Pentagon Stands Up New Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Group As Congress Pushes For Even More Action

Late last night, the Pentagon released a memorandum outlining the creation of a new organization focused on the issue of so-called unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAP, more commonly referred to as unidentified flying objects, or UFOs, and the threats they might pose to national security. This group will replace the existing UAP Task Force within the U.S. Navy and will be focused entirely on encounters in areas designated as Special Use Airspace, or SUA, such as warning areas off America's East and West Coasts where many reported incidents have occurred in the past. Separately, a number of members of Congress are calling for the U.S. military to take much broader action, including in a proposed amendment to the Senate's draft of the annual defense policy bill for the 2022 Fiscal Year.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks issued the memorandum, seen below, regarding the establishment of the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG) under the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security, or USD(I&S), on Nov. 23, 2021. Though publicly available, the memo is specifically directed to senior Pentagon leadership, commanders of the U.S. military's combatant commands, and defense agency and field activity directors. The latter category would include intelligence agencies within the Department of Defense, such as the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), National Security Agency (NSA), and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). A copy was also forwarded to the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), who oversees the U.S. Intelligence Community.