Roma Locuta Est

August 9, 2023 (Steven O’Reilly) – Back in May 2021, I had written an article in the midst of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) craze which began with a New York Times article, and the release with it of a couple videos which purported to be evidence of advanced aircraft of possibly non-human in origin (see Unidentified Aerial Phenomena: What might it be?).  I had intended a follow up article at the time but other writing projects got in the way, but here it is at last.  Better late than never.

The UAP phenomena continues to make the headlines, due more to folks pushing investigations and “transparency” with regard to UFOs rather than due to any new credible sightings or other evidence. On July 26, 2023, there was a hearing in the House of Representatives on the topic (see HERE). Then, today, there comes news from the United Kingdom of some pressuring King Charles to get involved in the release of any UFO data said to be in the possession of the British government (see King Charles called on to ‘release the truth’ on UFOs, prepare religious for impact of ET life). From this second article (emphasis added):

The King, like his late father Prince Philip, has an “interest in UFOs,” according to Mark Christopher Lee whose new documentary, “God Versus Aliens,” examines the impact the discovery of extraterrestrial beings would have on religion, the UK Mirror reported.

Lee argued that Charles, as the head of the Church of England, “has a duty to prepare the millions of followers of the Church around the world for the impact of disclosure that we are not the only sentient life in the universe.”

“I’m calling on our King to put pressure on the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to release the truth about what the UK knows about UFOs to the public,” he said, according to the UK mirror. “They also need to put pressure on US government and other governments worldwide. This is not just something that affects the US but a worldwide phenomena.”

Source: King Charles called on to ‘release the truth’ on UFOs, prepare religious for impact of ET life

I’ll return to the question of religion and Aliens in a bit.  In my youth, back in the 1970s, I was quite open to the possibility of UFOs being of alien origin. I read may of the popular books published on the topic at the time. But with time, I’ve turned skeptical on the topic, and came to reject the notion there is intelligent life anywhere else in the universe beyond Earth. That said, I remain open to reviewing any evidence that is presented. Hence, as said, back in May 2021, I wrote an article in the wake of year-long or so craze over “unidentified aerial phenomena” or UAPs.  My article, Unidentified Aerial Phenomena: What might it be?, outlined some broad, hypothetical possibilities.

However, having sat and watched the recent Congressional hearing, and doing more reading and research on the genesis of the recent UAP craze — and reviewing the evidence; I believe even my earlier concession in 2021 of taking the recent craze seriously was perhaps granting way more to the phenomena than it deserved.  I sat and watched the entire Congressional hearing the other day on video.  It was quite underwhelming, to say the least.  Only one of the three witnesses called was a witness to any UAP event (a naval aviator). The other two only knew what others told them — and even at that, one of them, whistleblower David Grusch, a former Air Force intelligence officer, said he could only reveal what he knows in a secret session.

Unfortunately, I don’t think I heard anything in this hearing that I haven’t heard before on some cheesy Ancient Aliens show on the History Channel, or an old, grainy, In Search Of episode from the 1970s with host Leonard Nimoy.  Certainly, please hold the secret briefings in the SCIF about “recoveries of alien craft”, and “alien biologics”, etc, but I strongly suspect no credible evidence or actionable information will emerge from these secret briefings either — simply because there is none to be had.  It doesn’t exist.

Part of the problem I have with the recent reports of UAPs is the genesis of ‘craze’, which include folks associated with the sketchy Skinwalker Ranch nonsense (See HERE) and UFO activists.  New York Post journalist Steven Greenstreet has done an excellent series on the topic.  One of his must-see videos, The UFO Lie: Shocking truth of Pentagon AAWSAP program, looks at the beginning of the US Government’s bizarre research program — funding pushed by the late Senator Harry Reid — into nonsensical, noncredible events (i.e., ghosts, werewolves, ‘dino-beavers’, etc.) at Skinwalker Ranch, and how this somehow morphed into the AATIP program.  But folks should watch Mr. Greenstreet’s other videos in the series, and his recent videos on the Congressional hearings (e.g., Congress UFO Hearing – It’s even crazier than you think). If one wants to credibly assess the recent UAP craze, and the evidence behind it; these videos are a must.

But aside from what are, in my opinion, the credibility problems of some of those who orbit around this recent flare-up of the UFO/Alien craze, there are significant problems with the key evidence which forms the supposed foundation of it all. There have been a couple of naval aviation videos, one called “Gimbal“, and one called “Go Fast,” which form the evidential basis of the UAP craze of recent years. To the UFO activists and community, these are akin to having found the Holy Grail.  To be clear, I am not calling into question the professionalism of any of the military personnel involved, including the naval aviators. My point is only that in many ways, the credibility of the recent push by UFO activists for UFO transparency rests in large part on these accounts and videos.

However, with regard to the videos offered in recent years, some have done detailed analyses which debunk them, or certainly potentially appear do so. That is not to say the videos are frauds, only that there are ultimately human or technical misidentifications of one sort or another at play in them which suggest there is no need to posit the involvement of non-human craft or intelligence in them, i.e., the conclusions of the aforementioned “orbiters” are just dead wrong.

For example, Mick West has done analysis of the “Gimbal” video (see Mick West’s Gimbal UFO – A New Analysis).  Mr. West lays out his analysis in detail, with various graphics showing that the seeming movements of the supposed UAP in the “Gimbal” video are simply a combination of a glare effect and the movements peculiar to the sort of camera mounted on the naval jet.  It is unfortunate that Mr. West’s analysis or one like it wasn’t displayed at the committee hearing.  It would have been great to have heard experts, pro and con, argue the interpretation of these videos.

