A new petition demands that the U.S. government make all unclassified videos of unidentified flying objects (UFOS) or unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) available to the public.
"The radical 'transmedium' technology of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) is currently being withheld from the American public. The UAPTF-DNI preliminary report on UAP found that 143/144 cases were classified as 'unidentified,'" the petition explains.
"We request that the new UAP office created by Congress make available all unclassified videos and cases so that civilian science can investigate and better understand this technology."
The preliminary report, which was nine pages long, was released in June 2021. It was created in collaboration with the military, particularly the recently formed UAP Task Force, by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
UAPTF was established on August 4, 2020, by Deputy Secretary of Defense David L. Norquist. The UAPTF will be led by the Department of the Navy, with oversight from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security.
The UAPTF was established by the Department of Defense to better its understanding of, and obtain insight into, the nature and origins of UAPs. The task force's purpose is to detect, assess, and catalog UAPs that may represent a threat to U.S. national security.
As the DOD has repeatedly emphasized, the safety of its employees and the security of its operations are of the utmost importance. Unauthorized aircraft incursions into our training ranges or designated airspace are taken extremely seriously by the DOD and the military departments, and each incident is thoroughly investigated. This includes investigations into incursions that are initially reported as UAP because the observer is unsure what he or she is seeing.
The U.S. intelligence agency issued the first unclassified assessment of Unexplained Aerial Phenomena in June 2021, in response to a request from Congress.
The UAPTF's analysis could not explain 143 events, and 18 of them appeared to "demonstrate advanced technology," according to the report.
The UAP assessment also emphasized the need to strengthen the Pentagon's systems, regulations, technologies, and training in order to better its understanding of UAP.
The UAPTF has since been incorporated into the Pentagon's new Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group, which was announced in November 2021.
"Incursions by any airborne object into our SUA (Special Use Airspace) pose safety of flight and operations security concerns, and may pose national security challenges," said a Pentagon press release using the term that includes restricted military airspace, military operations areas, firing ranges and places restricted for national security and other uses.
As of Thursday morning (Feb. 24), more than 2,250 people had signed the petition.
