Written by Christopher Sharp - 11 September 2023

It was February 2023.

The month began with a Chinese surveillance balloon that both startled and puzzled politicians and civilians alike.

It was symbolic - the Chinese had broken into America's own backyard.

Cue, the political and media pressure - it was swiftly shot down when clear from built-up areas.

Then in quick succession, three smaller unknown objects were taken down, thought to be a potential threat to air traffic.

All were shot down at the command of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

The events were a huge wake up call - not only were the Chinese operating in America’s back yard, but so were unknowns.

Their origin? Unknown. Their operators? Unknown.

When it comes to 21st-century warfare, America, as the world's dominant superpower, can deal with most potential global threats. From under the ocean to within Earth's atmosphere, there is nowhere it cannot project its immense power.

That is with the exception of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) - objects which appear to act with impunity without any consequence over military ranges. Like a soccer goal left wide open with the goalkeeper nowhere to be seen, these occurrences are like loud open invitations to unknowns and enemies to score a goal against the most sophisticated and heavily-funded defense apparatus on the planet.

The Eglin Event

Another event occurred earlier this year, one not as extensively covered by the press.

It was symptomatic of the gaping vulnerability that had been swept under the rug for decades.

The under-reported UAP event involved a United States Air Force pilot from Florida’s Eglin Air Force Base, whose life was turned upside down whilst flying over the Gulf of Mexico one day.

Florida representative Matt Gaetz, who spoke about the incident at July's Congressional UAP Hearing and who had spoken to the pilot and saw the unknown object captured from his camera explained:

“One of the pilots goes to check out that diamond formation [viewed on radar] and sees a large floating, what I can only describe as an orb, again, like I said, not have any human capability that I'm aware of.”

He added:

“And when he approached, he said that his radar went down. He said that his FLIR (infrared camera) system malfunctioned and that he had to manually take this image from one of the lenses.”

Sources have informed Liberation Times that the object seen over the Gulf of Mexico appeared to be docked with an object below the water, drawing a parallel with the 2004 "tic-tac" incident where a similar interaction was seen.

Unlike the Chinese surveillance balloon and at least two of the three unknown objects shot down by NORAD, the object committed something which could be interpreted as a hostile act, apparently jamming his aircraft’s sensor systems.

One could argue that this object posed a much greater threat than the objects shot down by NORAD.

But instead of bringing in reinforcements and shooting down the object, there appeared to have been no response, except for an attempted cover-up of the incident through stigma.

The situation faced on U.S. military test ranges is alarming and plays a big role in explaining why Congress created the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO).

But perhaps the larger issue to tackle in terms of UAP is the inconsistent and uncoordinated response to incursions.

A NORAD spokesperson told Liberation Time that it retains “no information about any radar tracks near Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, currently or earlier this year.

“As aircraft that operate out of Eglin do so under U.S. Air Force control, I refer you to them for more information if available.”

The spokesperson added:

“Specifically within U.S. military training range airspace, the military service operating the training range works closely with the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) to ensure awareness and safety for the range.”

Both the FAA and Eglin Air Force Base have declined to comment on the apparent incident.

The NORAD spokesperson also commented:

“NORAD is not solely responsible for the airspace within the U.S. and works closely with the FAA and other airspace authorities, such as the military services who control their own training range airspace”

NORAD tends to remove itself (to an extent) from the affairs of military test ranges. Coordination and consistency of response are crucial, and military test ranges do not seem to have a handle on UAP operating over their airspace.

The Pentagon has recognised the issue since 2021, following the UAP Task Force report, with spokesperson John Kirby commenting at the time:

“Incursions into our training ranges and designated airspace pose safety of flight and operations security concerns, and may pose national security challenges. DOD takes reports of incursions – by any aerial object, identified or unidentified – very seriously, and investigates each one.”

Investigate - yes. But to shoot down such craft? There was no reference to this.

