{"blocks":[{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"To its credit, the Trump administration has been taking swift action to declassify documents pertaining to the JFK and Martin Luther King assassinations and the Jeffrey Epstein case. Meanwhile, with the administration’s support, Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) is leading a new Congressional Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The Administration and Rep. Luna have also expressed support for releasing information on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP). I believe that if Rep. Luna’s Task Force or the Administration looks in the right places, they will discover a trove of unclassified UAP imagery that is being unnecessarily and improperly withheld from the public. This imagery will not reveal classified sources or methods, which is the common refrain used to deny access to Congress and the American public. Rather, this information can impart important knowledge about UAP, mitigating the potential for strategic surprise."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Liberating this data can provide a boon to UAP researchers; help raise public awareness regarding unmanned vehicles and the strategic challenges they pose for our country; and help to restore the public’s faith in the ability of civilian policymakers to manage a huge and all-too-often self-serving bureaucracy. It is also an early and easy test case regarding the seriousness of the Congress’s and the Administration’s commitment to UAP transparency."}},{"type":"header","data":{"text":"Over-Classification Is a Systemic Problem","level":2}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"There is already a strong bipartisan consensus in Washington regarding the need to combat excessive government secrecy. We spend as much as $18 billion per year on classifying government documents, a number that does not fully account for the costs and inefficiencies this arcane system imposes. As an analogy, the cost of filing taxes is not just the cost of hiring a tax preparer to do your taxes. A true cost would also account for the time lost due to the excessive complexity of federal tax laws."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Anyone who has worked in the intelligence community is well aware of the inefficiencies resulting from overclassification. Secrets are hoarded by separate fiefdoms and become a source of power; a commodity that can be traded for advantage. Thousands of meetings each year are disrupted, delayed, or canceled due to problems conveying or confirming clearances; personnel can wait months or years for their clearances to be processed while contractors spend millions struggling to meet conflicting standards regarding physical security requirements imposed by different agencies."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"I’ve seen the Three-Star Director of the National Security Agency turned away from an urgent White House meeting by a low-level Secret Service Agent because there was a discrepancy in the clearance information passed to the White House by the general’s security staff. I’ve seen military officers wait for months to get access to their offices and computers because of lags in validating their clearances. At one Air Force base I visited, access to each conference room at the headquarters was controlled by a different lieutenant without whose permission the room could not be used to discuss classified information."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"As former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haines said, “[D]eficiencies in the current classification system undermine our national security, as well as critical democratic objectives, by impeding our ability to share information in a timely manner.”"}},{"type":"header","data":{"text":"Over-Classification of UAP Imagery","level":2}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"My concerns stem from events that began in 2017 when I obtained three Navy UAP videos approved for public release by the DoD’s Office of Prepublication and Security Review (DOPSR). I shared two of these unprecedented military UAP videos with The New York Times, and on December 16, 2017, they appeared in a front-page story entitled “Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon’s Mysterious U.F.O. Program.” The third UAP video, also from a targeting pod aboard an F-18 aircraft, appeared in The Washington Post on March 9, 2018, together with an op-ed I wrote entitled, “The Military Keeps Encountering UFOs. Why Doesn’t the Pentagon Care?” An inquiry by the Air Force Office of Special Investigation (AFOSI) confirmed that the videos were unclassified and their publication did not damage national security."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"What happened next was a classic case of a bureaucracy seeking to enforce a monopoly on access to information; information that could raise important but awkward and uncomfortable questions. Suddenly, a new classification manual for UAP was created by the DoD’s UAP Task Force, making virtually anything and everything related to UAP a national secret – including precisely the same kinds of unclassified videos that had already appeared in two of the nation’s leading newspapers!"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"With deep frustration, I tried to dissuade Pentagon officials from approving this restrictive classification guide. I pointed out that it was only due to openness and transparency, specifically press reporting and information shared with Congress, that any progress whatsoever had been made in revealing worrisome incursions by unidentified aircraft into restricted military airspace at numerous locations. Much as Sputnik alerted the nation to unexpected Russian technological advances in space, this information was vital to alerting Congress and the public to a new potential espionage and air safety threat as well as the possibility that an adversary may have achieved a technological breakthrough with profound strategic implications."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Whether these aircraft were Russian, Chinese, alien, or something more prosaic remains to be seen. However, we can all agree that public awareness is vital in a democracy, both as a matter of principle and as a crucial means of generating the pressure needed to overcome bureaucratic inertia and resistance to change. Regrettably, my arguments fell on deaf ears, and the new classification guide was approved. The antipathy to sharing UAP information was so great that one official even proposed an outright ban on sharing UAP information with Congress!"