Top Intelligence Office Unable To Publicly Support Pentagon's UFO Report, Despite Oversight Role
Stacey Dixon, Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence
Written by Christopher Sharp - 15 March 2024
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) currently cannot publicly endorse a recently released Pentagon historical report on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP).
This is despite its joint oversight role over the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), the entity responsible for drafting the report.
The AARO is mandated to report directly to the ODNI’S Stacey Dixon, Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, and Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks on all operational and security issues.
Eric Pahon, Public Affairs Advisor to Kathleen Hicks, confirmed to Liberation Times last night that "she [Hicks] supports the findings and conclusions in the report," which dismisses any wrongdoing from the Department of Defense (DoD), Intelligence Community, and defense contractors amid allegations of a cover-up and illegal activities involving UAP.
In January 2024, DoD spokesperson Susan Gough told Liberation Times that, “Deputy Secretary Hicks and Principal Deputy Dixon meet routinely on AARO and with other UAP stakeholders as necessary.”
However, despite repeated conversations with Liberation Times via phone and email, neither the ODNI nor Stacey Dixon herself has been able to publicly endorse the findings and conclusions of the report.
Sources have indicated to Liberation Times that the ODNI is hesitant to publicly support the report, fearing it might compromise an investigation conducted by the Intelligence Community's Inspector General. This investigation is examining assertions by David Grusch, a former top intelligence officer, who testified under oath about the existence of illegal UAP programs involved in retrieving and reverse-engineering non-human technologies.
The inspector general, Thomas Monheim found Grusch’s allegation that “information was inappropriately concealed from Congress” to be “credible and urgent.”
Following a recent meeting with the Inspector General, an entity possessing considerably greater authority, resources, and investigative prowess than the AARO, Representative Jared Moskowitz disclosed on X:
‘Based on what we heard many of Grusch[’s[ claims have merit!’
It should be noted that UAP reports have traditionally been published on the ODNI’s website.
Currently, the UAP historical report can only be located on the AARO and DoD websites.
Liberation Times understands that, unlike other reports, this one was not a product of the ODNI, and it is likely that the ODNI had minimal involvement in its creation. This is inferred from the lack of reference to the ODNI throughout the report.
However, one intelligence expert speaking to Liberation Times on condition of anonymity contested this assertion as the reasoning behind ODNI’s silence, commenting:
“This seems disingenuous. AARO was chartered as a jointly managed office between ODNI and DoD. Its products have the de facto imprimatur of both departments. It undermines the credibility of future reports to have the fact of internal disavowal be obscured.”
The historic report received Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review (DOPSR) clearance. However, missing was an overt reference to the ODNI pre-publication review process, especially critical because the report referenced that the AARO had partnered with Intelligence Community officials responsible for controlled and special access program oversight.
The ODNI pre-publication review FAQ states:
‘All current or former ODNI employees, such as staff, contractors, detailees, or assignees must abide by Instruction 80.04. ODNI employees are required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), which is binding even after the individual leaves the IC.
‘Instruction 80.04 implements the requirements for protecting classified material as found in the NDA.’
This may be a further indication pointing towards minimal participation from the ODNI. But it is also possible that the AARO independently coordinated with the ODNI for clearance before the report was provided for DOPSR - one other possibility is that the review processes occurred concurrently.
Notably, Timothy Phillips, the current Acting Director of AARO, also serving as its Deputy Director, was appointed to the Deputy Director position by the ODNI in consultation with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
Last week, Phillips, in support of the report, commented:
“AARO assesses that alleged hidden UAP programs either do not exist or were misidentified authentic national security programs unrelated to extraterrestrial technology exploitation.”
Phillips now joins Hicks and the DoD in endorsing the report’s findings. They have now positioned themselves in a challenging situation by supporting a document that is provably riddled with significant factual inaccuracies.
Supporting the AARO's report may prove disastrous for Phillips, the DoD and Hicks.
This is particularly troubling because DoD officials neglected to identify errors, such as incorrectly stating Harry Reid as the former Senator of New Mexico. This highlights a lack of diligence in reviewing and verifying AARO's processes and findings.
Should Liberation Times receive on-record clarification from the ODNI, further information will be published.