New Delhi: Are we alone in the Universe? This eternal question that has dogged humanity for ages may have probable answers or even hints by May 2021 with the US defence secretary and the director of Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) being obligated to present a report on 'Unidentified Aerial Phenomena' (UAP) before the congressional intelligence and armed services committees.
Not just UFO and alien conspiracy theorists and the public at large, the scientific community is also pretty much excited over what the report may entail.
The Disclosure
Particularly so after the US government's Department of Defense (aka Pentagon) recently in a stunning admission under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has opened up a Pandora's Box by admitting to tests being conducted on debris retrieved from Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs).
Wing Commander Ajey Lele, working with the Manohar Parikkar Institute for Defence Studies Analyses, a leading Indian think-tank on security and strategic studies, told ETV Bharat: "All these efforts are to understand if there is life outside this planet. And before we can find out anything, if someone is coming out and telling us 'yes we exist', it would be a path-breaking moment in the history of humankind."
Read: Pentagon releases 3 UFO videos to clear up misconceptions
At the same time, the aerospace expert cautions: "Till now there has been no such indications. We have got the Hubble's Telescope that is looking at not just our own galaxy but also other galaxies too."
Asked what then does the Pentagon revelation mean, Lele says: "Basically they (US) are trying to understand the reality. There is no harm in doing a very critical and objective analysis. They are trying to rule out all possibilities. Another aspect could be that the Pentagon may be thinking these are acts by other countries inimical to US security and strategic interests."
FOIA Response
The Pentagon's admission document dated January 08, 2021 on a DIA official letter head came after researcher Anthony Bragalia's December 26, 2017 query under the FOIA (the Indian equivalent of the RTI Act).
The DIA responded with a 154-page report which had several highlights besides admitting that debris from UAP (UFO crashes?) was indeed being studied and tested and which included a mysterious 'memory' metal called 'Nitinol' which had the extraordinary capability of regaining its original shape 'seamlessly and instantly' even after it was folded, bent or deformed.
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The response included extensive references to 'meta-materials' that could 'slow down' the speed of light, make light stop to a standstill, make things 'invisible' (by manipulating refraction, reflectivity and increasing light absorption) or even 'compress' electromagnetic energy—technology that is far advanced for contemporary cutting-edge science.
It also included allusions to 'energy harvesting' technologies, or 'pulling energy from the environment for low-power electronic devices.'
The response includes documents that comprise 30 pages on 'metallic glasses—status and prospects for aerospace', 32 pages on 'biomaterials', 27 pages on 'materials for advanced aerospace platforms', 27 pages on 'metallic sprintronics', and 38 pages on 'meta-materials for aerospace applications'.
The documents also reveal that the retrieved debris DIA was studied under a programme called AATIP (the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program) and that a defence contractor (Bigelow Aerospace in Las Vegas, Nevada) had stored the material.
While there is nothing on where, when and how the debris was located, this is the first official confirmation of the existence of AATIP which is also referred to by an alternate or predecessor name, Advanced Aerospace Weapons Systems Applications program (AAWSA).
Bragalia tried to contact Bigelow Aerospace but in vain. "Some months ago they laid off their employees and ceased operations. Former company officials, when reached, refuse comment," he writes in his blog.
Connected Developments
The latest developments come in the backdrop of the Pentagon releasing three US Navy videos on April 27, 2020, confirming their genuineness. Taken by US Navy aviators, the videos show unidentified objects hurtling through or rotating in the sky, seemingly defying the laws of physics.
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And then on August 4, 2020, the US government announced the setting up of an Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF).
The UAPTF's mandate was to "improve its understanding of, and gain insight into, the nature and origins of UAPs. The mission of the task force is to detect, analyze and catalog UAPs that could potentially pose a threat to US national security."
On January 7, 2021, a UFO enthusiast website 'Black Vault' published about 2,700 pages of declassified documents provided by the CIA and obtained under the FOIA. The CIA's dumping of 'UAP files' into a CD-ROM and handing them over to 'Black Vault' was reported to be 'sudden'.
So is the truth out there in the Pentagon?
