The House of Representatives approved an amendment to the annual defense spending bill on Wednesday that would create a secure reporting system for Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP), known as UFOs.
The system created by the amendment would receive reports of “any event involving unidentified aerial phenomena” in addition to any related activity by the government, federal contractors or programs.
The amendment, sponsored by Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), passed by voice vote as part of a block of amendments to the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The House is expected to vote on and pass the full NDAA this week.
Gallagher’s office said the system would be created by the head of the Air Object Identification and Management Group, which was created in November 2021 on behalf of the secretary of defense and the director of national intelligence as a successor to the Navy’s UAP task force.
The group was created to oversee government efforts to detect, identify and attribute objects of interest located in special use airspace.
The purpose of the measure, the amendment states, is to “prevent the unauthorized public reporting or compromise of properly classified military and intelligence systems, programs, and related activities.”
Gallagher said the amendment would have an “important role” in improving Congress’ ability to learn more about the UAP.
“We must ensure that the military and intelligence community are armed with the best possible information, capital and scientific resources to defeat our enemies and maintain military and technological superiority,” he said in a statement.
“This amendment will play an important role in assisting Congress’ ability to gather facts and further prove or disprove the origin and nature of the threat of anything that appears to be flying in our skies,” he added.
Gallego struck a similar note, saying in a statement that the amendment would help “better collect observations and data.”
“We need to empower our service members to be transparent and remove the stigma surrounding unidentified aerial phenomena,” he added.
Consideration of the amendment came roughly two months after a congressional subcommittee held the first UFO hearing on Capitol Hill in more than 50 years.
During a hearing held by the House Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence and Counterproliferation Subcommittee, Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray said the Office of the Director of National Intelligence had uncovered approximately 400 reports of meetings with UAP.
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The amendment approved by the House on Wednesday calls for the “immediate sharing” of UAP-related information that was previously “prohibited from reporting under a written or oral nondisclosure agreement, order, or other instrument or means” with supporting analysts and scientists .
It also mandates that an initial report be sent to congressional committees outlining the system, which will then be published. It also requires the preparation of annual reports and the inclusion of a summary of the reports received as part of the system.
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