Dr. SEAN KIRKPATRICK is the
Director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office [AARO] at the United
States Department of Defense.
He is
also a Professor of Physics at the University of Georgia, specializing in laser
and materials.
His
last public appearance was at the public meeting convened by the Senate Armed
Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, on April 19, 2023.
It was
at the end of that meeting that he promised that AARO would present the next
official report (with classified and public versions) around June or July 2023.
Nevertheless, we are already on August 23, and there is no hint about that
report.
But on August 2, 2023, Dr. Kirkpatrick wrote a
personal note under the title “Hearings and Transparence” in which –after the
public hearing on UAP, done by the House
National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs— he defends the work of AARO
and the quality of the people working on it.
While
we are still waiting for the new AARO report, we found it very important to
share what Dr. Kirkpatrick said in an exclusive interview done by Devin
Dwyer, Tommy Brooksbank, and Jon Schlosberg on July 20, 2023, that is before the public hearing where US Navy
pilots Ryan Graves and David Fravor, and former Air Force Intelligence Officer
David Grusch declared as witnesses and whistleblower respectively.
It is a
ABC News interview, and here it is “in totum”.
Extraterrestrial 'technical surprise' is a top
concern, Pentagon UFO investigator says
The
scientist and military intelligence officer leading the Pentagon's task force
for unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs) -- which the public calls
UFOs -- says being caught off guard by "intelligent or extraterrestrial
technical surprise" remains a top concern as investigators analyze more
than 800 cases of mysterious sightings reported by U.S.
military personnel dating back decades.
"Data
and science has to guide where you go, and we will follow the data," Dr.
Sean Kirkpatrick said last month, in an exclusive first interview after his
appointment to the All-Domain
Anomaly Resolution Office, or AARO.
Congress
established the office last year to coordinate efforts across federal agencies
to "detect, identify and attribute" mysterious objects of interest in
the air, in outer space and underwater, with special focus on mitigating
potential threats to military operations and national security.
"The
most common misconception is that [the possible phenomena] are all the same
thing and they're all extraterrestrial, and neither of those are true,"
Kirkpatrick said.
"We
have to go through the rigor of taking each one, matching it against our known
objects and catalogs and then reviewing that -- peer reviewing that -- and
making sure that everybody's in agreement," he said of the process, which
has included establishing a government-wide data collection initiative.
The
AARO has looked into some high-profile UAP sightings, highlighted in
congressional hearings, including a
2019 video recording taken by Navy sailors of glowing triangles floating above
them.
The
vast majority of cases reviewed since the office was established are
"readily explainable," Kirkpatrick said, noting that final,
evidence-based determinations remain slow and ongoing.
Many
reported phenomena are later attributed as likely balloons, drones, debris or
animals, such as large birds, he said.
That
2019 video was later determined to be ordinary drones distorted by night-vision
goggles.
"I
have a full range of hypotheses: On one end of the spectrum, it's advanced
technology that's coming from an adversary. Right in the middle, I have all my
known objects -- balloons and drones and birds and whatnot. And then on the far
end of the spectrum, we have extraterrestrials," said Kirkpatrick.
A
small number of the reports –- roughly 2-5% of cases –- are unexplained
anomalies, including the so called 2004
"Tic Tac" incident.
Congress
established the office last year to coordinate efforts across federal agencies
to "detect, identify and attribute" mysterious objects of interest in
the air, in outer space and underwater, with special focus on mitigating
potential threats to military operations and national security.
"The
most common misconception is that [the possible phenomena] are all the same
thing and they're all extraterrestrial, and neither of those are true,"
Kirkpatrick said.
"We
have to go through the rigor of taking each one, matching it against our known
objects and catalogs and then reviewing that -- peer reviewing that -- and
making sure that everybody's in agreement," he said of the process, which
has included establishing a government-wide data collection initiative.
The
vast majority of cases reviewed since the office was established are
"readily explainable," Kirkpatrick said, noting that final,
evidence-based determinations remain slow and ongoing.
Many
reported phenomena are later attributed as likely balloons, drones, debris or
animals, such as large birds, he said.
That
2019 video was later determined to be
ordinary drones distorted by night-vision goggles.
"I
have a full range of hypotheses: On one end of the spectrum, it's advanced
technology that's coming from an adversary. Right in the middle, I have all my
known objects -- balloons and drones and birds and whatnot. And then on the far
end of the spectrum, we have extraterrestrials," said Kirkpatrick.
A
small number of the reports –- roughly 2-5% of cases –- are unexplained
anomalies, including the so called 2004
"Tic Tac" incident.
The
proliferation of conspiracy theories spawned by the UAPs has inspired a sense
of bipartisan urgency on Capitol Hill.
Senate
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, backed by other top Democrats and Republicans,
this month called for greater transparency by the government. Legislation he
proposed would force the National Archives to collect and publicly release
records related to UAP reports within 25 years of when they were created unless
there is a compelling national security concern.
"There
is something there -- measurable light, multiple instruments -- and yet it
seems to move in directions inconsistent with what we know of physics or
science more broadly. And that, to me, poses questions of tremendous interest,
as well as potential national security significance," Rep. Adam Schiff,
D-Calif., said during a House Intelligence Committee hearing on UAPs in 2022.
Multiple
congressional committees have also explored concerns that the mysterious
sightings could be evidence of surveillance by other countries.
"My
priority is that we understand the full range of threats posed by our
adversaries in all domains," Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said
during an Armed Services Committee hearing on UAPs in April.
For
his part, Kirkpatrick is focused on the gathering of facts and evidence.
"A lot of these stories, a lot of these allegations, crop up again and
again over history," he said. "I'm not going to jump ahead to conclusions
until we have more data."
Asked whether he believes intelligent
extraterrestrial life exists, Kirkpatrick said: "I think it's
statistically unrealistic to think it isn't" and that finding it would be
"probably the best outcome of this job."
Milton W. Hourcade
UAPSG International
Coordinator
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