Thread by @ddeanjohnson

BREAKING: Just-released text of FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA),H.R. 4350, already approved by the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, contains a 571-word section to impose new obligations on DoD regarding Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP).

H.R. 4350 was approved by the full House Armed Services Committee on Sept. 2, 2021, by a 57-2 vote, but text has only now been made public. The House committee's UAP-related requirements differ from those contained in a proposed Intelligence Authorization Act (S. 2610),

approved by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in July. The two bills are not in direct conflict, but they take somewhat different approaches--the House language has more detailed substantive requirements on some points, but requires less frequent reports to Congress.

These two sets of UAP-related requirements should be viewed as proposals-- part of a work-in-progress involving at least four key committees, and other players as well. Defense authorization and Intelligence authorization bills are often (but not always) merged during

the legislative process. More likely than not, a single set of UAP-related requirements, applicable to both military and intelligence community components, will be hammered out during the months ahead. The Senate Armed Services Committee approved its own version of a NDAA

on July 21; the text has not yet been made public, but I doubt that you will see the detailed House UAP language replicated in the public bill as approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee. The House Intelligence Committee has not yet produced its version of an IAA.

Here are some key points from the House Armed Services Committee's H.R. 4350 (images of the entire UAP section appear above): The bill defines "unidentified aerial phenomena'' as "airborne objects witnessed by a pilot or aircrew member that are not immediately identifiable."

The bill would mandate that within 180 days of enactment, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence, must establish a new office "within the Office of the Secretary of Defense to carry out, on a Department-wide basis, the mission

currently performed by" the UAP Task Force; the UAPTF would be terminated. Enactment of this language would be, it seems to me, a congressionally mandated elevation of subject matter of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.
#ufotwitter

The bill enumerates 7 "duties" for the new UAP office, including centralization and standardization of reporting procedures "from each military department," "evaluating links between unidentified aerial phenomena and adversarial foreign governments, other foreign governments,

or nonstate actors," "evaluating the threat that such incidents present to" the U.S., "coordinating with other departments of the Federal government," and "coordinating with allies and partners of the United States, as appropriate, to better assess the nature and extent of" UAP.

The bill also requires that beginning Dec. 31, 2022, the Secretary of Defense submit an annual report on UAP to the congressional armed services, intelligence, and foreign affairs committees (six committees); it does not specific whether these reports should be submitted

in classified or unclassified form, or both. The bill mandates that these reports "shall include" 10 specific things, including "(B) An analysis of data relating to unidentified aerial phenomena collected through-- (i) geospatial intelligence; (ii) signals intelligence;

(iii) human intelligence; and (iv) measurement and signals intelligence. (C) The number of reported incidents of unidentified aerial phenomena over restricted air space of the United States....(H) An update on the coordination by the United States with

allies and partners on efforts to track, understand, and address [UAP]. (I) An update on any efforts underway on the ability to capture or exploit discovered unidentified aerial phenomena. (J) An assessment of any health-related effects for individuals that have encountered" UAP.

I'll do further reporting on these legislative developments as I obtain additional information. My previous report on the UAP-related provisions of the Intelligence Authorization Act as approved by the Senate Intelligence Committee in July is found here:

https://twitter.com/ddeanjohnson/status/1428043183980691464?s=20

According to this release, the UAP language that I discuss above originated with Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ, 7th congressional district), chairman of the Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations of the House Armed Services Committee.
#ufotwritter

The House Armed Services Committee report on H.R. 4350 (report 117-118) now has been posted. It provides only a one-sentence summary of the UAP-related provision; no commentary. There was no separate roll call on the UAP language at the full committee "mark up" (voting session).

1/2) Some have noted that the bill's definition of UAP is too narrow. True--e.g., a security team could watch a giant glowing disc land on a Minuteman III silo, and it wouldn't fit the definition. Such defects are not uncommon at this stage of the process, especially in big

2/2) multi-subject bills such as this (1362 pgs, work of 7 subcommittees), and on "new" subjects (legislatively speaking). I do NOT expect that any such overly constrictive definition of UAP will be codified by Congress, either in an NDAA or in an Intelligence Authorization Act.