Navy Withholding Data on UFO Sightings, Congressman Says

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Article by Bryan Bender                    September 6, 2019                      (politico.com)

• US Representative Mark Walker (R-NC) (pictured above), the ranking member of the Intelligence and Counter-terrorism subcommittee for the House Homeland Security Committee, is accusing the US Navy of withholding information about reports of UFOs after officially requesting more data on the Navy’s mysterious encounters.

• In July 2019, Walker asked Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer to outline what resources the Navy is dedicating to investigating the sightings, whether the Navy had found “physical evidence” to substantiate the claims, and whether any foreign nations or private companies have developed breakthrough technologies that could explain these UAPs, i.e.: ‘unidentified aerial phenomena’.

• Navy Undersecretary Thomas Modly responded in a brief letter on July 31st that “the Department of the Navy takes these reports very seriously and continues to log sightings and fully investigate the accounts.” Modly noted the proliferation and availability of inexpensive unmanned aerial “drones”. The Navy “continues to dedicate resources to the tracking and investigation of reports that could affect the safety of our aircrews.” Walker wasn’t satisfied with this response. Citing reports of UAPs traveling at speeds and making maneuvers well beyond what is believed to be technologically possible, which a drone cannot do, Walker expressed concern that the UFO craft could pose a threat to US forces or territory.

• Navy spokesperson Joe Gradisher responded that the Navy is prepared to accommodate any further congressional requests for information. “At this point in time,” said Gradisher,” we have not received any new requests for updates on this issue.”

• Congressional interest in the UFO reports has grown since revelations that the Pentagon had investigated the sightings through a program established by former Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada. Among the revelations were sightings reported by pilots and personnel of the USS Nimitz and the USS Theodore Roosevelt battlegroups in 2004, 2015 and 2016, including footage of unknown aircraft exhibiting flight characteristics that defy known aerodynamic properties. The Pentagon also financed a series of theoretical studies to try to explain how the aircraft might operate — ranging from “Detection and High Resolution Tracking of Vehicles at Hypersonic Velocities” to “Warp Drive, Dark Energy, and the Manipulation of Extra Dimensions.”

• In a recent interview, Walker wondered whether the Pentagon’s Advanced Aerospace Identification Program set up by Reid was truly ended in 2012. Where is the documentation? If the program has clandestinely continued, where are the resources coming from? Walker’s concern is that a potential adversary like Russia or China could already have this advanced aerospace technology.

• Walker, a former pastor, acknowledged that he is open to the possibility that the answers could change how humanity perceives the known universe. What does the US government or military know that “the rest of us don’t?” asked Walker. “I certainly have an open mind to see where this leads us.”

A top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee is accusing the Navy of withholding information about reports of unidentified aircraft after officially requesting more data on the mysterious encounters.

Rep. Mark Walker of North Carolina, the ranking member of the Intelligence and Counterrorism subcommittee, asked Secretary Richard V. Spencer in July to outline what resources the Navy is dedicating to investigating the sightings. He also asked if officials have found “physical evidence” to substantiate the claims, and whether they are aware of any foreign nations or private companies that have introduced breakthrough technologies that could explain them.

Navy Undersecretary Thomas Modly responded in a brief letter on July 31 that “the Department of the Navy takes these reports very seriously and continues to log sightings and fully investigate the accounts,” according to a copy provided to POLITICO.

But Walker said he is discouraged by the Navy’s seeming unwillingness to provide his committee with more data about the so-called unidentified aerial phenomena — the term the Pentagon prefers over the more traditional “unidentified flying objects,” or UFOs. He has expressed concern publicly that the craft could pose a threat to U.S. forces or territory.
“While I am encouraged the Under Secretary of the Navy confirmed that UAP encounters are fully investigated, there is frustration with the lack of answers to specific questions about the threat that superior aircraft flying in United States airspace may pose,” Walker told POLITICO in a statement.

Navy spokesperson Joe Gradisher responded that the service is prepared to accommodate any further congressional requests for information. “At this point in time, however, we have not received any new requests for updates on this issue,” he said by email.

Congressional interest in the unidentified aircraft reports has grown since revelations by POLITICO and other news outlets in late 2017 that the Pentagon had investigated the sightings through a program established a decade earlier by former Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada.

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