}},{"type":"header","data":{"text":"The All Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) and UAP Declassification","level":2}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"After AARO was created, I raised the issue of excessive classification with its new director, Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick. He agreed that the classification guide was problematic and indicated that he had already initiated a process to revise it. He urged patience on the matter, which was understandable given the cumbersome bureaucratic process involved."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Later, AARO determined that it does not require the authority to classify UAP-related information. The reason is that the UAP reports it receives are already classified by the agencies that originally collect the data. Unfortunately, these agencies seem to have adopted the original approach, which treats all UAP-related material as classified. As a result, countless UAP videos are being needlessly withheld from the press and public."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Of course, a great deal of UAP imagery is properly classified. For example, sensor data collected by F-22 and F-35 aircraft is far more sophisticated than that collected by the F-18, making the resulting data legitimately classified. By contrast, when it comes to the Navy F-18 targeting pods, DoD has permitted Northrop Grumman to provide extensive details about describing the technology and how it works on the internet. Meanwhile, the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) service uses similar imagery systems and has placed a trove of fascinating documents, along with ten examples of UAP videos, on the internet. I’ve yet to hear any suggestion that Northrop Grumman or CBP has compromised national security."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"It is also clear that F-18’s videos are not the only source of unclassified UAP imagery being withheld from the public. On May 17, 2022, a subcommittee of the House Intelligence Committee held the first Congressional hearing on UAP in over 50 years. During the open hearing, DoD officials shared two “declassified” UAP videos. One was derived from footage obtained using a smart phone and the other a camera attached to night vision goggles. These devices were almost certainly mass-market systems made in China."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Towards the end of the hearing, Subcommittee Chairman Representative Andre Carson asked about releasing details of individual encounters, including the time, place, and other details. He then specifically asked if DoD had “a clear and repeatable process for considering public release?” In response, Mr. Scott Bray, the Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence, stated that “when it does not involve sources and methods ... and it is within my authority to do so, I commit to declassifying that.”"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"That was nearly 3 years ago, and since that time, well over 1000 official UAP reports have been recorded by AARO. Yet, despite the pledge to Congress to “work very hard” to balance transparency with national security, I am not aware of a single new Navy, DoD or IC UAP video that has been declassified and released to the public by the military or Intelligence Community, apart from one unresolved UAP video depicting a metallic sphere filmed over Iraq by an MQ-9 Reaper drone, and several videos resolved to be identifiable objects that have been released on the AARO website. Nor do I believe there is anyone at DoD or the IC who recognizes an obligation to share unclassified UAP information with Congress and the public."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Indeed, in recent discussions with various government officials last month, I was specifically told that nobody in the government has been designated to seek the release of unclassified UAP information or feels an obligation to do so. Consequently, an untold amount of unclassified UAP information is sitting on government computers unseen by Congress or the public."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"How could an iPhone made in China be considered a sensitive source or method? Or a handheld camcorder, another commercial off-the-shelf product likely made in China? Examples of legitimate classification notwithstanding an unclassified source include photos of activities in denied areas, photos that capture classified cockpit information, or images of a secret US military aircraft."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"However, the far more common classification problem is simply the government’s use of classified computer systems, such as the SIPRNET, that host both classified and unclassified information. As a result, any information downloaded from one of these networks has to be reviewed before it is released to ensure it is actually unclassified. This is a somewhat time-consuming process that DoD officials have no incentive to undertake because nobody has been asked to serve as an advocate for disclosure, and nobody is rewarded for declassifying information. The effort, however, is not great and certainly not a valid excuse for withholding untold amounts of information that is of great public interest. In fact, as I am a former DoD official, this article had to undergo the same review process, and I’m pleased to report that it only took a few days. Much of the UAP over-classification problem could be solved if the UAP classification guides were appropriately revised, and guidance was provided by Congress or the Administration designating an official responsible for reviewing and releasing unclassified UAP imagery and analysis."}},{"type":"header","data":{"text":"The President’s Executive Order on Classification ","level":2}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"It is worth briefly reviewing a small portion of the President’s Executive Order (#13526) governing classification. Among other things, it states that information can only be classified if “the information reasonably could be expected to result in damage to the national security… and the original classification authority is able to identify or describe the damage.”"