UAP amendment

Please support Senator Gillabrand who submitted an important amendment for inclusion in the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act requiring the government to strengthen its investigations of unidentified aerial phenomena , otherwise known as UFOs.It has policy merit, but it also hints at things the U.S. government knows or suspects about UFOs. First, Gillibrand would require the intelligence community and the Department of Defense to formalize their handling of the UFO phenomenon. The new Anomaly Office would have access to resources and capabilities across the government and military. The office would engage in information sharing with allies. UFO reporting by government or military personnel would also be moved to a "central repository," with reports "including adverse physiological effects." Furthering democratic accountability, the office would be required to provide regular public reports on its findings.The office would be supported by a new "Aerial and Transmedium Phenomena Advisory Committee" made up of both government and private sector individuals. The inclusion of "transmedium" in that committee's name reflects witness reporting and military data that indicate some unidentified objects appeared capable of moving with unexplained ease between air, space, and underwater media. Three members of the committee would be selected by the NASA administrator and three by the head of Harvard University's Galileo Project for the Systematic Scientific Search for Evidence of Extraterrestrial Technological Artifacts (presently led by Professor Avi Loeb). The "physiological effects" reference suggests Gillibrand's concern over some reports, including by military personnel, of adverse health effects after close exposure to reported UFOs. Moreover, the new office would be charged with "[e]valuating links between unidentified aerial phenomena and adversarial foreign governments, other foreign governments, or non state actors." Crucially, it directs the office's pursuit of "scientific theories to account for characteristics and performance of unidentified aerial phenomena that exceed the known state of the art in science or technology, including in the areas of propulsion, aerodynamic control, signatures, structures, materials, sensors, countermeasures, weapons, electronics, and power generation, and to provide the foundation for potential future investments to replicate any such advanced characteristics and performance." Gillibrand's language gives implicit reference to the confident belief of those in the U.S. government and military who have studied these UFOs that they are not of U.S., Chinese, or Russian origin. Finally, the report would require more government attention to the UFO/ UAP connection point with nuclear weapons and powers.