Similarly, Mick West has also done an excellent analysis on the famous “Go Fast” video — again taken from a naval jet, which seemingly shows an object moving at a very high rate of speed near the surface of the ocean.  However, Mr. West’s careful analysis (see Explained: “Go Fast” UFO Video – Not Low and Not Fast – Like a Balloon!), using simple trigonometry based on data from the jet’s own display panel, demonstrates the object was moving at a speed of circa 20 to 40 knots (c. 23-46 miles per hour!!) — the speed of a weather balloon in an ocean wind — hardly the supersonic speeds suggested by the UFO-activists!  Further, Mr. West’s analysis suggests the object was about 6-7 feet wide, i.e., again about the size of a weather balloon.  Again, the Congressional hearing did not put up any experts to offer up interpretations of this video, or the evidence offered by Mr. West and or others which suggest other reasonable alternatives, for these and other videos, aside from Alien space craft. (NB: See a supposed  “pyramid” UAP explained — see “Pyramid UFO” – NEW FOOTAGE. It’s Just Bokeh, not a Pyramid).

The point is, at a minimum, subsequent analysis suggests the videos are not evidence of advanced aircraft. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence 2022 annual report on UAP’s stated that of 366 new sightings, 163 were “characterized as balloon or balloon-like entities” (see 2022 Annual Report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena).  Another 26 were “characterized as Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) or UAS-like entities,” i.e., drone type aircraft.  Some of the videos here show example where misidentification is possible (see examples HERE). The point about the 163 incidents of balloons being labeled UAPs is interesting when one remembers the Chinese spy balloon debacle, suggesting spy balloons may be culprits in at least some of these UAP cases.

Consider, the Chinese have had a spy base in Cuba “for years” per reporting by the New York Times (see China Has Had a Spy Base in Cuba for Years, U.S. Official Says).  Have the Chinese been launching spy balloons and or unmanned drones into the US naval aviation training airspace where many of these UAP sightings appear to be occurring? In the famed “Tic Tac” encounter, the pilots who saw the “Tic Tac” UAP also reported also seeing a great disturbance on the surface of the water.  Apparently, we know there were reportedly no US submarines in the area at the time.  Was it a Chinese submarine which perhaps launched a spy balloon or drone?  Did the aviators in this instance observe a Chinese submarine as it launched, or attempted to recover a balloon?  Is that what is perhaps happening in this video (see HERE), i.e., a submerged Chinese or Russian submarine attempting to recover a spy balloon or drone?

So, going back to my original article (see Unidentified Aerial Phenomena: What might it be?), I outlined some hypothetical possibilities.  Incidents which cannot be explained by solutions such as private or commercial aircraft, and are witnessed by US military personnel, are UAPs which fall into the following two categories:  1.1 Adversary Hypothesis (China and or Russia) involving craft, in many cases, as simple as drones and balloons; and 1.2 Secret US Technology (testing of new craft/technology).

That said, I suspect there may be a small minority of cases which have natural causes, beyond the familiar misidentification of stars, or “swamp gas”, infamously used in the old Project Blue Book days.  In my last article, I suggested natural causes might include electromagnetic phenomena which might explain some of the descriptions provided.  See hypothesis 3 “Natural Phenomena Hypothesis” in my article [see Unidentified Aerial Phenomena: What might it be?, and see especially UFO ≈ Plasma Phenomena)]

As to the fourth hypothesis, “The Preternatural Hypothesis,” discussed in my article, I see no reason to conclude this is what is happening now with these sightings.  I don’t exclude such things could be possible, but I believe the UAP evidence provided thus far can be explained by the other hypotheses given above (e.g., misidentifications, spy balloons, drones, natural phenomena, etc.).

Final Thoughts

Earlier I quoted an article which described one Brit demanding King Charles support worldwide transparency regarding UFOs. This Mr. Lee has a new documentary, God Versus Aliens, which I have not yet seen. But, we can imagine its message as the article continues to quote Lee (emphasis added):

“My new film God Versus Aliens is about this impact and how people can prepare for massive changes to their place in the world,” Lee continued. “It would be the biggest paradigm shift of them all. Religion has survived Copernicus & Galileo, Charles Darwin & evolution but would it survive if other sentient life brought their own beliefs/non beliefs and impose them on us.”

Source: King Charles called on to ‘release the truth’ on UFOs, prepare religious for impact of ET life

Even if intelligent, alien life exists on other planets in the universe — which I doubt; that would not be the end of Christianity, as Mr. Lee’s question appears to imply. However, both from a theological and scientific/philosophical perspective (e.g., the Fermi Paradox), I doubt there is sentient, intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. Despite what Mr. Lee may think, religion has more than “survived.” There are credible reasons to doubt ‘science’ got it right with regard to Galileo, and whether it has gotten it right with regard to Darwin. Furthermore, despite all the hype in the press over the last few years, i.e., since the New York Times article and the release of a few famous UAP videos which can be explained without an Alien hypothesis, there is little reason to think the UFO-activists have gotten it right this time around either.

Steven O’Reilly is a graduate of the University of Dallas and the Georgia Institute of Technology. A former intelligence officer, he and his wife, Margaret, live near Atlanta. He has written apologetic articles, and is author of Book I of the Pia Fidelis trilogy, The Two Kingdoms; and of Valid? The Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. (Follow on twitter at @fidelispia for updates). He asks for your prayers for his intentions.  He can be contacted at StevenOReilly@AOL.com  or StevenOReilly@ProtonMail.com (or follow on Twitter: @S_OReilly_USA or on GETTR, TruthSocial, or Gab: @StevenOReilly).