings with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In an
email, Senior Strategist and Pentagon spokesperson Susan Gough responded, "To maintain operations security, which includes
not disseminating information publicly that may be useful to our adversaries, DOD does not discuss publicly the details of
either the observations or the examination of reported incursions into our training ranges or designated airspace, including those
incursions initially designated as UAP — and that includes not discussing the UAPTF publicly, also."
Official public affairs channels indicate the Pentagon is not interested in sharing any more information on the UAP topic.
However, several current and former officials with the DoD and individuals working for multiple U.S. intelligence agencies
told The Debrief that there was much more going on behind closed doors.
UAP INTELLIGENCE POSITION REPORTS
Multiple sources confirmed for The Debrief that the UAPTF had issued two classified intelligence position reports, which one
individual described as "shocking." Details provided on these reports suggest both a greater degree of Pentagon involvement,
and that the UAPTF's hunt for unidentified objects isn't confined only to aerial phenomena.
Two officials with the DoD and one from the U.S. Intelligence community were willing to provide details on the contents of the
classified report. An additional three other U.S. Intelligence Officials and a federal law enforcement officer confirmed the
report's existence but were only willing to provide comments on their distribution. Given the report's classification and their
discussion of a "sensitive intelligence matter," the officials we spoke with did so only under strict conditions of anonymity.
While The Debrief has agreed not to provide information on sources, identities, and employers, though everyone we spoke with
works within the U.S. Intelligence Community and under the authority of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence.
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