But why? It has widely been heralded that the shooting down of the Chinese spy balloon marked a major intelligence coup for the U.S.

Whether they originate from China or not, their very presence poses a direct threat to U.S. interests - especially should both powers clash over Taiwan.

A Situation Where China, Russia And Truly Unexplainable Craft Can Thrive In America’s Backyard

One could argue that the USAF, Navy and Army are well aware that some UAPs simply outmatch their capabilities. For example, in 2019, the Navy was unable to bring down a single unknown object which harassed multiple warships.

And naval aviators who have encountered unexplainable UAPs (probably not attributable to China) admit that they would be unable to defend themselves should they prove openly hostile.

So in many instances, not wanting to escalate a situation, the military stands idle and does nothing. With escalation comes the threat of losses and the growing realisation that the world’s greatest superpower has no supremacy over its skies.

And by doing nothing, partially through institutionalised stigma, the military provides opportunities for Chinese and Russian surveillance to take place.

The two go hand in hand - truly unexplainable UAP and adversarial surveillance activities.

By taking no action, both the explainable and unexplainable UAP can thrive in America’s backyard over its most prized assets.

Whether it is disguising intelligence platforms as civilian objects such as balloons, or sending objects that mimic the stranger UAPs seen - there is exploitation potential for enemies.

A Lack Of Coordination

At present, there is a mishmash of organisations responsible for keeping the skies safe.

There is no real coordination, leadership or accountability when it comes to dealing with UAP on a broader level.

Let's spell out the problem further by going back to the Eglin UAP encounter.

Even if NORAD was made aware of the situation, it couldn’t publicly say so.

Why? It may have yet to keep a record, especially if it was attributable to an unknown track.

Despite the apparent threat posed, the NORAD spokesperson confirmed to Liberation Times that it “does not keep records on uncorrelated events” - which refer to unknown tracks that do not match up to any known airborne object in NORAD’s catalogue.

Providing context to how it assesses threats, the NORAD official added:

“Our operations team uses the term “unidentified track” during the “detection” phase of our aerospace warning mission; an “unidentified track” is either correlated to an identified airborne object or not, and NORAD leaders make a threat assessment on the track.
“We move through additional operational procedures for anything assessed to be a threat. We do not continue to monitor those tracks assessed to not pose a threat.”

NORAD was unable to provide further information when pressed on whether data relating to unknown tracks is collected by any other organisations, commenting that it could not answer for other organisations and what their responsibilities and processes are.

However, Liberation Times understands that outside of NORAD, records are kept relating to unknown tracks. Sources have indicated to Liberation Times that data is kept on unknown tracks via a military and intelligence system named Talon THRESHER, which is widely accessible to the intelligence community.

Talon THRESHER is a cloud-based software system which helps military and intelligence agencies monitor and understand what is happening in the air, including the movements of aircraft and potential threats. It can track aircraft in near real-time, which means it provides up-to-the-minute information about thousands of aircraft simultaneously.

That ensures people who matter do have access to the information.

However, there needs to be a greater coordinated mission to access the data and track unknown tracks in real-time over all U.S. airspace, including military ranges. The mission must be dedicated to UAP.

Tracks, as NORAD would describe them, should be continually followed as they approach test ranges and not fall into the black hole of Navy, USAF or Army responsibility.

There is progress, however. NORAD lifted filters on its sensors to detect more tracks. Its spokesperson confirmed that both NORAD and United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) are coordinating with the AARO.

“North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) work with the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office through normal staff processes for the Office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon.
“NORAD and USNORTHCOM have shared data and information with AARO to support that office’s work, and NORAD and USNORTHCOM incorporate AARO data into the commands’ activities and operations as appropriate.”

Nonetheless, the sharing of such information only helps investigate incidents after they have taken place, with no assertive action taken.

NORAD Is Misunderstood

The way that UAPs are tracked by NORAD and other agencies and military branches remains complex and misunderstood.

