Pentagon Watchdog Starts Probe Into US Defence's Handling of UFOs

The US Department of Defense (DoD) announced on May 3 that it is launching a formal evaluation into the Pentagon's actions on what the military calls Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP). The office of the DoD inspector general issued a memo a few days ago, announcing the plan and stated that it would audit how the offices of the secretary of defence, military services, combatant commands, combat support agencies, defence agencies, and the military criminal investigative organisations have responded to the spate of UFO sightings.

“The objective of this evaluation is to determine the extent to which the DoD has taken actions regarding Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. We may revise the objective as the evaluation proceeds, and we will consider suggestions from management for additional or revised objectives,” the memo states.

The memo also sought a “point of contact for the evaluation” within 5 days of the date of the memorandum. “The point of contact should be a government employee or military service member — a GS-15, pay band equivalent, or the military equivalent,” read the memo.

Last year, in August, the Pentagon had created a task force to study UAP occurrences. In a release, the Pentagon had said that the task force was established to improve its understanding of the nature and origins of UAPs. “The mission of the task force is to detect, analyse and catalog UAPs that could potentially pose a threat to US national security,” stated the release.

In April this year, the Pentagon had confirmed the authenticity of leaked videos and photos showing objects described as a “sphere,” “acorn,” and “metallic blimp.” As reported by CNN, A spokesperson said the videos and photos showing these objects were taken by US Navy personnel.

The office of inspector general acts as the official watchdog of Pentagon and provides administrative and criminal investigations and audits for operations falling under the DoD. Traditionally, the inspector general probes allegations of wrongdoing or evaluates how the Pentagon is handling sensitive or politically charged issues.