The Senate Intelligence Committee wants the Pentagon to supply more information on any reports of UFOs, Fox News reports.
On Tuesday, acting chairman of the committee Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., asked the director of national intelligence, the secretary of defense and other agency heads to compile data on “unidentified aerial phenomenon."
“The Committee remains concerned that there is no unified, comprehensive process within the federal government for collecting and analyzing intelligence on unidentified aerial phenomena, despite the potential threat,” the lawmakers wrote. “The Committee understands that the relevant intelligence may be sensitive; nevertheless, the Committee finds that the information sharing and coordination across the Intelligence Community has been inconsistent, and this issue has lacked attention from senior leaders.”
One expert told Fox News the request may be because some lawmakers were “disturbed” by reports they heard during last year’s classified briefing about UFOs.
"I welcome this long-overdue development," Nick Pope, a former employee and UFO investigator for Britain's Ministry of Defense, told Fox News. "It suggests that those senators who received last year's classified briefing on UFOs were disturbed by it and weren't satisfied with the current DOD position, i.e. simply stating that the mystery objects encountered by naval aviators remain unidentified."
The request was attached to the 2020-2021 Senate Intelligence Authorization Act, which still needs to pass the Senate.
Senators are requesting the report within 180 days of the bill’s approval.
In April, the Pentagon officially released videos previously captured by Navy aircraft of "unidentified aerial phenomena," known as "FLIR1,” “Gimbal” and “GoFast.”
The first video was filmed on Nov. 14, 2004, and shot by the F-18's gun camera. The second video, which shows an aerial vehicle, was captured on film on Jan. 21, 2015. A third video was filmed on the same day. It is unclear if the object is the same or different from the second film.
In September 2019, the Navy first acknowledged it had videos of unidentified objects.
Pope said the committee’s request hints that the government may know more than it is admitting.
"The Act's reference to 'inconsistent' sharing and coordination of information on this issue isn't written in the UFO community's language of cover-ups and conspiracies, but clearly suggests the committee shares the views of UFO researchers, and thinks elements within government know more about UFOs than they're letting on," Pope wrote in a subsequent email to Fox News.