Recently, a Canadian memorandum regarding the February shootdowns was released by CTV News. According to the ‘secret’ memo, one object shot down over Yukon territory was the 23rd ‘UAP’ tracked over North America in the first few weeks of 2023.

However, the NORAD spokesperson, told Liberation Times that the number does not refer to sequencing and is instead used as a common reference point, with the spokesperson adding:

“The designation provides a common reference for any operational requirements.”

It is understood that the February events provided a learning curve for the Canadian government and its understanding of the NORAD processes.

That shouldn’t happen. If the Canadian and U.S. government doesn’t have a firm grasp of how defense of their realms is coordinated nor how many UAPs have appeared over its skies within the past year, then there is a huge problem.

Since the shootdown events, NORAD is still unable to rule out that any of the three unidentified objects shot down were of non-human origin.

The three objects were not unknown tracks and were correlated to objects (although what they were remains unknown), meaning they were not birds or attributable to weather phenomena.

However, despite those incidents, NORAD has confirmed it has no enduring category of records based on such objects. Although, again it is likely that such incidents are kept on separate systems, such as Talon THRESHER.

Record-keeping or no record-keeping - the fact the world’s most powerful military, capable of projecting its capabilities around the globe cannot even counter unknown objects appearing on its own training ranges is hugely concerning.

Change Is Needed

The fact that UAPs can commit hostile acts whilst the U.S. Air Force (USAF) tries to cover them up through stigma is even more worrying. As Representative Gaetz stated:

“It was stated explicitly to me by these test pilots that if you have UAP experience, the best thing you can do for your career is forget it and not tell anyone.”
“Because any type of reporting, either above the surface or below the surface, does have a perceived consequence to these people. And that is a culture we must change if we want to get to the truth.”

A Department of Defense source has previously claimed to Liberation Times that attempts have been made by the USAF to undermine investigation efforts.

"In one instance, while the UAP Task Force was still the primary UAP interface for DoD, a mid-grade Air Force officer was reprimanded and admonished by their chain of command for reaching out to Task Force members.”

Complacency and stigma are also historic concerns.

Liberation Times is also aware of an instance next to Vandenberg Air Force (now Space Force) Base in 2012, after a giant ball of plasma was witnessed over the coast.

According to the USAF witness, two senior officers were summoned to observe the event. Their reaction according to the witness?

“They looked at it, said it was weird, and didn’t know what it was - there was then a brief silence before they just left.”

There now needs to be a consistent approach, and the correct way ahead is reforming how U.S. skies are protected.

The current situation is unsustainable, much like a pre-9/11 world where intelligence agencies were not coordinating effectively.

The same, but on a larger scale, is occurring when it comes to UAP.

It involves multiple intelligence agencies, military branches, NORAD, NASA, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — many of which (as understood by Liberation Times) have their own UAP programs that operate in isolation from one another.

A position similar to that of the Director of National Intelligence could be a game-changer.

The role would involve someone with oversight and access to all the information and UAP programs, ensuring there is communication and coordination. That person would sit at the cabinet level, serving the President directly and ensure the Commander-in-Chief has a firm grasp on the situation.

That also includes having complete access to Space Command, the National Reconnaissance Office, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the Space Force, and all underseas tracking monitoring systems.

Even if UAPs cannot be countered by force, their origin and operators should be known when they appear over military ranges.

If reverse engineering programs exist, such a cabinet position could also be responsible for working with private industry toward wider policy goals through transformational technologies that could dwarf the impact of industrialization.

Whether the threat is Chinese, Russian, or non-human, it represents a significant gap in domain awareness and a potential Achilles' heel in American defenses. If China and the USA were to go to war over Taiwan, China could find itself in a position where it has already exploited shortcomings in how military installations are secured.

And for cases that may represent non-human intelligence, it is time to come clean with elected representatives and the public.

If America does not maintain air supremacy over its skies and if information exists that shows transmedium craft originating from space, it should be disclosed.