U.S. intelligence agencies have six months to release all of the information they have on UFOs. So why now? It’s all thanks to the $2.3-trillion COVID-19 relief and government spending bill signed back in December.
The provision was tucked into the committee comment section of the Intelligence Authorization Act for the 2021 fiscal year. That act was contained in the overall relief bill.
Now, intelligence officials have about 180 days from the signing of the bill to give an unclassified report about the aircrafts. The report needs to contain analysis of any UFO data as well as name any possible security threats they pose.
Therefore, the Committee directs the DNI, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the heads of such other agencies as the Director and Secretary jointly consider relevant, to submit a report within 180 days of the date of enactment of the Act, to the congressional intelligence and armed services committees on unidentified aerial phenomena (also known as “anomalous aerial vehicles”), including observed airborne objects that have not been identified.
In June of 2019, the military briefed several U.S. senators on reported encounters by the Navy with unidentified flying aircraft, and the military released several videos of unexplained sightings.
“One of the key takeaways I have is that the military and others are taking this issue seriously,” said Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Mark Warner after the classified 2019 briefing.
UFO sightings like the one spotted by a 2015 military training mission off the coast of Florida have become more common in recent years. Several of these encounters were captured on video and made public.
President Trump also confirmed that he was briefed on the UFO reports.