}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"It goes on to state that, “if there is significant doubt about the need to classify information, it shall not be classified (emphasis added).” The current approach to UAP imagery is nearly the opposite of what is required by the President’s executive order."}},{"type":"header","data":{"text":"Benefits of Information Sharing","level":2}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The necessity of transparency in a democracy is a sufficient argument for action, but there are pragmatic benefits to be gained as well because the UAP topic is uniquely well-suited for collaboration between the public and the government. Quality analysis of UAP imagery by UAP proponents and debunkers can help to identify the objects that have been filmed. Equally, scientists can benefit from analyzing military UAP imagery in a variety of ways, which may include their use in training AI systems to help assess UAP imagery and radar data."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"When we deny this data to the public, we deny specialists in a range of disciplines the opportunity to help solve the UAP puzzle. Further, as learned from military UAP reporting, when the government engages in a “one-way street” approach—taking, but not sharing information—the incentive to submit UAP reports is diminished and UAP reporting declines."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"There is some good news, though. I recently contacted AARO regarding a dramatic F-18 video that I recalled seeing years ago. To its credit, AARO is seeking to locate the video and submit it for declassification review by the Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review (DOPSR). This newfound willingness to be collaborative, when possible, is emblematic of the manner in which AARO has been transformed by the leadership of Dr. Jon Kosloski. Under his leadership, AARO is no longer dismissing the credibility of US military personnel or pretending that among the thousands of cases reported, none are genuinely baffling or anomalous. I sense in Dr. Kosloski the objectivity, appropriate emphasis on scientific skepticism and empiricism, as well as open-mindedness and keen intellectual curiosity that are the hallmarks of proper scientific inquiry."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"However, as I pointed out earlier, AARO does not classify UAP imagery. In our system, the organizations that collect information are responsible for classification and declassification, and that is where the problem resides. The UAP classification guides that contradict the executive order on classification need to be revised, and imagery that has been improperly classified should be declassified and released. The sooner, the better."}},{"type":"header","data":{"text":"A Critical Year for UAP Policy","level":2}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"AARO and federal UAP investigative efforts are at a critical juncture. I am especially concerned by the reduced interest in the UAP issue on the part of the House and Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees. This has regrettably occurred at a time when the strategic implications of unmanned vehicles of all kinds, and the nexus between drones and UAP, could not be in greater need of analysis and clarification."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"In terms of military significance, for the first time in history, unmanned aircraft are causing more battlefield casualties in a major conflict than artillery or any other technology. Meanwhile, if Pearl Harbor, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, or the Chinese spy balloon caper of 2023 were not enough to underscore the need for effective air defenses, there is also the stunning recent pattern of drone and UAP incursions at US military facilities from Guam to New Jersey and myriad places in between. These incursions have revealed a near total inability by NORAD to track, capture, or down unmanned systems when they place vital US military capabilities at risk. I have proposed simple steps these committees can take to shed new light on the UAP issue and the effectiveness of US air surveillance without costing the taxpayer a nickel."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Statistical data is crucial, but nothing is more effective or powerful than imagery. If a trove of unreleased, but unclassified UAP imagery exists, its release could make a significant contribution to public awareness and demands for action, all of which might help to revive interest in UAP on the part of these crucial Congressional committees."}},{"type":"header","data":{"text":"UAP and the Congressional Task Force on Declassification","level":2}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Knowledge is power, and empowering the American people whenever possible is as important as empowering the bureaucracies that collect military and intelligence information. Hopefully, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna’s Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets will be able to perform the policymaking surgery required to repair the insidious blockage presently impeding a healthy flow of unclassified UAP information to the public."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"As I sometimes reminded DoD colleagues when drafting security policy for the Secretary of Defense, we certainly didn’t defeat the Soviet Union because we were better at keeping secrets. We wildly outperformed them because we were better at sharing information through the press and free markets."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"I hope the Administration and Congress will seize this rare opportunity to establish a fundamental and lasting improvement in transparency regarding UAP. We need more and better information on this vital topic to ensure our security and advance American science and technology."}},{"type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Christopher Mellon spent nearly 20 years in the U.S. Intelligence Community, including serving as the Minority Staff Director of the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. He actively participates in Harvard’s Galileo Project and is a member of the UAP Disclosure Fund. In his free time, he works to raise awareness regarding the UAP issue and its implications for national security. Follow him online at his official website and on X: @ChrisKMellon."}}]}

Will the Declassification Task Force or President Trump Compel the DoD to Release its Trove of Unclassified UAP Videos?